The iOS reader applications device driver plugin enables USB communication between calibre and Marvin.
With your iDevice connected to your computer via USB, start the Marvin application on your iDevice. From Marvin's Home or Library screen, touch Get books in the lower right corner, then touch calibre. The calibre connector dialog will be displayed on your iDevice. After a few seconds, Marvin's icon will be displayed in calibre's main toolbar, labeled Device. Marvin is now connected to calibre.
In calibre's Library view, books with a checkmark in the On Device column are also in Marvin's library.
Clicking the Marvin icon in the calibre toolbar switches to calibre's Device view. Books with a checkmark in the In Library column are also in your calibre library.
| calibre UI | Result | |
| Display a list of books installed in Marvin | Click Marvin icon for Device view. | A list of all books in Marvin's library. |
| Send books from calibre to Marvin | Library view: Select book(s), click Send to device in main toolbar (D). | Books are added to Marvin's library. If the book is not available in ePub format, calibre offers to convert before sending. |
| Remove books from Marvin | Device view: Select book(s), click Remove books in main toolbar (delete). | Books are removed from Marvin's library, including annotations, bookmarks, and Deep View content. |
| Add books from Marvin to calibre | Device view: Select book(s), right-click, Add books to library. | Selected books are added to calibre library from Marvin's library. |
| Open a book from Marvin library on your computer | Device view: Select book, click View (V). | Book is opened from Marvin's library in calibre viewer. |
To end the connection, touch Disconnect in the calibre connector dialog on your iDevice. The Device button will be removed from calibre's main toolbar, and Marvin returns to normal operation.
For extended management of Marvin from calibre, install the Marvin XD plugin.
This section describes the options available in the Marvin Options tab of the configuration dialog.
When sending books already in Marvin…
The selected radio button determines Marvin's behavior when sending books that already exist in Marvin's library. Books that already exist in Marvin's library are marked with a checkmark in calibre's On Device column.
If a book does not have a checkmark in calibre's On Device column, it will be added to Marvin as a new book, regardless of this setting.
Custom column assignments: Collections
If you want to manage Marvin collections from calibre, it is highly recommended that you install and use the Marvin XD plugin, leaving the Collections combobox empty in this plugin.
Custom columns may be used to specify collection assignments when sending books to Marvin. To create a custom column for collections, click the Wizard button. Collection assignments are applied when sending books to Marvin, replacing any existing collection assignments in Marvin.
Custom column assignments: Word count
If you want to manage Marvin word counts from calibre, it is highly recommended that you install and use the Marvin XD plugin, leaving the Word count combobox empty in this plugin.
By specifying a Word count column containing word counts for books in your calibre library, the word counts will be supplied to Marvin when sending books or updating metadata. To create a custom column for Word count, click the Wizard button.
Other options: Enable editing of Marvin collections in Device view
If you want to manage Marvin collections from calibre, it is highly recommended that you install and use the Marvin XD plugin, which offers a wide variety of management options, leaving this checkbox unchecked.
In Device view, the Collections column displays collection assignments, including Marvin's special collections NEW, READING LIST and READ. By default, the Collections column is a read-only view of the current collection assignments in Marvin. To enable editing of collection assignments in the Device view, enable this checkbox, then restart calibre. Edited collection assignments are applied in Marvin immediately.
If you are unable to edit collection assignments after enabling the checkbox and restarting calibre:
Help: Help
Opens this help file in a browser window.
Help: Reset caches
The plugin caches the most recent list of books when connecting to Marvin, speeding up the initial connection time. Copies of the cache are stored on the device, and on in calibre’s configuration directory. Clicking Reset caches deletes the cache files in both locations.
In Device view, all books installed in Marvin are visible. If Enable editing of Marvin collections in Device view is checked, you can directly edit Marvin's collection assignments for each book. Books that are also in your calibre library are marked with a checkmark in the In Library column. Changes made to Marvin from the Device view do not affect calibre's Library view.
| calibre UI | Result | |
| Edit Marvin collection assignments directly | Device view: Select book, edit contents of Collections field. Collections should be a comma-separated list of assignments, including Marvin flags NEW, READING LIST and READ. | Collection assignments, including Marvin flags, are updated immediately. |
For books installed in both your calibre library and your Marvin library (indicated by a checkmark in the On Device column), you can refresh Marvin's metadata to match calibre's metadata. To enable metadata updates, select Update metadata in When sending books already in Marvin.
If a book is checked in the On Device column, clicking Send to device will update the metadata in Marvin.
If a book is unchecked in the On Device column, clicking Send to device will add the book to Marvin as a new book.
| calibre UI | Result | |
| Update Marvin metadata to current calibre values, including Title, Title sort, Author, Author sort, Publisher, Published date, Series, Series number, Tags, Comments and Cover. | Library view: Select book(s) to update, click Send to device in main toolbar (D). | Metadata for selected books is updated in Marvin. |
| Apply custom column collection assignments to Marvin. | 1) Create and enable a custom column for collection assignments. |
Metadata for selected books is updated in Marvin. Collection assignments from your enabled custom column(s) are appended to any existing collection assignments in Marvin. |
Why am I getting duplicate books in Marvin when I'm trying to update them?
Upon initial connection with Marvin, calibre compares the metadata of books in your calibre library with books installed in Marvin. Books with matching metadata that are present in both your calibre library and Marvin are marked with a checkmark in calibre's On Device column.
You may have the same book by the same author in both your calibre library and Marvin, but because of differing metadata, calibre does not recognize them as the same books. These books will not have a checkmark in calibre's On Device column.
When sending a book, if there is no checkmark in the On Device column for a book in the Library view, a new copy of the book will be sent to Marvin. If there is a checkmark, behavior depends upon the When sending books already in Marvin… radio button in Marvin Options.
Why doesn't calibre recognize books installed in Marvin as being the same books in my calibre library?
Upon connection with Marvin, calibre compares the metadata of books in your library with books installed in Marvin. Any metadata mismatches will cause calibre to consider Marvin's copy of the book to be different than calibre's copy. The book will not have a checkmark in calibre's On Device column.
Metadata mismatches may occur if you have edited the Book Title or Author fields in Marvin's metadata editor. Restoring these fields to values matching the Title and Author(s) fields in calibre should allow the book to be matched upon the next connection.
For extended management of Marvin metadata, install the Marvin XD plugin.
I have the same book installed in calibre and Marvin, but there's no checkmark in the On Device column. How can I get calibre to recognize them as the same book so I can update the metadata in Marvin?
If you prefer to add the Marvin copy to calibre, because you have existing assets in Marvin that you don't want to lose, for example annotations, bookmarks, highlights, and Deep View content:
If you prefer to add the calibre copy to Marvin:
How do I update metadata (including collection assignments created in calibre) for a group of books at the same time?
How do I use calibre's 'Manage collections' feature?
How can I hide/restore the Collections column in the Device view?
How do I change the preferred reader application?