EPUB to EPUB conversion settings

[mm4n]

Hi everyone,

I’m a very basic Calibre user, I only need it to sort my ePub library and perform some corrections or modifications on my book's covers and metadata, which I eventually transfer to my Kobo device. I also save the final ePub files to my hard drive, and since I like them to have their covers fixed to their original dimensions and the modified metadata embedded, I usually perform an ePub to ePub conversion process just for that.

I don’t really tweak with the books I download, I always get them in ePub format and let my Kobo take care of line spacings, fonts and justification, so I’d be happy if I could just keep them as they come except for their covers, which I usually download on a better resolution and then resize all to the same height of 950 pixels (and obtaining different widths as I keep their intended proportions), and the metadata I include for myself so I can group them by languages, genres and such.

Although I've disabled all possible options and modifications in the conversion menus (font size, expressions, pages breaks…), I was wondering if there's a better/simpler/more efficient way to configure Calibre to process the original ePub file as little as possible in order to obtain an almost exact copy of it modifying only the book cover and metadata.

Would love to hear all your ideas and suggestions, thanks everyone in advance.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by mm4n

Hi everyone,

I’m a very basic Calibre user, I only need it to sort my ePub library and perform some corrections or modifications on my book's covers and metadata, which I eventually transfer to my Kobo device. I also save the final ePub files to my hard drive, and since I like them to have their covers fixed to their original dimensions and the modified metadata embedded, I usually perform an ePub to ePub conversion process just for that.

I don’t really tweak with the books I download, I always get them in ePub format and let my Kobo take care of line spacings, fonts and justification, so I’d be happy if I could just keep them as they come except for their covers, which I usually download on a better resolution and then resize all to the same height of 950 pixels (and obtaining different widths as I keep their intended proportions), and the metadata I include for myself so I can group them by languages, genres and such.

Although I've disabled all possible options and modifications in the conversion menus (font size, expressions, pages breaks…), I was wondering if there's a better/simpler/more efficient way to configure Calibre to process the original ePub file as little as possible in order to obtain an almost exact copy of it modifying only the book cover and metadata.

Would love to hear all your ideas and suggestions, thanks everyone in advance.

You could try the Modify Epub plugin to update covers and metadata instead of an epub to epub conversion.

[mm4n]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You could try the Modify Epub plugin to update covers and metadata instead of an epub to epub conversion.

Seems to do the trick, thanks a lot!

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by mm4n

Seems to do the trick, thanks a lot!

Just a suggestion ...

Although the 'Modify Epub' plugin can do what you need, if you only want to update cover and metadata I would suggest using the built-in calibre 'Polish' tool instead. Kovid maintains 'Polish' himself so it is more likely to be up-to-date (e.g. epub3 differences) than 'Modify Epub'.

You might need to add 'Polish' to one of your menus/toolbars using Prefs - Toolbars & Menus.

[mm4n]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Just a suggestion ...

Although the 'Modify Epub' plugin can do what you need, if you only want to update cover and metadata I would suggest using the built-in calibre 'Polish' tool instead. Kovid maintains 'Polish' himself so it is more likely to be up-to-date (e.g. epub3 differences) than 'Modify Epub'.

You might need to add 'Polish' to one of your menus/toolbars using Prefs - Toolbars & Menus.

Thank you for the tip, I'll try that too and see which method suits my needs better.