ePub to lrf via Calibre: best settings?

Shadowjack · 07-15-2010, 01:12 PM

I have a Sony 505 and have decided I want to convert my ePub (non-DRM) books to lrf. I find I prefer full justification and I hate the long delay between chapters with ePub. I currently use Calibre to maintain my collection. I was wondering if anyone had experience with using Calibre to do the conversion? I know kovid has depracated supporting lrf. I tried two different books as a test and one of them introduced a blank page at the end of every chapter (or before every chapter) but the other came out fine.

I also have BookDesigner installed and have used it to convert text and html documents to lrf. Would it be better to convert ePub to something BookDesigner can read?

I welcome any suggestions/tricks others have used.

thanks.

acanthicus · 07-15-2010, 05:08 PM

Hello Shadowjack,

sometimes when I use Calibre to convert to LRF I have up to 4 blank pages before each chapter. I don't know why, but then I have no knowledge about programming or html stuff or so. But to avoid that, try:
(don't know exactly the english terms, because I use the german version)
Look and feel (the 4th place on the left in the conversion window), then chapter marking (?, the second entry on the right) to "none" instead of pagebreak; then "pagebreak before" (?, the last entry) empty. With these preferences I get pagebreaks before each chapter, but no empty pages.

I have better experiences in making LRF with Book Designer. But like you said, you need a RTF or a html file to import to BD. RTF-making is buggy in Calibre since 0.7.x and I am doubting, that someone fix that, because obviously only few people use this feature. But with pre 0.7 versions, you can convert epub to rtf and import the rtf in BD.
Lately, I am using ABC Amber Epub Converter (demo) to convert epub to a SINGLE html file and import that in BD. Most times with good results. I think I will buy it.
To avoid that phenomenon in LRF files: italic , (=empty spaces between italics and following punctuation mark) which is quite annoying, I use a workaround:
search in HTML-file "</i>," and replace with ",</i>" and repeat the procedure with . ? ! " etc.
In BD I use a book cleaner entry to search and replace this, and that took only seconds. That will not remove the empty spaces after italics, but move them behind the punctuation mark, which looks better.

Addition: The last lrfs from Calibre caused spontaneous reboots in my PRS-505. Maybe a coincidence, but I think I never notice that with BD-LRFs.

AlbertaCowboy · 07-24-2010, 01:46 PM

I always use ePub myself, but quite often I need to fix books up in Book Designer, which makes the best book file of any format that I have found, (and understand how to use). If I have an epub that I need to fix up, or want to embed fonts in etc, I like to run the file through BD for formatting. First I will convert the epub (via Calibre) to FB2. For some reason (that wiser minds than mine understand), I can't load Calibre created lit. files into Book Designer. FB2 loads nicely into Book Designer. The FB2 format seems to be alright for maintaining formatting and identifying titles and chapter headings. After I make all my fixes, I create an LRF. I usually then convert the new LRF back into ePub.

07-15-2010, 01:12 PM	#1
Shadowjack Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Champaign, IL Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, PRS-650, Kobo H2O, H2Ov2, Libra H2O	ePub to lrf via Calibre: best settings? I have a Sony 505 and have decided I want to convert my ePub (non-DRM) books to lrf. I find I prefer full justification and I hate the long delay between chapters with ePub. I currently use Calibre to maintain my collection. I was wondering if anyone had experience with using Calibre to do the conversion? I know kovid has depracated supporting lrf. I tried two different books as a test and one of them introduced a blank page at the end of every chapter (or before every chapter) but the other came out fine. I also have BookDesigner installed and have used it to convert text and html documents to lrf. Would it be better to convert ePub to something BookDesigner can read? I welcome any suggestions/tricks others have used. thanks.

07-15-2010, 05:08 PM	#2
acanthicus Connoisseur Posts: 78 Karma: 82780 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: PRS-505, PRS-650, PRS-350, PRS-T3	Hello Shadowjack, sometimes when I use Calibre to convert to LRF I have up to 4 blank pages before each chapter. I don't know why, but then I have no knowledge about programming or html stuff or so. But to avoid that, try: (don't know exactly the english terms, because I use the german version) Look and feel (the 4th place on the left in the conversion window), then chapter marking (?, the second entry on the right) to "none" instead of pagebreak; then "pagebreak before" (?, the last entry) empty. With these preferences I get pagebreaks before each chapter, but no empty pages. I have better experiences in making LRF with Book Designer. But like you said, you need a RTF or a html file to import to BD. RTF-making is buggy in Calibre since 0.7.x and I am doubting, that someone fix that, because obviously only few people use this feature. But with pre 0.7 versions, you can convert epub to rtf and import the rtf in BD. Lately, I am using ABC Amber Epub Converter (demo) to convert epub to a SINGLE html file and import that in BD. Most times with good results. I think I will buy it. To avoid that phenomenon in LRF files: italic , (=empty spaces between italics and following punctuation mark) which is quite annoying, I use a workaround: search in HTML-file "</i>," and replace with ",</i>" and repeat the procedure with . ? ! " etc. In BD I use a book cleaner entry to search and replace this, and that took only seconds. That will not remove the empty spaces after italics, but move them behind the punctuation mark, which looks better. Addition: The last lrfs from Calibre caused spontaneous reboots in my PRS-505. Maybe a coincidence, but I think I never notice that with BD-LRFs. Last edited by acanthicus; 07-15-2010 at 05:30 PM. Reason: addition

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07-24-2010, 01:46 PM	#3
AlbertaCowboy Guru Posts: 819 Karma: 171672846 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: PRS-350, PRS-650, iPhone 6, NVIDIA Shield K1	I always use ePub myself, but quite often I need to fix books up in Book Designer, which makes the best book file of any format that I have found, (and understand how to use). If I have an epub that I need to fix up, or want to embed fonts in etc, I like to run the file through BD for formatting. First I will convert the epub (via Calibre) to FB2. For some reason (that wiser minds than mine understand), I can't load Calibre created lit. files into Book Designer. FB2 loads nicely into Book Designer. The FB2 format seems to be alright for maintaining formatting and identifying titles and chapter headings. After I make all my fixes, I create an LRF. I usually then convert the new LRF back into ePub.

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