How to Print?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Is there a way I can print (or create a PDF) a list of all the books I have in Calibre? It would be handy when I go on a used bookstore/thrift store raid to avoid buying duplicates or passing on a book I thought I had but didn't.

[troymc]

Click the dropdown arrow next to "Convert Ebooks" & select "Create catalog".

This will allow you to create a catalog of all books in your library.



Troy

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Ok, I tried that. The file opened in Excel. Aside from the fact I couldn't figure out how to get the list to print in two columns per page (I created the list with author and title only) the list was only partially sorted by author. How do I fix that? It would also be nice if I could print two columns per page.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

It would also be nice if I could print two columns per page.

Often I can make do with making the fonts larger and printing the document 2-up (and usually double-sided as well). Of course, your printing system must support that. Some printers support booklet format, which is often better suited.

Apologies if I am stating the obvious.

[troymc]

The list will be sorted by the book's internal Calibre ID. So that will probably be the order in which the books were added.

But you should be able to sort them anyway you want to in Excel. I think you should be able to click "Data -> Sort" and choose how you want them sorted.

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I couldn't figure out how to get the list to print in two columns per page (I created the list with author and title only).

I'm not sure what you meant by this. If you mean you want two columns (title, author) per page and you're only getting one, then I think you have a page layout issue. Try clicking File -> Print Preview and then I think you can drag the blue lines to select how much you want to see on a page.

If you meant you want two sets of columns (tile, author, title, author) you will probably need to do that manually.


Troy

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've been fooling around with it and have worked out something that works even though it doesn't look great. But it doesn't have to just so long as it is functional (I keep telling myself; I can be so anal).

First, I created an XML file with author and title selected, then open the file with Excel 2007. Then I sorted the title and author columns (in that order), moved column A (title) to column D, Column B to Column C, then deleted columns A & C. That put the author column to the left of the title column (which I want), stablized the sorts, and got rid of the shading (the shading makes reading a bit harder when printed). I set the paper size to A3 and all the margins to 0, then set the print area. Then I was able to print the list as a booklet. Using the larger paper size, even though printing on 8 1/2 x 11, makes the print smaller and fills the page better. The only thing I can't figure out is how to keep the margins even from page to page. Sigh! At least the booklet meets my needs.

[speakingtohe]

Steps for 2 column printout in excel 2007 (calibre CSV catalogue)

1. Delete columns C-O by clicking on C in top row and then holding shift key scroll over and click on O
2. Right Click in selection and click delete
3. Do same for last 4 columns(now D-G) and then first column A
4. Click on the 1 by authors and delete row
5. Click small box by A to select all (if you don't select all it will only sort one column and then everything is mixed up)
6. Click data in top toolbar and then click sort
7. Sort by column A

You should have a reasonable 2 column printout at this point.
Of course excel has all kinds of printing options as well so you can make it pretty if you wish
Hope this helps

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Hi, Speakingtohe! I tried what you suggested and not only did everything go horribly wrong, Excel and printer just sat there and laughed at me. Thanks anyway.

I did some more fooling around (get your minds out of the gutter; at my age, the only action I get any more is when the prunes kick in) and found that converting the Excel file from the Acrobat tab then printing worked out much better. These are the revised steps:

1. Save Library (author, not author sort, and title only) as an XML file.
2. Open the XML in Excel (2007). There will be three columns: A (title), B (sort), C (author).
3. Sort columns A & C, in that order.
4. Delete column B.
5. Select and drag column A to column D.
6. Select and drag column B to column C.
7. Delete columns A & B.
8. Set page size to 11" X 17".
9. Set left margin to 0.7" and rest to 0".
10. Drag columns to correct width.
11. Set print area.
12. Click on Adobe tab.
13. Click on Create PDF.
14. Click on Convert to PDF in pop-up.
15. Click on Yes in next pop-up.
16. In the next pop-up, fill in file name and destination, then click on Save.
17. Click on Save again in the next pop-up.
18. Print booklet from Adobe.

All of the inside margins are now the same. The outside margin is a bit wide but the booklet would need trimming anyway after stapling so that isn't a problem. Once trimmed, all margins will be even.

This seems like a lot of steps, but it goes faster than it looks. I won't be doing this very often anyway.

[speakingtohe]

Too funny

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I did some more fooling around (get your minds out of the gutter; at my age, the only action I get any more is when the prunes kick in)

MMmmm... prunes!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Btw, thank you, Troy, for setting me on my convoluted path to what I needed. And thanks to Chaly for the booklet idea.