Adding Cover by URL When adding books

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by tn4w

It appears that you didn't understand what was suggested in the first place.

I gave you a simple workflow list already.

Nobody except you talks about copying URLs and it is irrelevant. You should review what you wrote quoted below and think about what you suggested above. At this point, it appears you just want to give negative feedback for whatever reasons and I'm not interested in responding to it, sorry.

Considering that at the point you wrote the message I'm replying to, you had replies from two people. One of whom is the author of calibre and suggested that you download and validate the image and then pass the location of that download to calibredb. My posts were along the lines of suggesting that what you are asking for is a much more complex task than you seem to believe.

As for copying URLs, perhaps you could elucidate just how are you planning on getting the cover URL onto the calibredb command line? Copy/paste would seem the simplest.

What you wrote sounded as if you wanted to be able to specify a command line option to calibredb to allow it to download the image from a URL, validate the image and delete the downloaded image file after adding the book to calibre.

Originally Posted by tn4w

But you know, you have to validate the downloaded image file to ensure it's not broken and delete it after confirming that the book has been successfully added to the database.

If you are talking about having calibre automatically search for a cover image, in my experience using calibre, the cover download process needs attention all too often to make me feel comfortable with an automated process with no human input. That automated process seems to be exactly what you are asking for.

[tn4w]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Where does this url you want to load from come from?

There is a CMS plugin that allows you to search products from Amazon and return results as JSON including the cover URL for each and it is the right one.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Curious - can one create a new book by adding a format file and a cover in the one command? e.g. calibredb add -c mycover.jpg mybook.epub.

Thanks for your inputs regarding PowerShell. Not sure if you meant to add a book to Calibre by saying create but that's what I'm doing currently and it's possible with one command.

Originally Posted by DNSB

If you are talking about having calibre automatically search for a cover image,

Again, nobody is talking about it except you. As I already wrote, Calibre sometimes sets the wrong cover or fails to find a cover. That's why the --cover option is used.

[Quoth]

In Edit Metadata the Download Cover can search Amazons and other places for covers. It never sets a cover. You pick or cancel.

Amazon often has the wrong cover or a crazy new one for an older book (Publisher stupidity). I often use the Download Cover to find a correct or traditional or older cover for books bought from Amazon. The plugins this uses (Multiple) are widely used so updated when the website(s) change. Who updates your Amazon CMS which can't automatically provide correct covers? The user needs to verify a cover always.

So you are looking for a poorer duplication of something that exists and is more general (but you can disable the searching other sites).

Calibre never sets a cover automatically except at time of adding a book, the cover in the ebook. Amazon does sometimes have totally the wrong cover or product image and sometimes publishers set generic or newer poorer images for covers on Amazon.

[tn4w]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Amazon often has the wrong cover or a crazy new one for an older book (Publisher stupidity).

I suspect you use Calibre and related plugins to find a cover and saying that. The CMS plugin utilizes Amazon's official API and there is no room to get wrong images unless the publisher sets a wrong one. If that is even the case, that would be the correct one anyway as the publisher chooses it to be so.

So you are looking for a poorer duplication of something that exists

With your narrow perspective and limited experiences, go ahead and keep thinking like so. Let's not waste time each other.

For other forum visitors, I've added about 30k books. I find about 50 wrong covers in 20k books without the --cover option and 0 wrong cover in 10k books with covers specified with the --cover option (100% accuracy so far).

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by tn4w

I suspect you use Calibre and related plugins to find a cover and saying that. The CMS plugin utilizes Amazon's official API and there is no room to get wrong images unless the publisher sets a wrong one. If that is even the case, that would be the correct one anyway as the publisher chooses it to be so.

I've seen covers by big publishers on Amazon that are totally for a different book!

A new publisher or existing one (for a previously published book) can decide on a new eBook cover to cash in on a TV/Streaming series that's actually irrelevant to the book, so older official cover is really the "correct one"

I've been doing multimedia production for 30 years, writing & programming for 40 years and publishing for over 20 years. Websites for 25+ years and Web server side programming for 20 years. Why the personal attacks just because I suggest what you want is a combination of already exists and not workable?

Anyone experienced in programming can add this as Calibre is a totally open system. Kovid has done a marvellous job over the years and others have added lots of good functionality.

Feel free to make your own additions since no-one seems interested in doing it for you and experts (including Kovid) think it's neither needed nor appropriate and you don't like the free advice you asked for.

[tn4w]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I suggest what you want is a combination of already exists and not workable?

It's working here already.

Originally Posted by Quoth

you don't like the free advice you asked for.

What made you think somebody asked for advice? Nobody.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by tn4w

Hello,

I'm wondering if it is possible to add a book cover by URL not by a file path when adding a book with the calibredb add command.

This is called asking for advice. The start of first post.

It's working here already.

So why start the thread?

[tn4w]

Originally Posted by Quoth

This is called asking for advice. The start of first post.

No, it's called a closed question expecting Yes or No. You clearly misinterpreted the topic. Please read the topic before you post something.

[theducks]

With so many knowledgeable people are misinterpreting you post , there is a problem.

All that has been said about wrong covers here has been experienced at some time.
of course, GIGO plays some part. A wrong identifier...leads to a wrong cover/(additional) metadata.
If the built in cover finder in the Edit Metadata window is not satisfactory (and you have refined the search configuration for your use).
I also use the Search The Internet Plugin:Find Images (Again, it allows you to update/add other sources)

[tn4w]

Originally Posted by theducks

With so many knowledgeable people are misinterpreting you post ,

Being old can cause dementia leading to poor judgements.

Originally Posted by theducks

there is a problem.

On their side. In fact, the first person who replied to this topic clearly grasped what was suggested and provided the relevant answer.