Help with Calibre Viewer

Steven Karp · 12-17-2016, 07:43 PM

Greetings.

I've just started using a new Windows tablet. I'm finding that Calibre's built-in viewer is for my purposes by far the best reader available on Windows.

Except.

The screen on this tablet has a 1920x1200 resolution squeezed into 8 inches. As you might imagine, this makes the icons on the left side of the viewer, well, microscopic is a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit.

Is it possible to make the icons bigger? Better yet, can they be moved to the top and be made larger so they're finger-tappable, but don't take up too much space that could otherwise be used for the actual content?

And a second question: the viewer does remember where I was in the book when I last closed it, but unless I restart it from Calibre, it always load the default (blank) book. Is there any way to set it up so that if there's no book passed to it at launch, it'll reopen the last book? (I know I can reopen the last book with two taps [open recent books dropdown, select book] but see point one above about the ease of tapping...)

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer--and my apologies if these questions have been asked a zillion times before. I did search the forum, but I could have missed them.

theducks · 12-17-2016, 09:31 PM

Can't answer all the questions:

The toolbar is dockable. It can be dragged anywhere, including: detached. Mine is on the right edge so I don't have to mouse all the way across

to turn pages

kovidgoyal · 12-17-2016, 10:38 PM

Use --continue to continue reading last read book, like this

ebook-viewer.exe --continue

create a special shortcut to launch it with that command line argument.

The icons cannot be made bigger, but you can perform most common actions using gestures, such as swipe to turn pages.

Steven Karp · 12-17-2016, 11:05 PM

Thank you both for the quick replies.

I don't seem to be able to move the toolbar. Perhaps that's because it's too small for me to accurately put a finger on the relevant control area? I may try plugging in a mouse and see if that helps. (Last second update: it did. Controls are now at the top.)

I've set up the special shortcut and it's working fine. The common actions are fine: tapping to turn pages and the like. And the right-click menu (or, on my tablet, the "tap and hold menu") works well too. But I do run into trouble with Open, Bookmark, and Reference mode.

Is there any chance you could add a couple of different sizes of icons as in the main program?

gbm · 12-17-2016, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Karp

Thank you both for the quick replies.

I don't seem to be able to move the toolbar. Perhaps that's because it's too small for me to accurately put a finger on the relevant control area? I may try plugging in a mouse and see if that helps. (Last second update: it did. Controls are now at the top.)

I've set up the special shortcut and it's working fine. The common actions are fine: tapping to turn pages and the like. And the right-click menu (or, on my tablet, the "tap and hold menu") works well too. But I do run into trouble with Open, Bookmark, and Reference mode.

Is there any chance you could add a couple of different sizes of icons as in the main program?

Try this I use 125% on my 8' wintab but mine is 1280x800.

Pin the magnifier to the taskbar. Believe me you will use it even if it is a big pain to use.

Get a usb otg Adapter and use a mouse if all else fails.

luck
bernie

kovidgoyal · 12-18-2016, 01:48 AM

The viewer is in the process of being re-written -- the replacement (which also runs in a browser via the calibre content server) is designed for touch based operation from the start, so these problems will not occur at all there. Until then, you'll have to make do.

Steven Karp · 12-18-2016, 10:10 PM

Sounds promising!

Thank you, Sir.

12-17-2016, 07:43 PM	#1
Steven Karp Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: Windows 10 Tablet / Calibre or Nexus 9 / Moon+	Help with Calibre Viewer Greetings. I've just started using a new Windows tablet. I'm finding that Calibre's built-in viewer is for my purposes by far the best reader available on Windows. Except. The screen on this tablet has a 1920x1200 resolution squeezed into 8 inches. As you might imagine, this makes the icons on the left side of the viewer, well, microscopic is a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit. Is it possible to make the icons bigger? Better yet, can they be moved to the top *and* be made larger so they're finger-tappable, but don't take up too much space that could otherwise be used for the actual content? And a second question: the viewer does remember where I was in the book when I last closed it, but unless I restart it from Calibre, it always load the default (blank) book. Is there any way to set it up so that if there's no book passed to it at launch, it'll reopen the last book? (I know I can reopen the last book with two taps [open recent books dropdown, select book] but see point one above about the ease of tapping...) Thanks in advance for any help you can offer--and my apologies if these questions have been asked a zillion times before. I did search the forum, but I could have missed them.

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12-17-2016, 09:31 PM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,908 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Can't answer all the questions: The toolbar is dockable. It can be dragged anywhere, including: detached. Mine is on the right edge so I don't have to mouse all the way across to turn pages

12-17-2016, 10:38 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,195 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Use --continue to continue reading last read book, like this ebook-viewer.exe --continue create a special shortcut to launch it with that command line argument. The icons cannot be made bigger, but you can perform most common actions using gestures, such as swipe to turn pages.

12-17-2016, 11:05 PM	#4
Steven Karp Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: Windows 10 Tablet / Calibre or Nexus 9 / Moon+	Thank you both for the quick replies. I don't seem to be able to move the toolbar. Perhaps that's because it's too small for me to accurately put a finger on the relevant control area? I may try plugging in a mouse and see if that helps. (Last second update: it did. Controls are now at the top.) I've set up the special shortcut and it's working fine. The common actions are fine: tapping to turn pages and the like. And the right-click menu (or, on my tablet, the "tap and hold menu") works well too. But I do run into trouble with Open, Bookmark, and Reference mode. Is there any chance you could add a couple of different sizes of icons as in the main program?

12-18-2016, 01:48 AM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,195 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The viewer is in the process of being re-written -- the replacement (which also runs in a browser via the calibre content server) is designed for touch based operation from the start, so these problems will not occur at all there. Until then, you'll have to make do.

12-18-2016, 10:10 PM	#7
Steven Karp Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: Windows 10 Tablet / Calibre or Nexus 9 / Moon+	Sounds promising! Thank you, Sir.

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