Proofreading an epub?

notthatitmatters · 02-22-2018, 11:52 PM

Hi

Is there a way to quickly proofread for errors using Calibre's epub editor?

I'm finding a lot of errors within sentences, mainly due to poorly done 'cut & paste' editing. Also typos that the spell checker can't find, for instance 'will' instead of 'with'.

Is there an easy way to check for these errors within Calibre? [Would prefer not to export the files into another program to fix and then have to convert back.]

doubleshuffle · 02-23-2018, 12:20 AM

You can use calibre's inbuilt editor. But proper proofreading means reading; there's no quick fix. But there are some common OCR errors you can search for with regex. You should find a few threads on that in the workshop, epub or Sigil subforums.

gbm · 02-23-2018, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notthatitmatters

Hi

Is there a way to quickly proofread for errors using Calibre's epub editor?

I'm finding a lot of errors within sentences, mainly due to poorly done 'cut & paste' editing. Also typos that the spell checker can't find, for instance 'will' instead of 'with'.

Is there an easy way to check for these errors within Calibre? [Would prefer not to export the files into another program to fix and then have to convert back.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

You can use calibre's inbuilt editor. But proper proofreading means reading; there's no quick fix. But there are some common OCR errors you can search for with regex. You should find a few threads on that in the workshop, epub or Sigil subforums.

Yes use regex:
Edit book Search & replace

All about using regular expressions in calibre

And the cheat sheet:
Quick reference for regexp syntax
I recommend bookmarking/or saving a local copy of this page.

A ctr+n will give you a count of how many matches your search gets before you do a replace.

bernie

BetterRed · 02-23-2018, 01:06 AM

Sigil has a plugin that wraps around the Language Tools Grammar Checker ==>> [LanguageTool]: Grammar check. I find it useful for picking up typos and OCR errors such as 'an' rather than 'and', 'in' instead of 'if' etc etc.

But ATEOTD you have to read it, or better yet get someone else to read it if its your original work.

BR

notthatitmatters · 02-23-2018, 05:41 PM

Thank you for your replies. Yes, I have been using Calibre's inbuilt editor and find it to be very helpful. Being a relative newbie to html code, I find the 'find & replace' within the editor to be much easier for me to use than the 'regular expressions'. I had hoped there was a proofreading method within this editor.

I just find it takes away the enjoyment of reading, from a book with numerous errors. These are all purchased ebooks that the authors and/or publishers should have proofread before sale. I shouldn't have to do it.

Thank you for alerting me to Sigil. Will give it a go. Is there [basically] a dummies guide to using it, though?

JSWolf · 02-23-2018, 07:07 PM

The best way to proof is to read out loud (including punctuation) and have someone else follow along making corrections as needed.

retiredbiker · 02-23-2018, 07:10 PM

I simply can't spot a lot of errors on the code pane or even the preview pane; in fact any prolonged PC screen-reading tires the eyes and makes it hard. I do serious proofing right on my Kindle.

I edit in epub, so when I need to proof, I flip it to AZW3 and put it on the Kindle. Then as I find errors, I highlight them. Finally, I take a copy of the notes file off the Kindle, open it in a text editor, and have it up parallel to the book. Then I can just scroll the two down together and make corrections, which is fairly efficient. I find I can spot a lot more this way, reading more naturally, than anything on a screen.

theducks · 02-23-2018, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredbiker

I simply can't spot a lot of errors on the code pane or even the preview pane; in fact any prolonged PC screen-reading tires the eyes and makes it hard. I do serious proofing right on my Kindle.

I edit in epub, so when I need to proof, I flip it to AZW3 and put it on the Kindle. Then as I find errors, I highlight them. Finally, I take a copy of the notes file off the Kindle, open it in a text editor, and have it up parallel to the book. Then I can just scroll the two down together and make corrections, which is fairly efficient. I find I can spot a lot more this way, reading more naturally, than anything on a screen.

Your way

Read out loud does not catch homophones, which seem to run rampant in self pub books.

Pablo · 02-24-2018, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notthatitmatters

Thank you for alerting me to Sigil. Will give it a go. Is there [basically] a dummies guide to using it, though?

There's my quite outdated but I believe still useful Quick and Dirty ePub Tutorial, see my signature.

JSWolf · 02-24-2018, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Your way

Read out loud does not catch homophones, which seem to run rampant in self pub books.

But while you are reading, the other person is looking at the text and hopefully will spot them.

notthatitmatters · 02-25-2018, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The best way to proof is to read out loud (including punctuation) and have someone else follow along making corrections as needed.

Maybe, if it was my own work, which it isn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Sigil has a plugin that wraps around the Language Tools Grammar Checker ==>> [LanguageTool]: Grammar check. I find it useful for picking up typos and OCR errors such as 'an' rather than 'and', 'in' instead of 'if' etc etc. BR

Thank you, this looks promising.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo

There's my quite outdated but I believe still useful Quick and Dirty ePub Tutorial, see my signature.

Thank you. This makes Sigil easier to understand.

Now to add the LanguageTool, and hopefully be able to fix all/most of the errors. Am looking forward to reading the corrected books without interruption now.

BetterRed · 02-26-2018, 01:35 AM

@notthatitmatters - FWIW, there is a downloadable User Manual for Sigil. It accessible via a link in the sticky Download thread at the top of the Sigil forum. It's a bit out of date (0.7.?), but I find it adequate for most things.

The most significant thing that's been added in recent times is plugins, and their usage is documented in the Sigil/Plugins sub-forum.

BR

Leonatus · 02-26-2018, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredbiker

I simply can't spot a lot of errors on the code pane or even the preview pane; in fact any prolonged PC screen-reading tires the eyes and makes it hard. I do serious proofing right on my Kindle.

This is what frequently occurs to me as well, and I have always thought about a way to solve the problem.

Quote:

I edit in epub, so when I need to proof, I flip it to AZW3 and put it on the Kindle. Then as I find errors, I highlight them. Finally, I take a copy of the notes file off the Kindle, open it in a text editor, and have it up parallel to the book. Then I can just scroll the two down together and make corrections, which is fairly efficient. I find I can spot a lot more this way, reading more naturally, than anything on a screen.

This seems a very good proposal, thank you for it! I only doubt if the way is possible with a Kobo Touch.

doubleshuffle · 02-26-2018, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonatus

This seems a very good proposal, thank you for it! I only doubt if the way is possible with a Kobo Touch.

There is some kind of way to export notes from a Kobo, but I've never used it. After the first round of quick and dirty proofreading, I also read through the book on my reader, highlighting anything that looks suspicious and then go through the highlights on the reader, with the pdf of the original scan and the epub open side by side on my PC. I've only recently found out how much keeping the original page numbers in the epub helps in this.

Leonatus · 02-26-2018, 03:29 AM

What I'm looking for is a way to read on the reader and save the errors let's say, as a memo, and correct the errors later, for example in Sigil, in order not to disturb so much the reading experience. But what you describe seems the only possible way on a Kobo.

02-22-2018, 11:52 PM	#1
notthatitmatters Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2016 Device: PC	Proofreading an epub? Hi Is there a way to quickly proofread for errors using Calibre's epub editor? I'm finding a lot of errors within sentences, mainly due to poorly done 'cut & paste' editing. Also typos that the spell checker can't find, for instance 'will' instead of 'with'. Is there an easy way to check for these errors within Calibre? [Would prefer not to export the files into another program to fix and then have to convert back.]

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02-23-2018, 12:20 AM	#2
doubleshuffle Unicycle Daredevil Posts: 13,923 Karma: 185041098 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Planet of the Pudding Brains Device: Aura HD (R.I.P. After six years the USB socket died.) tolino shine 3	You can use calibre's inbuilt editor. But proper proofreading means reading; there's no quick fix. But there are some common OCR errors you can search for with regex. You should find a few threads on that in the workshop, epub or Sigil subforums.

02-23-2018, 01:06 AM	#4
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,572 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Sigil has a plugin that wraps around the Language Tools Grammar Checker ==>> [LanguageTool]: Grammar check. I find it useful for picking up typos and OCR errors such as 'an' rather than 'and', 'in' instead of 'if' etc etc. But ATEOTD you have to read it, or better yet get someone else to read it if its your original work. BR

02-23-2018, 05:41 PM	#5
notthatitmatters Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2016 Device: PC	Thank you for your replies. Yes, I have been using Calibre's inbuilt editor and find it to be very helpful. Being a relative newbie to html code, I find the 'find & replace' within the editor to be much easier for me to use than the 'regular expressions'. I had hoped there was a proofreading method within this editor. I just find it takes away the enjoyment of reading, from a book with numerous errors. These are all purchased ebooks that the authors and/or publishers should have proofread before sale. I shouldn't have to do it. Thank you for alerting me to Sigil. Will give it a go. Is there [basically] a dummies guide to using it, though?

02-23-2018, 07:07 PM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,988 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The best way to proof is to read out loud (including punctuation) and have someone else follow along making corrections as needed.

02-23-2018, 07:10 PM	#7
retiredbiker Addict Posts: 387 Karma: 1638210 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kindle KB, Oasis, Pop_Os!, Jutoh, Kobo Forma	I simply can't spot a lot of errors on the code pane or even the preview pane; in fact any prolonged PC screen-reading tires the eyes and makes it hard. I do serious proofing right on my Kindle. I edit in epub, so when I need to proof, I flip it to AZW3 and put it on the Kindle. Then as I find errors, I highlight them. Finally, I take a copy of the notes file off the Kindle, open it in a text editor, and have it up parallel to the book. Then I can just scroll the two down together and make corrections, which is fairly efficient. I find I can spot a lot more this way, reading more naturally, than anything on a screen.

02-26-2018, 01:35 AM	#12
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,572 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@notthatitmatters - FWIW, there is a downloadable User Manual for Sigil. It accessible via a link in the sticky Download thread at the top of the Sigil forum. It's a bit out of date (0.7.?), but I find it adequate for most things. The most significant thing that's been added in recent times is plugins, and their usage is documented in the Sigil/Plugins sub-forum. BR

02-26-2018, 03:29 AM	#15
Leonatus Wizard Posts: 1,023 Karma: 10963125 Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Guben, Brandenburg, Germany Device: Kobo Clara 2E, Tolino Shine 3	What I'm looking for is a way to read on the reader and save the errors let's say, as a memo, and correct the errors later, for example in Sigil, in order not to disturb so much the reading experience. But what you describe seems the only possible way on a Kobo.