Does Calibre ruin the epub formatting?

Rameshsalvi · 11-18-2018, 04:53 AM

I'm planning to get a 2016 Paperwhite soon, it's my first e-reader ever. I've read that you can use Calibre to convert epubs to the kindle's format, however I'm afraid that the formatting in the epub book (spacing, content pages, etc) will be ruined/screwed up. I've read quite a number of books that had their words spaced out weirdly and formats a little wonky, presumably due to bad conversion. Wondering if that will be the same on Calibre, or am I better off buying books on Amazon instead? I have tons of epub books on my computer so I'm hoping that they can be read on the kindle, too.

HarryT · 11-18-2018, 05:38 AM

Moved to the Calibre conversion forum.

GeoffR · 11-18-2018, 06:00 AM

Calibre conversion can change the formatting, even converting from epub to epub can introduce changes.

If the book's formatting was bad to start with, the Calibre conversion can sometimes actually improve it. But if the formatting was good to start with then the converted book is usually not quite as good.

That is what I have found with epub to epub conversions anyway, I usually have to do a bit of manual editing afterwards to fix up the problems.

HarryT · 11-18-2018, 06:48 AM

I've converted hundreds and hundreds of ePub books to Kindle format over the years. 99.9% of the time it works absolutely fine. I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the occasions on which the formatting has changed sufficiently as a result of the conversion that I've found it necessary to manually intervene.

theducks · 11-18-2018, 10:37 AM

EPUB to AZW3 usually works.
Dropcaps and first letters with an embedded font sometimes give issues with placement ( I think this is a K4 issue, as kindle preview renders them correct)

j.p.s · 11-18-2018, 10:49 AM

kindlegen can be used to convert epub to azw3

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/KindleGen

DNSB · 11-18-2018, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've converted hundreds and hundreds of ePub books to Kindle format over the years. 99.9% of the time it works absolutely fine. I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the occasions on which the formatting has changed sufficiently as a result of the conversion that I've found it necessary to manually intervene.

I'm going the other way (AZW3 or mobi to epub) and find about 10% of AZW3 and 50% of mobi conversions need some TLC after the conversion. For mobi the main issue is the image handling -- every image a thumbnail is not my favourite look. Admittedly, I am fairly fussy about how I want my ebooks displayed down to paragraph indents, line spacing and justification.

stumped · 11-19-2018, 12:21 AM

replying to post #1 - if you are about to buy your 1st ever e-reader , then I an guessing you don't already have hundreds of epubs.
so conversion is the wrong question really.

you can buy a kindle, and then start buying your books from amazon ( no conversion needed)

or you can buy a Kobo and start buying your (epub/kepub) books from them, or from an independent epub store ( do any of those still exist? )

as for which is better - there a whole forum section for " which one shoudl I buy"

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11-18-2018, 04:53 AM	#1
Rameshsalvi Banned Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Kindle	Does Calibre ruin the epub formatting? I'm planning to get a 2016 Paperwhite soon, it's my first e-reader ever. I've read that you can use Calibre to convert epubs to the kindle's format, however I'm afraid that the formatting in the epub book (spacing, content pages, etc) will be ruined/screwed up. I've read quite a number of books that had their words spaced out weirdly and formats a little wonky, presumably due to bad conversion. Wondering if that will be the same on Calibre, or am I better off buying books on Amazon instead? I have tons of epub books on my computer so I'm hoping that they can be read on the kindle, too. Last edited by DiapDealer; 11-20-2018 at 04:37 PM. Reason: Spam urls deleted

11-18-2018, 05:38 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Moved to the Calibre conversion forum.

11-18-2018, 06:00 AM	#3
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Calibre conversion can change the formatting, even converting from epub to epub can introduce changes. If the book's formatting was bad to start with, the Calibre conversion can sometimes actually improve it. But if the formatting was good to start with then the converted book is usually not quite as good. That is what I have found with epub to epub conversions anyway, I usually have to do a bit of manual editing afterwards to fix up the problems.

11-18-2018, 06:48 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I've converted hundreds and hundreds of ePub books to Kindle format over the years. 99.9% of the time it works absolutely fine. I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the occasions on which the formatting has changed sufficiently as a result of the conversion that I've found it necessary to manually intervene.

11-18-2018, 10:37 AM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,800 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	EPUB to AZW3 usually works. Dropcaps and first letters with an embedded font sometimes give issues with placement ( I think this is a K4 issue, as kindle preview renders them correct)

11-18-2018, 10:49 AM	#6
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,278 Karma: 98804578 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	kindlegen can be used to convert epub to azw3 https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/KindleGen

11-19-2018, 12:21 AM	#8
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	replying to post #1 - if you are about to buy your 1st ever e-reader , then I an guessing you don't already have hundreds of epubs. so conversion is the wrong question really. you can buy a kindle, and then start buying your books from amazon ( no conversion needed) or you can buy a Kobo and start buying your (epub/kepub) books from them, or from an independent epub store ( do any of those still exist? ) as for which is better - there a whole forum section for " which one shoudl I buy"