Send to Kindle - Book Cover (Thumbnail)

[93terp]

Originally Posted by robertpolson

What is the best way to transfer a book to Kindle to keep the book covert?

I have been using Send To Kindle app on Mac but the books I send end up being categorized as documents without the book cover on Kindle.

Is there any way to use Send To Kindle app so that the book can appear on iPad and Kindle while keeping the book cover?

I know there is some way to use Calibre to side load books to Kindle but that way they are not backed up or synced to my Amazon account.

If you want to download a book from your Amazon Cloud, in order to get the book covers to show up on your Kindle it must be a .mobi file that's a "dual" mobi (there's a setting in Calibre under the Convert menu; with Mobi selected as the output file type, click on the Mobi Output tab on the left side of the screen, and then for the Mobi File Type choose "both" and leave the Personal doc tag field blank).

For the book cover, it needs to be a 450x680 jpg. There's a "Resize Cover" Calibre plugin, and you can customize the plugin to resize all covers to this default value when you run the plugin.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by 93terp

For the book cover, it needs to be a 450x680 jpg. There's a "Resize Cover" Calibre plugin, and you can customize the plugin to resize all covers to this default value when you run the plugin.

That's a terribly low resolution. If you resize the book's cover to that resolution, it's going to look pretty bad when it's full screen.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's a terribly low resolution. If you resize the book's cover to that resolution, it's going to look pretty bad when it's full screen.

I didn't come up with that resolution. It was mentioned on another thread in this forum. Since my Kindle Voyage is jail-broken I don't ever see full screen covers to comment on your comment.

ETA - my Voyage is NOT jail-broken.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by 93terp

I didn't come up with that resolution. It was mentioned on another thread in this forum. Since my Kindle Voyage is jail-broken I don't ever see full screen covers to comment on your comment.

What does being jail-broken have to do with it?

[knc1]

Originally Posted by 93terp

- - - -
For the book cover, it needs to be a 450x680 jpg. There's a "Resize Cover" Calibre plugin, and you can customize the plugin to resize all covers to this default value when you run the plugin.

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's a terribly low resolution. If you resize the book's cover to that resolution, it's going to look pretty bad when it's full screen.

IIRC, the jpeg format can contain both the image and its thumbnail.
Nope, my recall had some noise spikes there.
The jpeg compression is used in some common file formats that contain both the image and its format.
But due to the casual usage of the "jpg" or "jpeg" reference, it still might be the case in what a book cover might contain.

I think that what probably should be done is set the image to an appropriate size (or larger) for full screen use and the contained thumbnail to whatever smaller size is required.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Personally I just use the "List" view in the library, so I'm not bothered in the slightest about whether or not a book has a thumbnail cover image. The list, for me, shows more information, and makes it easier to find books.

So do I.

[Josieb1]

I don't understand why this question has so many contradictory answers. I've always had covers on personal document ebooks and the cover has to be large, I have nearly 1000 personal documents and every one has a cover.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I don't understand why this question has so many contradictory answers. I've always had covers on personal document ebooks and the cover has to be large, I have nearly 1000 personal documents and every one has a cover.

Because you haven't written up a step-by-step of your workflow that generates the desired results.

Once you publish those detailed directions, then there will be only one answer: Yours.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by knc1

Because you haven't written up a step-by-step of your workflow that generates the desired results.

Once you publish those detailed directions, then there will be only one answer: Yours.

Yes I did, it's on the first page of this thread. I only change the cover size, there is nothing else.

I buy mobi, PRC and ePub files, I load into Calibre, edit title and author, add the blurb (if it's not loaded automatically) then resize the cover. Convert to Mobi (even if it starts as a mobi) and the send to my kindle using the Send to Kindle program.

My experience has always been that if the cover was too small it wouldn't show. That's happened to me, which is why I always resize now, I don't chance it.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by knc1

Because you haven't written up a step-by-step of your workflow that generates the desired results.

Once you publish those detailed directions, then there will be only one answer: Yours.

After reading your post again I think you were being less than serious, anyway I tried to help. I just didn't realise people still weren't getting covers on personal document ebooks.

[knc1]

What plugins do you have installed (loaded, whatever en_Calibre is for it) in your copy of Calibre?
Are there options that keep or set certain of them as always active or in-active?
Do any of the plugins that your are using have option settings?

Anything else that you can think of about your Calibre setup.
There must be some more details, there are just too many Calibre users that seem to have problems.

[Atunah]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I just change the cover size as follows:-

Right click on the book in Calibre and open the source folder. Then open the cover in preview and change the settings as follows:- (excuse errors this is from memory)

First untick the top tick that says 'Scale proportionally', then

Change Width to 45.01
Change Height to 67.56
Change Resolution to 72

Close preview and go back to edit the metadata in Calibre. The cover size should now be at approx 1800 on the height,1200 on the width. Then convert from mobi to mobi. That fixes the new cover size to the metadata. Remove the original mobi and send the new mobi to your kindle via Send to Kindle.

Your cover should now show on your kindle. That's all I do.

Honestly? I can't figure out what this means. By opening the source folder, I assume you mean open containing folder. I don't have anything saying source folder when I right click in calibre. After that I am lost. What preview do I open the cover in and how. And where do I go to put those numbers in. I can't figure that out at all. I open the containing folder and yes, I see the cover listed there separately, but when I want to open it, it asks me with what. And none of it is called preview. And if there is a preview in calibre I can't find it.

So I con't have covers again as I need to have the new bold. In the past, I was able to convert to "old" mobi and send that and it would give me a cover. First I did the resize plug in before converting. I got that from here. Now I need to re-convert to "both" to get the bold, but then I don't have a cover anymore. If I have to pick, I'll pick having the bold. Oh well.

eta: well shoot, I just tried a older side load and now I can't get the bold on doing the "both" Ugh. I have no clue why it worked on the others. Darn it, this stuff is so frustrating.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Atunah

Honestly? I can't figure out what this means. By opening the source folder, I assume you mean open containing folder. I don't have anything saying source folder when I right click in calibre. After that I am lost. What preview do I open the cover in and how. And where do I go to put those numbers in. I can't figure that out at all. I open the containing folder and yes, I see the cover listed there separately, but when I want to open it, it asks me with what. And none of it is called preview. And if there is a preview in calibre I can't find it.

So I con't have covers again as I need to have the new bold. In the past, I was able to convert to "old" mobi and send that and it would give me a cover. First I did the resize plug in before converting. I got that from here. Now I need to re-convert to "both" to get the bold, but then I don't have a cover anymore. If I have to pick, I'll pick having the bold. Oh well.

eta: well shoot, I just tried a older side load and now I can't get the bold on doing the "both" Ugh. I have no clue why it worked on the others. Darn it, this stuff is so frustrating.

The OP mentioned he was using a MAC. I'm using a MAC. The instructions are for a MAC.

Basicly resize the original cover in whatever program you have. When I open Calibre and go to Edit the cover size at the bottom of the cover screen has to be approx 1200 x 1800. If the cover is too small resize it then reconvert the file. That fixes the new sized cover to the metadata.

That's it. (On a MAC Preview is the photo edit program)

[Atunah]

Sigh, I am done. No more books from anywhere but amazon for me, even if they are free. I can't get the bold to work anymore at all, I got it to work with other books the other day, just minus a cover, but now I can't get the bold to show up anymore no matter what I try. I look at what I did with the other books and it still doesn't matter.

I did find how to edit the size of the cover, but none of that gave me the bold. I had a cover already on that doc, why I do not know. So changing the size didn't matter. Done trying to figure this stuff out. I have to have the bold now, and I don't want to read without it anymore. I can't even get it anymore without covers, that doesn't work now for some reason.

It sucks as I have some older out of print books that do not have a kindle version.

[shamanNS]

@Atunah: "the bold" is not available for books in old mobi format (which is what you'll get delivered after "send to kindle" step, unless you're sending dual mobi/combo mobi files). That is known and was tested already. I not certain if bold thing would be available when using azw3 files with cdetype PDOC.. but I wouldn't be surprised if that combination would also result in "no bold". Also "the bold" doesn't work for custom fonts / fonts embedded inside book / Publisher fonts.

You just can't have it all, so choose the best compromise. For me that is sending azw3 cdetype EBOK files via USB, since having sync is at the bottom of my priorities and needs.. I could maaaaybe dial-down on my OCD in regards to not having cover thumbnails (in exchange for having syncing of LPR, if I ever need it) but no way I'm reading book without page numbers (and no way I'm reading anything in old mobi format, because then not FONT_RAMP thing).