Converting catalog of EPUBs to PDF - becomes huge

Docno · 12-21-2021, 11:52 PM

For 'workflow' reasons, I would like to convert my catalog to PDF (for transfer to an app on my iPad). The problem is that when I convert a mid-sized catalog (< 3000 books) in EPUB format to PDF format, it results in a massive file. The EPUB catalog is 24MB whereas the PDF is 580MB.

I'm pretty sure that it's not to do with the covers in the description field -- I tried a catalog without covers and the EPUB version fell below 1MB but the PDF was still several 100 MBs in size.

Any ideas? Thanks...

kovidgoyal · 12-22-2021, 12:00 AM

Does this size inflation happen only with catalog epubsconverted to pdf or with any epub on your machine?

Docno · 12-22-2021, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Does this size inflation happen only with catalog epubsconverted to pdf or with any epub on your machine?

Thanks for the prompt reply. The PDFs are always bigger, but not to this extent. Some examples of other books:

EPUB: 0.71MB
PDF: 3.70MB

EPUB: 6.85MB
PDF: 19.27MB

EPUB: 3.11MB
PDF 22.22MB

EPUB: 67.30MB
PDF: 195.76MB
That's getting high ... lots of graphics in that one. But the EPUB starts high also.

kovidgoyal · 12-22-2021, 02:55 AM

That looks like some kind of font blowup. Lots of copies of the same glyphs would be my guess. what OS and what version of calibre?

Docno · 12-22-2021, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

That looks like some kind of font blowup. Lots of copies of the same glyphs would be my guess. what OS and what version of calibre?

Windows 11 (up to date) and Calibre 5.34 (64bit). I'll see what happens if I change in the conversion.

Docno · 12-22-2021, 08:07 AM

OK, I used a 'standard' system font (Calibri) this time, and size was much better:

EPUB = 24.01MB
PDF = 62.97 MB

So the issue does seem to be font-related. I won't pretend I understand the meaning of "lots of copies of the same glyphs", but I will stick to Calibri from now on. Thanks for the help.

12-21-2021, 11:52 PM	#1
Docno Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 96 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: iPad2	Converting catalog of EPUBs to PDF - becomes huge For 'workflow' reasons, I would like to convert my catalog to PDF (for transfer to an app on my iPad). The problem is that when I convert a mid-sized catalog (< 3000 books) in EPUB format to PDF format, it results in a massive file. The EPUB catalog is 24MB whereas the PDF is 580MB. I'm pretty sure that it's not to do with the covers in the description field -- I tried a catalog without covers and the EPUB version fell below 1MB but the PDF was still several 100 MBs in size. Any ideas? Thanks...

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12-22-2021, 12:00 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,857 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Does this size inflation happen only with catalog epubsconverted to pdf or with any epub on your machine?

12-22-2021, 02:55 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,857 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	That looks like some kind of font blowup. Lots of copies of the same glyphs would be my guess. what OS and what version of calibre?

12-22-2021, 08:07 AM	#6
Docno Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 96 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: iPad2	OK, I used a 'standard' system font (Calibri) this time, and size was much better: EPUB = 24.01MB PDF = 62.97 MB So the issue does seem to be font-related. I won't pretend I understand the meaning of "lots of copies of the same glyphs", but I will stick to Calibri from now on. Thanks for the help.

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