Why use Calibre? - Page 2

Sirtel · 05-18-2020, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomk2

I have barely scratched the surface of Calibre functionality. But one button save all my books to disk or file has to be the most important feature? And the more books you have , the more important?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Why? I keep my books in Calibre, I don't save them to another location (except for back-ups, but in that case I copy the whole library folder over, not individual books)

barryem · 05-18-2020, 08:26 PM

I buy most of my books from Amazon. I do have a Kindle but these days I mostly read on my phone using Moon+ and it's most comfortable with epubs so I use Calibre to convert everything to epub.

Of course there's the safe backup as well. I learned that in the early days of ebooks when Barnes and Noble created an ereader and sold ebooks, only readable in their ereader and you had to have a credit card on file with them because that was their DRM key. Then they announced they were getting out of the business and we had 30 days to download all our books, which I did. Then, a few months later when I changed to a new computer the ereader was no longer available and my books were no longer readable.

I didn't have all that many books and I'd read them already so it wasn't a huge loss for me but it was for some people and it could have been bigger for me if I'd bought more books from them. I learned my lesson.

Every company's TOS says you don't own your books, you only own the right to read them. My TOS says I own my books because I paid for them and Calibre is my hired gun.

Barry

filmo · 05-19-2020, 12:15 AM

Most free books are expired copyright books from Project Gutenberg. Download them to your computer and put them on Clalibre. Then easy to transfer your books to another device. I have old Kobo Mini with expanded memory, original Kobo reader, Kobo Clara HD and 5 tablets variety of brands and age. My first e-reader was Sony T-1 with many great features. Only one of the 5 local WALMARTs have a Kobo reader in stock a Kobo Clara HD. Orlando Turkey Lake WALMART is the only one I have seen with Kobo Libra on display.

JSWolf · 05-20-2020, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

People usually edit according to their preferences. Some want left-justified and some fully justified text; some want spaces between paragraphs, others abhor them; sometimes the publisher has specified too large line-height or margins; font sizes can vary considerably from book to book and some people don't want to constantly adjust them, so they remove any unusual body font sizes from the css.

If you're not fussy about such things, there's no need to edit.

I do edit because the publisher has done some stupid things. L/R margin too wide, line height specified, maybe embedded fonts I don't want, chapter headers waste too much space, body font not the default 1em, some offset text set to be too small, the cover is not high enough resolution or some generic cover, and other odds and ends.

pdurrant · 05-20-2020, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSmitty

All my books (around 1,000) are currently from Amazon and read on Kindles or using Kindle app.

Which explains who you don't have an urgent need for calibre.

I have just under 4,000 purchased books (calibre says 3927, but with omnibuses we get into definitions).

I have bought books from about 30 different ebook stores and suppliers. Calibre is essential to allow me to keep track of what I've bought, and to allow me to read books from any ebook store on my device of choice.

ekbell · 05-20-2020, 11:50 AM

I started using calibre because of the DeDRM plugin amd conversion utilities (futureproofing and being to read on my preferred platform) however I've become very attached to the possiblities provided by tags, custom columns and virtual libraries. I find the ability to create a temporary partition easier and tidier then creating new collections for each possible system of classification.

A common search is quickly locating books concerning a particular historical period that were intended for an adult audience, both fiction and non-fiction. At other times I'll be looking for non-fiction history only or a particular topic (such as history of navigation books) or the like. I've also added size tags so that I can easily find something short to read.

The editing function that I most commonly use is the ability to edit the table of contents so that it's actually useful. IMO non-fiction books should have proper chapter titles.

I also have several different book formats in my calibre library as well as placeholder entries for paper books and my Faithlife books (their functionality compensates for the dangers of lock-in). Very useful for searches as well as avoiding accidental duplicate purchases.

twowheels · 05-20-2020, 01:34 PM

I use various pieces of calibre, and appreciate that they can be called from the command line, but don't really use the full application.

I prefer to manually manage my books on Google Drive. I create folders on Google Drive based on topic (Programming/C++, Programming/Python, etc, Musc/Guitar, Music/Piano, etc..., SciFi, etc...) and keep them there. I never keep more than 2 or 3 books on my devices at a time, the one I'm reading and a few extras in case I finish one while away from home.

I wrote a script that uses ebook-convert to download the news recipes that I want, then kepubify (an unrelated tool) to convert them to kepub. It then waits for me to plug in my device and copies them over, deleting any that are > 3 days old. (It can also work with a `-k` switch (for -kindle) to download in mobi format)

I use ebook-convert to convert from various source formats to my desired target format (I have both a Kindle and a Kobo).

I call directly to ebook-viewer to check the conversion output and quality.

I'd like to be able to use a particular plugin from the command line to liberate my books, but with the latest version thy got rid of the standalone command line tool.

The only time I really use the full GUI is if I want to download new covers and update them using the polish tool. I've not figured out how to do that from the command line. Which reminds me, WHY do so many books download with a boring cover after showing you the nice cover on the purchase page? That said, I didn't really care about covers too much because I tend to use list view on my devices, though with the Kobo showing the covers when sleeping I suddenly care a lot more.

Maybe I should just set my Kobo to use custom images that have my contact info instead -- that's how I got my Kindle 3 and favorite backpack back after leaving it on the train years ago.

EDIT: Looks like I can use "ebook-meta --cover" or "ebook-polish -c <image>" for my cover changing needs! Yay

Tarana · 05-20-2020, 07:05 PM

Calibre works very well also when you have a series. It can be sideloaded to your ereader with the series name and number so you (a) don't have to retitle all your books and (b) you know which one to read next without having to access some other list.

I have all my Asimov magazines downloaded and saved in Calibre. Originally, after a year, your magazines disappeared out of the cloud. I complained (as I'm sure many others did) and literary magazines now stay forever, but the original formatting may change. Amazon has had at least 2 book purchases that I made where their file in the cloud is corrupted. Since they no longer sell those books, they can't fix the file and I would have been out of luck. Fortunately, I had a copy in Calibre.

JSWolf · 05-21-2020, 09:03 AM

I've used Calibre for a long time. I used it back when I had a Sony Reader PRS-500. Calibre back then was called LibPRS500. I used it to convert from eReader, Mobi, HTML, LIT to LRF. It meant I was able to buy eBooks that I could remove the DRM and convert to read on the 500.

05-20-2020, 01:34 PM	#22
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,854 Karma: 13432974 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro, Boox Note Max	I use various pieces of calibre, and appreciate that they can be called from the command line, but don't really use the full application. I prefer to manually manage my books on Google Drive. I create folders on Google Drive based on topic (Programming/C++, Programming/Python, etc, Musc/Guitar, Music/Piano, etc..., SciFi, etc...) and keep them there. I never keep more than 2 or 3 books on my devices at a time, the one I'm reading and a few extras in case I finish one while away from home. I wrote a script that uses ebook-convert to download the news recipes that I want, then kepubify (an unrelated tool) to convert them to kepub. It then waits for me to plug in my device and copies them over, deleting any that are > 3 days old. (It can also work with a `-k` switch (for -kindle) to download in mobi format) I use ebook-convert to convert from various source formats to my desired target format (I have both a Kindle and a Kobo). I call directly to ebook-viewer to check the conversion output and quality. I'd like to be able to use a particular plugin from the command line to liberate my books, but with the latest version thy got rid of the standalone command line tool. The only time I really use the full GUI is if I want to download new covers and update them using the polish tool. I've not figured out how to do that from the command line. Which reminds me, WHY do so many books download with a boring cover after showing you the nice cover on the purchase page? That said, I didn't really care about covers too much because I tend to use list view on my devices, though with the Kobo showing the covers when sleeping I suddenly care a lot more. Maybe I should just set my Kobo to use custom images that have my contact info instead -- that's how I got my Kindle 3 and favorite backpack back after leaving it on the train years ago. EDIT: Looks like I can use "ebook-meta --cover" or "ebook-polish -c <image>" for my cover changing needs! Yay Last edited by twowheels; 05-20-2020 at 01:40 PM.

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05-18-2020, 08:26 PM	#17
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I buy most of my books from Amazon. I do have a Kindle but these days I mostly read on my phone using Moon+ and it's most comfortable with epubs so I use Calibre to convert everything to epub. Of course there's the safe backup as well. I learned that in the early days of ebooks when Barnes and Noble created an ereader and sold ebooks, only readable in their ereader and you had to have a credit card on file with them because that was their DRM key. Then they announced they were getting out of the business and we had 30 days to download all our books, which I did. Then, a few months later when I changed to a new computer the ereader was no longer available and my books were no longer readable. I didn't have all that many books and I'd read them already so it wasn't a huge loss for me but it was for some people and it could have been bigger for me if I'd bought more books from them. I learned my lesson. Every company's TOS says you don't own your books, you only own the right to read them. My TOS says I own my books because I paid for them and Calibre is my hired gun. Barry

05-19-2020, 12:15 AM	#18
filmo Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 1077205 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony T1, Kobo Mini	Most free books are expired copyright books from Project Gutenberg. Download them to your computer and put them on Clalibre. Then easy to transfer your books to another device. I have old Kobo Mini with expanded memory, original Kobo reader, Kobo Clara HD and 5 tablets variety of brands and age. My first e-reader was Sony T-1 with many great features. Only one of the 5 local WALMARTs have a Kobo reader in stock a Kobo Clara HD. Orlando Turkey Lake WALMART is the only one I have seen with Kobo Libra on display.

05-20-2020, 11:50 AM	#21
ekbell Guru Posts: 627 Karma: 12345678 Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Canada Device: none	I started using calibre because of the DeDRM plugin amd conversion utilities (futureproofing and being to read on my preferred platform) however I've become very attached to the possiblities provided by tags, custom columns and virtual libraries. I find the ability to create a temporary partition easier and tidier then creating new collections for each possible system of classification. A common search is quickly locating books concerning a particular historical period that were intended for an adult audience, both fiction and non-fiction. At other times I'll be looking for non-fiction history only or a particular topic (such as history of navigation books) or the like. I've also added size tags so that I can easily find something short to read. The editing function that I most commonly use is the ability to edit the table of contents so that it's actually useful. IMO non-fiction books should have proper chapter titles. I also have several different book formats in my calibre library as well as placeholder entries for paper books and my Faithlife books (their functionality compensates for the dangers of lock-in). Very useful for searches as well as avoiding accidental duplicate purchases.

05-20-2020, 07:05 PM	#23
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,038 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Calibre works very well also when you have a series. It can be sideloaded to your ereader with the series name and number so you (a) don't have to retitle all your books and (b) you know which one to read next without having to access some other list. I have all my Asimov magazines downloaded and saved in Calibre. Originally, after a year, your magazines disappeared out of the cloud. I complained (as I'm sure many others did) and literary magazines now stay forever, but the original formatting may change. Amazon has had at least 2 book purchases that I made where their file in the cloud is corrupted. Since they no longer sell those books, they can't fix the file and I would have been out of luck. Fortunately, I had a copy in Calibre.

05-21-2020, 09:03 AM	#24
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,785 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I've used Calibre for a long time. I used it back when I had a Sony Reader PRS-500. Calibre back then was called LibPRS500. I used it to convert from eReader, Mobi, HTML, LIT to LRF. It meant I was able to buy eBooks that I could remove the DRM and convert to read on the 500.

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