Lines became paragraphs after .lit to .mobi conversion

Piper_ · 09-01-2010, 02:57 PM

First, thanks so much for Calibre and all these informative threads. As a newbie, I'd have been lost without all of you.

I've finally found a problem I can't find the answer to.

I converted an old .lit ebook I had to .mobi, and every line became a paragraph.

What is the most efficient way to remove those line feeds (assuming that's what they are - I think my sister used Word to save to .lit), without losing all paragraphs?

Thanks!

Adoby · 09-01-2010, 04:33 PM

Every problem has at least three solutions.

The quick and dirty:

Convert to txt and from txt to mobi. In the final step make sure that the option to "Treat each line as a paragraph", in preferences for TXT input, is not activated. The "dirty" part is that you will loose all other formatting.

The slow but "better" way:

Convert to html and do a series of search-and-replaces using a good editor. That is the tricky part. You will have to examine the html to see what searches will work. First try to do find and replaces on all the correct paragraph tags and replace them with a special mark, like "PARASTART" and "PARAEND" there. Then remove all para tags. And replace PARASTRAT with a start paragraph tag, and PARAEND with a and paragraph tag. It might be easier to start by doing a search-and-replace for all the bad paragraph tags, and replacing them with a space instead. Whatever works... Finally convert to mobi.

The third way is the lazy way. Ignore the problem or get someone else to fix it.

Ask your sister to fix the word-file so the paragraphs are right from the start.

Piper_ · 09-01-2010, 05:27 PM

Thanks, Adoby. I was afraid of that. lol

I was hoping Calibre had a switch for it, or maybe Sigil would. (I haven't installed Sigil, but would if it would help.)

Anyway, I'll go try the second way first, and if it's too tedious, I'll go for the first.

- edit - Ack. I don't see HTML as an option to convert to.

ldolse · 09-01-2010, 09:00 PM

I just ran into this for some lit files of my own, and have been working on some tweaks to calibre to fix this with the preprocess option. I can try to get the changes checked in so they get in one of the next couple releases.

jackie_w · 09-01-2010, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piper_

Thanks, Adoby. I was afraid of that. lol

I was hoping Calibre had a switch for it, or maybe Sigil would. (I haven't installed Sigil, but would if it would help.)

Anyway, I'll go try the second way first, and if it's too tedious, I'll go for the first.

- edit - Ack. I don't see HTML as an option to convert to.

To convert from LIT to HTML you need to re-run your LIT to MOBI conversion with Calibre's Convert - Debug option.

Enter the name of a directory on the Debug page.

After the conversion has finished ignore the MOBI and go and look in the Input sub-directory of your named Debug directory. It will contain the HTML extracted from your LIT.

Then edit away. Once it's clean reimport the HTML into Calibre and use this as your master source rather than the LIT.

JSWolf · 09-01-2010, 09:25 PM

The best way to do this is to convert to ePub using no margins. Then fix up the ePub and once it's fixed up, convert to Mobipocket from there.

Piper_ · 09-01-2010, 09:31 PM

Thanks, Jackie. I'll give that a shot.

Piper_ · 09-01-2010, 09:34 PM

JSWolf, that sounds even better! I'll try that first. lol

JSWolf · 09-14-2010, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piper_

JSWolf, that sounds even better! I'll try that first. lol

How did the LIT > ePub > Mobi conversion go?

Piper_ · 09-16-2010, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How did the LIT > ePub > Mobi conversion go?

It didn't.

There was a </p> <p> duo between every line. Worse, it was the same single duo between paragraphs, so compressing sentences meant losing paragraphs too.

I'm sure she just hit the wrong setting in Word when she converted to .lit, so I asked her to redo it for me. She said she would. We'll see.

Thanks for asking, JS.

ldolse · 09-17-2010, 01:32 AM

Did you try enabling the preprocess option under structure detection? One of the things it does is attempt to fix lit files that are formatted like this.

I think that the code may not have been checked in when you initially posted this, so it may not have worked then, but it is now.

JSWolf · 09-19-2010, 05:11 PM

Word made LIT files can be a real mess. The best way to handle it is to use Calibre to convert to OEB and then fix up the mess and then try to convert to ePub.

09-01-2010, 02:57 PM	#1
Piper_ ~~~~~ Posts: 761 Karma: 1278391 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle 3, Sony 350	Lines became paragraphs after .lit to .mobi conversion First, thanks so much for Calibre and all these informative threads. As a newbie, I'd have been lost without all of you. I've finally found a problem I can't find the answer to. I converted an old .lit ebook I had to .mobi, and every line became a paragraph. What is the most efficient way to remove those line feeds (assuming that's what they are - I think my sister used Word to save to .lit), without losing all paragraphs? Thanks!

09-01-2010, 05:27 PM	#3
Piper_ ~~~~~ Posts: 761 Karma: 1278391 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle 3, Sony 350	Thanks, Adoby. I was afraid of that. lol I was hoping Calibre had a switch for it, or maybe Sigil would. (I haven't installed Sigil, but would if it would help.) Anyway, I'll go try the second way first, and if it's too tedious, I'll go for the first. - edit - Ack. I don't see HTML as an option to convert to. Last edited by Piper_; 09-01-2010 at 05:29 PM.

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09-01-2010, 04:33 PM	#2
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,736 Karma: 26785668 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Thinkpad E595, Ubuntu Mate, Huawei Mediapad 5, Bouye Likebook Plus	Every problem has at least three solutions. The quick and dirty: Convert to txt and from txt to mobi. In the final step make sure that the option to "Treat each line as a paragraph", in preferences for TXT input, is not activated. The "dirty" part is that you will loose all other formatting. The slow but "better" way: Convert to html and do a series of search-and-replaces using a good editor. That is the tricky part. You will have to examine the html to see what searches will work. First try to do find and replaces on all the correct paragraph tags and replace them with a special mark, like "PARASTART" and "PARAEND" there. Then remove all para tags. And replace PARASTRAT with a start paragraph tag, and PARAEND with a and paragraph tag. It might be easier to start by doing a search-and-replace for all the bad paragraph tags, and replacing them with a space instead. Whatever works... Finally convert to mobi. The third way is the lazy way. Ignore the problem or get someone else to fix it. Ask your sister to fix the word-file so the paragraphs are right from the start.

09-01-2010, 09:00 PM	#4
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	I just ran into this for some lit files of my own, and have been working on some tweaks to calibre to fix this with the preprocess option. I can try to get the changes checked in so they get in one of the next couple releases.

09-01-2010, 09:25 PM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,049 Karma: 134368292 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The best way to do this is to convert to ePub using no margins. Then fix up the ePub and once it's fixed up, convert to Mobipocket from there.

09-01-2010, 09:31 PM	#7
Piper_ ~~~~~ Posts: 761 Karma: 1278391 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle 3, Sony 350	Thanks, Jackie. I'll give that a shot.

09-01-2010, 09:34 PM	#8
Piper_ ~~~~~ Posts: 761 Karma: 1278391 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle 3, Sony 350	JSWolf, that sounds even better! I'll try that first. lol

09-17-2010, 01:32 AM	#11
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	Did you try enabling the preprocess option under structure detection? One of the things it does is attempt to fix lit files that are formatted like this. I think that the code may not have been checked in when you initially posted this, so it may not have worked then, but it is now.

09-19-2010, 05:11 PM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,049 Karma: 134368292 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Word made LIT files can be a real mess. The best way to handle it is to use Calibre to convert to OEB and then fix up the mess and then try to convert to ePub.

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