Calibre Issues

[Timboli]

Don't get me wrong please. I love calibre and have been using it for years to great success, and are greatly thankful to Kovid Goyal & others for it.

However I use it every day, and some stuff I am forced to do is quite tedious. So in an effort to enlist sympathy and understanding, and hopefully encourage improvements to calibre, I thought I might describe it all here.

P.S. Kovid will probably be happy to know (if he recalls this topic), that I finally upgraded to latest calibre (from v1.41). Still use that old version on my offline Win XP machine though, where my main calibre database resides.

BACKGROUND
I am subscribed to BookBub, which means an email every day, which often results in me downloading at least one ebook ... often several ... mostly freebies, but the occasional cheapie. I add them all to calibre, sometimes using a program I created myself, called AZWPlug.

USAGE & ISSUES
I then edit the Metadata, because without fail it always needs it.
The author name is virtually always like so - Surname, First Name.
So I have to change that to First Name Surname. Would love a button to do that, but there isn't one.
Then, the ebook title usually has descriptive crap in it, and has mixed up case. Titles should always be Titlecase in my view. Would love a button to do that, but there isn't one.
So anyway, I manually edit to change those two things for each book.
Usually, if the ebook is part of a series, that will be in brackets and part of the descriptive text in the title. So I extract that and put it into the Series field.
I can put up with that, because it can be tricky, thanks to publisher.
Then where I need to, I convert to epub and mobi.
But I have always had an issue with the cover image, such that sometimes the converted ebook contains one and sometimes it doesn't.
Once again, not the fault of calibre, but the publisher.
But calibre could make it easy with some settings to fix.
There is a checkbox - Use cover image from source file. Or you can just browse to set another cover image.
I used to just set the checkbox, but that doesn't work for many ebooks, so now I always browse to the source folder of ebook and select the cover.jpg file.
That file is nearly always there. So I wish calibre had a checkbox to select the source folder cover.jpg file ... there is plenty of room to the right of the other checkbox.
The input field for the cover is readonly. Don't know why. That means you always have to browse. And guess what, it remembers the path of the last ebook cover you set. So you really do have to browse. Very painful.
However. In calibre v1.41, because I had no choice, and it made life slightly easier to get the correct cover path, I used the Open Container Folder button on main window, then grabbed the path from the resulting Explorer window.
I then click the browse button on the converter window, to get the file browser window to open, then paste the copied path in that, then select the resulting cover.jpg file that shows.
The latest version of calibre, makes grabbing the folder path a bit easier, as the Path link on the main window, now has a Copy Path right-click option, which saves me having to use Explorer.

I do all that for every ebook. A tedious process, that calibre could make far easier, by adding those things I listed in bold above.

So pretty please with sugar on top.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Timboli

The author name is virtually always like so - Surname, First Name.
So I have to change that to First Name Surname. Would love a button to do that, but there isn't one.
Then, the ebook title usually has descriptive crap in it, and has mixed up case. Titles should always be Titlecase in my view. Would love a button to do that, but there isn't one.

Get the Quality Check plugin for the first, use Edit Metadata in Bulk for the second (there is a 'Change title case to' dropdown & checkbox).

Removing junk like series info from titles can be done with Edit Metadata in Bulk again, with Search and Replace. Takes a bit of regex magic and like with any powerful tool, you may hurt yourself with it, but creating a number of standard regexes make these things pretty easy; most of that stuff has pretty regex-able formats.

If the books you import are in Calibre library format (as in: there is a 'metadata.opf' & 'cover.jpg' with them in the same subdir) Calibre will read the metadata from the OPF file on import; not sure about the cover.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Get the Quality Check plugin for the first, use Edit Metadata in Bulk for the second (there is a 'Change title case to' dropdown & checkbox).

Removing junk like series info from titles can be done with Edit Metadata in Bulk again, with Search and Replace. Takes a bit of regex magic and like with any powerful tool, you may hurt yourself with it, but creating a number of standard regexes make these things pretty easy; most of that stuff has pretty regex-able formats.

If the books you import are in Calibre library format (as in: there is a 'metadata.opf' & 'cover.jpg' with them in the same subdir) Calibre will read the metadata from the OPF file on import; not sure about the cover.

Thanks for that, will look into those first two.

As for regex, the variation of what turns up in the ebook Title field, is so great, that I doubt it would be workable or even wise to go that route. Though I guess any bracketed content could be button copied to Series field, and then edited if need be.

While the cover.jpg file is indeed there the majority of the time, calibre never seems to use it unless you specifically point it at it. At least, that has been my experience so far. So all I really want, is a checkbox, to make calibre specifically look at it and use it. Using it would sometimes mean you end up with two cover pages in the resulting file, but better that than no cover.

Cheers

[kovidgoyal]

Right click the add book button and choose add books from folder, one book per folder and it will use the cover.jpg, assuming that the folder is actually a calibre generated folder in the first place, i.e. has a correctly created OPF file that points to cover.jpg

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Right click the add book button and choose add books from folder, one book per folder and it will use the cover.jpg, assuming that the folder is actually a calibre generated folder in the first place, i.e. has a correctly created OPF file that points to cover.jpg

Hi Kovid.

I add an ebook file to calibre, and in the process an OPF file and cover.jpg file get created. No doubt extracted from the single file added.

The problem occurs when I go to convert to other formats. Even though that cover.jpg file is there, it doesn't appear to get used, unless I browse to select it ... not unless you have changed something in that regard since v1.41.

I have been converting ebooks with calibre for years (hundreds of them no doubt), and some end up with a cover at the start of the ebook and some don't, unless I use the browse method ... even though presumably, the cover.jpg file came from somewhere (ebook file, not online).

P.S. You'd think, that if a cover exists in the original file, then that would naturally be in the converted ones, but I have found that not to be so on many occasions.

[kovidgoyal]

When you convert in calibre, the cover that is used is the cover that is displayed in calibre. That has always been, and still is, the case.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Get the Quality Check plugin for the first

Checked that out, as I had it installed already. I didn't try it, but I presume it works, using the FIX menu option. Not as nice and simple as a button fit for purpose in the Metadata window ... me over browsing menus ... almost as quick to do the copy & paste editing I already do. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Originally Posted by mbovenka

use Edit Metadata in Bulk for the second (there is a 'Change title case to' dropdown & checkbox).

Just tried that, and honestly why people confuse Titlecase with Propercase has always astounded me (Microsoft are you listening).

Titlecase means every word, even 'a' and 'the' are capitalized. There is no option there to do that.

There is Titlecase, Sentence Case and Propercase.

Title means title, so that it doesn't look like a sentence, where only some words are capitalized, or propercase where some specific words are not capitalized. Why a good number of people think it is acceptable to use non capitalized words in a title, and still call it a title, defies logic.

My apologies for my little rant, but it really does get my goat.

Once again, thanks for the suggestion, but aside from it not capable of doing what I want, it is again not in the Metadata window, and I want to reduce clicking, browsing, etc.

Cheers

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

When you convert in calibre, the cover that is used is the cover that is displayed in calibre. That has always been, and still is, the case.

Then why do so many of my ebooks, when viewed with the Calibre viewer, not show covers? Somehow the cover is skipped during conversion ... at least that was the case with v1.41. I only updated a day ago, after finally getting fed up.

Not done extensive testing in latest calibre, just saw that some of the changes I had been hoping for, to make life easier, still didn't exist.

I will try and find some real world examples for you, as problematical as that may prove to be, when it comes to sharing files ... links perhaps to non DRM freebies.

Cheers

[theducks]

1.41 Are you on XP? At least get 1.48 (the last that ran on that platform)

If you don't have a free 'system maintenance person' fixing things, you probably spent more than a more modern 'Refurb" would cost
I am surprised that such an old system is still functioning. Almost every system (major, business class, brands) need some sort of $$ repair in 5 years.
HD, CPU/GPU Fans, PSU, CD/DVD, RAM

[JSWolf]

If the OP is on 1.41, then how can the OP want all these changes since they won't be of use?

[deback]

I use the F2 button to manually rename single files. If I have lots of files to rename, then I use the Ant Renamer software, which is great to quickly rename files.

Then after I've dragged the files into Calibre, I use the Modify Epub plugin to update the metadata to the current filenames (or I'll use the Polish plugin when I have only one or two files to update the metadata). I also use the Modify Epub plugin to do a lot of other things, like remove a lot of the junk that needs to be removed, etc.

Then I run the Calibre conversion to add a certain font, to justify the text, change the side margins to 30pt each, plus make other changes and fixes that I have set up in Styling and Transform in the Look and Feel settings. When the conversion creates a duplicate cover image (happens often for some unknown reason), then I use Edit Book to remove the duplicate HTML file for the cover image that gets created during the conversion (and placed either under the top cover image page or at the bottom of the HTML list).

Then I use Edit Book to check for errors and have it automatically fix them. Then I will manually fix any of the formatting that needs to be fixed, fix the ToCs, fix the CSS codes for images when they were coded incorrectly (like indenting an image that should be centered, centering images when the code is "justify" and should be "center," changing the width and height codes to "100%" from "auto" for full-page images, etc).

At some point during this process, and after conversion, I'll highlight all the files and run the ToC plugin to fix any ToCs that need to be fixed. Doing it this way loads up the next file after I click OK.

Then after checking each EPUB file to make sure it's satisfactory (using ADE 1.71), I move the files back to the author folders (using Windows Explorer).

I'm using the current Calibre version, which is 3.15.

I don't know if any of the above will answer any of your questions, but this is what I do, and the results are fantastic.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Just tried that, and honestly why people confuse Titlecase with Propercase has always astounded me (Microsoft are you listening).

Titlecase means every word, even 'a' and 'the' are capitalized. There is no option there to do that.

There is Titlecase, Sentence Case and Propercase.

Title means title, so that it doesn't look like a sentence, where only some words are capitalized, or propercase where some specific words are not capitalized. Why a good number of people think it is acceptable to use non capitalized words in a title, and still call it a title, defies logic.

This is stylistic issue, most writers and editors wouldn't even know Microsoft published a Writing Style Guide in 2012.

They're unlikely to switch from their in-house styles that are usually based on one of the long established de-facto standards -- Chicago University's Manual of Style (1920), the Modern Language Association of America Handbook (1977), Associated Press' Stylebook (1950) or Strunk & White's Elements of Style (1920) or the British equivalents - OUP, Cambridge, Times, Fowlers etc. Here WikiP's list List of style guides. And that's just for English

The long established style guides have different but often similar standards. For titles, most (all ?) state articles, prepositions, and conjunctions (except the first or last word) should never start with a capital letter, but some impose a sub-rule - except prepositions or conjunctions that are more than N characters in length, which should always start with a capital letter - IIRC MLA is 4 and AP is 5, or vice-versa.

BR

[fidvo]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Just tried that, and honestly why people confuse Titlecase with Propercase has always astounded me (Microsoft are you listening).

Titlecase means every word, even 'a' and 'the' are capitalized. There is no option there to do that.

There is Titlecase, Sentence Case and Propercase.

Title means title, so that it doesn't look like a sentence, where only some words are capitalized, or propercase where some specific words are not capitalized. Why a good number of people think it is acceptable to use non capitalized words in a title, and still call it a title, defies logic.

My apologies for my little rant, but it really does get my goat.

The occasional rant is fine; I've done it myself (don't get me started on DRM). But you might want to check your facts first next time.

The reason why so many people think it's acceptable to use non-capitalized words in a title is because it is acceptable.

Look up the definition of titlecase. Titles are supposed to have certain words in lowercase. The rules for which words should be lowercase are not universal, but the fact that some words should be lowercase is.

If you want to have all words in your titles uppercase in your personal library, that's perfectly fine. But if you want Calibre to do it automatically for you, just be aware that you're asking for something non-standard.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If the OP is on 1.41, then how can the OP want all these changes since they won't be of use?

Latest calibre on Win 7 Netbook.
v1.41 on Win XP Laptop.

Until a few days ago, I was mostly happy using v1.41 on both, and wasn't sure of any impact of upgrading so didn't bother, until I had a moment of being fed up with the repetitiveness of the process I go through most days.

I download and convert on the Netbook, and store and use on the Laptop.

Laptop remains off-line.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by fidvo

But you might want to check your facts first next time.

The reason why so many people think it's acceptable to use non-capitalized words in a title is because it is acceptable.

Don't believe that for a moment. Makes no logical sense.
What facts?

A lot of people don't believe in the Moon Landing, but that doesn't make that belief true.

Originally Posted by fidvo

Look up the definition of titlecase.

Who's definition?

Originally Posted by fidvo

.... if you want Calibre to do it automatically for you ....

Not asking for that, would just like an extra button that does TRUE titlecase.

Further to that, when you look at some text, and due to mixed capitalization it looks like a sentence, then it is a sentence. If every word is capitalized, you know without a doubt it is a title.