Transfer DRM-Free Epubs from iBooks to PC

[lostinlodos]

iBook is NOT ePub. It’s an extension of the format. Drag and drop will not produce a book readable of apple devices immediately.
You need to extract the book package and then recompress it in the correct order.
There is an app I found that will do this one book at a time. I’ll edit and add the app shortly. Which works for doing a few books by hand.

I’m here looking to see if someone came up with a faster method.
I’ve managed to script the process for folder batching using nZip but it’s inconsistent. It misses files and doesn’t always stick to the item order for adding to the new zip file. Meaning it could take a few tries and requires manually opening each book to test. A problem when switching between platforms.

[lostinlodos]

Apple does NOT use epub. They use iBook. It’s a modified extension of epub. And it’s the reason side loading books into the books app takes a bit of extra time. Files are extracted and decompressed.

Going the other direction IS possible and there is software to do so. Unfortunately all of it is generally single file work.
I came here hoping someone had an idea that was a bit quicker. I’ve come up with a somewhat unreliable scripting option to batch a folder. But it is inconsistent.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by lostinlodos

Apple does NOT use epub. They use iBook. It’s a modified extension of epub. And it’s the reason side loading books into the books app takes a bit of extra time. Files are extracted and decompressed.

Going the other direction IS possible and there is software to do so. Unfortunately all of it is generally single file work.
I came here hoping someone had an idea that was a bit quicker. I’ve come up with a somewhat unreliable scripting option to batch a folder. But it is inconsistent.

You might be thinking of iBooks Author, which created a non-standard extension of ePub standard that could be interactive and contain multimedia (and could only be read with Apple's iBooks, as it was known then). It generated a file with iBook extension. It didn't take off, and they pulled the plug on that quite awhile ago.

It's immaterial that they explode ePub files on import. The structure is standard ePub. Every reading app has to explode the ePub at some point before it can parse the source files and render the book. With this approach, the Books app does not to create any temporary files in addition to storing the ePub archive: it can just open and parse the source files directly.

The fundamentals of generating .epub archives from source has not changed. All you need is zip. You have to add the mimetype file first:

$ zip -0Xq book.epub [path-to-source]mimetype

and then the (OEBPS and META-INF) subfolders:

$ zip -Xr9Dq book.epub [path-to-source]*

[JSWolf]

Is it any different transferring from iBooks and Books?

[lostinlodos]

Originally Posted by tomsem

It didn't take off, and they pulled the plug on that quite awhile ago.

I offer you to take a non-Dem book and drag it out of Books and try to open it in another reader. It simply doesn’t work. And that because the package is recompressed in a non-standard way. This has not changed. It’s the reason calibre says the file is not valid.

It is also the reason decompression programs DO exist. The resulting file then being a standard epub.

There are a few reader apps out there that will load a transferred iBook file. But the issue in general remains on the most recent versions of Books.
The OP and other comments are correct.

Right now I use eCanCeusher. (Disclosure: not affiliated )
It DOES work most of the time. And actions CAN be scripted. But it only does one book at a time, despite the batch claim.
But again it appears inconsistent. Though that could also be my scripting that fails as well.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by lostinlodos

I offer you to take a non-Dem book and drag it out of Books and try to open it in another reader. It simply doesn’t work. And that because the package is recompressed in a non-standard way. This has not changed. It’s the redone calibre says the file is not valid.

It is also the reason decompression programs DO exist. The resulting file then being a standard epub.

There are a few reader apps out there that will load a transferred iBook file. But the issue in general remains on the most recent versions of Books.
The OP and other comments are correct.

Right now I use eCanCeusher. (Disclosure: not affiliated )
It DOES work most of the time. And actions CAN be scripted. But it only does one book at a time, despite the batch claim.
But again it appears inconsistent. Though that could also be my scripting that fails as well.

I was talking only about imported books. I doubt I have any DRM free purchases from Apple.

[lostinlodos]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I was talking only about imported books. I doubt I have any DRM free purchases from Apple.

As am I.
Dragging an epub document into books on the Mac.
At some later time dragging that book out of books to a folder or the desktop.
The book is no longer a standard epub.

The modification appears to occur when the book is synced (uploaded) to iCloud. The change taking place on the source Books app.

There are some independent readers out there that will read the modified Books file, and other “damaged” epub files. However most will not.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by lostinlodos

As am I.
Dragging an epub document into books on the Mac.
At some later time dragging that book out of books to a folder or the desktop.
The book is no longer a standard epub.

The modification appears to occur when the book is synced (uploaded) to iCloud. The change taking place on the source Books app.

There are some independent readers out there that will read the modified Books file, and other “damaged” epub files. However most will not.

Okay, I didn't drag anything out, just compressed what was there, for one book. It restored okay. Perhaps when synced to another device, it changes.

[lostinlodos]

I think I have the cause, for myself and op, and others.

According to notes from a few iBooks compatible readers it appears Books stores and transfers the ePub files exploded. When a book is dragged out of the app or transferred out it is again compressed.
Apparently the compression order remains the same for the iBook format, not ePub.
Reviewing the LZ log shows the order of operation.


Clearly Apple has no intention of fixing this. The problem dates back many years.

The solution must be taking on of the few open source options and adding it to a popular conversion program, eg Calibre.
eCan is open source. So the solution would be to create an import filter.

I also found my problem with ECC; path length. Pointing to a folder one deep solves the problem for most documents; giving near 100% action.

This situation does explain how some books can be many times larger on the iPhone or iPad than the source file. Already large technical manuals can take up hundreds of megs of space expanded.