Converting Books - Formatting?

marty1990 · 06-11-2012, 08:42 AM

I have a couple of MOBI's which need converting for my Sony Reader T1. They all have good formatting and I don't want to lose that. Will converting them to ePub lose that formatting or keep it exactly the same?

Thanks!

dwig · 06-11-2012, 09:07 AM

In general, a MOBI>ePub conversion results in very few changes. The differences sometimes vary depending on the reader/app used to view the resulting ePub.

There is no way to predict what the differences may be since its a matter of exactly how the MOBI is constructed. In the end its just Trial and Terror. The most likely cause for a change is having a tag in the MOBI that is unstyled, thus relying on the reader's default behavior, and the resulting unstyled tag in the ePub displays differently due to the ePub reader's differing default behavior.

This type of change can show several ways. One involves paragraph indents and leading (vertical space between paragraphs). If you are using calibre for conversion and the first try is not what you like, a second conversion with different choices on the Look and Feel tab can usually resolve the issue.

marty1990 · 06-11-2012, 09:54 AM

How about ePub to ePub? I've done this for a couple of books because the front cover wouldn't stay on the book once I added the book to my eReader. Would ePub to ePub not change anything.. apart from setting the cover I chose?

JSWolf · 06-11-2012, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marty1990

How about ePub to ePub? I've done this for a couple of books because the front cover wouldn't stay on the book once I added the book to my eReader. Would ePub to ePub not change anything.. apart from setting the cover I chose?

Don't do ePub > ePub. That could and sometimes does mess things up. If you want to add in a cover, use the Modify ePub plugin for Calibre. It allows you to add in a cover without converting. Just drop the new cover into the metadata editor and then use the plugin to add the cover to the ePub.

marty1990 · 06-11-2012, 12:25 PM

Really? I've found that sometimes the cover won't stick, so the only way to get the cover to stay is to to ePub > ePub.

There were also problems with ePub's on my mum's Kobo, in that they kept crashing the eReader. Once the original ePub was converted to another ePub, then it worked.

dwig · 06-11-2012, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marty1990

Really? I've found that sometimes the cover won't stick, so the only way to get the cover to stay is to to ePub > ePub.

There were also problems with ePub's on my mum's Kobo, in that they kept crashing the eReader. Once the original ePub was converted to another ePub, then it worked.

Calibre's ePub>ePub conversions can fix a number of issues. The problem with them is that the automated structural changes can result in a file with less elegant code that is not easy to manually edit.

itimpi · 06-11-2012, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marty1990

Really? I've found that sometimes the cover won't stick, so the only way to get the cover to stay is to to ePub > ePub.

There were also problems with ePub's on my mum's Kobo, in that they kept crashing the eReader. Once the original ePub was converted to another ePub, then it worked.

The Modify ePub plugin should now be able to make covers stick.

06-11-2012, 08:42 AM	#1
marty1990 Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: None	Converting Books - Formatting? I have a couple of MOBI's which need converting for my Sony Reader T1. They all have good formatting and I don't want to lose that. Will converting them to ePub lose that formatting or keep it exactly the same? Thanks!

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06-11-2012, 09:07 AM	#2
dwig Wizard Posts: 1,613 Karma: 6718541 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Paradise (Key West, FL) Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...	In general, a MOBI>ePub conversion results in very few changes. The differences sometimes vary depending on the reader/app used to view the resulting ePub. There is no way to predict what the differences may be since its a matter of exactly how the MOBI is constructed. In the end its just Trial and Terror. The most likely cause for a change is having a tag in the MOBI that is unstyled, thus relying on the reader's default behavior, and the resulting unstyled tag in the ePub displays differently due to the ePub reader's differing default behavior. This type of change can show several ways. One involves paragraph indents and leading (vertical space between paragraphs). If you are using calibre for conversion and the first try is not what you like, a second conversion with different choices on the Look and Feel tab can usually resolve the issue.

06-11-2012, 09:54 AM	#3
marty1990 Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: None	How about ePub to ePub? I've done this for a couple of books because the front cover wouldn't stay on the book once I added the book to my eReader. Would ePub to ePub not change anything.. apart from setting the cover I chose?

06-11-2012, 12:25 PM	#5
marty1990 Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: None	Really? I've found that sometimes the cover won't stick, so the only way to get the cover to stay is to to ePub > ePub. There were also problems with ePub's on my mum's Kobo, in that they kept crashing the eReader. Once the original ePub was converted to another ePub, then it worked.