Forum: Author Hangout

So I would have two ebooks with the same name? And then after the metadata is copied, I would remove the old one?

Yep. You keep the older one so you can copy the information across, and once you do, there's no longer any need for it. It's too bad that there's not a more elegant means of doing this, but that's the only method of transferring information between entries they currently have.

@helmet_meukel

Hmm, I use Calibre's separate eBook editor "ebook-edit.exe"
to edit the eBooks I own and to build eBooks from html files.

So do I, but I don't copy new revisions that way, as the process is way too tedious. Instead, I use the "Edit eBook" feature to fine tune the eBook (mainly to strip out the enforced Amazonization of every book they process) and to clean up their mess.

I'll have to try your approach, as I never realized there was an "import files" option. Again, the main issue with the editor is how it breaks the file into largely randomized blocks. It tries to do it sensibly, but it's largely size based, so a particularly large chapter might take up multiple blocks. Calibre is definitely not an elegant system, so you mange it as best you can.

Several of us here also edit our own html files before processing them through Calibre, to guarantee the quality of the file, though the majority of authors don't seem to care how good their files are, as long as they open. But Ernest has documented which techniques work best. My problem (with regular updates, is that I like to have a 'current version' handy during the editing phase, so I can see what the current books look like and thus make the necessary formatting decisions before I finally submit them to the various distributors. Most authors either don't worry about how clean their books are, or they wait until the final submission and dump everything in one go and hope it succeeds.

@Keet
Does it still require 3rd party tools, or have they updated the underlying product yet?

@Keet
Does it still require 3rd party tools, or have they updated the underlying product yet?

Update from January this year: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-drm-every-ebook-own/

Since Calibre is not and editor, but an eBook creation tool, it's not designed to be updated--ever!

Hmm, I use Calibre's separate eBook editor "ebook-edit.exe"
to edit the eBooks I own and to build eBooks from html files.
I do not edit the source files. For those html files I used to build the eBook via "Files/import files..." (hint: I don't know how it's named in English, I use the German version) I export the changed files either overwriting the original files or using a slightly changed file name (version added to the name).

Doing it this way, the metadata stays unchanged and Calibre won't mess with the css and the book by adding unnecessary classes.
Sorry, this works only with html source files, if they are .docx I guess you have to edit the source files using Word and the main Calibre program to create a new eBook.

HM.

BTW, I edit my eBooks to correct typos and other errors. I hate to stumble over the same issues again when re-reading a book. Because the Calibre eBook editor refuses to open books with DRM, I don't buy books with DRM.

Because the Calibre eBook editor refuses to open books with DRM, I don't buy books with DRM.

It's very easy to remove DRM with Calibre.

It's very easy to remove DRM with Calibre.

I didn't try this in the last few years, but way back when I started using Calibre it balked.

HM.

ETA and the calibre editor still refuses to open DRM books.

In the book list, find and select the book. Then drag and drop your new version of the book into the details pane.

Wow! I'd never heard of the drag-and-drop feature before, but it's so simple, elegant and effective it's a virtual game changer. I typically delay updating books in Calibre for months at a time, simply because it's so tedious, but this makes it a snap!

As far as removing formats, I can't see that as a helpful feature. For me, I don't typically abandon formats that readers find attractive, I replace them with updated version, which again is a fairly tedious process, and is subsequently likely to be delayed as long as possible. So, it's never a matter of removing the various formats as much as it is replacing them on a timely basis.

Wow! I'd never heard of the drag-and-drop feature before, but it's so simple, elegant and effective it's a virtual game changer. I typically delay updating books in Calibre for months at a time, simply because it's so tedious, but this makes it a snap!

That seems a little weird to me. I assume any application supports drag-and-drop until proven otherwise. Calibre supports drag-and-drop within it's windows as well. You can drop a book on a tag in the tag browser and that tag will be added. And some of the toolbar buttons support it as well.

As far as removing formats, I can't see that as a helpful feature. For me, I don't typically abandon formats that readers find attractive, I replace them with updated version, which again is a fairly tedious process, and is subsequently likely to be delayed as long as possible. So, it's never a matter of removing the various formats as much as it is replacing them on a timely basis.

If you are using calibre to convert from your manuscript format to the various ebook formats, then I'd probably delete the others after updating the manuscript format. (Though I'd probably archive them somehow first.) That way I would know what I still needed to do.

If this is for the conversion, not removing the book completely also helps. Calibre stores the conversion options use in the library. If you were changing options, each time before, then you should find them saved now and just be able to hit the convert button and choose the output format.

If you are using calibre to convert from your manuscript format to the various ebook formats, then I'd probably delete the others after updating the manuscript format. (Though I'd probably archive them somehow first.) That way I would know what I still needed to do.

Simply uploading a new version erases everything, or can we simply drag-and-drop the html file into the older book entry too? If so, then that would dramatically decease the updating time, and eliminate having to restore the Metadata entirely.

Doing the older manual update process, I've gotten very inconsistent results with the various formatting standards. Calibre seems to remember my ePub conversion standards across multiple updates, and occasionally recalls my .mobi standards, it forgets every other standard, so you're right, avoiding the loading of new books entirely will dramatically improve my processing speeds.

Update: Nope. Dragging a new html file into an older entry still erases everything (Metadata, isbn, series , published date, etc., so it may save a few seconds, but doesn't make the process any easier. Though immediately dragging the older book into the one created by dragging the new html file does save a shitload of time! But because it erases everything, there's no indication is saved any formatting standards that the reloaded Metadata didn't restore anyway.

I must say, though, that the Count Pages and the Manage Series plugins really help track and manage the updates. I also maintain the Goodreads update, but it's not as useful, only tracking recent Goodreads votes on my older stories, which isn't terribly helpful.

By the way, I did a subsequent test and dragging the new version still erases everything, but copying the old Metadata does transfer the older formats, which the 'Copy Metadata' command never did. It's odd which things they preserve between the various commands, as there seems to be little consistency among the various technique implementations.

I must say, though, that the Count Pages and the Manage Series plugins really help track and manage the updates. I also maintain the Goodreads update, but it's not as useful, only tracking recent Goodreads votes on my older stories, which isn't terribly helpful.

With this comment, I probably should mention that I do some work on calibre. I mainly maintain the driver for Kobo ereaders but do some bug fixes and feature changes. I have written several plugins. And I maintain the Count Pages, the two main Goodreads plugins and a few other plugins whose authors are not around any more.

Update: Nope. Dragging a new html file into an older entry still erases everything (Metadata, isbn, series , published date, etc., so it may save a few seconds, but doesn't make the process any easier. Though immediately dragging the older book into the one created by dragging the new html file does save a shitload of time! But because it erases everything, there's no indication is saved any formatting standards that the reloaded Metadata didn't restore anyway.

What exactly did you do? If you drag-and-drop the new version on the details pane of the existing book, the metadata is not read from the new version. I do this all the time. And I rechecked now by saving a book from my library, editing the metadata and dropping the book on the details pane in calibre.

Are you opening the new version of book from calibre? If so, it will still show whatever metadata was in that version. Calibre does not immediately update the metadata in the actual files. It only does this when you do something like use the Embed metadata function, or a conversion.

Thanks. I'll have to study what you said when my headache goes away (I had it before I read your post LOL).

Wherever it is. Use whatever file explorer you normally and drag from there. I drag from the download window in Firefox when I download a book.

I open Calibre and it lists all my novels that I had added. My input to Calibre is docx so I then open Mac's Finder and go to the folder with the docx for that novel. I drag that file to Calibre (hovering the mouse over the title of the novel I'm changing).

At this point my source is overwritten but not the metadata. Then I convert it to epub, mobi, and PDF and it recreates those.

Is that correct?

Not quite. If you drop the book in the list, it will be added to calibre as a new book. But, there are options to set what happens when a book of the same title is added to calibre. The options let you merge the new book with the existing, add it as a completely new book or ignore the new book. I use the add new option and sort out later. Usually I realise I had already added that book.

What I am suggesting you do is to select the book in calibre before you start. There should be a panel that shows the book details. This can bottom or on the right side of the list. But, it can be hidden. If it isn't visible, click the third button in the bottom right. Then, drop the new version into this details panel. This will add the book to the calibre record. If you already have a book of that format, it will replace that book. And it does not update the metadata.

I don't know what you mean by "panel."

Do I drag the new version of the Word docx to the DOCX there?

Yes. That's the side panel (it took me a while to figure that one out too. From what djf4au said, you should be able to drop a new cover there to replace the older one too.

What I am suggesting you do is to select the book in calibre before you start. There should be a panel that shows the book details. This can bottom or on the right side of the list. But, it can be hidden. If it isn't visible, click the third button in the bottom right. Then, drop the new version into this details panel. This will add the book to the calibre record. If you already have a book of that format, it will replace that book. And it does not update the metadata.

Ah, I never got that piece, though I recall you recall you mentioning the 'details pane', but never knew what you were referring to.

So, it's dropping it into the details pane that adds the Metadata and previous versions to it? In my case, I'm making incremental changes, rather than adding complete books, so that's precisely what I want.

Where do I drag it from?

When adding a new version of your book, just drop the old version (the line in Calibre where it describes the book) and drop it into the new version, and it transfers ALL the metadata at once. I haven't needed it yet (having just updated my newest cover versions by hand), but he's supposedly also claiming that you can simply copy a brand new cover and drop it onto the book's listing to update the cover image too.

I've finally figured it out. Calibre has a 'open book' retention problem. Specifically, once you open/edit a book, it doesn't matter how many times you've revised it—either as a new item or merely updating an existing entry—Calibre will always display the last edited version. This applies whether you Quit the Book Editor or Close the existing book, as neither seems to matter in the slightest.

I finally discovered this by right-clicking on the MOBI version of the book and checking that one for my revisions. Still not satisfied, I then requested Calibre to open the Apple Book app, rather than defaulting to Calibre's reader. In both cases, it showed the current version, while Calibre never does (unless you've physically shut you computer down beforehand).

Unforunately, Calibre is filled with a gazillion of these little 'gotcha' details!

Bottom Line: So ahead and drop your newest version atop the cover image in your 'details pane' (to the right of the Calibre window) and it will update it. Just don't expect to be able to edit it afterwards!

Note: By the way, it's much easier simply right-clicking on each format and selecting "Save the xxx format to disk", rather than wrestling with the multiple series/book title/author folders the standard 'Save to Disk' command produces!

I thought when I make a change, that change is reflected in the files in my Calibre library without the "save to disk." That's where I get the files to send to Bookapy and Amazon. I thought the "save to disk" was to literally save the ebook to a disk, like a thumb drive.

That's the wrong kind of save, as Calibre does that automatically. The "Save mobi format to disk" saves the mobi version of your current book to a specific location so you can submit it to your book distributors, or to send directly to your readers.

In my case, my books exist an html files, which Calibre converts to epub, mobi and pdf, and then you save each copy to disk (saving to folder saves the items' entire "folder" to disk, so you end up with folders within folders within folders).

It's the terminology which is misleading everyone. The Calibre entry is 'saved' as soon as you create it (including any mistakes you make), but the information isn't much good unless you produce a useable (i.e. salable) finished product with it).

I have the Linux version of 5.17 and the two save options in the Edit option are Save and Save a Copy - I don't know why it doesn't say Save to Disk However, whatever work you do on any file isn't automatically saved to the file you're working on until you use the Save function.

Geez, this is where I start backing up and deleting each of my previous entries. The "Save mobi format to disk" has nothing whatsoever to do with saving the Calibre book entry, it applies ONLY to saving the .mobi format of the book somewhere you can then post it elsewhere.

Has anyone here ever used Calibre? It's an abbreviation of the normal "save single format to disk" found under the "Save to disk" button (which no one even considered.

The structure of the Calibre library folders is:

Calibre Library
(author name)
(each novel has a folder)
(the files for that novel - e.g., cover.jpg, xx.epub, metadata.opf, etc.)

Technically that's: Calibre/Author Name/Series Name/Story Title or "Story Name - Series Name - Author Name.format".

What does "save to disk" do? I don't use that.

It's supposed to save the amended file in the memory over the stored file on the disk. If you don't do it the amendment should cease to be when you close the edit window.

Sorry, but no. It's an abbreviation for "Save xxx format to disk". You click on the ePub, Mobi or pdf entry, right-click and select, rather rather than producing a single file buried under folders within folders, it puts right where you want it without the extraneous duplicate cover files.