Why are my book covers sometimes so small? - Page 2

adamslast · 10-21-2019, 07:28 AM

It is related cover page structure. I solved it as I explain below:
Open the book in Calibre -> "Edit Book", choose cover or titlepage (depend the book) page, find the line defining the cover picture like:
<image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg"/>
and add style="height:100%; text-align:center;" text after jpeg". It will be:
<image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg" style="height:100%; text-align:center;"/>
Then save and close Edit Book. The new corrected book's cover will be seen in full size on your Kobo.

davidfor · 10-21-2019, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamslast

It is related cover page structure. I solved it as I explain below:
Open the book in Calibre -> "Edit Book", choose cover or titlepage (depend the book) page, find the line defining the cover picture like:
<image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg"/>
and add style="height:100%; text-align:center;" text after jpeg". It will be:
<image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg" style="height:100%; text-align:center;"/>
Then save and close Edit Book. The new corrected book's cover will be seen in full size on your Kobo.

That line looks like the image link inside an svg tag. That might have a "preserveAspectRatio" attribute. If so, setting this to "xMidYMid meet" should preserve the aspect ratio and fill the screen.

But, you can try the "Add cover" tool. This will let you select the image in the book and set whether to preserve the aspect ratio. It then generates the cover page code to fill the screen.

JSWolf · 10-21-2019, 09:36 AM

I don't get why anyone would want the cover to be stretched to look odd. Keeping the cover at the correct aspect ratio keep the cover looking good.

ZodWallop · 10-21-2019, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't get why anyone would want the cover to be stretched to look odd. Keeping the cover at the correct aspect ratio keep the cover looking good.

I stretch my covers because I don't like the letterbox (or pillar box) bars. The stretching is minimal and not generally noticeable.

adamslast · 10-21-2019, 11:10 AM

@davidfor
Thanks, i have not enough technical knowledge about epub structure and it was just a copy past try ending successful.

I will try your proposal.

JSWolf · 10-21-2019, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I stretch my covers because I don't like the letterbox (or pillar box) bars. The stretching is minimal and not generally noticeable.

So if you have a widescreen TV, you'd stretch 4:3 aspect programs to fit and look awful?

Ripplinger · 10-21-2019, 12:57 PM

I also stretch my covers because I dislike the pillarbox on the images and the resulting uneven sizes displayed on the homescreen and book lists. As ZodWallop said, the stretching is minimal and really don't notice it unless you have the original side-by-side to compare.

It's hardly the same thing as comparing a book cover to stretching out an old 4:3 TV show to wide screen dimensions. That really does look horrid, it makes everyone look short and fat, the distortion is very noticeable and not pleasant to view at all.

You see the book cover image maybe for 1 second when you open the book, you're not sitting and staring at the image for even 30 minutes, a half-hour show's time. And it's not images of actors that you're familiar with that you would instantly notice that they look wrong, it's usually a house or a road, something non-descript that makes zero difference if it's 40 pixels wider than it should be while you open your book.

One preference has nothing to do with the other.

ZodWallop · 10-21-2019, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So if you have a widescreen TV, you'd stretch 4:3 aspect programs to fit and look awful?

Come on buddy. Don't be ridiculous.

radius · 10-22-2019, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek1011

You'd probably be better off playing around with covergen, which I'll be releasing with the next version of kepubify sometime next week. Then you don't have to modify the epub itself.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't kepubify.

I like to keep everything as epub and I don't mind making changes in them. I see them as my "archival" copies so I want them to be optimized for my purposes.

radius · 10-22-2019, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamslast

It is related cover page structure. I solved it as I explain below:
Open the book in Calibre -> "Edit Book", choose cover or titlepage (depend the book) page, find the line defining the cover picture like:
<image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg"/>
and add style="height:100%; text-align:center;" text after jpeg". It will be:
<image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg" style="height:100%; text-align:center;"/>
Then save and close Edit Book. The new corrected book's cover will be seen in full size on your Kobo.

I'll try something similar to this, thanks.

I wonder if Kobo uses some extremely high dpi setting for images? Sometimes in text I have images that are very small proportional to the page too. But if I load the same epub book elsewhere (say iBooks, Google Play Books etc) they will be a better size, even for screens with higher pixel count than the Kobo.

geek1011 · 10-22-2019, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radius

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't kepubify.

I like to keep everything as epub and I don't mind making changes in them. I see them as my "archival" copies so I want them to be optimized for my purposes.

You don't need to use kepubify to use seriesmeta or covergen, as those are standalone tools. The only reason they are part of kepubify is because they are related to nickel and are often used by kepubify users. Both tools work with ordinary epubs as well as kepubs, and neither interferes with Calibre.

JSWolf · 10-22-2019, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Come on buddy. Don't be ridiculous.

So if you don't mind the left/right borders on a 4:3 program, why not on a cover?

davidfor · 10-22-2019, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So if you don't mind the left/right borders on a 4:3 program, why not on a cover?

Because the distortion when going from 4:3 to 16:9 is a lot worse than that for book covers. And, in general, you aren't looking at the covers for anywhere near as long. And, it depends on the cover, the more abstract, the less likely for it to matter.

But, most importantly, because that is what they choose to do.

ZodWallop · 10-22-2019, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So if you don't mind the left/right borders on a 4:3 program, why not on a cover?

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Because the distortion when going from 4:3 to 16:9 is a lot worse than that for book covers. And, in general, you aren't looking at the covers for anywhere near as long. And, it depends on the cover, the more abstract, the less likely for it to matter.

That.

Quote:

But, most importantly, because that is what they choose to do.

And that.

Fozkas · 10-23-2019, 05:44 AM

As far i know, if no cover image is set, the kobo uses the first page of the book to display as cover.

If the image set is small i think it stretches it. In your case, the image must be embedded in the first page.

You can fix that easy enough through caliber.

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10-21-2019, 07:28 AM	#16
adamslast Member Posts: 16 Karma: 31064 Join Date: Oct 2014 Device: Kobo Aura 6", Kobo Aura One	It is related cover page structure. I solved it as I explain below: Open the book in Calibre -> "Edit Book", choose cover or titlepage (depend the book) page, find the line defining the cover picture like: <image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg"/> and add style="height:100%; text-align:center;" text after jpeg". It will be: <image width="1027" height="1499" xlink:href="cover.jpeg" style="height:100%; text-align:center;"/> Then save and close Edit Book. The new corrected book's cover will be seen in full size on your Kobo.

10-21-2019, 09:36 AM	#18
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,796 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I don't get why anyone would want the cover to be stretched to look odd. Keeping the cover at the correct aspect ratio keep the cover looking good.

10-21-2019, 11:10 AM	#20
adamslast Member Posts: 16 Karma: 31064 Join Date: Oct 2014 Device: Kobo Aura 6", Kobo Aura One	@davidfor Thanks, i have not enough technical knowledge about epub structure and it was just a copy past try ending successful. I will try your proposal.

10-21-2019, 12:57 PM	#22
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I also stretch my covers because I dislike the pillarbox on the images and the resulting uneven sizes displayed on the homescreen and book lists. As ZodWallop said, the stretching is minimal and really don't notice it unless you have the original side-by-side to compare. It's hardly the same thing as comparing a book cover to stretching out an old 4:3 TV show to wide screen dimensions. That really does look horrid, it makes everyone look short and fat, the distortion is very noticeable and not pleasant to view at all. You see the book cover image maybe for 1 second when you open the book, you're not sitting and staring at the image for even 30 minutes, a half-hour show's time. And it's not images of actors that you're familiar with that you would instantly notice that they look wrong, it's usually a house or a road, something non-descript that makes zero difference if it's 40 pixels wider than it should be while you open your book. One preference has nothing to do with the other.

10-23-2019, 05:44 AM	#30
Fozkas Connoisseur Posts: 56 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2019 Device: Kobo Libra H2O	As far i know, if no cover image is set, the kobo uses the first page of the book to display as cover. If the image set is small i think it stretches it. In your case, the image must be embedded in the first page. You can fix that easy enough through caliber.