Making ePubs show cover image on Kobo.

Vanguard3000 · 01-02-2011, 03:01 AM

Hi, all. I just got a new Kobo Wireless ereader for Christmas this year, and have been playing around with Calibre and Sigil to modify and arrange my books. But I'm having trouble with some of my ebooks not showing the cover image for the ebook, even though I have put one in the /images/ folder with Sigil, and tagged it as the cover image.

Kobo seems to take the first page of the book as the cover image, so I've made a new xhtml item with Sigil (I've left it named "section0001.xhtml" because I didn't think it mattered what the file was called) and put in the cover image, stretched to fit the page. But still, when I put them on my Kobo, I don't see the cover image... just the first page of the book.

When I load the books into Calibre the cover images display without a problem.

Any suggestions?

(I figured the "ePub" board was the best place to put this, as it probably involves the structure of the file itself, rather than the Kobo or Sigil. But if a moderator should feel this belongs in a different board, feel free to redirect me.)

Jellby · 01-02-2011, 04:16 AM

You may need to update the database, or delete thumbnails, or something. I don't know about the Kobo, but in the Cybooks, along with "book.epub" you can find "book.epub.thn", which is the cover thumbnail; if the thumbnail exists, it won't be updated, so it must be deleted to have it re-created. It might be similar with the Kobo.

pholy · 01-02-2011, 03:44 PM

I think that the Kobo will not process a file if it already exists in its db, and - in older versions, at least - it does not clean the db if you simply delete the epub file. So the easiest way to make sure the new file is processed is to change the file name. There are sqlite tools available for accessing the db, but the Kobo plugin for Calibre may do all the db work for you (I'm not sure).

Vanguard3000 · 01-03-2011, 02:11 PM

Thanks for the help, everyone. I found out the next day that it was indeed because the files weren't updating when I replaced them on my Kobo. I've fixed the issue in a rather awkward way by deleting the file from my Kobo, ejecting, plugging back in, and adding the file to the Kobo once more.

Thanks again for the help, folks.

01-02-2011, 03:01 AM	#1
Vanguard3000 Groupie Posts: 152 Karma: 474196 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ottawa Device: Kobo Aura H2O	Making ePubs show cover image on Kobo. Hi, all. I just got a new Kobo Wireless ereader for Christmas this year, and have been playing around with Calibre and Sigil to modify and arrange my books. But I'm having trouble with some of my ebooks not showing the cover image for the ebook, even though I have put one in the /images/ folder with Sigil, and tagged it as the cover image. Kobo seems to take the first page of the book as the cover image, so I've made a new xhtml item with Sigil (I've left it named "section0001.xhtml" because I didn't think it mattered what the file was called) and put in the cover image, stretched to fit the page. But still, when I put them on my Kobo, I don't see the cover image... just the first page of the book. When I load the books into Calibre the cover images display without a problem. Any suggestions? (I figured the "ePub" board was the best place to put this, as it probably involves the structure of the file itself, rather than the Kobo or Sigil. But if a moderator should feel this belongs in a different board, feel free to redirect me.)

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01-02-2011, 04:16 AM	#2
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,516 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	You may need to update the database, or delete thumbnails, or something. I don't know about the Kobo, but in the Cybooks, along with "book.epub" you can find "book.epub.thn", which is the cover thumbnail; if the thumbnail exists, it won't be updated, so it must be deleted to have it re-created. It might be similar with the Kobo.

01-02-2011, 03:44 PM	#3
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	I think that the Kobo will not process a file if it already exists in its db, and - in older versions, at least - it does not clean the db if you simply delete the epub file. So the easiest way to make sure the new file is processed is to change the file name. There are sqlite tools available for accessing the db, but the Kobo plugin for Calibre may do all the db work for you (I'm not sure).

01-03-2011, 02:11 PM	#4
Vanguard3000 Groupie Posts: 152 Karma: 474196 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ottawa Device: Kobo Aura H2O	Thanks for the help, everyone. I found out the next day that it was indeed because the files weren't updating when I replaced them on my Kobo. I've fixed the issue in a rather awkward way by deleting the file from my Kobo, ejecting, plugging back in, and adding the file to the Kobo once more. Thanks again for the help, folks.

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