Mobi2IMP 9.4 with new Windows GUI & UTF-8

[JSWolf]

So is 9.2b good to use on non-UTF-8 PRC as well?

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So is 9.2b good to use on non-UTF-8 PRC as well?

Now it is, as of latest edit to see post#45 above.

Also changed the 'cover_nr.html' to allow more space for cover images by replacing '2em' margin with '2px' margin. Now that's more to my liking!

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

p.p.s. Zelda_pinwheel, where do you find these troublesome files. What issue did you have with Minor Works by Jane Austen?

well, yesterday i had 2 different (apparently unrelated) problems, but both of them were miraculously fixed while i was sleeping and everything is working great (so, thanks for that !!). to clear things up,

- problem 1 was the UTF-8 problem (only on the Spring-heeled Jack file), i had this problem making a conversion with v9.1. it is resolved as you know.

- problem 2 was that i installed v9.2, but it did not work at all (i tried it on *both* the Spring-heeled Jack and Austen files, which i had previously successfully converted with v9.1 ; i chose those files because i knew they were not corrupt, as might have been a problem with a file i had never converted before). this is the error message i put higher up in this thread.

today i uninstalled v9.2, re-downloaded the installer as well as the 9.2b temporary fix, re-installed it, added the fix, tried again : works perfectly. (conversion, and even the UTF code was no problem, all the punctuation is as it should be). :

and i noticed you changed the headers to use smallfont by default, brilliant !!

yay ! thanks again for all this !! have some karma, you deserve it...

now i'm off to test the new full-screen image fix you mentioned and see what that does...

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

yay ! thanks again for all this !! have some karma, you deserve it...

Audrey, thanks for all your insights, as well, especially with the image re-sizing solution!

Hey, I just checked and you account for almost 50% of the karma I've received to date. Now, I know WHO I have to keep happy!

p.s. Audrey, any requests? (you're at the front of the line...)

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

Audrey, thanks for all your insights, as well, especially with the image re-sizing solution!

Hey, I just checked and you account for almost 50% of the karma I've received to date. Now, I know WHO I have to keep happy!

p.s. Audrey, any requests? (you're at the front of the line...)

hmm, well i think i'm going to stop giving you karma, because i see you now have 1111 points and that *must* be a lucky number !

i'm glad i can help out with testing and theory, it seems like the least i can do, since i have no programming skills at all (i'm sure you've noticed that )

since you ask, i *do* have a sort of question possibly a request concerning the images (next time i'm sure you won't say anything !)...

i tried out v9.2 on a Jane Austen file with fullscreen images and i was *amazed* to see the conversion can actually calculate the white margins to add to the images, and add them, to match the perfect ratio !! well my first question is, *how did you do that ???* really, can you explain (in small, not too technical words, if possible...) ? i would never have thought it was possible. it's really brilliant.

the only little thing is... i see you made the images the full size of the 1200 screen. i understand why you did this : it's the simplest way, you can use only one set of images for both devices then, because the 1200 screen is proportionately wider than the 1150 so you are sure the re-scaled images will fit. however, these images are then *smaller* than necessary on the 1150 screen, and there is an empty space at the bottom of the screen. it seems to be a shame to me, since the 1150 display is already smaller than the 1200, not to use it completely (and, maybe i'm biased because i have a 1150 not a 1200 ).

so, would it be at all possible, to choose which screen size to reformat the images to in the options, like if you only want to make an 1150 format ?? if yes, would it then be possible to automatically add extra (coded) side margins (2 em right and left seems to work) to these images, if the 1200 version is generated at the same time ?

if it's not possible, then obviously it's not too important, i can continue to reformat the images using my batch treatment in photoshop if i want to optimize for the 1150, and add the margins by hand if i want to make a 1200 version. but, since we've come this far, i thought i might as well ask...

anyway, i really love this tool, and i really appreciate all the work you put into it. so thanks again ! :

[zelda_pinwheel]

oh my, you're going to hate me pretty soon i was just wondering, why does v9.2 not remember our selections, like v9.1 ? that was a really nice feature, for lazy / sometimes distracted people like me... if you make a 9.3, can we have it back ?

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

hmm, well i think i'm going to stop giving you karma, because i see you now have 1111 points and that *must* be a lucky number !

I do like that number too, however, I like 2222 better!

i'm glad i can help out with testing and theory, it seems like the least i can do, since i have no programming skills at all (i'm sure you've noticed that )

since you ask, i *do* have a sort of question possibly a request concerning the images (next time i'm sure you won't say anything !)...

i tried out v9.2 on a Jane Austen file with fullscreen images and i was *amazed* to see the conversion can actually calculate the white margins to add to the images, and add them, to match the perfect ratio !! well my first question is, *how did you do that ???* really, can you explain (in small, not too technical words, if possible...) ? i would never have thought it was possible. it's really brilliant.

OK this is not a proof! What you stumbled upon when experimenting with the image resizing issue is that there is a "perfect" aspect ratio for each device (1150 and 1200) that will solve the problem. The 1150 should be an aspect ratio of 0.72 to accomodate running headers (0.67=320/480 theorectically), while the aspect ratio of 0.79 works better for the 1200 (0.75=480/640 theorectically). Now, which to choose, 0.72 or 0.79. You've noticed my bias toward the 1200, but I have racked my brain if I could do better for the 1150. So far nothing obvious, other than what you mention below, an inputed aspect ratio.

But before I get there, I want to see if there is a good compromise. One thought I have is if the picture is below 320x480, then I would use the 1150 aspect ratio so that I could maximize the image and not hurt the 1200 version since it has a larger screen. However, this breaks for the same image which is say doubled and larger than the screen. Then you have two images, same aspect ratio, but two different treatments. I'm leaning toward this. Any thoughts?.

Oh, yeah, technical explanation continues. Once you know the "perfect" aspect ratio then, only when the image is taller than wider (width < height) do we need to increase the width to reach the target aspect ratio. If that new width is say 300 and the old width was say 270, then we need to pad the image by 15 = (300-270)/2 on each side to center the original image. Now with an image the "perfect" aspect ratio there is no image resizing problem. Viola!

the only little thing is... i see you made the images the full size of the 1200 screen. i understand why you did this : it's the simplest way, you can use only one set of images for both devices then, because the 1200 screen is proportionately wider than the 1150 so you are sure the re-scaled images will fit. however, these images are then *smaller* than necessary on the 1150 screen, and there is an empty space at the bottom of the screen. it seems to be a shame to me, since the 1150 display is already smaller than the 1200, not to use it completely (and, maybe i'm biased because i have a 1150 not a 1200 ).

so, would it be at all possible, to choose which screen size to reformat the images to in the options, like if you only want to make an 1150 format ?? if yes, would it then be possible to automatically add extra (coded) side margins (2 em right and left seems to work) to these images, if the 1200 version is generated at the same time ?

Maybe what I can do is if there is only the 1150 or 1100 output selected, I can use the 0.72 aspect ratio. This would mean another convert with only the 1200 output selected and use of the 0.79 aspect ratio. No more simultaneous converting, though.

if it's not possible, then obviously it's not too important, i can continue to reformat the images using my batch treatment in photoshop if i want to optimize for the 1150, and add the margins by hand if i want to make a 1200 version. but, since we've come this far, i thought i might as well ask...

anyway, i really love this tool, and i really appreciate all the work you put into it. so thanks again ! :

Everything is possible, especially with compliments like this!

[JSWolf]

Please when you scale images, please take into account the size when there is no header generated. I feel I don't need to use a header as you should already know what book it is you are reading. So I don't use that option and won't be using it. To me, it takes up room best used for more text and larger images.

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Please when you scale images, please take into account the size when there is no header generated. I feel I don't need to use a header as you should already know what book it is you are reading. So I don't use that option and won't be using it. To me, it takes up room best used for more text and larger images.

I don't think too much is lost if I accomodate a small header as seen by these two comparisons of the chapter 8 illustration from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. One is for the 1150 (noheader and withheader); the other for the 1200 (noheader and withheader). This is the maximum header that will be accomodated, i.e. header+<hr> option.

I think this is a good compromise.

Mobi2IMP 9.3 on its way soon...

EDIT: Oh, yeah, forgot to show one of the benefits of accomodating a small header. If you DON'T choose the header, then there is room for a caption if you remove the <BR> between the illustration and caption! See the two new pics (noheader+withcaption).

[nrapallo]

I've released Mobi2IMP 9.3 now, which has minor bug fixes and some enhancements.

Changes in this release:

• added UTF-8 encoding support recently implemented in Mobiperl by tompe.
• changed 'cover_nr.html' to replace L/R margin '2em' with '2px' to allow for bigger images.
• Allowed 'aspect ratio' used to fix image resizing issue to be tied to device output. For 1150 or 1100 output, an aspect ratio of 0.72 is used; whereas if 1200 is selected for output, it will be overridden by an aspect ratio of 0.79 (even for other output options within the same conversion). It will be better to not simultaneously convert a file, but rather do the 1200 first, then the 1150 or others.

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

oh my, you're going to hate me pretty soon i was just wondering, why does v9.2 not remember our selections, like v9.1 ? that was a really nice feature, for lazy / sometimes distracted people like me... if you make a 9.3, can we have it back ?

Is this working now in version 9.3? I have to admit, I'm lazy too! (that's why this feature is there!)

[nrapallo]

Just fixed but not yet added to a full release:
- improve the removal of stray blank lines BEFORE a page-break that caused empty blank pages to be inserted into the ebook. Fixed for now in mobi2IMP.exe dos only (see Mobi2IMP-9.3b-dos.zip in post#1 above).

I will no longer change the GUI installer for minor bug fixes that do not change to GUI options screen. Instead, I will update only the mobi2IMP.exe in the 'Mobi2IMP/bin' directory. Unzip the highest version number followed by a letter in post#1 above into the 'Mobi2IMP/bin' home directory overwriting the old .exe. At the next release, these files will be deleted!

[nrapallo]

I've released Mobi2IMP 9.4 now, which has minor bug fixes and some enhancements.

Changes in this release:

• improved the removal of stray blank lines BEFORE a page-break that caused empty blank pages to be inserted into the ebook.
• By default, Mobi2IMP now pads images with white space to match the device's aspect ratio. It also now relocates links to images that pointed to between an illustration and caption as well as removes any blank lines there between. (zelda_pinwheel will appreciate this when re-converting HarryT's 'Austen' classics)
  To avoid these fixes, two new switches are added to not fix images or image links between illustrations and captions. Choose '--noimagefix' to not pad/resize images to device's aspect ratio and '--noimagelinkfix' to leave image link locations "as is" and not remove blank lines before captions.
• minor code clean-up and more informative messages.

Enjoy!

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

I've released Mobi2IMP 9.4 now, which has minor bug fixes and some enhancements.

Changes in this release:

• improved the removal of stray blank lines BEFORE a page-break that caused empty blank pages to be inserted into the ebook.
• By default, Mobi2IMP now pads images with white space to match the device's aspect ratio. It also now relocates links to images that pointed to between an illustration and caption as well as removes any blank lines there between. (zelda_pinwheel will appreciate this when re-converting HarryT's 'Austen' classics)
  To avoid these fixes, two new switches are added to not fix images or image links between illustrations and captions. Choose '--noimagefix' to not pad/resize images to device's aspect ratio and '--noimagelinkfix' to leave image link locations "as is" and not remove blank lines before captions.
• minor code clean-up and more informative messages.

Enjoy!

oh, this sounds excellent, i can't wait to try it (and good timing, Harry has redone a couple of his Austen books and I have not yet had time to redo the imp versions...) and the link fix is going to save me a LOT of time !!!

I especially appreciate the switch to NOT pad the images, for cases in which i have embedded the images in the flow of the paragraph !

thank you again Nick !!!

[JSWolf]

Why is the 9.4 attachment not in post #1?