Editing Book Titles

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Note, "Save to Disk" or "Send to Device" should have been updating the metadata of exported ebooks anyway upon save/send but these don't change the books stored in the Calibre directory structure.

You can update the metadata of ebooks stored in the Calibre directory using Polish Books (keyboard shortcut P, iirc).

Sorry, but "Save to disk" and "Send to device" do not have to be updating the metadata on save/send. In fact, it's best to find those options and turn them off. There are better ways to uprate the metadata. If the eBook is an ePub, you can use Calibre's Polish books or the Modify ePub plugin to do the metadata updating without any conversion. If the eBook is KF8 (AZW3) then Polish books will do.

Do you always want the metadata updated when it's correct? I don't. I find if it's incorrect, I'll use the Calibre editor to fix the metadata.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sorry, but "Save to disk" and "Send to device" do not have to be updating the metadata on save/send. In fact, it's best to find those options and turn them off. There are better ways to uprate the metadata. If the eBook is an ePub, you can use Calibre's Polish books or the Modify ePub plugin to do the metadata updating without any conversion. If the eBook is KF8 (AZW3) then Polish books will do.

Do you always want the metadata updated when it's correct? I don't. I find if it's incorrect, I'll use the Calibre editor to fix the metadata.

I was referring to Calibre default behavior. The option to update metadata upon save/send is enabled by default so if the OP had used that instead of drag and drop, the metadata on the books sent to the Kindle would have been updated.

An idiosyncrasy of mine, I don't like modifying the original imported files (so md5/sha256 hash doesn't change) and having original_epub files in the Calibre library bugs me. Hence, any modification to ebook metadata is only performed upon export. Besides, a lot of devices don't support series information so for those, I usually use a metadata plugboard for the title:
{series}{series_index:0>2s| | - }{title}

I don't know of any ebook reading app that supports custom calibre columns, either, but do support regular tags/subject so for those, I use a plugboard, too:
{tags}{#extratags:|, |}

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by theducks

You ALSO need to use the metadata plugboard to insert the metadata into the title , not the file name (This works with device 'sends', as it needs to detect the device unless ALL is usable for your collection of devices)

PS I do not recommend mangling the intended usage of Calibre columns.

Series [series_index] has a purpose
Messing with the {Title} can prevent fetching metadata

Series doesn't feed to Kindles that are not Jailbroken, though, correct? I also retitle all my series books so they sort together in the book list. I know that if I needed to re-download metadata, I'd need to change it back temporarily, but I find that a small disadvantage compared to having to create Collections in the Kindle one book at a time. Even then, I'm not sure they'd sort in anything but alpha order.

It's the biggest thing I miss in my old Sony's (other than being able to use that old PRS-whatever program to tweak the interface without jailbreaking).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I was referring to Calibre default behavior. The option to update metadata upon save/send is enabled by default so if the OP had used that instead of drag and drop, the metadata on the books sent to the Kindle would have been updated.

An idiosyncrasy of mine, I don't like modifying the original imported files (so md5/sha256 hash doesn't change) and having original_epub files in the Calibre library bugs me. Hence, any modification to ebook metadata is only performed upon export. Besides, a lot of devices don't support series information so for those, I usually use a metadata plugboard for the title:
{series}{series_index:0>2s| | - }{title}

I don't like my eBooks changed unless I do so. I do so using the editor. It means I get changed what I want changed. Also, I don't like the eBook changed on save or send.

Kobo supports series. I go in and change the metadata myself instead of using a plugboard. I have a library for the untouched eBooks that just have DRM removed.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Series doesn't feed to Kindles that are not Jailbroken, though, correct? I also retitle all my series books so they sort together in the book list. I know that if I needed to re-download metadata, I'd need to change it back temporarily, but I find that a small disadvantage compared to having to create Collections in the Kindle one book at a time. Even then, I'm not sure they'd sort in anything but alpha order.

It's the biggest thing I miss in my old Sony's (other than being able to use that old PRS-whatever program to tweak the interface without jailbreaking).

I still have fond memories of my PRS-350 (with PRS Plus). I had mine set-up for hierarchical genres which was awesome. Too bad page refresh rate was slow and it didn't have a front-light. I do a lot of reading in the dark so the lack of front-light ended up being a deal breaker.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't like my eBooks changed unless I do so. I do so using the editor. It means I get changed what I want changed. Also, I don't like the eBook changed on save or send.

Kobo supports series. I go in and change the metadata myself instead of using a plugboard. I have a library for the untouched eBooks that just have DRM removed.

You have your system. I have mine. The beauty is neither of us are forced to use the other's. We can both use whatever system works best for us.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sorry, but "Save to disk" and "Send to device" do not have to be updating the metadata on save/send. In fact, it's best to find those options and turn them off. There are better ways to uprate the metadata. If the eBook is an ePub, you can use Calibre's Polish books or the Modify ePub plugin to do the metadata updating without any conversion. If the eBook is KF8 (AZW3) then Polish books will do.

Why do you think Polish books or the Modify ePub plugin are better than the update done during save-to-disk and send-to-device? I mean, if all four methods are using exactly the same code to modify the metadata in the file, why is one better than the other?

And of course, save-to-disk and send-to-device both allow the use of metadata plugboards for any handy fiddling with the metadata on the device. Plus, using these mean you do not need to remember to manually update the books each time you fiddle with the metadata. And personally, I have no real need for the books in the library to be updated.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by lamont

Are you indicating the name of the azw3 file cannot be edited unless the DRM has been removed?

I used to have the DRM removal plug-in in Calibre on my Mac. I have since switched to PC and have not been able to get the DRM removal plug-in going. It's installed, the Kindle serial number has been added, but the plug-in is not working. That's in Windows 10.

I checked just now (running Windows 7).

Embed Metadata seems to work even if the book has DRM. Alas, I only dragged the resulting AZW3 to my test Calibre library so don't actually know if the resulting file works on an actual Kindle.

Polish Books fails due to DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

You have your system. I have mine. The beauty is neither of us are forced to use the other's. We can both use whatever system works best for us.

I just feel that the default options should be not to update the metadata by default. Polish books works well and can be used for multiple books.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I just feel that the default options should be not to update the metadata by default. Polish books works well and can be used for multiple books.

Kovid's choice, not mine. Mind, I do understand the logic behind making it the default. Already, there are questions regarding metadata being incorrect when using drag and drop. I expect that will increase tenfold if Save to disk or Send to device didn't update metadata automatically.

Not everyone's going to remember to run Polish Books or Embed Metadata. It's easier to just make the metadata update automatic via Save to disk or Send to device.

Besides, both Embed Metadata and Polish Books aren't shown by default in the main toolbar or context menu. You'll have to dig for it in Preferences and add it yourself.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Series doesn't feed to Kindles that are not Jailbroken, though, correct? I also retitle all my series books so they sort together in the book list. I know that if I needed to re-download metadata, I'd need to change it back temporarily, but I find that a small disadvantage compared to having to create Collections in the Kindle one book at a time. Even then, I'm not sure they'd sort in anything but alpha order.

It's the biggest thing I miss in my old Sony's (other than being able to use that old PRS-whatever program to tweak the interface without jailbreaking).

I put: {series_index} {title} into the title filed with the plugboard. it works on a K4nt which is NOT jail broke. (I really format the digits. this is a simple example)

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by theducks

I put: {series_index} {title} into the title filed with the plugboard. it works on a K4nt which is NOT jail broke. (I really format the digits. this is a simple example)

Yep, this.

That said, I don't actually use Calibre to send ebooks to my devices. I use Save to disk one-time and then just drag and drop from the Save to disk folder to either Dropbox or ereader. I only use Calibre for editing metadata and conversions.

[lamont]

Thanks for the replies. There are too many things to consider to get started. Where do I start? I got to do this one by one.

According to ilovejedd, if I understand correctly, I need to first get DeDRM removal going. This is still not working for me. I got the plugin installed, but no joy. Caliber 3.18 and the DeDRM 6.5.5 -plug-in. I will have to come back to this thread here later. I want to first get the DRM removal problem solved.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by lamont

Thanks for the replies. There are too many things to consider to get started. Where do I start? I got to do this one by one.

According to ilovejedd, if I understand correctly, I need to first get DeDRM removal going. This is still not working for me. I got the plugin installed, but no joy. Caliber 3.18 and the DeDRM 6.5.5 -plug-in. I will have to come back to this thread here later. I want to first get the DRM removal problem solved.

Please take note of the post below. Embed Metadata may not require DRM removal.

You can add a shortcut for Embed Metadata to Calibre's main toolbar and/or right-click menu by going to Preferences - Toolbars & menus

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I checked just now (running Windows 7).

Embed Metadata seems to work even if the book has DRM. Alas, I only dragged the resulting AZW3 to my test Calibre library so don't actually know if the resulting file works on an actual Kindle.

Polish Books fails due to DRM.

[lamont]

Alright, after getting the DeDRM removal plugin working, I can now deal with editing book titles.

At least one person mentioned this can cause problems with retrieving metadata. Specifically, what kind of problem can this cause?


Example: S. King's Dark Tower Series.

Titles shown as they appear unedited, and hopefully everyone can tell what bothers me:

The gunslinger
The drawing of the three
The waste lands
Wizard and glass
Wolves of the Calla
Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but three out of Seven seems terrible. Doesn't anybody at Amazon even proof-read the book titles? I can't stand looking at that sort of thing every time I grab my Kindle. Whether or not the problem is OCD should really not be the point of discussion here.

The other thing is that, since I am not gifted with total recall, I would like to have an indication at which number in a series I am looking. In the case of the above series, there are perfectly good alternative titles that would work for me.

The Dark Tower 1 (or I = see I am not that OCD)
The Dark Tower 2 (II)
etc ect ad nauseam.

If anybody could please walk me through editing just one book title step-by-step, I would be over the moon and out of your hair (in regard to this particular hairy topic).