Kobo Epub Compatibility?

[Richwood]

Are Kobo Epub files only compatible with Kobo readers and reader apps? I note that side loaded epub files are listed in the reader index as Epubs while Kobo purchased items are listed as "Kobo Epubs". Is there a DRM free Kobo Epub that can be read by other ebook readers?

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Are Kobo Epub files only compatible with Kobo readers and reader apps? I note that side loaded epub files are listed in the reader index as Epubs while Kobo purchased items are listed as "Kobo Epubs". Is there a DRM free Kobo Epub that can be read by other ebook readers?

Kobo ePubs (AKA KePubs) are a type of ePub and can be read by any ePub reader. (Edit: Assuming they are DRM-free or have had the DRM removed.) Compared to the original ePub uploaded by the publisher they might contain some extra stuff, such as Javascript, extra HTML markup, stylesheet overrides, etc.

There are Calibre tools to remove all the extra stuff from the KePub (you could call this converting a KePub to an ePub), but if you buy the book at Kobo then you have the choice to download the original ePub from the website anyway, so there is not usually any need to do this.

There are also Calibre tools to add all the extra stuff to an ordinary ePub to make a KePub (you could call this converting an ePub to a KePub).

Edit: I should just add that the main difference you will see between how KePubs and ePubs behave on Kobo devices is due to the different programs used to read them, not because of the differences in the files themselves. So although it is possible to read a KePub on a non-Kobo ereader, there is really nothing to gain from doing so.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Are Kobo Epub files only compatible with Kobo readers and reader apps? I note that side loaded epub files are listed in the reader index as Epubs while Kobo purchased items are listed as "Kobo Epubs". Is there a DRM free Kobo Epub that can be read by other ebook readers?

From Kobo, you can download eBooks as ePub. You don't need to download as kepub. The ePub you download is the same as you get that sells ePub (except Apple).

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

From Kobo, you can download eBooks as ePub. You don't need to download as kepub. The ePub you download is the same as you get that sells ePub (except Apple).

Per the Kobo listings I looked at it must be relatively few unless there is some setting in your profile that you can set. I downloaded a bunch of freebie books and stories from the Kobo store today and the only choice listed on the book pages was the Kobo epub format. Most were also listed as DRM free too, maybe because they were free items.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Per the Kobo listings I looked at it must be relatively few unless there is some setting in your profile that you can set. I downloaded a bunch of freebie books and stories from the Kobo store today and the only choice listed on the book pages was the Kobo epub format. Most were also listed as DRM free too, maybe because they were free items.

Please link to some of these free eBooks.

If the kepub has no DRM, you can use the Modify ePub plugin to convert the kepub to ePub.

The options you want to check are...

Strip Kobo DRM remnants
Remove inline javascript and files

The options I have checked are...

Everything in the Known Artifacts section
Remove Adobe .xgpt files and links
Remove Adobe resource DRM meta tags
Remove broken OC entries in NCX file
Encode HTML in UTF-8
Remove inline javascript and files
Remove all metadata jackets
Remove legacy metadata jackets

Once installed and the options are set, you can convert kepub to epub.

But I've not seen any kepub only eBooks in a very long time. When you went to your library at Kobo (My Books), did you click on the three ... for the eBook and select download?

If you sync the eBooks to get them on your Kobo, they will come acress as kepub.

If you want to be able to strip the DRM from eBooks, you want to go to https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/ and download the tools for DRM removal. Included is obok which with Kobo desktop will remove the DRM from kepub. If you have questions how to use these DRM removal tools, you can ask at the blog there for help. I suggest you use the Calibre plugin as that's the easiest/best way to do it.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Per the Kobo listings I looked at it must be relatively few unless there is some setting in your profile that you can set. I downloaded a bunch of freebie books and stories from the Kobo store today and the only choice listed on the book pages was the Kobo epub format. Most were also listed as DRM free too, maybe because they were free items.

I'm not sure what you mean. Every book I have bought from Kobo, I have been able to download as an epub as well as Kobo sending the kepub version directly to my device. This includes free books as well as paid for, and DRM free or DRM protected.

To download the book, after you buy it, go to the library on the site. Click "My account" and then "My Books". That lists all the books you have purchased from Kobo, including the free books. Find the book you want to download, click three dots under the "Action" column choose "Download" from the menu. Then follow the prompts. That will download the epub version of the book.

Or are you looking at the previews? If so, they have to be read on-line or as a kepub. The save option adds it to your library and will be downloaded to the device or the Kobo app for you to read.

[wingmongyee]

I found when switching from my Sony reader to the Kobo Glo HD a couple of years ago that when reading epubs on the Kobo, the reader felt sluggish, i.e. slow page turns, etc, compare to the Sony reader. When the epubs were converted to kepub however, the Glo HD felt as responsive as the Sony, so I installed the Kobo Touch Extended driver plugin in Calibre and ever since, all the epubs I transfer to the Kobo are converted to kepub on the fly. My calibre library remains in epub.

Because of my experience, I think it's preferable to use kepub with a kobo reader.

Having said that, my experience with epub being sluggish on the Kobo reader is two years old, and it could be that the multiple firmware updates that were made since have fix the problem. Anyway, converting to Kepub on the fly with Calibre and the Kobo driver plugin takes hardly any more time than transferring a book without converting it, and the reading experience is excellent.

(Also, if I remember well, the reader wouldn't see the chapters when in epub format, in kepub it does and so you can see how long you have left until the end of the chapter, which is a feature I love).

[koboy]

Originally Posted by wingmongyee

I found when switching from my Sony reader to the Kobo Glo HD a couple of years ago that when reading epubs on the Kobo, the reader felt sluggish, i.e. slow page turns, etc, compare to the Sony reader. When the epubs were converted to kepub however, the Glo HD felt as responsive as the Sony, so I installed the Kobo Touch Extended driver plugin in Calibre and ever since, all the epubs I transfer to the Kobo are converted to kepub on the fly. My calibre library remains in epub.

Because of my experience, I think it's preferable to use kepub with a kobo reader.

Having said that, my experience with epub being sluggish on the Kobo reader is two years old, and it could be that the multiple firmware updates that were made since have fix the problem. Anyway, converting to Kepub on the fly with Calibre and the Kobo driver plugin takes hardly any more time than transferring a book without converting it, and the reading experience is excellent.

(Also, if I remember well, the reader wouldn't see the chapters when in epub format, in kepub it does and so you can see how long you have left until the end of the chapter, which is a feature I love).

ditto.

best wishes koboy

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by wingmongyee

I found when switching from my Sony reader to the Kobo Glo HD a couple of years ago that when reading epubs on the Kobo, the reader felt sluggish, i.e. slow page turns, etc, compare to the Sony reader. When the epubs were converted to kepub however, the Glo HD felt as responsive as the Sony, so I installed the Kobo Touch Extended driver plugin in Calibre and ever since, all the epubs I transfer to the Kobo are converted to kepub on the fly. My calibre library remains in epub.

Because of my experience, I think it's preferable to use kepub with a kobo reader.

Having said that, my experience with epub being sluggish on the Kobo reader is two years old, and it could be that the multiple firmware updates that were made since have fix the problem. Anyway, converting to Kepub on the fly with Calibre and the Kobo driver plugin takes hardly any more time than transferring a book without converting it, and the reading experience is excellent.

Kobo have done a lot of work on performance in the last year. The epub page turning is probably still slower than a kepub, but the difference is a lot less now.

(Also, if I remember well, the reader wouldn't see the chapters when in epub format, in kepub it does and so you can see how long you have left until the end of the chapter, which is a feature I love).

If the kepub produced by the extended driver showed chapters, then the epub version should have as well. The extended driver doesn't touch the ToC, so the ToC should be the same in both versions. Or are you just talking about the difference is how they are displayed at the bottom of the screen? The epub renderer doesn't show the chapter name next to the page number at the bottom, but when you bring up the navigation bar, it will show the chapter name.

[Richwood]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Please link to some of these free eBooks.

If you want to be able to strip the DRM from eBooks, you want to go to https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/ and download the tools for DRM removal. Included is obok which with Kobo desktop will remove the DRM from kepub. If you have questions how to use these DRM removal tools, you can ask at the blog there for help. I suggest you use the Calibre plugin as that's the easiest/best way to do it.

Not too sure who would be interested as the free ebooks were in the LGBT Gay category. A category that Smashwords has a massive free selection of.

[JSWolf]

It's not about wanting ot read any them. It's about having a look at Kobo and seeing if they can be downloaded as ePub.

[wingmongyee]

@davidfor. It's not about the displaying of the chapter name at the bottom of the page. I find that some kepubs do it and other's don't.

What I meant is with Epubs, I was never able to display anything to do with chapters. If I set the reader to show number of pages until the end of the chapter, or check the time of reading left until the end of chapter, the entire book would show as one long chapter.

It's only when I started using Kepubs (converted with the extended driver plugin in Calibre) that the chapter options worked as they should.

I understand what you're saying about the driver not touching the TOC. As I've said, the last time I read epubs on the Kobo was about two years ago, so my memory might be faulty. All I can remember is that when starting to use kepubs, the chapter thing was something I noticed. It's possible that I'd never tried to interact with chapters with epubs before (but I don't think that's the case). Could they have introduce the option to parse the chapters in epubs in a later version of the firmware?

In any case, the sluggishness when using epubs was really affecting my reading experience after having been used to the Sony reader, and I was kind of regretting my purchase of the Kobo (the integrated light was the reason I got the Kobo and stuck with it) until I found out about kepubs. The chapter thing I thought was just a bonus.

[davidfor]

@wingmongyee: For epubs, the progress is only show for the full book. That means page number or percent read. And there is no time left to read option. But, the ToC is there for navigation, and the navigation bar should show the current chapter title and allow you to skip to the next or previous chapter. This is by design. Kobo only support the per-chapter page progress in kepubs.

Your original post made it sound like you didn't see any chapter info at all in epubs. At the least you should see a ToC. If you don't it usually means a badly constructed epub. Or an epub from an author that doesn't use chapters.

[wingmongyee]

@davidfor: I understand now.

Yes, the TOC were working fine in ePubs, and as I never really used the navigation bar as I rarely skip through a book, I never found out that you could skip to the next or previous chapter. It was only the progress and time left per chapter that I noticed and appreciated with KePubs.

I wonder why these two options are not available with ePubs. I find them invaluable when I'm reading at a coffee shop and wondering if I should try to finish a chapter or start a new one. I don't like to stop reading mid-chapter, it's one of those things...

Thanks for the info. Cheers.

[robko]

Originally Posted by wingmongyee

I wonder why these two options are not available with ePubs. I find them invaluable when I'm reading at a coffee shop and wondering if I should try to finish a chapter or start a new one. I don't like to stop reading mid-chapter, it's one of those things...

Epubs are rendered using the Adobe software whereas Kepubs are rendered using Kobo's own software. That's why there is the difference. Can't answer to why Adobe has never added this except that they use a certain # of characters to represent a "page" so depending on your font size, a "page" may be over 1/2 a screen or 3 screens. That makes it tricky to say how many pages are left (and in fact an Adobe page could include the last part of one chapter + the 1st part of the next). Kobo has limited control over what they can change on the Adobe side.