Any extra Calibre options when copying text from a book?

[MoeReed]

I have sporadically used Calibre over the last year, but want to completely switch over from the Kindle app to Calibre. There is only one thing holding me back: When I copy a sentence or two from an eBook, the Kindle app appends the citation to the clipboard which is very helpful. Example:

In the Kindle App I copy this line from a book:
</i>those things that aren't wanted," she said, putting something more on the heap of frippery that lay in Annushka's arms.</i>

When I paste the text the Kindle app appends the reference information:

<i>those things that aren't wanted," she said, putting something more on the heap of frippery that lay in Annushka's arms.

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina (p. 577). . Kindle Edition.</i>

The feature is great (unless copying only a word or two, then it is annoying). Why is this important? I copy text out of books and paste it into an Anki cards for usage examples of words I am trying to learn - and obviously I want to cite the reference in such cases. (In the above example "frippery" was a new word for me).

Is there a way to do this with Calibre? If so, I can finally dump the Kindle app for good!
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(BTW, I noticed that in firefox the mobileread.com bold/italics/underline features do not work. I tried to add html to the text and it does not help. Bummer.)

[BetterRed]

@MoeReed - for the first request I can get the source (book name) from my clipboard manager



For most Windows applications I can also use the so-called Evernote 'Helper', but for some reason it can't detect text selections in the calibre viewer, instead it grabs a screen shot.

A new browser based version of the calibre viewer should be released within a month or or three, it may have an option to include book title and authors in clipboard copies (if not the so-called Evernote 'Clipper' might do it, as it does for regular web clippings). I'm hoping it will have text selection via common-or-garden keyboard sequences - Ctrl+Shift+arrow keys.

The bold, italics and underline features of MR forum work for me in Firefox 53.0 on Windows 10 1611 - by clicking buttons or Ctrl+B/I/U. Try running Firefox with Add-ons disabled (it's in the Help menu).

Added: - re your other issue, is this relevant ==>> Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre

BR

[kovidgoyal]

I dont much like the idea of copy adding extra text automatically. I would find that extremely annoying.

Note that you can clickt he show book metadata button in the viewer and copy the title/author from there.

I also dont mind adding an extra "Copy with citation" action to the right click menu of the viewer -- unfortunately I am rather busy right now working on finishing up calibre 3 so either ping me about it after 3 or open a bug report

[MoeReed]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I dont much like the idea of copy adding extra text automatically. I would find that extremely annoying.

Note that you can clickt he show book metadata button in the viewer and copy the title/author from there.

I also dont mind adding an extra "Copy with citation" action to the right click menu of the viewer -- unfortunately I am rather busy right now working on finishing up calibre 3 so either ping me about it after 3 or open a bug report

Yes! that would be perfect. You are right that is is annoying - unless you want to have the citation - then it is annoying to have to open the metadata to copy the title & author each time, and the reason I still use the (otherwise terrible) Kindle app.

Thanks for your help and hard work, Mr. Goyal. Some spondulicks on the way shortly.

**edit**
apparently there are others who would appreciate this functionality too:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=278125

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I dont much like the idea of copy adding extra text automatically. I would find that extremely annoying.

I don't mind the extras being copied, but I would find the extras always being pasted very annoying.

Right now, if I want the clip and the reference (window title of the source) I press Ctrl+Alt+V at paste time, if I use Ctrl+V and then realise I want the reference I can press Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Alt+V. And it works irrespective of the clip source - browsers, text editors, pdf and comic book viewers, image viewers, file managers, epub viewers such as calibre's, azardi and balabolka's TTS reader...

Sure its not styled as a formal APA/Chicago/MLA/IEEE etc citation, but its probably enough to get such a thing should I actually need it.

At sometime in the future I will lose my current clipboard manager, I would gladly pay for a replacement with similar functionality - but I am yet to find one.

BR

[MoeReed]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

but I would find the extras always being pasted very annoying.
BR

Yes, me too, but nobody is talking about making it exactly like the Kindle app (this is how Kindle behaves). Even the developer says he would make this a right-click menu option rather than the default behavior - perfect.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by MoeReed

Yes, me too, but nobody is talking about making it exactly like the Kindle app (this is how Kindle behaves). Even the developer says he would make this a right-click menu option rather than the default behavior - perfect.

But only in the calibre ebook-viewer. I need something that works when viewing PDF's in Acrobat or picture books and comics in YacReader, or an image in FPV, a blog or newspaper in a browser...

If you forget to use the right click option, the 'citation' won't be there when you paste, so you'll have to go back and get it. That would irritate me even more than pasting a 'citation' I didn't want. For me removing it in situ would be far easier than going back to the source program and file, finding the text, recopying it via a right click option, and then going back to the target program and pasting it again.

To each his own.

BR

[davidhcje]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I also don't mind adding an extra "Copy with citation" action to the right click menu of the viewer -- unfortunately I am rather busy right now working on finishing up calibre 3 so either ping me about it after 3 or open a bug report

Just wonder if this functionality has been implemented.

[georgehuang]

Yes. Menu → Preferences → Selection Behavior → Add "Copy citation to clipboard"

[davidhcje]

Thank you!

[davidhcje]

Originally Posted by georgehuang

Yes. Menu → Preferences → Selection Behavior → Add "Copy citation to clipboard"

when I use this method to copy a sentence, I got the following copied, which I can hardly understand.

[Feelings are not the real self. Whereas feelings are programs that come and go, the real inner Self always stays the same; therefore, it is necessary to stop identifying transient feelings as yourself](calibre://view-book/_hex_-43616c696272655f4c696272617279/43/EPUB?open_at=epubcfi%28/58/2/4/44/1:3%29)

Is this intended? How could I have the sentence with the book title copied instead?

Here's a video clip showing what I mean:
https://youtu.be/VvimLYQDcnI

[georgehuang]

The citation that "Copy citation to clipboard" creates is in Markdown format. It can be easily converted to an HTML link that will open the Calibre app and lead you straight to the exact text quoted. IMHO this is the ideal way to create citations for HTML-based books.

The citations might be different from those cited from a paper book and are not easily sharable with other people (unless you share the same library), but they are quite useful to the owner of the ebook.