CBZ to EPUB/PDF conversion and color

[Stingo]

I've been looking around for an answer without success so please forgive me if this is a simple fix. I have a Calibre version 6.29 on a old mac. Conversion from AZW3 to EPUB is not properly formatted. I saved the AZW3 to zip then renamed it to CBZ then installed and enabled the Embed Comic Metadata plug in and finally I changed the Comic input in settings so it does not convert color to B/W. When I convert the CBZ to Epub or PDF and open it in the viewer the cover is in color but the body is in B/W. If I open the CBZ in the viewer it is all color. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Stingo

I've been looking around for an answer without success so please forgive me if this is a simple fix. I have a Calibre version 6.29 on a old mac. Conversion from AZW3 to EPUB is not properly formatted. I saved the AZW3 to zip then renamed it to CBZ then installed and enabled the Embed Comic Metadata plug in and finally I changed the Comic input in settings so it does not convert color to B/W. When I convert the CBZ to Epub or PDF and open it in the viewer the cover is in color but the body is in B/W. If I open the CBZ in the viewer it is all color. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

I would suggest trying the KindleUnpack plugin rather than using calibre's builtin conversion to convert from azw3 to epub. As an alternative, you could also use the KindleUnpack plugin to unpack the azw3 and then use the images from that to create your CBZ file.

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I would suggest trying the KindleUnpack plugin rather than using calibre's builtin conversion to convert from azw3 to epub. As an alternative, you could also use the KindleUnpack plugin to unpack the azw3 and then use the images from that to create your CBZ file.

Im not going azw to epub. Im going cbz to epub.

[DNSB]

I was suggesting you try using KindleUnpack's KF8=>ePub option rather than going azw3=>cbz=>ePub. Or to simplify some of your current steps by extracting the contents of the azw3 and then using the images directory in the unpacked files to generate the CBZ.

Another question is if you checked the Disable conversion of images to black and white in the conversion input options for comic input?

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I was suggesting you try using KindleUnpack's KF8=>ePub option rather than going azw3=>cbz=>ePub. Or to simplify some of your current steps by extracting the contents of the azw3 and then using the images directory in the unpacked files to generate the CBZ.

Another question is if you checked the Disable conversion of images to black and white in the conversion input options for comic input?

Not sure i understand the kf8 option. Ill look at docs. Yes i checked disable conversion. Cover (first page) is coming through in color.

Thanks

[Quoth]

KF8 = azw3

[Stingo]

Originally Posted by Quoth

KF8 = azw3

Got it. AZW3->EPUB ends up with formatting errors and extra pages. AZW3->zip->cbz->epub works great as to screen formatting but for the fact that all but the cover is gray-scale.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Stingo

Got it. AZW3->EPUB ends up with formatting errors and extra pages. AZW3->zip->cbz->epub works great as to screen formatting but for the fact that all but the cover is gray-scale.

The content being in grey scale is why I suggested checking the Disable conversion of images to black and white checkbox to make sure that it is checked. The cover image comes from a different pipeline and is not affected by that option. As far as I know, that is the only place that image conversion to greyscale is done in calibre.

One other note is that if you are re-converting an ebook, the conversion settings are sticky. Use the edit metadata in bulk tool and check the Remove stored conversion settings box to remove them.

[Stingo]

So problem solved although the solution is strange. The zip file that became the CBZ had the images in a second level nested file (top folder, sub folder, image folder). I moved the nested image folder and related files to the top folder, recreated the zip/CBZ and it worked perfectly this time in color. I'm not sure why this made a difference but it fixed the problem. Thank you all for your help and advice.

[DNSB]

If it works, it's not insane.