Don't keep converted files?

[edent]

Is there any way to tell Calibre to delete the converted version once it has been sent to a device?

I've got lots of .epub files. When I send to a Kindle, they get automatically converted - that's fine, and they look great. But I don't want to keep the converted ones. I just want to keep the originals.

I've checked the help file and the settings, but I'm not seeing anything that looks like it will do what I want.

(I only want to keep the originals for disk space reasons - and so that I can take advantage of better conversion techniques in the future.)

Thanks!

[romad]

Well, on my Mac I have a folder named Calibre Library where the folders are alphabetized by the authors first name (don't know why not by last name). In the author folder are folders for each title by that author which contain 4 files: cover.jpg, metadata.opf, book title.azw3, and book title.epub. You could manually delete the unwanted book title files.

[theducks]

Nope!

Calibre does remember the last used (per book) manual conversion settings.

Maybe it is time to upsize your HD Cloning the installed drive onto a bigger one is pretty easy (assumes there is a bigger one available).

[BetterRed]

Click unwanted format in Tag browser formats to get a Green +, select all books (Ctrl+A), then from Remove books dropdown select Remove files of a specific format from selected books - FWIW I gave that action a shortcut - Alt+Del.

Arrow down to the undesired format (AZW3, MOBI, whatever), hit space bar to select, and then hit Enter. There maybe another way to do it, but that's the way I do it.

BR

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by romad

Well, on my Mac I have a folder named Calibre Library where the folders are alphabetized by the authors first name (don't know why not by last name). In the author folder are folders for each title by that author which contain 4 files: cover.jpg, metadata.opf, book title.azw3, and book title.epub. You could manually delete the unwanted book title files.

Manually doing something with the files in the library folder is an absolute no-no. Calibre won't record those changes in its database and you'll end up with a seriously messed up library.

BetterRed described the quickest way to get rid of a certain format.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by romad

Well, on my Mac I have a folder named Calibre Library where the folders are alphabetized by the authors first name (don't know why not by last name). In the author folder are folders for each title by that author which contain 4 files: cover.jpg, metadata.opf, book title.azw3, and book title.epub. You could manually delete the unwanted book title files.

Manually deleting files (or adding them) in the calibre library is definitely not recommended and a Very Bad Idea. The database keeps track of those files and manually removed files can result in an inconsistent database. While Library Maintenance can correct some of the potential issues, it's best not to tempt Murphy.

Edit: Should have read to the end of the thread before replying. Sirtel said much the same in a shorter form.

[amgoforth]

Originally Posted by edent

Is there any way to tell Calibre to delete the converted version once it has been sent to a device?



I've got lots of .epub files. When I send to a Kindle, they get automatically converted - that's fine, and they look great. But I don't want to keep the converted ones. I just want to keep the originals.



I've checked the help file and the settings, but I'm not seeing anything that looks like it will do what I want.



(I only want to keep the originals for disk space reasons - and so that I can take advantage of better conversion techniques in the future.)



Thanks!

How do you get amazon to convert epubs? When I send epubs to either one of my kindles they never get there.

Sent from my INE-LX2 using Tapatalk

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by amgoforth

How do you get amazon to convert epubs? When I send epubs to either one of my kindles they never get there.

I don't use Amazon to convert files but several people have referenced renaming the .epub to .txt and then Amazon will convert it.

[stuartjmz]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Click unwanted format in Tag browser formats to get a Green +, select all books (Ctrl+A), then from Remove books dropdown select Remove files of a specific format from selected books - FWIW I gave that action a shortcut - Alt+Del.

Arrow down to the undesired format (AZW3, MOBI, whatever), hit space bar to select, and then hit Enter. There maybe another way to do it, but that's the way I do it.

BR

I have no "formats" showing in my Tag browser, how do I enable this fix? There is a "Formats" column, but no "Format" in the list of tags

[retiredbiker]

I thought I remembered some default actions in the drop-down on the side of the Send to Device icon.

Sure enough, one of these is "Send and delete from library". I tried that yesterday, and it did not seem to work.

Another one is "Set default send to device action", and under that, again is "Send and delete from library". I played with that and it didn't seem to work either.

Until today, after restarting the PC and Calibre. I bought a book, did my usual "bad eyes editing", and sent it to my Kobo. ZAP! No copies left in the library. It not only deleted the kepub.epub it made sending to the Kobo, it also blew away the original azw3 I bought, and the epub I had made and edited. Nothing really lost, I could retrieve them, but what a surprise.

So I guess it's a case of be careful what you ask for. And a note to self: only mess with this sort of thing in the Test Library!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

I have no "formats" showing in my Tag browser, how do I enable this fix? There is a "Formats" column, but no "Format" in the list of tags

You must have hidden it at some time, right click in white space and select Show all categories.

BR

[theducks]

If you have a Formats column, it is custom and needs a custom way of populating it.
The Tag Browser is the standard place. BR told you how to get it back

[stuartjmz]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

You must have hidden it at some time, right click in white space and select Show all categories.

BR

D'Oh! I parsed "Tag browser formats" wrongly, and was looking in the "Tags" - didn't even notice "Fornats" just above it. Thanks

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

D'Oh! I parsed "Tag browser formats" wrongly, and was looking in the "Tags" - didn't even notice "Fornats" just above it. Thanks

Easy mistake to make, pity the thing we call the Tag Browser, wasn't branded as the Category Browser (or Cat Tree).

BR

[punkadiddle]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Click unwanted format in Tag browser formats to get a Green +, select all books (Ctrl+A), then from Remove books dropdown select Remove files of a specific format from selected books - FWIW I gave that action a shortcut - Alt+Del.

Arrow down to the undesired format (AZW3, MOBI, whatever), hit space bar to select, and then hit Enter. There maybe another way to do it, but that's the way I do it.

BR

I'm also looking for a feature to not keep automatically generated formats when uploading. Those should go into a temp directory.
The distinction on what to keep is not on the format but on the "original" file (which ever was there first). Anything else can be regenerated in no time from it and does not need to be stored.