Troubleshooting Epub send to Kindle cover problem

[rafcastro]

Hello, anyone found a solution to the problems with the book covers while sending epubs via send to Kindle?
Thank you in advance

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rafcastro

Hello, anyone found a solution to the problems with the book covers while sending epubs via send to Kindle?
Thank you in advance

Don't use send to Kindle? PDOCs don't get cover thumbnails.

[hleo12]

What David said.

Ever since Amazon axed .mobi files from send to kindle, I started sideloading books via calibre (converted to kfx). It's a wonderful experience really. I used to think I didn't care about the book format, but it made me realize how horrendous mobi/azw displays the books.

(Now I'm seriously thinking of removing all the books/pdocs on my kindle and just sideloading everything as kfx.)

[kbs24]

But if we don't use send to kindle or email to kindle, we will lose the sync. The whole reason I use kindles is the ability to sync to furthest page read. Right?

[hleo12]

Originally Posted by kbs24

But if we don't use send to kindle or email to kindle, we will lose the sync. The whole reason I use kindles is the ability to sync to furthest page read. Right?

Yes. Whispersync won't be available for USB sideloaded books.

I stuck to Kindle because of this function. It was really convenient for me at first because I used to switch phones really often (I used to have bad luck with phones, they always broke) and everything would be the same after I re-installed the app.

These days I find myself only reading on my Kindle. It's small enough that I can put it in my bag and take it with me outside. Whispersync didn't really get that much of a use from me.

After Amazon axed mobi/azw, it was between my Kindle looking pretty or the ability to sync reading progress. Looking pretty won.

You could always use bookmarks and export your annotations from time to time to keep track of reading positions in case your device craps out on you and you have to start over.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by kbs24

But if we don't use send to kindle or email to kindle, we will lose the sync. The whole reason I use kindles is the ability to sync to furthest page read. Right?

I switch between my two Kobos often and I don't find it particularly difficult to remember where I left off, once I got into the habit.

Sideloading has many benefits for me, not the least being that I like to carry thousands of books on my ereaders. Emailing such an amount would be a major bother. So I gave up on whispersync many years ago.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I switch between my two Kobos often and I don't find it particularly difficult to remember where I left off, once I got into the habit.

Sideloading has many benefits for me, not the least being that I like to carry thousands of books on my ereaders. Emailing such an amount would be a major bother. So I gave up on whispersync many years ago.

I have one book on my Kobo and one book on my phone. They are not the same book. It works no problem.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by hleo12

What David said.

Ever since Amazon axed .mobi files from send to kindle, I started sideloading books via calibre (converted to kfx). It's a wonderful experience really. I used to think I didn't care about the book format, but it made me realize how horrendous mobi/azw displays the books.

(Now I'm seriously thinking of removing all the books/pdocs on my kindle and just sideloading everything as kfx.)

Personally I don't use KFX. I use custom font sizes and custom margins, neither of which works with KFX. So AZW3 is the only Kindle format for me (MOBI is a no-go as well, because custom fonts and boldness adjustment cannot be used with mobi).

[kbs24]

Originally Posted by hleo12

Yes. Whispersync won't be available for USB sideloaded books.

I stuck to Kindle because of this function. It was really convenient for me at first because I used to switch phones really often (I used to have bad luck with phones, they always broke) and everything would be the same after I re-installed the app.

These days I find myself only reading on my Kindle. It's small enough that I can put it in my bag and take it with me outside. Whispersync didn't really get that much of a use from me.

After Amazon axed mobi/azw, it was between my Kindle looking pretty or the ability to sync reading progress. Looking pretty won.

You could always use bookmarks and export your annotations from time to time to keep track of reading positions in case your device craps out on you and you have to start over.

Interesting. I always bookmark. Now I will look into how to export the annotations. (Sync has always been important to me, I have 3 kindles and grab the first one I find, and my memory is not so great for sure....)

[shamanNS]

Originally Posted by hleo12

it was between my Kindle looking pretty or the ability to sync reading progress. Looking pretty won.

If by "looking pretty" you primarily meant the text layout (and not also the cover thumbnails on cover view) you can at least have both the syncing and fix those disgustingly huge spaces between the words ( in every line / row of text that couldn't have a long word split on a syllable) that are the worst thing about reading old mobi format by sending an epub with added soft hyphens (using Calibre built-in functionality for that or the "Hyphenate This" plugin) since then Amazon's PDOCs service will deliver an azw3 containing soft hyphens and the azw3 renderer on Kindle will hyphenate long words at the end of the rows.

You still don't get kerning and ligatures that you get with KFX format but at least there is the hyphenation.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

If by "looking pretty" you primarily meant the text layout (and not also the cover thumbnails on cover view) you can at least have both the syncing and fix those disgustingly huge spaces between the words ( in every line / row of text that couldn't have a long word split on a syllable) that are the worst thing about reading old mobi format by sending an epub with added soft hyphens (using Calibre built-in functionality for that or the "Hyphenate This" plugin) since then Amazon's PDOCs service will deliver an azw3 containing soft hyphens and the azw3 renderer on Kindle will hyphenate long words at the end of the rows.

You still don't get kerning and ligatures that you get with KFX format but at least there is the hyphenation.

One man's bread is another's poison and so on. I detest hyphenation and disable it on my Kobos. Fortunately I use small enough font (plus custom margins on my Oasis, smaller than the default ones), so huge spaces between words aren't that common for me. On a Kobo you can also adjust word spacing in the configuration file.

[hleo12]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

If by "looking pretty" you primarily meant the text layout (and not also the cover thumbnails on cover view) you can at least have both the syncing and fix those disgustingly huge spaces between the words ( in every line / row of text that couldn't have a long word split on a syllable) that are the worst thing about reading old mobi format by sending an epub with added soft hyphens (using Calibre built-in functionality for that or the "Hyphenate This" plugin) since then Amazon's PDOCs service will deliver an azw3 containing soft hyphens and the azw3 renderer on Kindle will hyphenate long words at the end of the rows.

You still don't get kerning and ligatures that you get with KFX format but at least there is the hyphenation.

Thumbnail covers are more important to me Followed by book format. Although I did get used to the horrendous word spacing on mobi, it did bother me a bit.

I'm neutral on hyphens. But I prefer them over large irregular word spaces.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

One man's bread is another's poison and so on. I detest hyphenation and disable it on my Kobos. Fortunately I use small enough font (plus custom margins on my Oasis, smaller than the default ones), so huge spaces between words aren't that common for me. On a Kobo you can also adjust word spacing in the configuration file.

Or you can read ePub and have the spacing between the words adjusted by RMSDK.

[shamanNS]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

One man's bread is another's poison and so on. I detest hyphenation and disable it on my Kobos.

...

plus custom margins on my Oasis, smaller than the default ones)

Are you also one of those people that read using sans serif font and prefer left aligned (aka jagged right) to justified text?

What firmware version is on your Oasis? Since as far as I know those known edits for reducing the margins don't work anymore on firmware newer than 5.10.x..
Or are you setting negative margins for each book using CSS?

[shamanNS]

Originally Posted by hleo12

Thumbnail covers are more important to me

Having page numbers (and those being consistent between all books, by being based on known number of characters) is the most important thing to me Followed by having hyphens / not having those huge gaps between words.

In general my priorities are:

- customized text sizes (via "FONT_RAMP" file, so azw3 is a format of choice right from the start... although on my PW3 I did activate parsing of CONTENT_FONT_RAMP file to have the same thing for KFX books)

- custom font of my choice

- book has to have page numbers

- added soft hyphens

- cover thumbnails being shown

- having reduced margins (had this on my PW1 and PW3, didn't have it on my PW5 in those 2 weeks of owning it before I've bricked it)

- sync (never used it in 11+ years of owning Kindles, I only read on my Kindle and only use one Kindle device even when I own 2 or 3)