Incentive to 'liberate' secure epub when everything reads it? - Page 2

ficbot · 12-12-2009, 12:00 AM

Thanks to Eric Stuart for the blog post! I have it working now. I was so thrilled to get everything into Calibre, I hated having to use the Sony library for some things and Calibre for others. I prefer having it all in one place. About half of my books were available (some were not; they were all freebie downloads, so I can be patient) and I converted some tonight just to test. This is MUCH easier than what I was doing with the eReader DRM. Unless the book is something I really want and FW has it on Micropay rebate, I am going to buy from Shortcovers now since the epub is so much easier to work with and produces a nicer looking end book. Also, since I can have it all in Calibre anyway, I guess the source of the book matters less

I have been coveting the new Douglas Coupland so I think that will be my first buy.

wallcraft · 12-12-2009, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Unless the book is something I really want and FW has it on Micropay rebate, I am going to buy from Shortcovers now since the epub is so much easier to work with and produces a nicer looking end book.

FictionWise has started to stock Adobe ePubs too, see Secure Epub at Fictionwise!

JSWolf · 12-12-2009, 10:09 AM

I liberate ePub because in most cases, I want to add the CSS code to use the fonts of my choice. And in most cases, the formatting needs fixing. I cannot stand line spaces between paragraphs. Sometimes the paragraph indents are just too larger. Sometimes the font size is too small. I also like to remove the margins. It really doesn't take long to sort out. But it needs to be done and it cannot be done if DRM is in the way.

ficbot · 12-12-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I liberate ePub because in most cases, I want to add the CSS code to use the fonts of my choice.

Sorry for pestering with questions, but how do you do this? I loaded one of my 'liberated' epubs last night onto the Sony and the font is TINY. Like, itty-bitty baby-sized. And it kept crashing when I tried to zoom in. I would love to just have the regular font be a normal one...

kjk · 12-12-2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Sorry for pestering with questions, but how do you do this? I loaded one of my 'liberated' epubs last night onto the Sony and the font is TINY. Like, itty-bitty baby-sized. And it kept crashing when I tried to zoom in. I would love to just have the regular font be a normal one...

I use Sigil to edit my ePubs. But you can use any text editor if you take the time to open up the ePub file (it is just a zip file), and if you know any basic HTML/CSS.

I also like having access to the ePub, to just play around with the CSS and get the book to how I want it.

EowynCarter · 12-12-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I liberate ePub because in most cases, I want to add the CSS code to use the fonts of my choice. And in most cases, the formatting needs fixing. I cannot stand line spaces between paragraphs. Sometimes the paragraph indents are just too larger. Sometimes the font size is too small. I also like to remove the margins. It really doesn't take long to sort out. But it needs to be done and it cannot be done if DRM is in the way.

I do that a lot too.
No changing font, but fixing margins. Publishers tends to add big margin at the left to avoid ade's page numbers...

ficbot · 12-12-2009, 01:15 PM

Thanks, kjk. I downloaded Sigil for the mac and it's not working. I have tried a few files and it keeps telling me it hasn't got permissions to open them. But I know they are free, plain files now because Calibre can handle them (and convert them) with no problems...

mbovenka · 12-12-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

I am assuming that once it is freed, I can put it into Calibre and convert it to LRF if I prefer that format for the full justification?

Yes, no problem.

kjk · 12-12-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Thanks, kjk. I downloaded Sigil for the mac and it's not working. I have tried a few files and it keeps telling me it hasn't got permissions to open them. But I know they are free, plain files now because Calibre can handle them (and convert them) with no problems...

Weird..are they ePubs? I think Sigil can only open ePub and HTML right now.
I haven't had any trouble opening files on my Mac.

EowynCarter · 12-12-2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Thanks, kjk. I downloaded Sigil for the mac and it's not working. I have tried a few files and it keeps telling me it hasn't got permissions to open them. But I know they are free, plain files now because Calibre can handle them (and convert them) with no problems...

Maybe MacOsX is blocking this, because the user executing sigil don't have write right on these file ?

ficbot · 12-12-2009, 01:33 PM

Yup, they are epubs from the Sony store which I freed using the adept tool. Could it be that I have put them into Calibre already and that changes them? Do I need to work on them before they go into Calibre?

kjk · 12-12-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Yup, they are epubs from the Sony store which I freed using the adept tool. Could it be that I have put them into Calibre already and that changes them? Do I need to work on them before they go into Calibre?

I always go thru Calibre first, then open them in Sigil. Maybe ask Valloric in his forum!

JSWolf · 12-12-2009, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I do that a lot too.
No changing font, but fixing margins. Publishers tends to add big margin at the left to avoid ade's page numbers...

They tend to also insert line spaces between paragraphs which makes things look nasty.

zacheryjensen · 12-12-2009, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

The only DRM I currently buy is secure eReader. I used to leave it as is and read on my computer or ipod Touch, but when I got my Sony Reader, I started liberating it and have loaded everything onto it.

Now, it seems epub is the new thing, and I am not sure what to do. Shortcovers is very tempting, and now I could buy it at the Sony store too. I could read it on every device I own and it would not 'need' liberating. But I have been reluctant because I am already pretty entrenched at Fictionwise and am not sure I want multiple bookshelves spread out all over creation.

So I am curious, if every device one owns will read epub because it is the new standard, what is the incentive to 'liberate' it? Is there still one? On the plus, if one 'liberates' and loads it onto a device with text to speech or some such feature, you can use your book regardless of whether the publisher 'allows' it or not. And it seems the file sizes of my 'liberated' books are much smaller than most of the free books I have downloaded from the Sony store.

On the minus though, 'liberating' is a lot of work. I have downloaded the epub scripts and not tried them yet, but I know that my secure eReader books need a bit of formatting clean-up once I get them freed, and that can be tedious and time-consuming. There is definite appeal, for a heavy reader like me, in being able to just download, load into the reader and go without needing to do all this work and wind up with a not as pretty plain text file in the end.

As long as I can load them into Calibre for proper tagging and loading, I suppose it does not matter which 'source' one buys it from, and it seems like epub support is being built in to every new gizmo these days. So I am wondering if it might be worth it to start buying from the Sony Store and Shortcovers in secure epub rather than in secure eReader from Fictionwise. Is this a good idea? Is there a downside to doing this? Do any of you who regularly buy secure epub see any compelling reason to liberate, or not to?

Besides not having to worry, ever, if I'll be able to cut through the DRM for a future platform or device or whatever, I like to liberate the DRM so I can use a single reader app for all of my ebooks.

ePub is especially good for keeping "liberated" due to its format's standard nature, it will be easier in the future to write conversion tools and such.

I wouldn't hesitate to liberate any format I ever got, just on the principle that you can't always predict what will happen down the road and leaving the DRM on gives you no advantages (it's not like you can't continue reading the bookstore provided copy for the sake of stored bookmarks and all that anyway)

ficbot · 12-12-2009, 11:29 PM

Here is one more quick question, one of my free Sony books which I liberated has a super-small font. Sigil won't load it (this is my first attempt at Sigil so I am not experienced with it) so I am wondering if I can change it with Calibre?

I did try to use the font zoomer on the Sony but it kept crashing the reader. I don't know if that's because I liberated it the wrong way somehow, or because I converted it to LRF before I sent it to the Sony or some other reason....

Any thoughts?

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12-12-2009, 12:00 AM	#16
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Thanks to Eric Stuart for the blog post! I have it working now. I was so thrilled to get everything into Calibre, I hated having to use the Sony library for some things and Calibre for others. I prefer having it all in one place. About half of my books were available (some were not; they were all freebie downloads, so I can be patient) and I converted some tonight just to test. This is MUCH easier than what I was doing with the eReader DRM. Unless the book is something I really want and FW has it on Micropay rebate, I am going to buy from Shortcovers now since the epub is so much easier to work with and produces a nicer looking end book. Also, since I can have it all in Calibre anyway, I guess the source of the book matters less I have been coveting the new Douglas Coupland so I think that will be my first buy.

12-12-2009, 10:09 AM	#18
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,792 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I liberate ePub because in most cases, I want to add the CSS code to use the fonts of my choice. And in most cases, the formatting needs fixing. I cannot stand line spaces between paragraphs. Sometimes the paragraph indents are just too larger. Sometimes the font size is too small. I also like to remove the margins. It really doesn't take long to sort out. But it needs to be done and it cannot be done if DRM is in the way.

12-12-2009, 01:15 PM	#22
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Thanks, kjk. I downloaded Sigil for the mac and it's not working. I have tried a few files and it keeps telling me it hasn't got permissions to open them. But I know they are free, plain files now because Calibre can handle them (and convert them) with no problems...

12-12-2009, 01:33 PM	#26
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Yup, they are epubs from the Sony store which I freed using the adept tool. Could it be that I have put them into Calibre already and that changes them? Do I need to work on them before they go into Calibre?

12-12-2009, 11:29 PM	#30
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Here is one more quick question, one of my free Sony books which I liberated has a super-small font. Sigil won't load it (this is my first attempt at Sigil so I am not experienced with it) so I am wondering if I can change it with Calibre? I did try to use the font zoomer on the Sony but it kept crashing the reader. I don't know if that's because I liberated it the wrong way somehow, or because I converted it to LRF before I sent it to the Sony or some other reason.... Any thoughts?