Transfer annotations from iBooks to Calibre/Kindle?

air_inside · 07-08-2019, 04:49 PM

Hello there,

Previously I was reading the books in iBooks on iOS devices and kept my whole library there.
Hence, all my highlights, bookmarks and notes are stored there.

Now, I moved to Kindle and started to use Calibre instead.
There're some books that I started to read in iBooks and want to continue on Kindle, and I'd very much like to have all my notes and stuff for them to be ultimately on Kindle.

Also, there're some already read books from which I also would like to transfer all the stuff to Calibre, to keep it in one place.

Is there a way to achieve that?

Note: I know that I can export these as a PDF or something, but it's not what I want - I need them tied to their respective locations in the books.

BetterRed · 07-08-2019, 07:07 PM

Calibre has an Annotations plugin, maybe it can help, see Index of plugins

BR

davidfor · 07-09-2019, 07:20 AM

@air_inside: I'm pretty sure the answer is no. There is no real standard for annotations being used. And it is difficult to get annotations from most apps and devices. None have a real way to restore them. Plus, the lack of a standard means that translating the location of an annotation one format or app to another means that someone has to decode the method use, work out how to do it for the next app and implement that. And the location of the annotations has to be available. I doubt they would be anywhere they could be accessed in iBooks. And I'm not sure if the file they are stored in on a Kindle has been decoded.

The Annotations plugin won't help you. It can get the annotations from several devices and apps. But, it doesn't record the full location, so it cannot restore them later.

07-08-2019, 04:49 PM	#1
air_inside Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10	Transfer annotations from iBooks to Calibre/Kindle? Hello there, Previously I was reading the books in iBooks on iOS devices and kept my whole library there. Hence, all my highlights, bookmarks and notes are stored there. Now, I moved to Kindle and started to use Calibre instead. There're some books that I started to read in iBooks and want to continue on Kindle, and I'd very much like to have all my notes and stuff for them to be ultimately on Kindle. Also, there're some already read books from which I also would like to transfer all the stuff to Calibre, to keep it in one place. Is there a way to achieve that? Note: I know that I can export these as a PDF or something, but it's not what I want - I need them tied to their respective locations in the books.

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07-08-2019, 07:07 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,565 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Calibre has an Annotations plugin, maybe it can help, see Index of plugins BR

07-09-2019, 07:20 AM	#3
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	@air_inside: I'm pretty sure the answer is no. There is no real standard for annotations being used. And it is difficult to get annotations from most apps and devices. None have a real way to restore them. Plus, the lack of a standard means that translating the location of an annotation one format or app to another means that someone has to decode the method use, work out how to do it for the next app and implement that. And the location of the annotations has to be available. I doubt they would be anywhere they could be accessed in iBooks. And I'm not sure if the file they are stored in on a Kindle has been decoded. The Annotations plugin won't help you. It can get the annotations from several devices and apps. But, it doesn't record the full location, so it cannot restore them later.

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