Can I move books to another computer and retain metadata?

Cariad · 02-09-2012, 03:36 PM

Hello All, I posted last night but must have done something wrong, can't find it,

I have been using Calibre for a couple of months now and love it, am just about to receive my Sony reader PRS T1 any day - a gift from my partner in the US

I want to share some books with him, he's just about to install Calibre.
My question is, how can I keep the metadata intact?

I tried creating a second library on Calibre to experiment, but when I copied the books in the metadata was missing.

I know he can do this himself, but he works so hard, I'd like to be able to do it for him.

I appreciate your advice, Cheers!

theducks · 02-09-2012, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cariad

Hello All, I posted last night but must have done something wrong, can't find it,

I have been using Calibre for a couple of months now and love it, am just about to receive my Sony reader PRS T1 any day - a gift from my partner in the US

I want to share some books with him, he's just about to install Calibre.
My question is, how can I keep the metadata intact?

I tried creating a second library on Calibre to experiment, but when I copied the books in the metadata was missing.

I know he can do this himself, but he works so hard, I'd like to be able to do it for him.

I appreciate your advice, Cheers!

Make them a Library on a flash drive or separate folder. Use Create Switch to set that up.
Then switch back to yours.
Select Books and Right-click: Copy to Library (I suggest No delete

)

Cariad · 02-09-2012, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Make them a Library on a flash drive or separate folder. Use Create Switch to set that up.
Then switch back to yours.
Select Books and Right-click: Copy to Library (I suggest No delete

)

Thank you, theducks, not sure I follow you though,I have tried creating a another library within Calibre and copying the books to that, but the metadata didn't stay with them.
I need to send all the files via a filesharing service, when , I hope I can get the metadata to stick.

Could you or someone clarify for me?
many thanks..

theducks · 02-09-2012, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cariad

Thank you, theducks, not sure I follow you though,I have tried creating a another library within Calibre and copying the books to that, but the metadata didn't stay with them.
I need to send all the files via a filesharing service, when , I hope I can get the metadata to stick.

Could you or someone clarify for me?
many thanks..

If you use Calibre's Copy to Library (Not windows Copy .(unless you want a Copy of your entire Library) ) function, The Metadata should 'stick'.

When you are done, put the entire NEW Library folder on the sharing service

Cariad · 02-09-2012, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

If you use Calibre's Copy to Library (Not windows Copy .(unless you want a Copy of your entire Library) ) function, The Metadata should 'stick'.

When you are done, put the entire NEW Library folder on the sharing service

Hello again, I did that, must have gone wrong somewhere, I'll try it again,
thanks so much for your help, I appreciate it!

Cariad · 02-09-2012, 11:20 PM

Hi Again, next step, I apologise for not asking this earlier.
When my partner 'Adds' books to Calibre, the only option seems to be to click on the epub file, so he's not getting the metadata, only the epub file.
Is it possible for him to 'add' all of that? I suggested he add the files to his Calibre Library folder and that Calibre would recognise them next time he opened it, but no joy.
Am I missing something vital?
(the 'copy' process worked perfectly this time, thanks theducks

)
Many thanks

theducks · 02-09-2012, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cariad

Hi Again, next step, I apologise for not asking this earlier.
When my partner 'Adds' books to Calibre, the only option seems to be to click on the epub file, so he's not getting the metadata, only the epub file.
Is it possible for him to 'add' all of that? I suggested he add the files to his Calibre Library folder and that Calibre would recognise them next time he opened it, but no joy.
Am I missing something vital?
(the 'copy' process worked perfectly this time, thanks theducks

)
Many thanks

Wen your partner gets the full Library (as sent).
They also Switch Library (to the New one), select bookks: right-click: Copy to Library (the main one)

Simple

davidfor · 02-10-2012, 12:05 AM

What theducks is suggesting, is to create a new Calibre library, use Calibre functions to copy the books to that library and then give the library to your partner. Then, he opens that library with Calibre and uses Calibre to copy the books from that library to his library. That should work well if you are giving him a lot of books.

An alternative is to do a conversion in Calibre to the same format and that will update the metadata. This will work well for one or two books and as long they don't have DRM.

Cariad · 02-10-2012, 06:43 AM

Thank you both, theducks and davidfor, I've got it now and I appreciate it.
I began with a collection in pdf, all with different title and author formats, so I did the conversions and the metadata, it didn't exist with the originals, so it was important to me to not lose it all - aaarrrghh!!

It's all good now, thank you

transmitthis · 02-11-2012, 10:36 AM

As your partner is in the US, you may want to kill two birds with one stone.
Have a look at backing up you library to an on line service, then when you add books, your partner, can also access them
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=168692

Cariad · 02-12-2012, 04:38 AM

Hi transmitthis, we use Dropbox often to exchange things. I copied my library to my desktop, but never thought of an online service, that's excellent advice, thank you!

02-09-2012, 03:36 PM	#1
Cariad Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony PRS-T1 BC , Samsung Galaxy SII	Can I move books to another computer and retain metadata? Hello All, I posted last night but must have done something wrong, can't find it, I have been using Calibre for a couple of months now and love it, am just about to receive my Sony reader PRS T1 any day - a gift from my partner in the US I want to share some books with him, he's just about to install Calibre. My question is, how can I keep the metadata intact? I tried creating a second library on Calibre to experiment, but when I copied the books in the metadata was missing. I know he can do this himself, but he works so hard, I'd like to be able to do it for him. I appreciate your advice, Cheers!

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02-09-2012, 11:20 PM	#6
Cariad Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony PRS-T1 BC , Samsung Galaxy SII	Hi Again, next step, I apologise for not asking this earlier. When my partner 'Adds' books to Calibre, the only option seems to be to click on the epub file, so he's not getting the metadata, only the epub file. Is it possible for him to 'add' all of that? I suggested he add the files to his Calibre Library folder and that Calibre would recognise them next time he opened it, but no joy. Am I missing something vital? (the 'copy' process worked perfectly this time, thanks theducks ) Many thanks

02-10-2012, 12:05 AM	#8
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	What theducks is suggesting, is to create a new Calibre library, use Calibre functions to copy the books to that library and then give the library to your partner. Then, he opens that library with Calibre and uses Calibre to copy the books from that library to his library. That should work well if you are giving him a lot of books. An alternative is to do a conversion in Calibre to the same format and that will update the metadata. This will work well for one or two books and as long they don't have DRM.

02-10-2012, 06:43 AM	#9
Cariad Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony PRS-T1 BC , Samsung Galaxy SII	Thank you both, theducks and davidfor, I've got it now and I appreciate it. I began with a collection in pdf, all with different title and author formats, so I did the conversions and the metadata, it didn't exist with the originals, so it was important to me to not lose it all - aaarrrghh!! It's all good now, thank you

02-11-2012, 10:36 AM	#10
transmitthis Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1003542 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Google Nexus 7 16GB	As your partner is in the US, you may want to kill two birds with one stone. Have a look at backing up you library to an on line service, then when you add books, your partner, can also access them https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=168692

02-12-2012, 04:38 AM	#11
Cariad Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony PRS-T1 BC , Samsung Galaxy SII	Hi transmitthis, we use Dropbox often to exchange things. I copied my library to my desktop, but never thought of an online service, that's excellent advice, thank you!