Pros and cons: metadata from contents or title

Dal Bhat · 05-19-2026, 04:43 PM

I've used calibre from day 1 with the default setting of contents.

I don't want to fix something not broken, but I just got to wondering about the other setting.

Why would I prefer one over the other, or under what conditions?

BetterRed · 05-19-2026, 06:57 PM

For my Books library I get metadata from content, for other libraries I get metadata from file name. I use the relevant Per library tweak in the JobSpy plugin to control that.

BR

DNSB · 05-19-2026, 07:17 PM

If an ebook has it's metadata in place, from contents is the best choice. 97%+ of the ePubs I import have decent metadata. There is the remaining ~3% where even the title and author of the ebook are not correctly entered in the .opf file or the .opf file is not present. For those, I may look at the original filename to see if it has any useful information.

Dal Bhat · 05-19-2026, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

There is the remaining ~3% where even the title and author of the ebook are not correctly entered in the .opf file or the .opf file is not present.

When importing, does calibre give you some indication that that might be the case? Or, what does the import look like when the process completes?

I've never had an unsuccessful import so I don't know how a faulty one appears.

theducks · 05-19-2026, 08:31 PM

Not read from Title
Read from file name

In the early days, books did not all have metadata embedded and folk dreamed up file naming conventions. 7.3 limits was still a challenge

OTOH modern formats do have a place for metadata.
I would expect most have processed their old books by now, so from (books) Metadata makes more sense.

Sirtel · 05-19-2026, 09:36 PM

I've always used getting the metadata from contents in the case of books, for 15 years. I correct it manually after importing. File names are more useful with other things, like documents.

DNSB · 05-19-2026, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dal Bhat

When importing, does calibre give you some indication that that might be the case? Or, what does the import look like when the process completes?

I've never had an unsuccessful import so I don't know how a faulty one appears.

An unsuccessful import tends to show incorrect author and title. Often Unknown is what shows. Decent metadata is now expected with most of the books I imported that had bad metadata have been in my library for over a decade.

05-19-2026, 04:43 PM	#1
Dal Bhat Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2024 Device: Kindle 11th Gen	Pros and cons: metadata from contents or title I've used calibre from day 1 with the default setting of contents. I don't want to fix something not broken, but I just got to wondering about the other setting. Why would I prefer one over the other, or under what conditions?

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05-19-2026, 06:57 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,681 Karma: 33011292 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	For my Books library I get metadata from content, for other libraries I get metadata from file name. I use the relevant Per library tweak in the JobSpy plugin to control that. BR

05-19-2026, 07:17 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 51,958 Karma: 180003020 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	If an ebook has it's metadata in place, from contents is the best choice. 97%+ of the ePubs I import have decent metadata. There is the remaining ~3% where even the title and author of the ebook are not correctly entered in the .opf file or the .opf file is not present. For those, I may look at the original filename to see if it has any useful information.

05-19-2026, 08:31 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,780 Karma: 64144480 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Not read from Title Read from file name In the early days, books did not all have metadata embedded and folk dreamed up file naming conventions. 7.3 limits was still a challenge OTOH modern formats do have a place for metadata. I would expect most have processed their old books by now, so from (books) Metadata makes more sense.

05-19-2026, 09:36 PM	#6
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 15,162 Karma: 247594217 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	I've always used getting the metadata from contents in the case of books, for 15 years. I correct it manually after importing. File names are more useful with other things, like documents.

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