Managing a huge collection of PDF files

pmh · Yesterday, 11:57 AM

Hi all,

new to the forum, using Calibre for a couple of years and really enjoying the experience. I manage my library of ebooks (ePub format) and sync with a pocketbook reader. So far so good.

My question is which approach to take - or what you are doing - for a large collection of PDF documents that do not really fit the "book" metaphor well - scientific articles, magazines, manuals ... accumulated over more than two decades. (I'm old

)

Besides the metadata that does not fit a "publisher, author, title" format, many of those documents are formatted for a fixed page size like letter or A4, also frequently colour, and are not readable on a handy s/w e-ink device like my pocketbook.

I'm pondering if I should still go ahead and throw them all in Calibre and limit syncing to ePub. Then possibly use the filtering features.

Or just use folders and the Mac OS builtin spotlight.

Or is there anything else that do not yet know? Hence this post.

Thanks in advance for comments, kind regards,
Patrick

DNSB · Yesterday, 03:53 PM

I have a few items like that which live in their own libraries in calibre. Mostly tech manuals left over from before my retirement and household appliance manuals. Quite a few custom columns that are not needed for the main library. The other library is scans of old SF & F magazines. Oddly, those two libraries have a lot fewer books than my main library but eat disk space like it was free.

theducks · Yesterday, 05:41 PM

My custom columns are general, so I just keep my Manuals in my main Library.
Except for Author and Title, I don't believe the Police will seek you out for leaving fields blank.

In case of Manuals: if the author is not specified, I use the Publisher there also (sometimes embellished

). eg LG Staff
I also tag the document: UG (users Guide), QSG (Quick Start Guide), IG (Installation Guide), Wnty ...

I even use 'Series' to tie a set together (LG BD [0])

DrNefario · Today, 04:45 AM

I add my PDFs to Calibre. I use the content server to transfer them to my iPad for reading. I made a separate Library for comics, in the end, since they were getting in the way, but the rest of my miscellaneous PDFs - game rules, magazines, etc - are just in the main library.

Yesterday, 11:57 AM	#1
pmh Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2025 Device: Pocketbook	Managing a huge collection of PDF files Hi all, new to the forum, using Calibre for a couple of years and really enjoying the experience. I manage my library of ebooks (ePub format) and sync with a pocketbook reader. So far so good. My question is which approach to take - or what you are doing - for a large collection of PDF documents that do not really fit the "book" metaphor well - scientific articles, magazines, manuals ... accumulated over more than two decades. (I'm old ) Besides the metadata that does not fit a "publisher, author, title" format, many of those documents are formatted for a fixed page size like letter or A4, also frequently colour, and are not readable on a handy s/w e-ink device like my pocketbook. I'm pondering if I should still go ahead and throw them all in Calibre and limit syncing to ePub. Then possibly use the filtering features. Or just use folders and the Mac OS builtin spotlight. Or is there anything else that do not yet know? Hence this post. Thanks in advance for comments, kind regards, Patrick

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Yesterday, 03:53 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 44,518 Karma: 167912829 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I have a few items like that which live in their own libraries in calibre. Mostly tech manuals left over from before my retirement and household appliance manuals. Quite a few custom columns that are not needed for the main library. The other library is scans of old SF & F magazines. Oddly, those two libraries have a lot fewer books than my main library but eat disk space like it was free.

Yesterday, 05:41 PM	#3
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,882 Karma: 59840450 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	My custom columns are general, so I just keep my Manuals in my main Library. Except for Author and Title, I don't believe the Police will seek you out for leaving fields blank. In case of Manuals: if the author is not specified, I use the Publisher there also (sometimes embellished ). eg LG Staff I also tag the document: UG (users Guide), QSG (Quick Start Guide), IG (Installation Guide), Wnty ... I even use 'Series' to tie a set together (LG BD [0])

Today, 04:45 AM	#4
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,187 Karma: 12000000 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	I add my PDFs to Calibre. I use the content server to transfer them to my iPad for reading. I made a separate Library for comics, in the end, since they were getting in the way, but the rest of my miscellaneous PDFs - game rules, magazines, etc - are just in the main library.

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