PRS-650 Book thumbnail on standby screen ?

haiyeekayakee · 12-05-2010, 05:36 AM

Hi all,

I'm new here. After years of dithering and waiting for tech to improve I've finally decided to go for it and gotten myself an ereader, the PRS650, which I love so far !

Anyways, I was browsing around the forum yesterday and I saw a thread where someone mentioned that on the Kindle it's possible to take the thumbnail/cover of a book and have it used as the standby screen image and rued the fact that this isn't possible on the Sony. However, someone else replied that it is possible, but didn't say how.

I can't seem to find this thread now, and can't find any more info or settings for this, but am wondering if this is true and how it may be done if so ?

Thanks and regards!
H.

woodfrog · 12-05-2010, 05:42 AM

It is possible, but not automatically. You have to copy your desired picture into the picture folder of the device and then pick it as screensaver.
Of course you have to manually change it every time you start a new book in that way, but that's the only way I can think of right now.
If you're looking for some good wallpapers check out http://www.nook-look.com/. They are designed for the Nook but fit the 650 very well.

Mark Nord · 12-05-2010, 06:21 AM

Welcome to MR haiyeekayakee!

The one way I can think of, is using the screenshot feature of the "russified" firmwares to take a screenshot of the titel-picture and set this manualy as standby-wallpaper.

haiyeekayakee · 12-05-2010, 06:25 AM

Hi, thanks for the reply and welcome. Yes there is that way of course, however I'd been hoping that maybe it was possible to have this happen automatically but maybe not. It's no big deal though, it'd just be a nice feature if it were available.

Doogman · 12-05-2010, 08:39 AM

The trouble with using the cover thumbnails in a epub for the standby screen is the small resolution of such pictures. When you blow them up to fit the screen, they look like crap.

The nook-look site has some nice files. I use the Durer woodcuts on my 350.

jackinca · 12-05-2010, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haiyeekayakee

Hi all,

I'm new here. After years of dithering and waiting for tech to improve I've finally decided to go for it and gotten myself an ereader, the PRS650, which I love so far !

Anyways, I was browsing around the forum yesterday and I saw a thread where someone mentioned that on the Kindle it's possible to take the thumbnail/cover of a book and have it used as the standby screen image and rued the fact that this isn't possible on the Sony. However, someone else replied that it is possible, but didn't say how.

I can't seem to find this thread now, and can't find any more info or settings for this, but am wondering if this is true and how it may be done if so ?

Thanks and regards
H.

Inspired by Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own", I collected all the photos of famous female authors of the 19th and 20th Centuries in my photo gallery I could locate, and transferred them to photos on the 650 and then to the Standby Screen. There were very few female authors in those times and their writings were discouraged and suppressed as evidenced by how few of them there were, and several had to write under pseudonyms. I collected eight of them.

elemenoP · 12-05-2010, 10:49 AM

That was me, on the other thread, and FTR it's the Kobo that can automatically use the cover of the book you're reading as the standby screen. ATDrake said in that thread that if you use Calibre the cover images should go in the images folder, but on the 650 they do not. I did figure out where they are stored on my hard drive if I want to copy and paste them onto my reader myself. Looks like Calibre generates cover images at 330 x 500, not great but big enough to display ok. Still, all this copying, pasting, and choosing is just not the same as having it happen automatically!

eP

elemenoP · 12-05-2010, 10:50 AM

Also it would be neat if Calibre let you choose your own cover image size. There must be bigger images out there to choose from.

PatNY · 12-05-2010, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Looks like Calibre generates cover images at 330 x 500, not great but big enough to display ok. Still, all this copying, pasting, and choosing is just not the same as having it happen automatically!

eP

eP, where does Calibre generate covers at 330 x 500? In general, if you import a large cover image into Calibre for a particular book, it will not resize that image. The large resolution remains intact inside the ePub.

Or, are you talking about when Calibre transfers epubs over to the Sony reader? I think it is the Sony reader that downsizes covers. But not within the epub. If you put a large resolution image inside an epub, the reader leaves it at a large enough resolution to look good when you are reading the book. What it does for its own internal thumbnail purposes is another matter. The reader does some downsizing and the images are pixelated if you try to use them as a screensaver. But in the reading mode, the covers for the book can be full screen and high resolution without pixelation.

elemenoP · 12-05-2010, 08:10 PM

PatNY, in Calibre, I go into "edit metadata," do the step on the left "fetch metadata from server," and then "download cover" on the right. (seems like it won't download a cover unless you fetch the metadata first.) All the images that I've got that way are about 330 x 500. I don't know what server they are coming from, maybe they are all that size or maybe Calibre resizes upon import.

Bookworm_Girl · 12-05-2010, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

PatNY, in Calibre, I go into "edit metadata," do the step on the left "fetch metadata from server," and then "download cover" on the right. (seems like it won't download a cover unless you fetch the metadata first.) All the images that I've got that way are about 330 x 500. I don't know what server they are coming from, maybe they are all that size or maybe Calibre resizes upon import.

I think the covers come from librarything.com or openlibrary.org. When you are in calibre, open preferences. Scroll down to the bottom. Select the Advanced > Plugins. You'll see options for Cover Download Plugins and also Metadata Download Plugins which explain the sources. Sometimes it works to download covers without fetching the metadata (assuming your ebook already had some default metadata from the original source). But, usually you need to fetch metadata so it has enough fields properly filled out to locate the correct cover.

SeaBookGuy · 12-05-2010, 09:02 PM

I add my own covers, but "shrink" them in Paint, as I thought they were supposed to be less than 217 x 217 pixels?

PatNY · 12-06-2010, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

PatNY, in Calibre, I go into "edit metadata," do the step on the left "fetch metadata from server," and then "download cover" on the right. (seems like it won't download a cover unless you fetch the metadata first.) All the images that I've got that way are about 330 x 500. I don't know what server they are coming from, maybe they are all that size or maybe Calibre resizes upon import.

Oh, OK. So you let Calibre download the cover for you. I have about 250 books in Calibre, and have never used Calibre for downloading covers. I am rather picky about my covers. So I find them either on Google images or other places on the web such as Barnes & Noble. They are always larger than 330 x 500. I aim for something around 800-900 pixels on the long side. Sometimes I find larger than that and will merely downsize it in Photoshop. I am so picky that if there is a cover I don't like, I may even try to edit it in Photoshop or make my own.

The value of larger size cover images (at least larger than 330 x 500) is that the covers will show up better without pixelation on a larger variety of devices. The screen of the PRS-350 is 800 x 600 pixels in resolution. So that's why I aim for something around 800 or 900 pixels high. So that it can show up nearly full size without any ill effects.

PatNY · 12-06-2010, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I add my own covers, but "shrink" them in Paint, as I thought they were supposed to be less than 217 x 217 pixels?

I don't think there is a size limitation for book covers in epubs, whether or not they are used on the Sony. If you use such small images in your epubs, won't they show up pixelated on your devices? How does it look on the actual book (not the thumbnails when browsing the interface)?

I add my own covers too, but always aim for something around 800 or 900 pixels high.

JSWolf · 12-06-2010, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I add my own covers, but "shrink" them in Paint, as I thought they were supposed to be less than 217 x 217 pixels?

You do not need to make thumbnails. The Sony software will do it from the full size cover. That is what the reader displays.

12-05-2010, 05:36 AM	#1
haiyeekayakee Member Posts: 23 Karma: 524 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS650	Book thumbnail on standby screen ? Hi all, I'm new here. After years of dithering and waiting for tech to improve I've finally decided to go for it and gotten myself an ereader, the PRS650, which I love so far ! Anyways, I was browsing around the forum yesterday and I saw a thread where someone mentioned that on the Kindle it's possible to take the thumbnail/cover of a book and have it used as the standby screen image and rued the fact that this isn't possible on the Sony. However, someone else replied that it is possible, but didn't say how. I can't seem to find this thread now, and can't find any more info or settings for this, but am wondering if this is true and how it may be done if so ? Thanks and regards! H.

12-05-2010, 06:21 AM	#3
Mark Nord 2B \|\| !2B Posts: 851 Karma: 194010 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Austria Device: Sony PRS505/650/T1/tolino vision 5	Welcome to MR haiyeekayakee! The one way I can think of, is using the screenshot feature of the "russified" firmwares to take a screenshot of the titel-picture and set this manualy as standby-wallpaper. Last edited by Mark Nord; 12-05-2010 at 04:49 PM.

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12-05-2010, 05:42 AM	#2
woodfrog Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: PRS-650	It is possible, but not automatically. You have to copy your desired picture into the picture folder of the device and then pick it as screensaver. Of course you have to manually change it every time you start a new book in that way, but that's the only way I can think of right now. If you're looking for some good wallpapers check out http://www.nook-look.com/. They are designed for the Nook but fit the 650 very well.

12-05-2010, 06:25 AM	#4
haiyeekayakee Member Posts: 23 Karma: 524 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS650	Hi, thanks for the reply and welcome. Yes there is that way of course, however I'd been hoping that maybe it was possible to have this happen automatically but maybe not. It's no big deal though, it'd just be a nice feature if it were available.

12-05-2010, 08:39 AM	#5
Doogman Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 945 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook ST	The trouble with using the cover thumbnails in a epub for the standby screen is the small resolution of such pictures. When you blow them up to fit the screen, they look like crap. The nook-look site has some nice files. I use the Durer woodcuts on my 350.

12-05-2010, 10:49 AM	#7
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	That was me, on the other thread, and FTR it's the Kobo that can automatically use the cover of the book you're reading as the standby screen. ATDrake said in that thread that if you use Calibre the cover images should go in the images folder, but on the 650 they do not. I did figure out where they are stored on my hard drive if I want to copy and paste them onto my reader myself. Looks like Calibre generates cover images at 330 x 500, not great but big enough to display ok. Still, all this copying, pasting, and choosing is just not the same as having it happen automatically! eP

12-05-2010, 10:50 AM	#8
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Also it would be neat if Calibre let you choose your own cover image size. There must be bigger images out there to choose from.

12-05-2010, 08:10 PM	#10
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	PatNY, in Calibre, I go into "edit metadata," do the step on the left "fetch metadata from server," and then "download cover" on the right. (seems like it won't download a cover unless you fetch the metadata first.) All the images that I've got that way are about 330 x 500. I don't know what server they are coming from, maybe they are all that size or maybe Calibre resizes upon import.

12-05-2010, 09:02 PM	#12
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	I add my own covers, but "shrink" them in Paint, as I thought they were supposed to be less than 217 x 217 pixels?

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