Cover shrinks when converting ePUB to MOBI in Cailbre only when sent to iPAD

Havelock · 01-14-2019, 07:07 PM

It's my first time on the forum - I've read many helpful posts over the last few weeks so thanks to everyone who has contributed.

I've now struck a problem creating an eBook that I can't seem to solve and am hoping someone might be able to help.

I'm creating an eBook in Calibre for publication and need to produce a MOBI I can upload to KDP.

I can't upload the ePUB directly and let KDP convert it as it has a lot of special characters (lots of Spanish words with accents) and the formatting doesn't work if I do it this way.

So I've done the following:
- Set a font family (this helped with the special characters)
- Convert to "both" MOBI formats (when I just convert to "old" there are formatting issues)
- set personal tag doc [EBOK] so I can send to my Kindle for iPad
- input profile and output profile set to default

This results in a MOBI that looks perfect on an actual Kindle device, and viewed through KDP preview. The cover is normal-sized and fills the screen. However when sent to Kindle for iPAD, the cover looks quite small and doesn't fill the whole page. The link to the cover in the table of contents (in-line) also appears to be broken - but only when viewed on the iPad. The link works when the same MOBI is viewed on a Kindle device.

I've tried setting the cover to height=100%, or alternatively specifying size (width/heigh). Margins are 0
I've tested having the output as "Tablet" instead of "Default" or "Generic e-ink" both with cover size specified or alternatively set to height=100%
I've experimented with a larger file size for the cover - made no difference.

Any other suggestions as to what I can try?

kovidgoyal · 01-14-2019, 10:38 PM

IIRC kindle for ipad is avery bad MOBI viewer. When you publish through amazon, it typically generates a whole different format (azk) to view on the ipad.

kovidgoyal · 01-14-2019, 10:39 PM

And I should say that if you plan to publish on amazon you are better off converting using amazon's tools, as they have a history of rejecting calibre created files for unspecified reasons.

Havelock · 01-14-2019, 11:03 PM

Thanks for your advice. I did try to use Amazon's tools at first, but I couldn't find a way to make it work with the special characters - it wouldn't format correctly.

At this point, KDP has accepted my file - are you saying it could be rejected later when the book goes on sale or, if it has loaded successfully, will it be okay now?

It did occur to me that once Amazon converts it to the azk format the cover size might be fine - I hope that's the case.

Anyway, thanks again.

kovidgoyal · 01-15-2019, 01:31 AM

if it accepts it you should be fine. people have had their converted books rejected in the past, hence the caution.

jhowell · 01-15-2019, 03:36 PM

As far as I know a book converted to MOBI-both using calibre will lack some of the data needed to convert it to KFX format. This will show up as "Enhanced Typesetting: Not enabled" in the book details of the book's Amazon web page. As a result it will lack some newer Kindle reading features including hyphenation, page flip, continuous scrolling, user selectable ragged right margin, etc.

01-14-2019, 07:07 PM	#1
Havelock Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: none	Cover shrinks when converting ePUB to MOBI in Cailbre only when sent to iPAD It's my first time on the forum - I've read many helpful posts over the last few weeks so thanks to everyone who has contributed. I've now struck a problem creating an eBook that I can't seem to solve and am hoping someone might be able to help. I'm creating an eBook in Calibre for publication and need to produce a MOBI I can upload to KDP. I can't upload the ePUB directly and let KDP convert it as it has a lot of special characters (lots of Spanish words with accents) and the formatting doesn't work if I do it this way. So I've done the following: - Set a font family (this helped with the special characters) - Convert to "both" MOBI formats (when I just convert to "old" there are formatting issues) - set personal tag doc [EBOK] so I can send to my Kindle for iPad - input profile and output profile set to default This results in a MOBI that looks perfect on an actual Kindle device, and viewed through KDP preview. The cover is normal-sized and fills the screen. However when sent to Kindle for iPAD, the cover looks quite small and doesn't fill the whole page. The link to the cover in the table of contents (in-line) also appears to be broken - but only when viewed on the iPad. The link works when the same MOBI is viewed on a Kindle device. I've tried setting the cover to height=100%, or alternatively specifying size (width/heigh). Margins are 0 I've tested having the output as "Tablet" instead of "Default" or "Generic e-ink" both with cover size specified or alternatively set to height=100% I've experimented with a larger file size for the cover - made no difference. Any other suggestions as to what I can try?

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01-14-2019, 10:38 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	IIRC kindle for ipad is avery bad MOBI viewer. When you publish through amazon, it typically generates a whole different format (azk) to view on the ipad.

01-14-2019, 10:39 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	And I should say that if you plan to publish on amazon you are better off converting using amazon's tools, as they have a history of rejecting calibre created files for unspecified reasons.

01-14-2019, 11:03 PM	#4
Havelock Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: none	Thanks for your advice. I did try to use Amazon's tools at first, but I couldn't find a way to make it work with the special characters - it wouldn't format correctly. At this point, KDP has accepted my file - are you saying it could be rejected later when the book goes on sale or, if it has loaded successfully, will it be okay now? It did occur to me that once Amazon converts it to the azk format the cover size might be fine - I hope that's the case. Anyway, thanks again.

01-15-2019, 01:31 AM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	if it accepts it you should be fine. people have had their converted books rejected in the past, hence the caution.

01-15-2019, 03:36 PM	#6
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,497 Karma: 84420419 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Tampa Bay, Florida Device: Kindles	As far as I know a book converted to MOBI-both using calibre will lack some of the data needed to convert it to KFX format. This will show up as "Enhanced Typesetting: Not enabled" in the book details of the book's Amazon web page. As a result it will lack some newer Kindle reading features including hyphenation, page flip, continuous scrolling, user selectable ragged right margin, etc.

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