My Soul Destroying Experience with Calibre 2.54.0

dano_68 · 04-08-2016, 07:07 AM

I have an 813 page (book) Word document perfectly formatted for converting to ePub - same basic font, no nested images etc.

There are 484 images - most with captions.

After I ran it through Calibre, and converted to ePub, Mobi, or AZW3, it did the same errors every time.

Under images with a caption, it puts the caption in twice, one under the other.

ePub Story:

It ignored the image information in Word (i.e. Center position) and put images in willy nilly. Some it puts in the right spot, many it makes them right hand justified.

There are quotes in the text, which are in italics, and a smaller font. Sometimes these came out right, sometimes not. It would always remove the hard return from paragraph - quote - paragraph.

I have been a web programmer for 15 years, so I have no problem reading the HTML. So I bit the bullet, and went through every HTML page and fixed the many, many problems. This took 2 weeks, about 6 -10 hours per day.

When completed, it looked beautiful in the Calibre E-book viewer. So I saved it to disk, and uploaded it to Kindle.

It was rejected, saying it could not convert my file to Kindle (AZW3 I assume) as the file is not complied correctly.

AZW3 - Plan B:

So back to the drawing board. I converted my file to AZW3. Exactly the same problems with captions - creates two, and completely ignores image information.

No problem I thought, I will go into the CSS files and edit the image/text info like I did for the ePub version.

After another 8 days of long hours, I completed. But when I view the file in my PC Kindle viewer, it completely ignores the CSS. All images are displayed in full size, with no space (hard return) under or above, and usually right hand justified (instead on Center).

For one chapter, it also changed the margins, so words were cut off on the right. After examining code in Calibre, I could find no errors as to why this would happen.

In the Adobe Digital Edition viewer, this same chapter also had huge problems, but again as I say, there is not erroneous code I can find. It is obviously a conversion error.

So just out of curiosity, I uploaded the AZW3, and you guessed it - it could not convert my file to Kindle as the file is not complied correctly.

As I said, in the Kindle version, it completely ignores CSS. I deleted the AZW3 file from Kindle, and my hard drive every time I made a change.

The ePub looks fine in the Calibre viewer and the Adobe ePub viewer (after each page had “Fix HTML” applied), so I do not know why Kindle rejected it.

As for Calibre support - forget it - their answer is "We can't guarantee every conversion and if you don't like it, don't use Calibre.” Ouch!

I am now at my wits end, and am ready to give up. What a shame. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

kovidgoyal · 04-08-2016, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano_68

As for Calibre support - forget it - their answer is "We can't guarantee every conversion and if you don't like it, don't use Calibre.” Ouch!

No, what calibre support said, was, and I quote, "calibre does not guarantee that an EPUB produced by it is valid. The only guarantee it makes is that if you feed it valid XHTML 1.1 + CSS 2.1 it will output a valid EPUB. calibre tries hard to ensure that EPUBs it produces actually work as intended on a wide variety of devices, a goal that is incompatible with producing valid EPUBs, and one that is far more important to the vast majority of its users. If you need a tool that always produces valid EPUBs, calibre is not for you. This means, that if you want to send a calibre produced EPUB to an online store that uses an EPUB validity checker, you have to make sure that the EPUB is valid yourself, calibre will not do it for you – in other words you must feed calibre valid XHTML + CSS as the input documents". End quote.

Not to mention that there is no "calibre support" -- you think you are entitled to get free software and free support on top of that?

The validity of epubs is a red herring. Your problems have absolutely nothing to do with vailidty. Now, if you want actual help, follow the guidelines here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=186697

Although, from your attitude, I suspect you are one of those people that think the Universe owes them something, in which case, I suspect I just wasted the last five minutes of my life.

eschwartz · 04-08-2016, 10:16 AM

You did not upload or convert your file to "Kindle", you uploaded to Amazon in order to get it converted to MOBI + AZW3.

calibre does not and has never tried to cater to ebookstores, it caters to users.
Epubcheck is one example of a program that complains about a lot of things that aren't really problems, but which will cause a store to reject an upload. calibre doesn't care -- what matters is it looks good on peoples' devices.

...

MobileRead does actually have a subforum for authors and publishers looking for help in validating and uploading to bookstores, but calibre isn't it.
Try the Workshop or the EPUB subforums listed here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=177

If you have a book that doesn't look the way you expected it to look after a conversion, and you aren't asking for Epubcheck validation, then feel free to continue this conversation here -- but as Kovid said, you cannot really expect any help, entitled, free, volunteer, or otherwise, if you don't provide us a way of seeing what you are seeing.
Which means an input file which displays the problem, at a minimum.

...

An attitude readjustment wouldn't hurt either, if you want people to want to help you.
No one is interested in your melodramatic Dementor experience

or your passive-aggressive disappointment in your paid calibre support that you didn't pay for.

theducks · 04-08-2016, 11:24 AM

What they said.

Some of us are volunteers that help Kovid out (allowing him more time to work on New Features

)

These forums (at MR) are not a substitute for you taking time to learn your trade. (I am referring to the 'Publishing' part, in this case)

Pablo · 04-08-2016, 01:27 PM

Dear Dano_68,

You should blame the destruction of your soul on your own ignorance rather than on a free software package you wanted to do everything for you.

Ebook creation is an art, as you surely know by now. A calibre conversion -any conversion- is just a starting point. After that there's a considerable amount of polishing that normally involves the use of several software tools, especially if the book is complex. And if you intend to upload it to an online bookstore... well, good luck with that: even the professionals find it difficult to cope with the requirements, particularities and bugs of Amazon, Smashwords, Apple and the like.

When you calm down, maybe you could have a look around this site and take advantage of the people who know what they are talking about. You may even humble yourself to ask for help in a polite way.

MrKyle · 04-20-2016, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Not to mention that there is no "calibre support" -- you think you are entitled to get free software and free support on top of that?

...

Although, from your attitude, I suspect you are one of those people that think the Universe owes them something, in which case, I suspect I just wasted the last five minutes of my life.

Hahaha ouch Kovid. I'll never understand certain people attitudes toward open source software (or free in general). I've had plenty of experiences with Calibre's output formatting not reading my mind, but I've never felt like the burden of configuring things for me is on the dev's side.

eschwartz · 04-20-2016, 11:45 PM

Well, it looks like this person wasn't really interested in a solution. It is almost two weeks later, but the OP has not logged into MobileRead since they first registered and posted the above rant.

This despite my highly useful advice directing him to the specialized "help me validate my ebook according to ebookstore criteria" subforum.

(Because even when I decide to verbally flay someone for their attitude, I like to answer their query at the same time -- I like to be helpful, plus it is usually an instructive aspect of the flaying. "where and how you went wrong" and all that.)

...

I guess some people really, truly, just cannot be helped.

04-08-2016, 07:07 AM	#1
dano_68 Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2016 Device: Kindle, Adobe Digital Editions	My Soul Destroying Experience with Calibre 2.54.0 I have an 813 page (book) Word document perfectly formatted for converting to ePub - same basic font, no nested images etc. There are 484 images - most with captions. After I ran it through Calibre, and converted to ePub, Mobi, or AZW3, it did the same errors every time. Under images with a caption, it puts the caption in twice, one under the other. ePub Story: It ignored the image information in Word (i.e. Center position) and put images in willy nilly. Some it puts in the right spot, many it makes them right hand justified. There are quotes in the text, which are in italics, and a smaller font. Sometimes these came out right, sometimes not. It would always remove the hard return from paragraph - quote - paragraph. I have been a web programmer for 15 years, so I have no problem reading the HTML. So I bit the bullet, and went through every HTML page and fixed the many, many problems. This took 2 weeks, about 6 -10 hours per day. When completed, it looked beautiful in the Calibre E-book viewer. So I saved it to disk, and uploaded it to Kindle. It was rejected, saying it could not convert my file to Kindle (AZW3 I assume) as the file is not complied correctly. AZW3 - Plan B: So back to the drawing board. I converted my file to AZW3. Exactly the same problems with captions - creates two, and completely ignores image information. No problem I thought, I will go into the CSS files and edit the image/text info like I did for the ePub version. After another 8 days of long hours, I completed. But when I view the file in my PC Kindle viewer, it completely ignores the CSS. All images are displayed in full size, with no space (hard return) under or above, and usually right hand justified (instead on Center). For one chapter, it also changed the margins, so words were cut off on the right. After examining code in Calibre, I could find no errors as to why this would happen. In the Adobe Digital Edition viewer, this same chapter also had huge problems, but again as I say, there is not erroneous code I can find. It is obviously a conversion error. So just out of curiosity, I uploaded the AZW3, and you guessed it - it could not convert my file to Kindle as the file is not complied correctly. As I said, in the Kindle version, it completely ignores CSS. I deleted the AZW3 file from Kindle, and my hard drive every time I made a change. The ePub looks fine in the Calibre viewer and the Adobe ePub viewer (after each page had “Fix HTML” applied), so I do not know why Kindle rejected it. As for Calibre support - forget it - their answer is "We can't guarantee every conversion and if you don't like it, don't use Calibre.” Ouch! I am now at my wits end, and am ready to give up. What a shame. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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04-08-2016, 10:16 AM	#3
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	You did not upload or convert your file to "Kindle", you uploaded to Amazon in order to get it converted to MOBI + AZW3. calibre does not and has never tried to cater to ebookstores, it caters to users. Epubcheck is one example of a program that complains about a lot of things that aren't really problems, but which will cause a store to reject an upload. calibre doesn't care -- what matters is it looks good on peoples' devices. ... MobileRead does actually have a subforum for authors and publishers looking for help in validating and uploading to bookstores, but calibre isn't it. Try the Workshop or the EPUB subforums listed here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=177 If you have a book that doesn't look the way you expected it to look after a conversion, and you aren't asking for Epubcheck validation, then feel free to continue this conversation here -- but as Kovid said, you cannot really expect any help, entitled, free, volunteer, or otherwise, if you don't provide us a way of seeing what you are seeing. Which means an input file which displays the problem, at a minimum. ... An attitude readjustment wouldn't hurt either, if you want people to want to help you. No one is interested in your melodramatic Dementor experience or your passive-aggressive disappointment in your paid calibre support that you didn't pay for.

04-08-2016, 11:24 AM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,807 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	What they said. Some of us are volunteers that help Kovid out (allowing him more time to work on New Features ) These forums (at MR) are not a substitute for you taking time to learn your trade. (I am referring to the 'Publishing' part, in this case)

04-08-2016, 01:27 PM	#5
Pablo Guru Posts: 970 Karma: 4999999 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Rosario, Argentina Device: SONY PRS-505, PRS-T2	Dear Dano_68, You should blame the destruction of your soul on your own ignorance rather than on a free software package you wanted to do everything for you. Ebook creation is an art, as you surely know by now. A calibre conversion -any conversion- is just a starting point. After that there's a considerable amount of polishing that normally involves the use of several software tools, especially if the book is complex. And if you intend to upload it to an online bookstore... well, good luck with that: even the professionals find it difficult to cope with the requirements, particularities and bugs of Amazon, Smashwords, Apple and the like. When you calm down, maybe you could have a look around this site and take advantage of the people who know what they are talking about. You may even humble yourself to ask for help in a polite way.

04-20-2016, 11:45 PM	#7
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Well, it looks like this person wasn't really interested in a solution. It is almost two weeks later, but the OP has not logged into MobileRead since they first registered and posted the above rant. This despite my highly useful advice directing him to the specialized "help me validate my ebook according to ebookstore criteria" subforum. (Because even when I decide to verbally flay someone for their attitude, I like to answer their query at the same time -- I like to be helpful, plus it is usually an instructive aspect of the flaying. "where and how you went wrong" and all that.) ... I guess some people really, truly, just cannot be helped.