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Old 09-27-2012, 11:23 PM   #1
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Calibre Covers Resizing Good in Aldiko, But Why?

I use Calibre daily and I have never been able to figure out why Calibre, when you take an existing ePub, say from Feedbooks.com and convert it, it's cover looks perfect in Aldiko.

If you just import the Feedbook.com ePub straight into Aldiko, there is a white border normally on the top or right side.

I've tried just using the plugin Modify ePub and it doesn't solve the problem. I always have to do a ePub conversion again -- which I thought I read was not the best thing to do.

So I am curious, what option in Calibre is fixing these covers so the thumbnail looks the right size in Aldiko and no white border shows up.

Is doing a reconversion in Calibre hurting the existing format of the ePub I get say from Feedbooks.com. They don't appear any different that I notice.

Thanks!
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Old 09-28-2012, 05:15 AM   #2
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@Themus - I know nothing about Aldiko, but rather more about Modify ePub. PM me a link to a zip containing:
- the original epub
- the same epub after you have run Modify ePub on it that is not displaying correctly
- the same epub after you have converted it with calibre and is displaying correctly

If Modify ePub is not doing something it needs to with covers then I will fix it. It could be Kovid has changed something since I wrote it that I also need to add.

There's a bunch of threads around discussing the impact of doing ePub -> ePub conversions. The effects range from zero to significant, depending on both the book content and what aspects of the book are important to you and whether you look behind the curtains or not. Most times the average user would not notice any difference in the slightest. But if via Modify ePub you don't need to do a conversion many prefer to take that approach and avoid any risk at all.
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Old 09-28-2012, 08:14 AM   #3
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Thank you kiwidude. Unfortunately I don't a website, but here is what I can share as I just created the problem and the solution. From Feedbooks.com I grapped the ePub The Bandit of Hell's Bend by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I imported it into Calibre, and send it to Aldiko by way of Calibre Companion and imported it into Aldiko. Cover thumbnail has a white border on the right hand side.

Deleted it, then went back to Calibre and converted it. Send it back to Aldiko via the same process, and no white border on the right hand side.

I had the same result for several books from Feedbooks.com in this process. I've also seen this from other ePub sites.

As far as Calibre goes, I know of no setting in it that I see turned on where it solves this problem. But if I can avoid a conversion for every ePub that seems a good route.

Thank you for your assistance.
Tom
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Old 09-28-2012, 08:20 AM   #4
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@themus - I need *your* converted epubs, because it is entirely likely this is being impacted by the settings you have for your conversions, which will likely differ from mine. Just use any of the myriad of free websites out there to temporarily upload a file and PM me the link. Or else you can see my email address if you open any of the files inside one of my plugins.
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Old 09-28-2012, 01:23 PM   #5
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Same here,
well kind of, just fired up my calibre and connected to my N7 and noticed some of my books have a white border when using aldiko.

No idea why, may be because of the resolution, or may be because some haven't been updated so covers are not embedded etc.
But not really decided on which book viewer to use yet cool reader/ aldico etc

It's never easy is it.
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Old 09-28-2012, 04:52 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Themus View Post
So I am curious, what option in Calibre is fixing these covers so the thumbnail looks the right size in Aldiko and no white border shows up.
Probably the Preferences -> Conversion -> Common Options -> Page Setup -> Output Profile. Is it set to Tablet, as recommended for Android? The books at Feedbooks or wherever wouldn't necessarily be optimized for a specific device as well as calibre does when using the relevant conversion settings.

Last edited by unboggling; 09-28-2012 at 05:01 PM.
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Old 09-28-2012, 04:55 PM   #7
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@unboggling - the Modify ePub plugin uses *exactly* the same settings that a calibre conversion does. So a change to the default page settings would work for both Modify ePub and a calibre conversion.

@Themus - thx for the email, I will hopefully take a look at it tomorrow. If you can do me a favour and send me the other two epubs as well (the orginal and the one that you have applied Modify ePub to that you say does not work on Aldiko). The less work I have to do hunting things down or guessing what you might have done, the more likely I can find time to take a look
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Old 09-28-2012, 05:06 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by kiwidude View Post
@unboggling - the Modify ePub plugin uses *exactly* the same settings that a calibre conversion does. So a change to the default page settings would work for both Modify ePub and a calibre conversion.
@kiwidude, I didn't know that, thanks for the info. And it is a good rule-of-thumb to avoid unnecessary conversions.

Edit: Which particular Modify ePub settings apply the Common Options page settings? I may want to apply those to all ePubs in my library that were previously converted with input profile = default, and output profile = kindle because images are slightly wrong-sized when reading those ePubs on Nexus7.

Edit2: I see "Insert or replace cover." But that doesn't handle resizing any other images in the format, such as maps, does it?

Last edited by unboggling; 09-28-2012 at 05:30 PM.
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Old 09-28-2012, 05:30 PM   #9
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@unboggling - this issue raised by Themus only concerns the cover, not internal images. The Modify ePub plugin will uses calibre default settings for page setup (margins), preserve cover aspect ratio, no svg cover and the output profile dimensions for resizing the cover (which for Tablet profile means no resizing).
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Old 09-28-2012, 05:35 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwidude View Post
@unboggling - this issue raised by Themus only concerns the cover, not internal images. The Modify ePub plugin will uses calibre default settings for page setup (margins), preserve cover aspect ratio, no svg cover and the output profile dimensions for resizing the cover (which for Tablet profile means no resizing).
@kiwidude. Thanks for the details.
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:03 PM   #11
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Calibre output set to Nook Color

Quote:
Originally Posted by unboggling View Post
Probably the Preferences -> Conversion -> Common Options -> Page Setup -> Output Profile. Is it set to Tablet, as recommended for Android? The books at Feedbooks or wherever wouldn't necessarily be optimized for a specific device as well as calibre does when using the relevant conversion settings.
I have a Nook Color rooted as a full android tablet. However, as in the title line, it is set from Calibre to output to Nook Color.

My observation is that the covers are coming out right when converted by Calibre from their native ePub format. IE., Doing an ePub to ePub conversion results in the Aldiko thumbnails appearing w/o the border on some sides. A good thing.

They mystery to me is how to have these covers right w/o having to do an entire ePub conversion.
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:07 PM   #12
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@kiwidude Glad you received it. I want to make sure I am not confusing the issue which I apologize if I have. Running Modify ePub does not fix the white border on an ePub not converted through Calibre. --Not that running Modify ePub re-creates the white border once fixed by a conversion in Calibre. Your pluggin doesn't create the white border - running it didn't fix it was my observation. [Not that it is supposed to, but I presented it as information to the process I have been trying in order to discern why I am getting white borders in the first place and why Calibre conversions seem to fix it.]
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:36 PM   #13
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@Themus - as I said it *really* depends on your settings, which makes it impossible for me to tell you exactly what you have done without them. Also which option did you choose to run on Modify ePub?

So in Preferences->Output Options->EPUB Output, what do you have set for "No SVG cover" and "Preserve cover aspect ratio"? On my machine I have those unticked. Then if I drag the Feedbooks book into calibre, run Modify ePub, tick the "Insert or Replace Cover" option, and click OK, click Yes on the dialog saying to confirm the replacement. The resulting ePub will show the full height and width cover with no white borders, because it is *not* attempting to preserve the aspect ratio. You can immediately see the difference in the calibre ebook viewer.

So follow those steps and you should see the same result.
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Old 09-29-2012, 11:05 AM   #14
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@kiwidude My preferences in Calibre are the same as yours: No SVG Cover and Preserve cover aspect ratio are unchecked. Indeed nothing is check in the menu.

Now the good news is checking Insert or Replace Cover has solved the border problem without doing a conversion in Calibre. I thought I had checked that box and so I am pleasant surprised it is working. I will try more tonight, but I have to do some yard work to keep up with neighbors!

If this works as I hope, this will be terriffic news.
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