I need help understanding how to save to disk

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by redhot

That is awesome.....thanks for sharing that little jewel of information.....and thanks everybody else for all your help. I am slowly trying to figure out how to work calibre and it has been a slow aggravating process.....

You're welcome for the tip. If I might ask - what has been "slow and aggravating?" I've seen comments from new users ranging from "there's a steep learning curve" to "easy even if you aren't a techie."
What did you find to be most difficult?

[redhot]

sorry for the late reply. To answer your question....

When it comes to computer programs I do not usually have a problem learning them. AT ALL....Calibre loves to hate me I think.....lol

I had problems getting my books reformatted, and then it turned around and saved all of my books (in my opinion) all funky....prior to Calibre I had pdf docs saved as ex. Patricia Briggs- Alpha and Omega 1- Cry Wolf
all in one neat little file......so I converted the book to mobi. Well it not only saved all of my books in folders I had an (opf)??? file whatever that is. I just know I like to keep things simple and I like to see my file names and not folders. I may eventually put things in folders as I read them but until then I want to seem them. Well my OCD side just curled up inside herself and died when I saw all of those folders and funky file names and extra files.....that was not simplistic........After playing around I figured out the folder thing but the whole name thing was seriously getting to me. I know it is mostly me and I am a little crazy for it, but that is how I like my books. I do however love with every fiber of my being the whole edit metadata thing because I can find series faster. I have still not updated all of my books and fixed them but I work on it a little everyday and now that I can save the calibre library the way I want (it sounds like it anyway) I think Calibre and I will have a much more prosperous relationship. Any other tips you can give?

Also is there not a way to edit a book in calibre if it needs it?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by redhot

sorry for the late reply. To answer your question....

When it comes to computer programs I do not usually have a problem learning them. AT ALL....Calibre loves to hate me I think.....lol

I had problems getting my books reformatted, and then it turned around and saved all of my books (in my opinion) all funky....prior to Calibre I had pdf docs saved as ex. Patricia Briggs- Alpha and Omega 1- Cry Wolf
all in one neat little file......so I converted the book to mobi. Well it not only saved all of my books in folders I had an (opf)??? file whatever that is. I just know I like to keep things simple and I like to see my file names and not folders. I may eventually put things in folders as I read them but until then I want to seem them. Well my OCD side just curled up inside herself and died when I saw all of those folders and funky file names and extra files.....that was not simplistic........After playing around I figured out the folder thing but the whole name thing was seriously getting to me. I know it is mostly me and I am a little crazy for it, but that is how I like my books. I do however love with every fiber of my being the whole edit metadata thing because I can find series faster. I have still not updated all of my books and fixed them but I work on it a little everyday and now that I can save the calibre library the way I want (it sounds like it anyway) I think Calibre and I will have a much more prosperous relationship. Any other tips you can give?

Also is there not a way to edit a book in calibre if it needs it?

Calibre is a Librarian, not really a "copy editor" (conversion can make some automatic changes)
It stores, catalogs and allows you to "check-out" a copy to your device (most devices)

As to the OPF and other files!
Not all file formats support covers and Meta-data, so Calibre saves a copy of those separately for use as needed.

Calibres shelves (folders) are (at least, should be) Off Limits to patrons. The Librarian will deliver your book to your desktop or device.

Don't worry about the messy back room, you have a glorious menu and book-list that does everything you need . The Librarian has it under control.

With 0.7.x you can add user fields for just about anything. Finished_Reading: Yes,No,Unassigned (Yes I read it, Still Reading,Not Started )
I have: "User Tags" for those tags I don't want to appear in the meta-data (jacket notes). And Edited-Date to mark my latest tweaks.

All these can be used in a search filter, if needed


Your example: Patricia Briggs- Alpha and Omega 1- Cry Wolf
(Good book, bad example ) If your device does not have a book manager, and only has simple file folders: How are you going to find all the books in a series that has many different Authors?
I want to read a series (in order), not by an Author,
So I file the books on my device:
/Alpha and Omega/01- Cry Wolf-Patricia Briggs (note the leading 0 , that is so the 10 books and above will sort right by file name.)

The Author of the Title is incidental to the series sort, so it is last or omitted.