Covers Not Showing in Kobo

Protagitron · 05-26-2011, 06:05 PM

Well, I've had my issues with Kobo before, but this is a new one. All of the ePubs I've made since last week won't have their covers show up on Kobo. They work fine in ADE and in iBooks and validate, but no cover image once I try them out on my Kobo app. But older ebooks I've made? They work just fine. Has anyone encountered this problem before? I'm flummoxed.

DSpider · 05-27-2011, 09:04 AM

Are you using the same software you used to create the other epubs, the ones that show up fine ? Same version, same settings, same everything ? Then edit them with Sigil and try to work out what you did right for the older epubs and what you did wrong (or forgot to do) in the newer ones. The covers are the same format ? Not JPEG2000 or some other random obscure format.

It can't be the reader's fault if the epubs are identical to the older epubs but have you updated the reader lately ?

Protagitron · 05-27-2011, 12:12 PM

Yep, they're RGB JPEGs, around 860px in height, nothing else odd that I can tell (I also tried putting in other cover images from older ePubs and had the same problem.)

And it appears I'm using the exact same process (starting in Sigil, then unzipping and doing some cleanup in a text editor) as my other books, even copying the code for the cover file straight-up. I also tried putting in an ePub straight from Sigil before unzipping and editing, and yep, same problem.

The cover issue I had before with Kobo was that the images weren't showing up if they were named anything but cover.jpg (which is also a bizarre issue in my mind), but with a name change they seemed to show up fine. Not this time though.

I do have a support ticket in with Kobo customer support, so I'll let you guys know if anything handy comes of it.

Or... maybe I'm just cursed in Kobo.

DSpider · 05-28-2011, 05:35 AM

You probably left out something from the source code or simply forgot to close a tag. Use a text editor with syntax highlighting next time you manually clean up. Here's an idea: try creating a dummy e-book using Sigil, but without cleaning up the source code and see if it loads the cover.

Protagitron · 06-17-2011, 05:17 PM

Hmm, I'm pretty sure everything is closed and correct. I did try running it through Sigil and then re-uploading, and it happened again.

In the "amusing" category, Kobo also didn't offer much help:

Quote:

Unfortunately, it seems that the cover image JPEG format is not supported by our Kobo app. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused but you will not be able to see the cover image on the Kobo app. We would be happy to forward this as a feature request however.

... indeedy.

mtrahan · 11-21-2011, 12:42 PM

I'm having the same problems and was wondering if you finally found a solution?

My ePub covers won't show in Kobo, and bother image and xhtml file (displaying the image) are declared correctly in the OPF file...

mtrahan · 11-21-2011, 05:59 PM

Well, I just found out the answer to my problem: for the Kobo app to detect a cover image, it has to be named exactly "cover.jpg"...

edit. What I now find very strange is Calibred-related: until now, I was naming the cover file "couverture.jpg" (which means 'cover' in french) in my ePubs, and the thumbnails in Calibre were appearing correctly, with no white margin or anything. And when I name it cover.jpg and add it to Calibre, the thumbnail has white margins on left and right. Why does this happen? I don't understand this behavior at all...

second edit: OK, problem solved. Renaming the cover file in the book browser in Sigil removed the semantics so Calibre generated the thumbnail from the first xhtml file (cover display), I guess.

05-26-2011, 06:05 PM	#1
Protagitron Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: iPod touch	Covers Not Showing in Kobo Well, I've had my issues with Kobo before, but this is a new one. All of the ePubs I've made since last week won't have their covers show up on Kobo. They work fine in ADE and in iBooks and validate, but no cover image once I try them out on my Kobo app. But older ebooks I've made? They work just fine. Has anyone encountered this problem before? I'm flummoxed.

05-27-2011, 09:04 AM	#2
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	Are you using the same software you used to create the other epubs, the ones that show up fine ? Same version, same settings, same everything ? Then edit them with Sigil and try to work out what you did right for the older epubs and what you did wrong (or forgot to do) in the newer ones. The covers are the same format ? Not JPEG2000 or some other random obscure format. It can't be the reader's fault if the epubs are identical to the older epubs but have you updated the reader lately ? Last edited by DSpider; 05-28-2011 at 05:30 AM.

11-21-2011, 05:59 PM	#7
mtrahan Colonel Mustard Posts: 90 Karma: 1426 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Montreal Device: iPhone 6, Kindle Paperwhite 2, iPad 2	Well, I just found out the answer to my problem: for the Kobo app to detect a cover image, it has to be named exactly "cover.jpg"... edit. What I now find very strange is Calibred-related: until now, I was naming the cover file "couverture.jpg" (which means 'cover' in french) in my ePubs, and the thumbnails in Calibre were appearing correctly, with no white margin or anything. And when I name it cover.jpg and add it to Calibre, the thumbnail has white margins on left and right. Why does this happen? I don't understand this behavior at all... second edit: OK, problem solved. Renaming the cover file in the book browser in Sigil removed the semantics so Calibre generated the thumbnail from the first xhtml file (cover display), I guess. Last edited by mtrahan; 11-21-2011 at 06:18 PM. Reason: Added a question, then the answer.

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05-27-2011, 12:12 PM	#3
Protagitron Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: iPod touch	Yep, they're RGB JPEGs, around 860px in height, nothing else odd that I can tell (I also tried putting in other cover images from older ePubs and had the same problem.) And it appears I'm using the exact same process (starting in Sigil, then unzipping and doing some cleanup in a text editor) as my other books, even copying the code for the cover file straight-up. I also tried putting in an ePub straight from Sigil before unzipping and editing, and yep, same problem. The cover issue I had before with Kobo was that the images weren't showing up if they were named anything but cover.jpg (which is also a bizarre issue in my mind), but with a name change they seemed to show up fine. Not this time though. I do have a support ticket in with Kobo customer support, so I'll let you guys know if anything handy comes of it. Or... maybe I'm just cursed in Kobo.

05-28-2011, 05:35 AM	#4
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	You probably left out something from the source code or simply forgot to close a tag. Use a text editor with syntax highlighting next time you manually clean up. Here's an idea: try creating a dummy e-book using Sigil, but without cleaning up the source code and see if it loads the cover.

11-21-2011, 12:42 PM	#6
mtrahan Colonel Mustard Posts: 90 Karma: 1426 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Montreal Device: iPhone 6, Kindle Paperwhite 2, iPad 2	I'm having the same problems and was wondering if you finally found a solution? My ePub covers won't show in Kobo, and bother image and xhtml file (displaying the image) are declared correctly in the OPF file...

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