Cover Missing

GeckoFriend · 01-25-2012, 01:14 PM

I "purchased" several free books from Amazon today; when I added them to calibre one did not have a cover and calibre cannot find a cover from any source.

I have generated a cover using the image from Amazon but am curious why the Amazon cover is not found by calibre.

theducks · 01-25-2012, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeckoFriend

I "purchased" several free books from Amazon today; when I added them to calibre one did not have a cover and calibre cannot find a cover from any source.

I have generated a cover using the image from Amazon but am curious why the Amazon cover is not found by calibre.

DRM ? Calibre can't open those books to get any included cover.
GIGO (metadata sources). If a book has an ID assigned, it tries for covers using the ID.
If no ID is assigned, it looks at a lot more possibilities.

GeckoFriend · 01-25-2012, 01:23 PM

No DRM and all other books I added did have their covers.

CWatkinsNash · 01-25-2012, 08:37 PM

Amazon does not seem to be returning any metadata results at the moment, including covers, so if the book is only on Amazon (or it's searching on an ASIN as an identifier) you will get no results. I keep forgetting to open a query about this issue, but I suspect Amazon is tightening up their API again.

If deleting the ASIN doesn't help in returning results from other sources, you can get one manually from Amazon as follows:

Go to the book's product page
Right-click the cover - "open image in new tab" or the equivalent for your browser
In the new tab, go up to the address bar. The last part of the url will be the image name in the following format:
imageinfostring.bunchofnonsensenumbersandsuch.jpg

Delete the stuff in between the dots, and the second dot so that you have
imageinfostring.jpg. Hit enter.

Now you will have the full image without the Amazon add-ons. Right-click the image, copy, then go back to the calibre edit metadata window, right-click in the cover box and paste.

It's a pain, but it works when Amazon has the only cover image for a particular book.

GeckoFriend · 01-25-2012, 09:02 PM

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately that didn't work for me. When I right-click on the cover image there is no option similar to save image in new tab or window, only save link. Saving the llink doesn't help as it doesn't show the cover.

Obviously this is a minor issue but it just seems strange all other books had their cover.

CWatkinsNash · 01-25-2012, 09:24 PM

Darn. Sorry it didn't work for you.

I'm using Chrome so I don't know which other browsers have that option.

Sometimes the books just come without covers. I guess the authors/publishers don't attach the cover to the file properly. It's annoying, but it's even more annoying now, when the Amazon metadata / cover downloads don't seem to be working either.

Wish I could have been more helpful.

theducks · 01-25-2012, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeckoFriend

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately that didn't work for me. When I right-click on the cover image there is no option similar to save image in new tab or window, only save link. Saving the llink doesn't help as it doesn't show the cover.

Obviously this is a minor issue but it just seems strange all other books had their cover.

Just drag the image you see to the old (default) cover displayed in Calibre (either the Metadata editor or the book Details)

GeckoFriend · 01-25-2012, 09:31 PM

Thank you! That does work better than generating a cover using the image.

GeckoFriend · 01-26-2012, 08:26 AM

Today calibre found the Amazon cover.

01-25-2012, 01:14 PM	#1
GeckoFriend Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 1164945 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: iPhone 7+, iPad Mini4, Kindle Voyage	Cover Missing I "purchased" several free books from Amazon today; when I added them to calibre one did not have a cover and calibre cannot find a cover from any source. I have generated a cover using the image from Amazon but am curious why the Amazon cover is not found by calibre.

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01-25-2012, 01:23 PM	#3
GeckoFriend Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 1164945 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: iPhone 7+, iPad Mini4, Kindle Voyage	No DRM and all other books I added did have their covers.

01-25-2012, 08:37 PM	#4
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Amazon does not seem to be returning any metadata results at the moment, including covers, so if the book is only on Amazon (or it's searching on an ASIN as an identifier) you will get no results. I keep forgetting to open a query about this issue, but I suspect Amazon is tightening up their API again. If deleting the ASIN doesn't help in returning results from other sources, you can get one manually from Amazon as follows: Go to the book's product page Right-click the cover - "open image in new tab" or the equivalent for your browser In the new tab, go up to the address bar. The last part of the url will be the image name in the following format: imageinfostring.bunchofnonsensenumbersandsuch.jpg Delete the stuff in between the dots, and the second dot so that you have imageinfostring.jpg. Hit enter. Now you will have the full image without the Amazon add-ons. Right-click the image, copy, then go back to the calibre edit metadata window, right-click in the cover box and paste. It's a pain, but it works when Amazon has the only cover image for a particular book.

01-25-2012, 09:02 PM	#5
GeckoFriend Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 1164945 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: iPhone 7+, iPad Mini4, Kindle Voyage	Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately that didn't work for me. When I right-click on the cover image there is no option similar to save image in new tab or window, only save link. Saving the llink doesn't help as it doesn't show the cover. Obviously this is a minor issue but it just seems strange all other books had their cover.

01-25-2012, 09:24 PM	#6
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Darn. Sorry it didn't work for you. I'm using Chrome so I don't know which other browsers have that option. Sometimes the books just come without covers. I guess the authors/publishers don't attach the cover to the file properly. It's annoying, but it's even more annoying now, when the Amazon metadata / cover downloads don't seem to be working either. Wish I could have been more helpful.

01-25-2012, 09:31 PM	#8
GeckoFriend Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 1164945 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: iPhone 7+, iPad Mini4, Kindle Voyage	Thank you! That does work better than generating a cover using the image.

01-26-2012, 08:26 AM	#9
GeckoFriend Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 1164945 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: iPhone 7+, iPad Mini4, Kindle Voyage	Today calibre found the Amazon cover.

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