What do you use Calibre For?

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I also occasionally use the built in reader because to me, it is (functionally) the best reader bar none. I do read more on my T1 though, but occasionally reading on my little netbook is ok.

That's just strange to hear. My first attempt at using Calibre was as a reader for a netbook (years ago), and I found it awful. Around the holidays this year I used Calibre to set up a used ereader for a relative, checking books out in the reader now and then, and it seemed only a little improved. The whole process of searching out serviceable ereading software for Windows was bafflingly difficult, but eventually someone here recommended FBReader, with tons of options and user-configurable keyboard shortcuts. If you're already using Calibre as your library and only read on your Windows machine occasionally, though, I can see the built in reader being convenient.

Originally Posted by applesauce

where do my books go does it make copies of them and place them where.
when it converts books where do the physical converted copies go and which version is then in my shown in my calibre.
how do I clean out the books from my ebook folder without moving the ones calibre has created when I have no idea which ones they are.
can I just put all my books into calibre then select convert all to mobi and be able to find all the mobi files including the ones it didnt need to convert or do I have to pick my way though.
how do I select a mass of books IN ORDER for a series to add and have them actually go to calibre in order so I dont have to renumber ever damn one as they all get jumbled.
how do I add books to an android tablet not on the list
how do I add books to an ereader not on the list

I think a lot of us could use a less comprehensive program that handles all of the above in a simpler fashion.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by taosaur

That's just strange to hear. My first attempt at using Calibre was as a reader for a netbook (years ago), and I found it awful.

Interesting. I am the exact opposite in my experience and feelings thereof. Calibre was my first exposure to epub books in general, combined with Project Gutenberg. I liked the way I could either turn a page with a mouse click, a space bar, or even scrolling down line by line at my whim with a down arrow, and when I finally bought a Kobo (my first dedicated e-reader) I remember being annoyed that I couldn't do the same things as I had started to feel entitled to with calibre.

I installed FBreader and never made friends with it. It just didn't read the way I had enjoyed. So I often just revisit calibre for the purpose of reading because it embodies all I want in an e-reader and e-book organizer.

I have a Sony T1 now for my e-reader having given my 2 Kobos away to my husband and daughter, and while I like it the best of all I have had so far, any future e-reader purchases will be critically compared to my calibre experience.

My netbook, which I still have, is an Asus eeepc 1001px that runs on Linux.

Despite being a linux user, I am not technically adept, and wish I could explain more articulately just WHAT makes calibre so special to me as an ereader as well as an organizer. Maybe the gazillion fonts I can use at will? the "more sizes", the ability to full screen or minimize the bookreader at will? Maybe other desktop readers can do it too, but I've tried everything I can get my hands on.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I liked the way I could either turn a page with a mouse click, a space bar, or even scrolling down line by line at my whim with a down arrow, and when I finally bought a Kobo (my first dedicated e-reader) I remember being annoyed that I couldn't do the same things as I had started to feel entitled to with calibre.

Ha, well that explains it: all the things you like are the opposite of what I was looking for Although, once I was using FBReader, the customizable keybindings were a big pro (I would generally use the arrow keys for pageturns, holding the netbook portrait-wise).

My priorities were:
5. Adjustable margins
4. Totally customizable font/background colors
3. 90 degree rotation
2. True fullscreen (no visible GUI)
1. Opening quickly to the current page of my current read with all of the above settings as I'd left them, and loading each new book with those settings in place.

[Catlady]

I pretty much use it only to convert Amazon books to epubs. Occasionally I will use it to check the cover images on a batch of epubs. But if I find I want to change a cover, it's quicker to just unzip the epub and replace the cover image than to do an epub to epub conversion in Calibre.

I don't keep any books in the Calibre library--I move them into my own backup file and keep track of them on a spreadsheet.

[petermillard]

Used to use Calibre circa 2008 to format-shift books for my (then) recently acquired Cybook Gen 3; don't think I've looked at it since ~2009 - no need.

[slussen2]

Thanks Harry, now I'm better oriented!

[ilovejedd]

Primary use, OPDS server to share files from the PC to my mobile devices (Android, WP7 and iOS). Also use it to convert downloaded HTML and purchased LIT to EPUB. Ever since I got a PRS-350, I've been using Calibre to actually manage my libraries/ebooks.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by morriss003

What do you use Calibre for?

Just about everything except for the actual reading.
Many of the uses were described by various posters.

I use it to organize books from various sources, automatically download metadata and covers for books that do not have those, or extract covers or metadata from the ebook file.
I use it to export the books to the reader in a precisely defined directory structure (derived from metadata)
I use it to create a catalog of the books that I have loaded to an SD card for my reader, so I have a super-luxury, cross-referenced description of all the books on my reader.
I use it to search the books. It has lots of very powerful tools to do that.
I use it to remove duplicates to keep my library nice and tidy. There are a lot of freebies that I keep adding and many of those have been added earlier. Calibre makes management of duplicates super easy
I do not have much use for converting my e-books, because my reader eats the vast majority of formats, and for converting an occasional lit file (one of very few formats that my reader doesn't recognize) the Calibre is painfully slow - so I have set up alternative process on my Linux machine.

I a a power user and I use advanced features, such as the extremely powerful regular expression support.
I have also configured Calibre to my liking, using plugins and tweaks and GUI configuration. I have also added a few small features by hacking the source.

[sakura-panda]

I use Calibre to manage my epub files. They would be a mess without it!

I would like to set up a second library just for my Kindle freebies, but I haven't figured out how to get them from Amazon onto my PC. I'm thinking it's from lack of effort. I had a Kindle reader on my last PC but I couldn't locate the books that I downloaded into it. I think it wasn't the right software, but I haven't looked into it since getting my new computer.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by taosaur

I've had a real hate/gratitude relationship with Calibre.

This used to describe my attitude as well. Since I have started to use Calibre extensively I keep finding really, REALLY cool features and I realize I can't live without it anymore.
I have configured the GUI - removed those ugly yellow bars using Tweaks and replaced toolbar with menu (easy to do in Preferences) and did some other things I am happy.

Originally Posted by taosaur

No matter what minor task you want to accomplish, Calibre assumes you want it to have total control of every book on your hard drive and are never planning on using any other software (including Windows Explorer) for any related purpose again.
It really is like iTunes for ebooks ಠ_ಠ

Come ON!
You can't compare Calibre to iTunes.
You can configure it extensively. This is THE best part.
The only thing you can't do is to change the directory structure that it keeps the books in. But, disk-space is dirt-cheap nowadays (at least when it comes to storing ebooks), and you can use "Save to disk" feature if you want to access chosen books in different manner - with a standard file manager.
Simply consider the Calibre Library folder a black box or a database. It would be extremely difficult to rebuild Calibre to use user-configurable file structure.
If you only want to use conversion capabilities, without putting books in the database (understand Calibre Library folder), you can use command-line components of Calibre

Originally Posted by taosaur

When you do have more than a few dozen ebooks that you want to get organized with metadata and you're committed to using Calibre to do it, it's mostly great.

I have committed to do it in Calibre, and the advantages *hugely* outweigh those few features that I do not like that much.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Ha, well that explains it: all the things you like are the opposite of what I was looking for Although, once I was using FBReader, the customizable keybindings were a big pro (I would generally use the arrow keys for pageturns, holding the netbook portrait-wise).

My priorities were:
5. Adjustable margins
4. Totally customizable font/background colors
3. 90 degree rotation
2. True fullscreen (no visible GUI)
1. Opening quickly to the current page of my current read with all of the above settings as I'd left them, and loading each new book with those settings in place.

If you know CSS, calibre's ebook reader is extremely customizable. Margins, fonts, colors, line spacing, etc, basically anything you can do with CSS you can do by providing custom CSS in the reader settings, and that CSS applies to every book you open in the reader. Keep in mind that cablire's ebook reader is really an epub reader (if you try to view other formats, calibre does an epub conversion before displaying the book), epub is just html+css in a zip container, and calibre's display is just an embedded webkit browser. Calibre also tracks your place in each book as you read. Calibre leaves #3 for the OS to handle. #2 is the only thing in your list that calibre can't do right now.

Personally I don't like reading on a PC because the resolution (as in pixels per inch) is too low. But I use calibre's built-in reader all the time for validation when messing around with books (changing margins and such inside of books after ripping off DRM and verifying the changes I made look right, for example).

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I use it:

To keep track of my books by genre, read or unread status, authors, series, publisher, date of publications, date I acquired the book, . . .

To backup my ebooks (by putting my Calibre folder in Dropbox)

To find new books to read, at the best price

To see what I have read in the last month, year

To convert books to another format

I'm sure I have left out a lot. I just know I couldn't live without it.

I back up my ebooks, but I never thought about putting them in Dropbox. That is a great idea.

[pidgeon92]

I've been using Calibre for a few years now..... ALL of my ebooks are stored there. I get books from so many different sources, I need a single place to keep them all. I use the DRM plugins to liberate my books, then I can put them on any of my (many) ereaders. My ebook library would be a mess without it.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by toddos

If you know CSS, calibre's ebook reader is extremely customizable.

If I knew C++ or Java or whatever Calibre is built on, I could rewrite the whole thing.

Having to write chunks of the program yourself (I include the pseudo-script needed to tweak imports and conversions in that characterization) for tasks that could be accomplished with some check boxes or drop-downs is one of those things that makes Calibre baffling/painful to start using.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by taosaur

If I knew C++ or Java or whatever Calibre is built on, I could rewrite the whole thing.

Having to write chunks of the program yourself (I include the pseudo-script needed to tweak imports and conversions in that characterization) for tasks that could be accomplished with some check boxes or drop-downs is one of those things that makes Calibre baffling/painful to start using.

Alternatively, being able to customize things like the reader's CSS without having to mess about with limited dropdowns and checkboxes is one of those things that makes calibre completely awesome and a joy to use.

Edit: Maybe I'm just weird, but this exact reason is why I prefer ebook readers like Stanza (RIP) and Freda over Kindle and iBooks, because the former let me set my own colors based on RGB values and tweak pretty much every layout option imaginable and the latter let me pick anything I like as long as it's black-on-white, brown-on-sepia, or gray-on-black.