Libra 2 New with Kobo. Doubts about conversion progress.

[PunkyKoopa]

Hi fellow readers,

I have been a paper book reader for many years and I have a Kindle Paperwhite since 6 or 7 years. I like it but I really miss the comfort of buttons and the ability to hold it one handed. Plus I mostly read at night in bed so the orange light is a neat addition for me. I decided to get a Kobo Libra 2.

I have about 20 or so books in my Amazon account. I wonder if I should switch to Kobo Store and start to get my books from there or start using Calibre.

-I need the deDRM plugin. The only thing that I have to configure is my Kindle serial number, right?

-Should I use Kobo Touch Extended Driver and convert to Kepub instead of ePub? What are the main differences? I like the more advanced options to customize fonts, sides and margins of Kobo versus Kindle, so I don't want to miss anything here.

-Will I miss features if I continue to get my books from Amazon and then convert with Calibre? I like to have reading stats to sett my trends, remaining time or pages...I also use A LOT highlights and dictionary with my Kindle.

-Just to sum up, will be any difference between the same book from Kobo Store to a side loaded book from Amazon? Side loaded books will have any weird restrictions or wrong margins and spacing due to conversion?

I was very excited for the switch to Kobo, and I REALLY prefer the Kobo device but this Calibre thing is making me fell a bit anxious about my decision.

Thank you very much.

[davidfor]

The primary difference between sideloaded and purchased books is that the latter will sync to the Kobo server. The books are downloaded and the reading status is synced to the server. If you have another Kobo device or use their apps, the books, reading status and annotations will sync to all of them. This is similar to the Kindle, but, there is no way to sync books not purchased from Kobo.

For DRM removal, I can't help, but that's because I can't remember. I rarely buy from Amazon and don't remember if I have it setup. Most of my books come from Kobo, so I deal with the DRM that they use. There is a thread in the calibre forum about DRM and Amazon. I think what you want will be in the first post.

Whether to use kepub or epub is constantly discussed. I would suggest looking for one of the existing threads. There is a new one started most weeks. But, it is personal choices and it is much better would be just to try them both. Put the epub version of a book on the device, then use the extended driver to send the kepub. Then read both. You can always remove or disable the extended driver if you don't like them. But, the time where a kepub is clearly better is when there are lots of pictures (can open the pictures in the image viewer) or footnotes (handled much better) in the book.

Also, don't worry to much about this. If you make a mistake or realise you don't like it the way you started, you can reset and start again. And we always learn from our mistakes. Even if it is just learning what question to ask to get the help you need.

[Karellen]

I purchased my first Kobo about 6 weeks ago. Like you I also decided on the Libra 2. I was a bit hesitant at first as I had always used a Kindle, but I was a bit frustrated with the Kindle as it was impossible to sort books into lists useful to me.

Now I have absolutely no regret with the Kobo. I have been able to set it up exactly as I want with Sets and Collections that are useful to me and davidfor above was really helpful with me achieving that goal.

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I have about 20 or so books in my Amazon account. I wonder if I should switch to Kobo Store and start to get my books from there or start using Calibre.

I haven't. I still use my Amazon account. I have well over a hundred books on Amazon, and I was still able to get them onto the Kobo.
I use Calibre along with DeDRM and I have installed the Kindle for PC software.

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

-I need the deDRM plugin. The only thing that I have to configure is my Kindle serial number, right?

Yes.
When you download the plugin, remember the install zip file is in the downloaded file, so you have to extract it out.

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

-Should I use Kobo Touch Extended Driver and convert to Kepub instead of ePub? What are the main differences? I like the more advanced options to customize fonts, sides and margins of Kobo versus Kindle, so I don't want to miss anything here.

I don't use kepub, only epubs. And I am happy with the result.

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

-Will I miss features if I continue to get my books from Amazon and then convert with Calibre? I like to have reading stats to sett my trends, remaining time or pages...I also use A LOT highlights and dictionary with my Kindle.

Yea, that is the only downside. Previously I could read in bed on my Kindle, on the train on my iPhone, or out and about on my iPad. Now that is not possible and I have to carry the Libra 2 around with me.

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

-Just to sum up, will be any difference between the same book from Kobo Store to a side loaded book from Amazon? Side loaded books will have any weird restrictions or wrong margins and spacing due to conversion?

As another member stated here in another thread, sometimes you can get great books from Amazon, with great formatting, other times it can be full of crap. So far I have come across a few books from Amazon that needed cleaning up due to inconsistent formatting.
As for the Kobo store, I have no idea as I haven't purchased from them yet. But I would imagine the publisher is uploading the same book to these retailers.

[PunkyKoopa]

Thank you.

I will keep getting my books from Amazon for now. I will start getting my library ready on Calibre and sorted in the way I want. Then I will send just one book to my Kobo, on both formats, and choose will I like most.

I never ever read on phone or tablets, I kinda hate it, so is syncing between devices the only feature missing from side loading? What about reading stats and font and styling customisations? These differences and limitations are just regarded to book source or the format is also affecting?

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I never ever read on phone or tablets, I kinda hate it, so is syncing between devices the only feature missing from side loading? What about reading stats and font and styling customisations? These differences and limitations are just regarded to book source or the format is also affecting?

Syncing books is pretty much the only thing missing when sideloading. The same reading settings are available for both sideloaded and purchased books. There are basic reading stats for all books. That is time read, who far you are through them and estimate of time left. When reading kepubs, there are more stats including a bar graph of the chapter lengths indicating where you are in them.

[PunkyKoopa]

Thank you! I can have all the features that I wanted then. When I arrive home I will import all my books to Calibre, clear the DRM and have fun getting my library ready. I can’t wait to start with my Kobo!

Thank you for your help! I appreciate it a lot.

[Ripplinger]

If you normally sort your books by Collections, read this page about how to have Calibre do it automatically when it sends the books to your device:

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kob...nd_Collections

Kobo firmware will already have a way to sort by Series and by Author, but if you like books sorted into genres or some other system, Collections is the way to do it.

[PunkyKoopa]

Hi! Well, my library is fully imported and tagged into Calibre. I am just trying and I have been able to send books to my Kobo, both ePub and Kobo ePub. I have read a few pages and I like it. It's comfortable, perfect size, dictionary is better than Kindle (and you can search again on the definition...). So far so good but I have more questions than ever.

• The first thing I notice is that the Kepub and ePub books are rendered quite different despite having the same font size and margins on the Kobo. Is this right or did I mess up with Calibre settings? Left image is Kepub and right is ePub.
  
  

• I can't see any statistics with ePubs. Is this normal? The little bar that appears right-up corner with Kepubs doesn't shows with ePubs. I also noticed that sometimes, both in ePubs and Kepubs, current page number doesn't always change with each page turn or flip.

• I see that font, margins and spacing customization are saved individually by book. This is the opposite of Kindle because with Kindle it applies the changes to every book on the device. I understand that this is a normal behavior in Kobo software, right?

• When I go to the book details on the Kobo (I click the 3 dots then "See details"), there are to tabs to see the synopsis and the file details. In the synopsis there is a weird double spacing despite having it right on Calibre. If a check a book on the Kobo Store it happens too (despite showing right the first second it is loaded and then change to show double spacing), so I am assuming it's the way it is, right? First picture is a my book in my library and the other two when I open a book on the store and how it changes a second later.
  
  

• Last, it is possible to show things like tabs or ratings on the details section if I add them to Calibre?

Thank you. Your help means a lot.

[Sirtel]

1. Yes, epubs and kepubs have different font sizes, unless you apply a patch that fixes it

2. Right, no stats with epubs

3. Yes, settings are saved for each book

4. Also true. To change this with a book sideloaded from Calibre, change the <p> tags to <br> tags in the comments section (the html view). Unfortunately it must be done manually with each book, as the bulk option won't stick

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

• I can't see any statistics with ePubs. Is this normal? The little bar that appears right-up corner with Kepubs doesn't shows with ePubs. I also noticed that sometimes, both in ePubs and Kepubs, current page number doesn't always change with each page turn or flip.

• I see that font, margins and spacing customization are saved individually by book. This is the opposite of Kindle because with Kindle it applies the changes to every book on the device. I understand that this is a normal behavior in Kobo software, right?

Thank you. Your help means a lot.

If these features are important to you and you read mostly epubs as opposed to kepubs, you may want to consider giving KOReader a try. I've attached photo of the stats page for my current read. Also, this thread shows how to set persistent defaults across all books

[davidfor]

Some expansion on @Sirtel's reply:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

2. Right, no stats with epubs

No in-book stats for epubs. The stats shown on the Activity->Reading Stats page are done for both.

3. Yes, settings are saved for each book

It also sets the settings for the next book. Or when reopening a book that does not have stored font settings.

4. Also true. To change this with a book sideloaded from Calibre, change the <p> tags to <br> tags in the comments section (the html view). Unfortunately it must be done manually with each book, as the bulk option won't stick

Unlike most places that use HTML syntax to display text, the synopsis shows any carriage returns that are in the code. And the editor that calibre uses for the comments puts them in between p tags. Using br tags does solve it but, it is ugly. Using a metadata plugboard on the comments will remove any extra whitespace and the synopsis should display without the extra line spaces. It should work with just:

{comments}

The reason for "should" is that there have been changes in template language recently and they affected this. And my metadata plugboard is a lot more complex and explicitly strips the extra whitespace characters.

If that doesn't work, the following should:

program:
re(field('comments'), '\s+', ' ');

Spoiler:

For anyone who is interested, I use:

program:
comment=field('comments');
rating_str = test($rating, strcat('<p><b>Rating:</b> ', rating_as_stars($rating), '</p>'),'');
kobo_last_read_str = test($#kobo_last_read,strcat('<p><b>Last Read:</b> ', $#kobo_last_read, '</p>'),'');
word_count = test(field('#words'),strcat('<b>Word count:</b> ', field('#words')),'');
page_count = test(field('#pages'),strcat('<b>Page count:</b> ', field('#pages')),'');
counts = test(strcat(word_count,page_count),'<p>','');
counts = test(word_count,strcat(counts,word_count),counts);
counts = test(word_count,test(page_count,strcat(counts,' '),counts),counts);
counts = test(page_count,strcat(counts,page_count),counts);
counts = test(strcat(word_count,page_count),strcat(counts,'</p>'),'');
extradata = strcat(rating_str,kobo_last_read_str,counts);
comment=strcat(comment,test(extradata,strcat('<hr/>',extradata),""));
re(comment, '\s+', ' ');

Which puts the comments followed by a line, my rating for the book, when I read it, the word count and the page count. The complications are so that if the values do not exist, there are no errors, and nothing is added for that item.

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by davidfor

If that doesn't work, the following should:

program:
re(field('comments'), '\s+', ' ');

Thank you davidfor, I didn't notice previously, but I had the double spacing issue also. I used the above code and the extra line spacing was stripped away.

[PunkyKoopa]

Thank you! I am learning a lot! I think that I will stick with Kepub for the moment, so I don't think that I am going to install KOReader.

Regarding the patch for merge different sizes between ePubs and Kepubs, should I install it? I have only installed 3 plugins, Kobo Utilities, Kobo Touch Extended Driver and deDRM. Am I missing something important?

For the comments section changes, where I need to write the code? In Preferences - Advanced - Template functions? It is possible with those functions add details like ratings to the details sections of Kobo? Or Calibre only can write in the synopsis section?

Thank you!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

Regarding the patch for merge different sizes between ePubs and Kepubs, should I install it? I have only installed 3 plugins, Kobo Utilities, Kobo Touch Extended Driver and deDRM. Am I missing something important?

Patches are changes made to the executables on the device. There are threads discussing them in the Developer's Corner.

For the comments section changes, where I need to write the code? In Preferences - Advanced - Template functions? It is possible with those functions add details like ratings to the details sections of Kobo? Or Calibre only can write in the synopsis section?

It is a "metadata plugboard". Hence it goes in the "Metadata plugboard" section of the calibre preferences. I can't find a good description of how to do this, so here is a hopefully understandable one:

1. Open the "Metadata plugboard" page of the preferences.
2. In the "Add new plugboard", select "EPUB" in the formats drop-down list and "KOBOTOUCHEXTENDED" in the device drop-down list.
3. Under "Source template" paste the template to be used.
4. On the same lines, select "comments" in the "Destination field".
5. If you need to change more than one metadata item, use the next line. Make sure you select the correct destination field.
6. When finished, press the "Save plugboard" button that is below the templates.
7. Press the "Apply" button at the bottom of the preferences dialog. And then "Close" button.

It should now be ready to go.

But, as you are editing a plugboard, I also recommend setting the authors. Because of the way calibre sets the authors in the book (perfectly legitimately) and the way Kobo reads them (also legitimate, but, not the best way), books with multiple authors will have one author on the device. If you set the "author" to the following template, the device will show all the authors:

program: raw_list('authors', ', ')

[PunkyKoopa]

Yes! Now it look faaaaaar better. Thank you!

So, if I want to show the comments, the publisher, the date of publication, number of pages and genres...I need to create a plugboard that looks like that, right?

program: re(field('comments'), '\s+', ' ');
program: format_date(field('pubdate'), 'yyyy')
program: field('tags')
program: field('#numpages')
program: field('publisher')

I am doing something wrong because I can't make it work. It works if I just use one, but I can't figure out how to combine them. Also, it is possible to show just the comments on the synopsis section and all the other info on the details tab?