Editing the 'secret' author field...

Cryptopsy · 08-08-2012, 03:34 PM

Hello people, I hope you can shed some light on the following.

When browsing through my books on my Sony PRS-T1, I noticed there were some errors in the author names that were displayed underneath the title of the book. I opened Calibre to correct the metadata, but the error wasn't there.

I noticed the following. When I'm in the 'edit metadata' screen, there is a button on the right, (that looks just like the metadata-button). When hoovering over it, it says "Set metadata for the book from the selected format". When I click this, the author field is set to the erroneous name I see in my reader. But I don't know how to edit this field.

The only solution I found is opening the EPUB in a program called 'EPubMetadataEditor' and edit the creator-field there. But how can I do this from Calibre?

Apparently there is a field that my reader uses, but I can't find it in Calibre...

toddos · 08-08-2012, 04:41 PM

Epub (and other format) files contain embedded metadata, as you've found out. Calibre doesn't write its copy of metadata to the file unless you do a conversion (you can convert from and to the same format, like epub to epub). If the epub embedded data is different than what's in calibre and you never did a format conversion, that's why.

JSWolf · 08-08-2012, 04:49 PM

Don't do an ePub > ePub conversion. Use Tweak eBook and then edit the Metadata in the OPF file and put it back together after you've saved. Then you can have Calibre extract the corrected metadata from the ePub.

davidfor · 08-09-2012, 01:16 AM

As toddos said, calibre will update the metadata in a book when you do a conversion. But, it should also do this when you send the book to your device or do a "save to folder". So, updating the metadata and then sending it to your ereader again should solve this.

But, I can think of a problem if the Sony is like my Kobo Touch. This reads the metadata the first time it sees an ebook and stores this in a database. When you are viewing the library in the device, it uses the database. If I replace the ebook with an updated version, it doesn't update the database. I have to delete the ebook and then send it over.

Also, an alternative to a conversion or using Tweak book to get the metadata into the ebook, is the plugin Modify ePub. This will write the metadata from the calibre database into the ePub. And it is a lot easier than Tweak book.

Cryptopsy · 08-09-2012, 05:32 PM

Thanks for the replies! I understand there is some embedded metadata in each epub. I'm going to look at the options you suggested! Tanks.

Cryptopsy · 08-09-2012, 07:00 PM

The 'Modify ePUb' addon did the trick!

08-08-2012, 03:34 PM	#1
Cryptopsy Death metal! Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Sony PRS-T1	Editing the 'secret' author field... Hello people, I hope you can shed some light on the following. When browsing through my books on my Sony PRS-T1, I noticed there were some errors in the author names that were displayed underneath the title of the book. I opened Calibre to correct the metadata, but the error wasn't there. I noticed the following. When I'm in the 'edit metadata' screen, there is a button on the right, (that looks just like the metadata-button). When hoovering over it, it says "Set metadata for the book from the selected format". When I click this, the author field is set to the erroneous name I see in my reader. But I don't know how to edit this field. The only solution I found is opening the EPUB in a program called 'EPubMetadataEditor' and edit the creator-field there. But how can I do this from Calibre? Apparently there is a field that my reader uses, but I can't find it in Calibre...

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08-08-2012, 04:41 PM	#2
toddos Guru Posts: 695 Karma: 822675 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo Aura, Nokia Lumia 920 (Freda)	Epub (and other format) files contain embedded metadata, as you've found out. Calibre doesn't write its copy of metadata to the file unless you do a conversion (you can convert from and to the same format, like epub to epub). If the epub embedded data is different than what's in calibre and you never did a format conversion, that's why.

08-08-2012, 04:49 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,304 Karma: 129333566 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Don't do an ePub > ePub conversion. Use Tweak eBook and then edit the Metadata in the OPF file and put it back together after you've saved. Then you can have Calibre extract the corrected metadata from the ePub.

08-09-2012, 01:16 AM	#4
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,906 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	As toddos said, calibre will update the metadata in a book when you do a conversion. But, it should also do this when you send the book to your device or do a "save to folder". So, updating the metadata and then sending it to your ereader again should solve this. But, I can think of a problem if the Sony is like my Kobo Touch. This reads the metadata the first time it sees an ebook and stores this in a database. When you are viewing the library in the device, it uses the database. If I replace the ebook with an updated version, it doesn't update the database. I have to delete the ebook and then send it over. Also, an alternative to a conversion or using Tweak book to get the metadata into the ebook, is the plugin Modify ePub. This will write the metadata from the calibre database into the ePub. And it is a lot easier than Tweak book.

08-09-2012, 05:32 PM	#5
Cryptopsy Death metal! Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Sony PRS-T1	Thanks for the replies! I understand there is some embedded metadata in each epub. I'm going to look at the options you suggested! Tanks.

08-09-2012, 07:00 PM	#6
Cryptopsy Death metal! Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Sony PRS-T1	The 'Modify ePUb' addon did the trick!