Adding covers to Amazon's free books (when needed) - Page 2

poohbear_nc · 03-02-2012, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phogg

Chicken goes with anything. Its the universal food. we need a book cover generator that adds tastey chicken.

War and Peace .. and Chicken.
Great Pullet Expectations.
Pride, Poultry, and Prejudice.
The Drumsticks of war.

I resemble that remark!

pendragginp · 03-02-2012, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

Why you gotta be a vanilla hater? Vanilla is an exotic, intense and delicious flavor.

Just not on chicken. Worst Cooks, yo! Represent!

I saw that! Can you imagine!

Britomart · 03-03-2012, 03:00 AM

Dr. Drib, what is so bad about the Amazon covers? Could you kindly explain? Thanks!

Dr. Drib · 03-03-2012, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Britomart

Dr. Drib, what is so bad about the Amazon covers? Could you kindly explain? Thanks!

They have a low pixel range and don't look very good when enlarged for the space calibre allows.

Plus (and this is my own preference), I don't care for the words "Click to look inside" and "Kindle edition."

Don

SensualPoet · 03-03-2012, 10:58 AM

The caveat to this process is that "convert" sometimes messes up with the existing formatting. I am struggling with exactly this issue over at the calibre-->conversion forum. My interest is simply inserting a cover in a book where no cover previously existed. I have not yet found a solution solely tied to calibre which works for epubs.

koland · 03-04-2012, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

They have a low pixel range and don't look very good when enlarged for the space calibre allows.

Plus (and this is my own preference), I don't care for the words "Click to look inside" and "Kindle edition."

Don

Just remove the modifiers that Amazon uses to lower resolution, add the "look inside" or edition info and to add a border around the cover.

Sounds like work or you'd need to know which bits did what, but is actually quite simple: delete everything between the first and last period in the URL.

For the image you displayed, the original image link is:

Code:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512uehJq7aL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-48,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

and the link you want to feed calibre is:

Code:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512uehJq7aL.jpg

which yields this much nicer cover:

This works for nearly every cover image at amazon.... and is doubtless what Calibre does when it does it metadata search.

Dr. Drib · 03-04-2012, 05:35 PM

Thanks for that information, Karen.

I wasn't aware of that, or even how to do it.

I appreciate it.

Don

ApK · 03-04-2012, 08:25 PM

Yeah, neat trick. I'll have to remember that one.

However, note, it's not the first and last period in the URL, it's the first and last period in the last part of the URL, which appears to amount to a filename.

AlexBell · 03-05-2012, 02:27 AM

Thanks, Dr. Drib for this method.

Will it make a mobi ebook open at the cover?

Dr. Drib · 03-05-2012, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Thanks, Dr. Drib for this method.

Will it make a mobi ebook open at the cover?

It makes the Amazon ebooks open at their cover. I've only tried those.

Don

AlexBell · 03-06-2012, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

It makes the Amazon ebooks open at their cover. I've only tried those.

Don

Thanks again. That's good news.

03-04-2012, 08:25 PM	#23
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,389 Karma: 68329346 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Yeah, neat trick. I'll have to remember that one. However, note, it's not the first and last period in the URL, it's the first and last period in the last part of the URL, which appears to amount to a filename. Last edited by ApK; 03-04-2012 at 08:32 PM.

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03-03-2012, 03:00 AM	#18
Britomart Guru Posts: 703 Karma: 1510625 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Opus, PC	Dr. Drib, what is so bad about the Amazon covers? Could you kindly explain? Thanks!

03-03-2012, 10:58 AM	#20
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	The caveat to this process is that "convert" sometimes messes up with the existing formatting. I am struggling with exactly this issue over at the calibre-->conversion forum. My interest is simply inserting a cover in a book where no cover previously existed. I have not yet found a solution solely tied to calibre which works for epubs.

03-04-2012, 05:35 PM	#22
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,443 Karma: 59592133 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	Thanks for that information, Karen. I wasn't aware of that, or even how to do it. I appreciate it. Don

03-05-2012, 02:27 AM	#24
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	Thanks, Dr. Drib for this method. Will it make a mobi ebook open at the cover?

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