Where is my edited EPUB file?

crowwoods1 · 08-27-2020, 02:09 PM

I have converted my book from pdf to EPUb in Calibre, and made lots of formatting changes it erased during the conversion. It's now looking good when I view in Edit Calibre. I've saved the file. But when I go to the Calibre Library, there's a EPUB file there with my updated time, but without my edits. Where is the file with all my edits? I'm on a desktop Mac. Please help!

JSWolf · 08-27-2020, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowwoods1

I have converted my book from pdf to EPUb in Calibre, and made lots of formatting changes it erased during the conversion. It's now looking good when I view in Edit Calibre. I've saved the file. But when I go to the Calibre Library, there's a EPUB file there with my updated time, but without my edits. Where is the file with all my edits? I'm on a desktop Mac. Please help!

It will be where you saved it. In your Calibre Library. If you did just a save and not a save as, then it will have saved over the ePub you loaded in to edit.

theducks · 08-27-2020, 04:00 PM

HOW are you editing (what app)?
Calibres editor (T), replaces the book when you Save.
I don't think Calibre records a 'Save As' as a (in)Library action. you need to find where yo told it (been guilty of that one

)

crowwoods1 · 08-27-2020, 05:14 PM

Yes, I edited it in Calibre 4.22. If I go into Edit Metadata, the edited EPUB file is at the top right corner. All looks fine. If I'm outside the Edit Metadata, and I click to open the Path, it will bring me to the Calibre Library, which contains an older, partially edited version of the EPUB file. (I didn't edit the whole book in one sitting.) If I go into Edit EPUB and save the file again, or save a copy to a different location, the new file is still the partially edited file. How come?

theducks · 08-27-2020, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowwoods1

Yes, I edited it in Calibre 4.22. If I go into Edit Metadata, the edited EPUB file is at the top right corner. All looks fine. If I'm outside the Edit Metadata, and I click to open the Path, it will bring me to the Calibre Library, which contains an older, partially edited version of the EPUB file. (I didn't edit the whole book in one sitting.) If I go into Edit EPUB and save the file again, or save a copy to a different location, the new file is still the partially edited file. How come?

THAT is not normal.

Tapping 'O' while on the same record should take you to the same book location.

By any chance did you have that book open in another place (even the Calibre viewer) while editing?
Is the Library on a NAS or cloud drive (that will do all sorts of weird stuff)?

crowwoods1 · 08-27-2020, 11:43 PM

theducks, thanks! I didn't know about the 'o'. Yeah, that took me to the Calibre Library. Now when I open the EPUB, it also opens the Apple Books before it opens the file. And in Apple Books, it lists a bunch of old EPUB files, though none is the latest file I'm looking for. At some point, I've deleted some of the old ones, but I didn't think that should matter.

No, the Calibre Library is on my hard drive. Maybe I should give up and start over with another editor?

crowwoods1 · 08-27-2020, 11:49 PM

Oh, at some point, I changed the metadata just so I can tell what's more recent on the Apple Books list, perhaps that got it confused?

davidfor · 08-28-2020, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowwoods1

Oh, at some point, I changed the metadata just so I can tell what's more recent on the Apple Books list, perhaps that got it confused?

Calibre uses the title and author for the location of the book. If you change these while editing, then "interesting things" can happen. Usually I get an error and have to use "Save as" in the editor. But, I have had other things happen such as the book saving where it was originally and not to the new location.

BetterRed · 08-28-2020, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Calibre uses the title and author for the location of the book. If you change these while editing, then "interesting things" can happen. Usually I get an error and have to use "Save as" in the editor. But, I have had other things happen such as the book saving where it was originally and not to the new location.

Yeah that happened to me once.

Now if it looks like a multi-session edit job, I copy the relevant file into a WIP folder on the desktop and work on it there, and drag it back to the Book Details when I'm done.

BR

crowwoods1 · 08-28-2020, 01:58 PM

Hmmm, BetterRed, that gave me an idea. Maybe I can make a duplicate of the file in Calibre Library, rename it, and bring it into Calibre as a new book. Then see if it would keep my changes after that. I'll report back later.

(I only fiddled with the metadata after I failed to locate my edited file. I also tried to save a copy under a different title, but that didn't solve my problem either.)

crowwoods1 · 08-28-2020, 03:44 PM

I think I did it! It wouldn't let me add the same EPUB file to Calibre, despite my renaming it. So I convert the same EPUB from the Calibre Library to a new EPUB. It renamed the old one as the Original EPUB. I made some changes removed by the conversion, and lo and behold, it took. The EPUB file in the Calibre Library has my latest changes!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, BR!!

crowwoods1 · 08-28-2020, 06:13 PM

OK. I figured out what it is. If I go into the CSS and make changes/add some styles, the changes don't save to the Calibre Library, even though I ran the check and everything seems fine. I guess the only way to keep all my format changes is to convert EPUB to EPUB, so it would rewrite the stylesheet the way it can accept.

JSWolf · 08-28-2020, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowwoods1

OK. I figured out what it is. If I go into the CSS and make changes/add some styles, the changes don't save to the Calibre Library, even though I ran the check and everything seems fine. I guess the only way to keep all my format changes is to convert EPUB to EPUB, so it would rewrite the stylesheet the way it can accept.

This sounds like something not right s going on. I have no idea what you are doing. So, stop doing what you are doing and start over.

Here is what to do.

1. Select the ePub you want to edit from the Calibre GUI
2. Press the T key on the keyboard
3. Make your edits
4. Save your ePub
5. Done

When you save your ePub using the directions I've listed, it will save over the ePub in your library. You won't have any trouble finding it.

davidfor · 08-28-2020, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowwoods1

I think I did it! It wouldn't let me add the same EPUB file to Calibre, despite my renaming it. So I convert the same EPUB from the Calibre Library to a new EPUB. It renamed the old one as the Original EPUB. I made some changes removed by the conversion, and lo and behold, it took. The EPUB file in the Calibre Library has my latest changes!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, BR!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowwoods1

OK. I figured out what it is. If I go into the CSS and make changes/add some styles, the changes don't save to the Calibre Library, even though I ran the check and everything seems fine. I guess the only way to keep all my format changes is to convert EPUB to EPUB, so it would rewrite the stylesheet the way it can accept.

No, that is not the case. If you use the calibre editor, any change you make should be saved to the file. In one sense, calibre doesn't care what is in the files. You can format the stylesheets or text files whoever you want, put whatever you want in them. The editor will happily save this and show them when you open in the editor again. It will only be when you try to read the book, or run an error checker against it that you will see the problems. I have save plenty of books with weird stuff in them, both deliberately and accidentally, to know that this works.

Looking back at the thread, the most likely thing is that you forgot to save the changes before exiting. Or the MAC is doing something the block the changes from being saved. The timestamp of the file will be update when you open the book in the editor because calibre updates the metadata before opening the file.

And, as you mention conversion, don't forget how this works. If you do an epub-to-epub conversion, it saves the the epub as an original_epub. You can then edit the converted book. But, if you do another conversion, it will use the original_epub as the input and wipe out all of your changes.

The only other thing I can see is to ask how you are opening the editor? Are you doing this from inside calibre? Or, as it seems, are you opening the folder the the book is in (you mention tapping "o") and opening it from there? The reason for this question is that you mention that "it also opens the Apple Books before it opens the file". That makes me think you aren't using calibre to directly start the editor, and it makes me wonder if Apple Books is getting in the way. Maybe Apple Books is copying the book to its storage and then opening that copy in the editor. If that is the case, then the copy of the book you are editing is not the copy of the book that you have in the calibre library. Hence your changes are not saved back to it.

crowwoods1 · 08-28-2020, 10:22 PM

I'm alright now. Once I understood about the effects of my CSS changes, it works. Thanks, Jon!

08-27-2020, 02:09 PM	#1
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	Where is my edited EPUB file? I have converted my book from pdf to EPUb in Calibre, and made lots of formatting changes it erased during the conversion. It's now looking good when I view in Edit Calibre. I've saved the file. But when I go to the Calibre Library, there's a EPUB file there with my updated time, but without my edits. Where is the file with all my edits? I'm on a desktop Mac. Please help!

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08-27-2020, 04:00 PM	#3
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,811 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	HOW are you editing (what app)? Calibres editor (T), replaces the book when you Save. I don't think Calibre records a 'Save As' as a (in)Library action. you need to find where yo told it (been guilty of that one )

08-27-2020, 05:14 PM	#4
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	Yes, I edited it in Calibre 4.22. If I go into Edit Metadata, the edited EPUB file is at the top right corner. All looks fine. If I'm outside the Edit Metadata, and I click to open the Path, it will bring me to the Calibre Library, which contains an older, partially edited version of the EPUB file. (I didn't edit the whole book in one sitting.) If I go into Edit EPUB and save the file again, or save a copy to a different location, the new file is still the partially edited file. How come?

08-27-2020, 11:43 PM	#6
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	theducks, thanks! I didn't know about the 'o'. Yeah, that took me to the Calibre Library. Now when I open the EPUB, it also opens the Apple Books before it opens the file. And in Apple Books, it lists a bunch of old EPUB files, though none is the latest file I'm looking for. At some point, I've deleted some of the old ones, but I didn't think that should matter. No, the Calibre Library is on my hard drive. Maybe I should give up and start over with another editor?

08-27-2020, 11:49 PM	#7
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	Oh, at some point, I changed the metadata just so I can tell what's more recent on the Apple Books list, perhaps that got it confused?

08-28-2020, 01:58 PM	#10
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	Hmmm, BetterRed, that gave me an idea. Maybe I can make a duplicate of the file in Calibre Library, rename it, and bring it into Calibre as a new book. Then see if it would keep my changes after that. I'll report back later. (I only fiddled with the metadata after I failed to locate my edited file. I also tried to save a copy under a different title, but that didn't solve my problem either.)

08-28-2020, 03:44 PM	#11
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	I think I did it! It wouldn't let me add the same EPUB file to Calibre, despite my renaming it. So I convert the same EPUB from the Calibre Library to a new EPUB. It renamed the old one as the Original EPUB. I made some changes removed by the conversion, and lo and behold, it took. The EPUB file in the Calibre Library has my latest changes!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, BR!!

08-28-2020, 06:13 PM	#12
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	OK. I figured out what it is. If I go into the CSS and make changes/add some styles, the changes don't save to the Calibre Library, even though I ran the check and everything seems fine. I guess the only way to keep all my format changes is to convert EPUB to EPUB, so it would rewrite the stylesheet the way it can accept.

08-28-2020, 10:22 PM	#15
crowwoods1 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2020 Device: Mac	I'm alright now. Once I understood about the effects of my CSS changes, it works. Thanks, Jon!

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