Converting epub to epub

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it you are converting ePub to ePub? Maybe we can help so you don't have to convert. I hardly ever convert ePub to ePub. I edit the code in most cases.

For me, I use epub to epub conversion when the epub has a single html file for the ebook. Calibre does a pretty decent job of splitting at chapter boundaries without me having to mark them.

[deback]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you turn this off and your conversion or whatever goes wrong, you don't have the original eBook to restore or look at. So I would suggest not turning this off.

Of course I have the original ePub file. I always drag ePub files into Calibre, and the originals stay in the original folders. I will keep it turned off, because it saves a step.

[deback]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

All you do is import the font file you want, past the CSS code into the CSS. You do that for all fonts you want embedded. Then you edit the CSS and done. It's a lot easier then it sounds. No need to convert. Sometimes it's easier to clean up the ePub from the original code then from a Calibre conversion.

Plus, you can do things in the editor such as lossless compression of the images, removing all unused CSS which can be hundreds of unused classes. Also you can error check using the Calibre checker and epubcheck. I read of others having problems because of eBooks with errors. By being able to check for errors and fixing them, you have less chance of any issues with your Reader.

After you set up the Preferences for Convert, then you will eliminate all the manual steps you've described above. Plus, you can do many things by converting, if you know how to set up the Styling and Transform sections in Common Options. As I've said before, I make many changes (improvements) by doing a simple Modify_ePub and Convert to each ePub file I process, which takes just a few seconds for each ePub.

I've been doing everything automatically (as I described above) for several years and have saved tons of time by not doing all the things you listed manually.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hyegeek

While your suggestions are all good (and appreciated), just this year I've added over 400 books to my library. Compare manually editing that number of books vs. a couple of clicks and my font is embedded.

If/when Calibre does not do a good jobs (and that is getting to be much less often) I do the manual edits.

Also, while I do keep my eyes out for new ereaders that will do more for me, I can't justify buying one to avoid a couple of button clicks in a very good software package.

A new Reader would give you a larger screen, higher resolution, better contrast, faster screen updates, side loading fonts. can change the weight of the fonts, better eBook management, and other things. You would get a lot more from a new Kobo.

Imagine 400 ePub without the need to convert and having a better reading experience.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by dlyearsley

There are many reasons to convert epub to epub.

1. To add a metadata page at the front of the book.
2. Many books do not have the chapters set up correctly to files. If you set chapter to a heading it will automatically build files based on the chapter.
3. The conversion program has several clean up functions and can be used to take a file that has issues and make it more readable.
4. Upgrade the versions of epub.
5. Fixes the css sheets.

1. Polish or Modify ePub can do this without touching the most of the code
2. That requires editing the ePub, so shy not just fix it while it's in the editor anyway?
3. Not always. Garbage in, garbage out. Just look at what you get from a poorly made Word document. It can be a right mess and that's after a conversion. Plus ePub > ePub won't fix it.
4. Why? There's no need to convert ePub 2 to ePub 3. You gain nothing at all unless you want ot go into the ePub 3 and edit it.
5. A conversion won't fix most of the problems in CSS. That requires you to do it by hand.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For me, I use epub to epub conversion when the epub has a single html file for the ebook. Calibre does a pretty decent job of splitting at chapter boundaries without me having to mark them.

There is that. But for me, it depends on how much work it is to split the files. If I'm also doing other edits, I'll just do the splitting.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by deback

Of course I have the original ePub file. I always drag ePub files into Calibre, and the originals stay in the original folders. I will keep it turned off, because it saves a step.

I have a library with untouched ePub and a library of the ePub I read and modify. That makes it much easier to deal with then having eBooks in and out of Calibre.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by deback

After you set up the Preferences for Convert, then you will eliminate all the manual steps you've described above. Plus, you can do many things by converting, if you know how to set up the Styling and Transform sections in Common Options. As I've said before, I make many changes (improvements) by doing a simple Modify_ePub and Convert to each ePub file I process, which takes just a few seconds for each ePub.

I've been doing everything automatically (as I described above) for several years and have saved tons of time by not doing all the things you listed manually.

How do you know that your styling and transform settings will actually be compatible with the CSS in the eBook? An eBook created by Word, InDesign, house style, Vellum, Pages, and other programs can have different classes. You would have to tailor your CSS for each different CSS. It's not going to be a catch-all as there is no way you'll know the CSS being used in all your eBooks.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There is that. But for me, it depends on how much work it is to split the files. If I'm also doing other edits, I'll just do the splitting.

I agree that if I am doing other editing, I'll manually split the files. OTOH, mostly for my wife's books, I'll do the quick and dirty split using the conversion.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I agree that if I am doing other editing, I'll manually split the files. OTOH, mostly for my wife's books, I'll do the quick and dirty split using the conversion.

How much trouble would you get in if she knew you worked on books for yourself but quick and dirtied for the wife?

A lot of eBooks have formatting issue that cannot be fixed by any automated way. So I go in and edit. I've not come across all that many eBooks where I have to split.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How much trouble would you get in if she knew you worked on books for yourself but quick and dirtied for the wife?

A lot of eBooks have formatting issue that cannot be fixed by any automated way. So I go in and edit. I've not come across all that many eBooks where I have to split.

She is not fussy about the formatting but does want a working ToC and a book that reads smoothly on her Libra. Fonts, formatting, kerning, etc.? She really doesn't notice or care about them. Annotations need not apply.

Considering that much of her current reading is self-pubbed, you run into the usual nasties from the programs used to create the original files. One of them is more ebooks with structural issues in a month than I see in a year in my choice of genres. One contributing factor is that when she discovers a new author, she tends to binge read their catalogue so you get a mass of books created with the same workflow and with the same issues.

[hyegeek]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A new Reader would give you a larger screen, higher resolution, better contrast, faster screen updates, side loading fonts. can change the weight of the fonts, better eBook management, and other things. You would get a lot more from a new Kobo.

Imagine 400 ePub without the need to convert and having a better reading experience.

Given my current, quite old, reader, all you say is certainly true. But now that I know more of what I want in a reader, I'm waiting for one that will give me what I want and not just almost what I want. Admittedly Kobo is high on my list, but they are not quite there yet.

Lots of interesting things coming out this year and next, so I'm hoping a new reader is in my near future.

[deback]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How do you know that your styling and transform settings will actually be compatible with the CSS in the eBook? An eBook created by Word, InDesign, house style, Vellum, Pages, and other programs can have different classes. You would have to tailor your CSS for each different CSS. It's not going to be a catch-all as there is no way you'll know the CSS being used in all your eBooks.

To answer your specific question, Calibre will ignore any settings in those sections that don't apply or are not in the file, so it's no big deal to include them all.

I've used my system on thousands of ebooks. The things I've added to the styling and transform sections include the codes that all or most of the publishers use. As I was working on these books, I would add things to those sections as I came to them. After a while, I had added all that I needed to add. Once in a great while, I'll have to manually fix something that my settings changed incorrectly, but that very rarely happens. Usually, when that happens, the publisher used a code like "nonindent" for all the text paragraphs, so it's always an easy fix.

After I convert an epub, I'll open the file in the editor and run Check Book, plus check all the basic formatting to make sure everything is the way I want it to be (which is the way physical books are formatted). Sometimes, I have to make manual edits for various things, and sometimes, I'll have to reformat everything, due to terrible coding by some publishers. When I reformat everything, I'll copy my template CSS list over the .calibre section in the CSS file and change all classes in the HTML files to my classes (with names that make much better sense than those used by publishers).

Some of the things that I have automatically fixed are:

Remove any line space between paragraphs. Sometimes, I have to manually fix these, of course.

Change all indents over .01em to 1.2em. For the first paragraphs in a chapter, I'll change those indents to zero (and manually fix any that don't get changed during the conversion).

Justify all text paragraphs (I've added all the normal publishers' codes used for text paragraphs to the styling section). Once in a while, I'll have to manually add Justify to the CSS file. It very rarely happens, though. Just depends on the publisher.

Change the line-height to 1.2.

In the Transform section, I've added many errors found by Calibre, so when I do the Check Book routine, I rarely have errors to automatically fix or manually fix. The usual type of error that I still have to automatically fix are ID number errors, which is a quick fix.

To include all the various codes used by all the publishers, I have many entries in both the styling and transform sections. This system has saved me tons of time in the last few years since I set it all up. Thanks to Kovid for telling me how to enter the entries under styling!

I have my rules.txt and styling settings, plus my modify_epub screenshot and an instruction file in a zip file that I would be willing to give to anyone who wants it. Just send me a private message.

[Gibbo]

I mostly convert epub to epub when I send a .png file to kindle and weird characters appear, that does the trick.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

She is not fussy about the formatting but does want a working ToC and a book that reads smoothly on her Libra. Fonts, formatting, kerning, etc.? She really doesn't notice or care about them. Annotations need not apply.

Considering that much of her current reading is self-pubbed, you run into the usual nasties from the programs used to create the original files. One of them is more ebooks with structural issues in a month than I see in a year in my choice of genres. One contributing factor is that when she discovers a new author, she tends to binge read their catalogue so you get a mass of books created with the same workflow and with the same issues.

I've seen the nasties you can get with some self-published eBooks on Amazon. It can be pretty nasty. I should take one of them and give it a conversion to ePub and see what I end up with.