html to pdf error: Blocking URL request with scheme: https

bobwolfe · 05-22-2020, 03:43 PM

I have just converted from an older 32 bit version to a 64 bit Windows version of Calibre. I use Calibre to convert html files to pdf format.

The input html has links to images such as the following:
<p><img src="https://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/genbob/1861_Harrison-Union_Elkhart_IN_Nash-Geil.jpg"><BR>1861 map of Rohrer lots</p>

The older version creates a pdf file and the images are visible, as expected.

The 64 bit version creates a pdf file with a small icon in the place of each image and the CalibreLog.tex file has many lines with the following message:
Blocking URL request with scheme: https

How can I fix this?
Thank you

bobwolfe · 05-22-2020, 07:48 PM

It is the upgrade in versions of Calibre, rather than the 64 bit versus 32 bit that causes the problem. The new 32 bit version has the same problem and will not display an image with an https: URL. I have reverted to the old version (3.20) which is working fine. I hope this gets fixed, because the new version seems to have some useful features.

kovidgoyal · 05-22-2020, 09:45 PM

Conversion does not support remote images. That it worked with 3.x was an accident, not an intended feature.

Ghitulescu · 06-01-2021, 11:54 AM

I believe this is a "legal constraint" (but I fail to see the reasons prima facie) since the remote images are transparently visible in the viewer (id est, without the look in the source panel one would not see whether it's local or remote stored).

Just for curiosity, why?

Quoth · 06-01-2021, 03:08 PM

It's better to use LO Writer to create a PDF. PDFs are only for Print, or at a pinch, tablets and laptops.

Also remote images in a document is really nasty. The document WILL die. How do you use it offline?
Remote images only make sense on a webpage on the Internet, and even then link rot is a problem.

Also on my laptop remote content is by default blocked in PDFs and emails. It's a security & Privacy Issue. I've only put PDFs with NO remote content on my tablet and large 7.8" ereader.

Ghitulescu · 06-07-2021, 10:40 AM

That's exactly why these MUST be downloaded, if needed.

Maintaining their presence in preview whereas refusing their incorporation elsewhere (eg for printing) is inconsistent.

bobwolfe · 06-11-2021, 02:03 PM

Thank you both Ghitulescu and Quoth for your suggestions. The original query may not have been clear. My wife and I both have libraries of images, kept in two separate directories on our personal webspace, which are used by our genealogy website. We construct pdf books from the html notes of the website using an older version of Calibre. The notes reference the images from the two directories. After constructing the pdf, the images are apparently incorporated into the pdf, because the books display in standard pdf readers, even when the computer is disconnected from the web. when I use the newer version of Calibre, it does not seem to allow the references to the images on the internet. Perhaps we should maintain a merged directory on my computer for constructing a pdf using the New version of Calibre. We use the pdf format because our readers like to refer to stable page numbers when they write to us about the books. Page numbers are an important feature for academic citations. The pdf format is not merely for managing formatting of a printed page.
Thanks.

Quoth · 06-11-2021, 03:54 PM

The images referenced by notes need to be IN the documents, not referenced by a file path or local webserver. It's accidental that it ever worked.

Also Calibre is good for ebooks, PDFs are not real ebooks, other tools work far better to create a PDF, such as LO Writer with built-in PDF generation. Years ago I used Word 2002 with a PDF plug-in and it also generated perfect PDFs.

While i use Calibre all the time to create and manage epub, mobi, azw3, pdb, lrf etc and export RTF from badly formatted PD ebooks, I'd never use it to create PDFs. Only to catalogue smaller page size ones that can be read on the eink based ereaders. I don't use Calibre to catalogue or manage larger format PDFs (old magazines, service manuals, datasheets etc) but organise them by directory and function and copy to the 10" tablet.

So I'd only use Word or Writer to do what you are doing and I'd make sure the document included ALL the files, no paths or links outside the document to webservers or files even if local. Don't use Calibre at all for this.

Ghitulescu · 06-15-2021, 06:04 AM

I maintain that this is an inconsistent approach.

If the images, local or remote, appear in the Preview Window, then they should also be available for including in the PDF, since this is the only recommended procedure to print the ePub from Calibre. I can spot much faster errors on the printed material than on the computer screen, so I print at least once the ePub.

Then come the reasons for including the option of Tools->External...->Download... Surely, to include them in the ePub, but nevertheless...

If the author of Calibre wants, he can simply cross the remote images in the Preview Window by a red line or write thereupon ONLINE in flashing orange

, in order to suggest these are remote and not local.

05-22-2020, 03:43 PM	#1
bobwolfe Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Windows 10 computer	html to pdf error: Blocking URL request with scheme: https I have just converted from an older 32 bit version to a 64 bit Windows version of Calibre. I use Calibre to convert html files to pdf format. The input html has links to images such as the following: <p><img src="https://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/genbob/1861_Harrison-Union_Elkhart_IN_Nash-Geil.jpg"><BR>1861 map of Rohrer lots</p> The older version creates a pdf file and the images are visible, as expected. The 64 bit version creates a pdf file with a small icon in the place of each image and the CalibreLog.tex file has many lines with the following message: Blocking URL request with scheme: https How can I fix this? Thank you

06-01-2021, 03:08 PM	#5
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,096 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	It's better to use LO Writer to create a PDF. PDFs are only for Print, or at a pinch, tablets and laptops. Also remote images in a document is really nasty. The document WILL die. How do you use it offline? Remote images only make sense on a webpage on the Internet, and even then link rot is a problem. Also on my laptop remote content is by default blocked in PDFs and emails. It's a security & Privacy Issue. I've only put PDFs with NO remote content on my tablet and large 7.8" ereader. Last edited by Quoth; 06-01-2021 at 03:11 PM.

06-11-2021, 02:03 PM	#7
bobwolfe Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Windows 10 computer	Clarification of query Thank you both Ghitulescu and Quoth for your suggestions. The original query may not have been clear. My wife and I both have libraries of images, kept in two separate directories on our personal webspace, which are used by our genealogy website. We construct pdf books from the html notes of the website using an older version of Calibre. The notes reference the images from the two directories. After constructing the pdf, the images are apparently incorporated into the pdf, because the books display in standard pdf readers, even when the computer is disconnected from the web. when I use the newer version of Calibre, it does not seem to allow the references to the images on the internet. Perhaps we should maintain a merged directory on my computer for constructing a pdf using the New version of Calibre. We use the pdf format because our readers like to refer to stable page numbers when they write to us about the books. Page numbers are an important feature for academic citations. The pdf format is not merely for managing formatting of a printed page. Thanks.

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05-22-2020, 07:48 PM	#2
bobwolfe Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Windows 10 computer	It is the upgrade in versions of Calibre, rather than the 64 bit versus 32 bit that causes the problem. The new 32 bit version has the same problem and will not display an image with an https: URL. I have reverted to the old version (3.20) which is working fine. I hope this gets fixed, because the new version seems to have some useful features.

05-22-2020, 09:45 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,844 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Conversion does not support remote images. That it worked with 3.x was an accident, not an intended feature.

06-01-2021, 11:54 AM	#4
Ghitulescu Fanatic Posts: 563 Karma: 403106 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: PRS-T1	I believe this is a "legal constraint" (but I fail to see the reasons prima facie) since the remote images are transparently visible in the viewer (id est, without the look in the source panel one would not see whether it's local or remote stored). Just for curiosity, why?

06-07-2021, 10:40 AM	#6
Ghitulescu Fanatic Posts: 563 Karma: 403106 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: PRS-T1	That's exactly why these MUST be downloaded, if needed. Maintaining their presence in preview whereas refusing their incorporation elsewhere (eg for printing) is inconsistent.

06-11-2021, 03:54 PM	#8
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,096 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	The images referenced by notes need to be IN the documents, not referenced by a file path or local webserver. It's accidental that it ever worked. Also Calibre is good for ebooks, PDFs are not real ebooks, other tools work far better to create a PDF, such as LO Writer with built-in PDF generation. Years ago I used Word 2002 with a PDF plug-in and it also generated perfect PDFs. While i use Calibre all the time to create and manage epub, mobi, azw3, pdb, lrf etc and export RTF from badly formatted PD ebooks, I'd never use it to create PDFs. Only to catalogue smaller page size ones that can be read on the eink based ereaders. I don't use Calibre to catalogue or manage larger format PDFs (old magazines, service manuals, datasheets etc) but organise them by directory and function and copy to the 10" tablet. So I'd only use Word or Writer to do what you are doing and I'd make sure the document included ALL the files, no paths or links outside the document to webservers or files even if local. Don't use Calibre at all for this.

06-15-2021, 06:04 AM	#9
Ghitulescu Fanatic Posts: 563 Karma: 403106 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: PRS-T1	I maintain that this is an inconsistent approach. If the images, local or remote, appear in the Preview Window, then they should also be available for including in the PDF, since this is the only recommended procedure to print the ePub from Calibre. I can spot much faster errors on the printed material than on the computer screen, so I print at least once the ePub. Then come the reasons for including the option of Tools->External...->Download... Surely, to include them in the ePub, but nevertheless... If the author of Calibre wants, he can simply cross the remote images in the Preview Window by a red line or write thereupon ONLINE in flashing orange , in order to suggest these are remote and not local.

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