In Calibre v 0.7.28 the poor rendering of a jpg cover image.

[schooner1892]

Calibre v 0.7.28
Mac OS 10.4.11 Tiger

Hi,

First let me say that while I'm skilled in many aspects of my Mac and with many programs, I am definitely not skilled in Calibre, having just started using it

I've just completed getting my novel formatted and I'm using Calibre to read it. I'm getting ready (and doing some more studying of how to do it) to upload the novel to the eBook retailers. I have the book (titled UNCHARTED VOYAGE) in the following formats:

uncharted-epub.css (and mobi)

as well as the readable

Uncharted.epub (and mobi)

Everything looks good except for the cover. The cover was created in Indesign by someone else. I don't know anything about Indesign and I no longer have access to that person's talents. Everything about the cover looks good except for the lettering of the subtitle. The lettering should be solid black, but shows as black with some white specks. Not good.

The jpg that the Indesign person gave me is perfect.

Before I try to do anything with the image, I have the following questions for you about Calibre.

My questions are:

Could it be that my jpg cover is still perfect, but doesn't show as such in my Calibre v 0.7.28 rendition of the book?

Could it be that the cover will upload to the retailers in perfect condition?

Attached are images of the original Indesign jpg:

(Cover Original jpg.jpg (22.7 KB)

and

Cover Calibre Epub version.jpg (19.0 KB)

The mobi cover is similar to the epub.

Please notice the difference in the lettering of "A Novel of International Trafficking In Sex". In fact, when I look closely, there's much about the graphics in the Calibre that's inferior to the original.

I've been told, and I find, that Calibre can be temperamental with Mac. For instance, the epub file type is much more manageable than the mobi. Right now the mobi won't even open for me and I’ve had this happen before.

Thanks for any help,

Rafael

[HarryT]

Is there any reason that you're using such an ancient version of Calibre? My first suggestion would be to use the current version and see how that behaves.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Is there any reason that you're using such an ancient version of Calibre?

He is running the most recent version of calibre that can be run on Tiger. From note one on the download page:

"1. If you are using OS X Tiger or a PowerPC Mac, the last version of calibre that will work on your machine is 0.7.28,"

[schooner1892]

Yes. I mentioned that reason in the introduction I just wrote for this group but forgot to mention it here.

Rafael

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by schooner1892

Yes. I mentioned that reason in the introduction I just wrote for this group but forgot to mention it here.

I think your problem stems from calibre resizing your cover during conversion. I believe a way around this is to change your Output profile to Tablet prior to conversion. Then convert the book. See attached.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

He is running the most recent version of calibre that can be run on Tiger. From note one on the download page:

"1. If you are using OS X Tiger or a PowerPC Mac, the last version of calibre that will work on your machine is 0.7.28,"

Ah, thanks - I wasn't aware of that.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I think your problem stems from calibre resizing your cover during conversion. I believe a way around this is to change your Output profile to Tablet prior to conversion. Then convert the book. See attached.

Yes, agreed. I had problems with Calibre resizing my images when I started using it. Selecting the "Tablet" output option disables image re-sizing.

[schooner1892]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, agreed. I had problems with Calibre resizing my images when I started using it. Selecting the "Tablet" output option disables image re-sizing.

Would this apply to Calibre v 0.7.28?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by schooner1892

Would this apply to Calibre v 0.7.28?

The menu structure may look different but if you can find a tablet profile then it should apply.

[schooner1892]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

The menu structure may look different but if you can find a tablet profile then it should apply.

Took me a while to find something. I even went on the web with a search for "a tablet profile in Calibre v. 0.7.28." All I got was my own post and a site:

http://www.shareme.org/forums/showth...Portable/page2

with an old description of new features in Calibre v 0.7.25 "Add an output profile for generic Tablet devices"

So I went back to your attachment and saw "Page Setup" then "Output Profile" and there in the list is "Tablet Generic." In mine I found "Convert Individually" and that brought up the window with "Page Setup" and Tablet.

Two of my attachments are images of how I found Tablets. There's one which is the list of files related to my ebook that I got from the formatter.

-------------------------------------------------

At this point I have to step back and ask myself just what I'm doing. How much do I really need to involve myself with Calibre and formatting? I do need to get the picture thing fixed, so if pulling in the files and converting them differently will do it, then I need to study up more on that aspect of Calibre.

Do you think it's an easy fix? I notice in the EPUB file that not only do I have the font problem, but the colors have become washed out.

Do the original files remain unchanged in the process of converting/altering them in Calibre?

The css files I don't understand at all. Do I need to deal with them in any of my work with Calibre?

Should I try Input Profile as Default Input Profile and output Profile as "Tablet"?

My goals are to get this book uploaded to the retailers, begin doing marketing, get going on a Print On Demand program for which I'll need ISBNs, complete another book I've written and go through this same process with it of creating an eBook. On this book, UNCHARTED VOYAGE, I had the formatting done by Paul Salvette of BB Edit, and Calibre was the only ebook editor available to me to see the results. At first I thought that the css file was my entire book in formatting code, but it's not. those css files only contain about 1000 words. I don't know where the code is. I thought I was going to be able to go into a code document of some kind to make a minor correction if the book needed it.

What I want to do is continue writing novels.

I appreciate your input,

Rafael

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by schooner1892

So I went back to your attachment and saw "Page Setup" then "Output Profile" and there in the list is "Tablet Generic." In mine I found "Convert Individually" and that brought up the window with "Page Setup" and Tablet.

That's the spot to check right before you make the conversion.

Originally Posted by schooner1892

Do you think it's an easy fix? I notice in the EPUB file that not only do I have the font problem, but the colors have become washed out.

Anytime a image is resized it loses something in the process.

Originally Posted by schooner1892

Do the original files remain unchanged in the process of converting/altering them in Calibre?

I think so.

Originally Posted by schooner1892

Should I try Input Profile as Default Input Profile and output Profile as "Tablet"?

That is what I would do.

You might want to check out Sigil for editing your book and creating the ePub. There is a forum here on this software.

Good Luck.

[schooner1892]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I think your problem stems from calibre resizing your cover during conversion. I believe a way around this is to change your Output profile to Tablet prior to conversion. Then convert the book. See attached.

OK. Harry T. said that too. I'm satisfied with the rest of the book. Everything's fine except for this cover.

I've got some stuff to read and Sigil to check out and trying changing my Output profile to Tablet prior to conversion. One graphic designer said this on her website about proportions in cover design:

http://www.natashafondren.com/writin...-formats/Ebook

Cover Design and Optimum Size Specifications for Amazon, Kindle, B&N, Nook, iBookstore, and iPad Formats

Please note the following updates to this post on 5/19/2012:

* Barnes & Noble Embedded Cover: 600px x 730px
* iBooks Embedded Cover: 600px x 860px
* Amazon Embedded Cover: 600px x 800px

If you only get one size for ebook formatting, go with these specifications:

1. 600px x 800px
2. Jpeg

I'll be back.

Thanks,

Rafael

[GMcG]

@Rafael
It is the rendering machine of Calibre that is responsible for the loss of quality.
For instance, if you import a cover.jpg in a 100 percent quality, Calibre compresses it to a 80 percent quality while converting. (See your example with 22.7 KB versus 19 KB.)
The quality of the compression is much worse than done with a graphic programme, but if you reduce the quality of the jpg to 80 percent before importing, Calibre will compress it to about 65 percent. You can't avoid this and your cover.jpg with the plain background will get distortions anyway because the format is jpg. I wonder that the red letters of the title are ok. I had a red title once and I had to replace it by a blue one. JPG doesn't like red.

But now that I have written this, I check your post again and I read that the original formatting was done by a Paul Salvette of BB Edit and you only use Calibre to control the result. So perhaps this is an issue of Calibre only and not of the original epub, which may be ok? Can't you control the ebook on a tablet device instead of getting confused by Calibre?

Edit: If you simply want to have a look on your epub, you can use the Calibre viewer without importing your book into Calibre. It is "ebook-viewer.exe" in the Calibre programme folder. But note: As far as I have learned here the viewer shows it only in epub format. The mobi/prc format is converted to epub. So you don't have the original mobi file in the viewer. You can adjust the width of the viewer to the width of the cover, so there is no distortion.

George

[schooner1892]

Originally Posted by GMcG

… I read that the original formatting was done by a Paul Salvette of BB Edit and you only use Calibre to control the result. So perhaps this is an issue of Calibre only and not of the original epub, which may be ok?

I wrote Paul Salvette and he told me that the issues were with Calibre and that if I upload the files that they will work out, even the MOBI file which I can’t even see on Calibre. I’ve uploaded the epub file to Nook and it’s fine, including the cover (Attachment.) The Nook internet previewer shows the colors back to what they should be and the fonts are clear and crisp.

Originally Posted by GMcG

Can't you control the ebook on a tablet device instead of getting confused by Calibre?

By control (on a tablet, a Nook or a Kindle) do you mean viewing, or editing?

Minor editing: could one of you could point me in the right direction to do some editing? Do I need to make a conversion in Calibre to open the document for editing?

.exe file

Originally Posted by GMcG

… If you simple want to have a look on your epub, you can use the Calibre viewer without importing your book into Calibre. It is "ebook-viewer.exe" in the Calibre programme folder. … George

Isn’t an .exe file a windows/pc only extension? Usually those don’t work on a Mac?

Thanks,

Rafael

[theducks]

Originally Posted by schooner1892

Isn’t an .exe file a windows/pc only extension? Usually those don’t work on a Mac?

Thanks,

Rafael

Mac and Linux just don't usually care.
exe is also a convention to give a hint what type of file (and the system helpers will help by trying to launch the proper program to process the file.
DB, TXT, DOC,