ePub on KIndle

[dwig]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

...
The ePub you should try to get an idea of just what the format is capable of is the version of Jerome K. Jerome's comedic classic, Three Men in a Boat, done by one of our very own MR moderators. Looks absolutely marvelous as-is, turns to rubbish once converted to mobi.

Its true that auto-conversions tend the fail when handling images with wrapping text. On the other hand, its quite possible to present this book complete with the graphics in MOBI format. I've attached my own massaged conversion from the book in the link, above.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Beyond that, having to convert is another step. Sure, it only takes a couple minutes in Calibre. But after a few hundred books, it adds up.

So does the file size. I guess epub uses a better compression, they are usually only about 70% of the size of a mobi file. Again, not an issue on a case by case basis, but after awhile it adds up.

And simply working with epub is a lot better than mobi. Spot a typo in an epub? Fire up sigil and fix it. There's nothing like that for mobi.

Well, but e-books are such small files anyway--sure 70% of {almost nothing} is smaller than {almost nothing}, but does it really matter?

I *would* like to be able to fix typos and stuff, though.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by dwig

Its true that auto-conversions tend the fail when handling images with wrapping text. On the other hand, its quite possible to present this book complete with the graphics in MOBI format. I've attached my own massaged conversion from the book in the link, above.

I liked that book and am glad to have a copy of it. Thank you.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by dwig

Its true that auto-conversions tend the fail when handling images with wrapping text. On the other hand, its quite possible to present this book complete with the graphics in MOBI format. I've attached my own massaged conversion from the book in the link, above.

It's not just a matter of wrapped text around images. You also lose the styling variation from the embedded fonts, the drop caps (although the ones in TMiaB were done with images, which compounds the problem), the right-hand margin which indents the chapter listings on both sides in a centred block, and other display niceties which flat out can't be done using mobi format.

Sure, you get the bare text and graphics coming out okay, but you end up missing out on a lot. This thread (post #23) has some screencaps illustrating the differences between the native epub and converted mobi of this particular book.

[OakIris]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I liked that book and am glad to have a copy of it. Thank you.

I second that - thank you dwig. I haven't read it yet, but wanted to.

Holly

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by patilsaurabhr

It shouldn't be pronounced illegal upto the point you are doing it for yourself and abstain from uploading, emailing, or using any other means of mass distribution. IMO, the DRM removed file must be deleted as soon as you are done with it.


Secondly, we don't know whether authors llike it or not. (Even if we do it for home and personal use.) Finally, it's their work and, of course, intellectual property.

None of the countries where circumvention of copy protection is illegal have any kind of fair use clause attached, so if you do it for any reason you are committing an illegal act. If it was something you bought from Amazon you would also be violating their terms of use.

[Grimm]

Meh, I read fiction and I don't use the library. I had a Nook and everything was in epub. I bought my Kindle when the screen broke on the Nook so I converted everything yo mobi. I don't have any problems with it at all.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by dwig

Its true that auto-conversions tend the fail when handling images with wrapping text. On the other hand, its quite possible to present this book complete with the graphics in MOBI format. I've attached my own massaged conversion from the book in the link, above.

Thanks for the book. Had to read it for school a long time ago and it will bring back happy memories.

[montalex]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Beyond that, having to convert is another step. Sure, it only takes a couple minutes in Calibre. But after a few hundred books, it adds up.

So does the file size. I guess epub uses a better compression, they are usually only about 70% of the size of a mobi file. Again, not an issue on a case by case basis, but after awhile it adds up.

And simply working with epub is a lot better than mobi. Spot a typo in an epub? Fire up sigil and fix it. There's nothing like that for mobi.

What you can do with mobi is convert to html to edit. MobiPerl does this, and it is free: https://dev.mobileread.com/trac/mobiperl

You use mobi2html to explode the mobi file. It is easy. I've done it. Then convert back to mobi with Calibre or with html2mobi in MobiPerl

[NigelS]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I *would* like to be able to fix typos and stuff, though.

Surely, all you need to do is edit the typo out of the epub BEFORE converting it to MOBI format?