How to convert Epub or AZW3 to Word?

mkhuebner · 01-11-2014, 11:47 PM

I'm a software engineer. I would like to buy a Kindle e-book (AZW3) or Barnes & Noble e-book (Epub) and use Calibre to convert it to a format that I can edit with Microsoft Word 2010 because I love the way Word does comments (i.e. annotations). My idea is to use Word to convert these e-books to PDF's that I can reference at work (my technical developer books) either on my workstation screen or my own tablet. I feel that I need to use PDF format because I don't want words to wrap on lines containing sample code (e.g. C#). The code would become very hard to read if it wrapped.

I tried downloading part of an Epub book from Barnes & Noble and opened it in Calibre and converted it to both an HTMLZ format and RTF format but was very disappointed to find out that there were formatting errors in both formats. Some lines had indentation in the HTMLZ that didn't exist in the Epub format and the RTF formatted e-book lost boxes surrounding example diagrams and the example title was on the right side of the example instead of underneath the example. Some boxes with colored backgrounds in the Epub format lost the colored background in the HTMLZ (only had a colored box line) and the RTF had no surrounding box and no colored background.

Can anyone recommend how to get an error-free conversion of either an Epub or AZW3 e-book to a format that I can edit in Word 2010? Any tips or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

mkhuebner · 01-12-2014, 05:49 PM

Also, when an Epub book is converted to an HTMLZ book, anything in a table is converted to a single column of the table entries with no surrounding table.

mkhuebner · 01-12-2014, 07:25 PM

After unzipping the HTMLZ file, I opened it in Visual Studio 2010 as a "web site" and the formatting all looked good so now I'm wondering what custom settings do I need to use in Word 2010 to eliminate these formatting problems?

mkhuebner · 01-12-2014, 09:57 PM

The unzipped HTMLZ also looks ok when I view index.html in Internet Explorer 11 so there is a problem with the display formatting in Word 2010. Do I need to get a more recent version of Word?

jackie_w · 01-13-2014, 08:00 AM

I'm afraid I don't have any good answers for your questions but if you've got a good html-based source, e.g. epub or azw3, my best advice is to keep it there. If you need to edit it then why not just use calibre's editor?

Any book using tables, images, code snippets is going to be a challenge to convert to another format and doing it in 2 stages (epub to Word to PDF) won't make it any easier. Using calibre to convert directly from epub/azw3 to pdf may be OK. Going back the other way is an exercise in masochism.

Over the last few years I've done a lot of work with Word-to-html and PDF-to-html. It has been interesting and I've learned a lot, but I'm over it now. Having got clean html out there's no way it's going back in again! Admittedly my version of Word is ancient, but introducing it into my book cleaning/editing workflow is not something I would do if I had any other choice.

Still, as a software engineer, I'm sure you're up to technical challenge

theducks · 01-13-2014, 09:45 AM

Adding to Jackie_W

For more complex edits of a section, you can export a section and use other tools to edit that section. (I believe Sigil 7 allowed direct sending to another program)

Every time you convert, you introduce artifacts.
Work directly on the cleanest/highest resolution copy.

01-11-2014, 11:47 PM	#1
mkhuebner Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: none	How to convert Epub or AZW3 to Word? I'm a software engineer. I would like to buy a Kindle e-book (AZW3) or Barnes & Noble e-book (Epub) and use Calibre to convert it to a format that I can edit with Microsoft Word 2010 because I love the way Word does comments (i.e. annotations). My idea is to use Word to convert these e-books to PDF's that I can reference at work (my technical developer books) either on my workstation screen or my own tablet. I feel that I need to use PDF format because I don't want words to wrap on lines containing sample code (e.g. C#). The code would become very hard to read if it wrapped. I tried downloading part of an Epub book from Barnes & Noble and opened it in Calibre and converted it to both an HTMLZ format and RTF format but was very disappointed to find out that there were formatting errors in both formats. Some lines had indentation in the HTMLZ that didn't exist in the Epub format and the RTF formatted e-book lost boxes surrounding example diagrams and the example title was on the right side of the example instead of underneath the example. Some boxes with colored backgrounds in the Epub format lost the colored background in the HTMLZ (only had a colored box line) and the RTF had no surrounding box and no colored background. Can anyone recommend how to get an error-free conversion of either an Epub or AZW3 e-book to a format that I can edit in Word 2010? Any tips or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Convert EPUB to word/txt/doc	bookmeal	Workshop	16	10-19-2014 05:42 AM
convert epub to word doc	slacka	Workshop	5	08-22-2014 01:50 AM
Unable to convert from EPUB to AZW3	jujubox7	Conversion	12	02-12-2013 01:43 PM
The best format to convert from Word to epub	yaip	ePub	1	03-26-2011 12:41 AM
convert word doc to pdf or epub	wrenn1	Kobo Reader	13	07-29-2010 12:44 PM

01-12-2014, 05:49 PM	#2
mkhuebner Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: none	Also, when an Epub book is converted to an HTMLZ book, anything in a table is converted to a single column of the table entries with no surrounding table.

01-12-2014, 07:25 PM	#3
mkhuebner Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: none	After unzipping the HTMLZ file, I opened it in Visual Studio 2010 as a "web site" and the formatting all looked good so now I'm wondering what custom settings do I need to use in Word 2010 to eliminate these formatting problems?

01-12-2014, 09:57 PM	#4
mkhuebner Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: none	The unzipped HTMLZ also looks ok when I view index.html in Internet Explorer 11 so there is a problem with the display formatting in Word 2010. Do I need to get a more recent version of Word?

01-13-2014, 08:00 AM	#5
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,251 Karma: 16539642 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E, LibraCol, PBTouchHD3	I'm afraid I don't have any good answers for your questions but if you've got a good html-based source, e.g. epub or azw3, my best advice is to keep it there. If you need to edit it then why not just use calibre's editor? Any book using tables, images, code snippets is going to be a challenge to convert to another format and doing it in 2 stages (epub to Word to PDF) won't make it any easier. Using calibre to convert directly from epub/azw3 to pdf may be OK. Going back the other way is an exercise in masochism. Over the last few years I've done a lot of work with Word-to-html and PDF-to-html. It has been interesting and I've learned a lot, but I'm over it now. Having got clean html out there's no way it's going back in again! Admittedly my version of Word is ancient, but introducing it into my book cleaning/editing workflow is not something I would do if I had any other choice. Still, as a software engineer, I'm sure you're up to technical challenge

01-13-2014, 09:45 AM	#6
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,933 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Adding to Jackie_W For more complex edits of a section, you can export a section and use other tools to edit that section. (I believe Sigil 7 allowed direct sending to another program) Every time you convert, you introduce artifacts. Work directly on the cleanest/highest resolution copy.