Dealing with Kindle ebooks in calibre

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

So if you are a Kobo user you are probably now best just using the Kobo store

For buying eBooks not from Amazon, there is Kobo, Google Play Books, and eBooks.com.

There may be other stores in other countries outside of the US & UK, but make sure they serve Adobe DRM and not LCP DRM or some other DRM.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Why only Kobo store? Any store that sells epubs (except Apple and Barnes & Noble). And Kindle books can still be deDRMed with other methods.

Other then the stores I have listed, are there any others that sell ePub (in English) with adobe DRM that you know of?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kaetrin

Would any kindle touch work or only a specific generation?

The Kindle Touch is a specific Kindle. There is no other. The Kindle Touch became the Kindle Basic. But there was only one Kindle Touch.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

There is only one Kindle Touch, the later are Kindle Basic models.
Any model from K3 to PW1 does AZW3, not KFX. (Jwolf is in error)
After PW1 up to Oasis 2 does also KFX and that also deDRMs

You need the deDRM plugin from noDRM, and for KFX, the KFX input plugin. Both need settings.

Yes, I was in error. It was KF8 that was ported to the K3.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kaetrin

I'm not so worried about the security as it doesn't have any financial information on it. And, if Amazon aren't upgrading the firmware that's probably a good thing for me.

So, with a 7th gen paperwhite, I should be able to de-DRM a KFX book? I have the de-DRM plugin (the latest one) and have checked the settings. I've checked the settings of the KFX input and KFX output plugins. Some of the kindle books I own are able to be imported into Calibre as KFX and I can convert them to epub. But there is this one which is a 2025 release which will only come in as a KFX-ZIP. I've followed the same process with all of the books I've tried. I've tried about 6 and have only had trouble with 1 so far.

(It's a Harlequin romance book I bought for less than US$4. It's not so much this particular book, it's more I'm trying to work out if my setup will work going forward or if I need to go buy a kindle touch or something else. I have an extensive library. All of my kindle books are in Calibre so far as I've always put them in as I've bought the books. My concern is for the future. I'm trying to work out if it's feasible for me to buy anything more from Amazon after Feb 26.)

You cannot buy eBooks direct from Harlequin as they use the Glose app. You would have to buy Harlequin eBooks someplace else.

I too have a PW3 (7th gen PW). I'll get it out and see if I can remove the DRM from KFX and convert to ePub.

[JSWolf]

I've pulled out my PW3 and randomly picked 3 eBooks to download and I was able to remove the DRM from the KFX and convert to ePub.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by jhowell

That is somewhat good news. It indicates that the new Kindle for Mac is still using DRM that the DeDRM plugin supports, at least for some books.

With KFX format all books sold or loaned by Amazon contain DRM. However there are two categories. Books that the publisher requested to be sold with DRM are locked to the particular device or app for which they are downloaded. Books that the publisher requested be sold without DRM will still have DRM in KFX, but it will not be locked to any single recipient.

I have no doubt that Amazon will switch to using newer, unbroken DRM as soon as they learn that people are taking advantage of this loophole.

Originally Posted by odamizu

I ran a bunch of tests. While not absolutely conclusive, I can report that all the books I tested with "Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited" succeeded whereas those without simultaneous device usage failed.

Amazon has released Kindle for Mac 7.25.1. I suspect that this new version will have closed the loophole that allowed DRM removal of some books. I do not have a Mac so I cannot test it myself.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You cannot buy eBooks direct from Harlequin as they use the Glose app. You would have to buy Harlequin eBooks someplace else.

I too have a PW3 (7th gen PW). I'll get it out and see if I can remove the DRM from KFX and convert to ePub.

There are plenty of OLD Harlequin romance titles on Amazon.

[Martinoptic]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Other then the stores I have listed, are there any others that sell ePub (in English) with adobe DRM that you know of?

Pen and sword books. History and militaria mainly. They have an american and an english website.

https://www.penandswordbooks.com/

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/ebooks

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

There are plenty of OLD Harlequin romance titles on Amazon.

Kobo has Harlequin eBooks. So that's a place to get them. The idea is to get away from buying at Amazon and buy elsewhere.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

Pen and sword books. History and militaria mainly. They have an american and an english website.

https://www.penandswordbooks.com/

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/ebooks

One of their eBooks I had a look at was $19.99 on their site and $4.99 at Kobo.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Kobo has Harlequin eBooks. So that's a place to get them. The idea is to get away from buying at Amazon and buy elsewhere.

I agree, but this is a book already bought that someone has Amazon DRM on.

We've bought old Harlequin from Kobo and Amazon.
I also was looking at https://www.hive.co.uk/ who do paper books and other stuff as well as ebooks. Seem a little pricey.

[tomsem]

(For newer Kindles that use MTP, ebook files must first be copied to a local drive before being imported into calibre.)

This is no longer the case with latest calibre updates. They can be imported directly.

images are often lower resolution and without color.

Colorsoft gets color images, of course.

I will do some checking with other KFX formats (and Kindle models), but KFX comic format images have exactly same resolution as KFX downloaded with Kindle for PC.

[Kaetrin]

Originally Posted by Quoth

KFX output isn't needed. That actually uses Amazon programs so doesn't work on Linux or Chromebook.

I convert to azw3 if I'm transferring to a kindle.

Your kindle should work. Connect it via USB. Open Calibre and then when it's ready, select Device view, then import an ebook from the Kindle to Library.

I can't give any further advice.

Thx - that's what I've been doing but there's this book that will only come in via KFX-ZIP. I can see there's a suggestion below about opening a ticket at Github so I might try that. thx

[Kaetrin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've pulled out my PW3 and randomly picked 3 eBooks to download and I was able to remove the DRM from the KFX and convert to ePub.

Yes - I've been able to do that for 5/6 books I've tried but there's this one...!