Translating using Calibre

[P.Jourdan]

I have a number of books to translate from French to English.
Text in html is not a problem.
I am unable to change the title. Managed to do it on 1 book but I don't recall just how.
Changing the title in file manager or editing metadata deletes the epub file in th book container.
Any help would be much appreciated.

[theducks]

ONLY use the Calibre MDE to change metadata in the Library (this affects the filename as well)
NEVER USE THE OS to change a name in the Library folder., as you discovered, it breaks the linkage (the book is still there. It is just Lost)
Once you set the LIBRARY metadata, then use Embed , Polish or Modify EPUB (a plugin) to force it into the book file.

Do visit the official FAQ at the Calibre Help page. Lots of things there that may save a lot of grief later.

[P.Jourdan]

Sorry for my ignorance, what is MDE?
FAQ does not help
where are Embed and Polish; where to find them
It's great program, but not easy for intuitive learning

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by P.Jourdan

Sorry for my ignorance, what is MDE?
FAQ does not help
where are Embed and Polish; where to find them
It's great program, but not easy for intuitive learning

MDE is MetaData Editor.

Open Preferences => Toolbars & menus. On the Click to choose toolbar or menu to customize, select The main toolbar. Highlight Embed metadata in the right column and click on the >. Repeat for Polish books. Close Preferences. You can also invoke Polish books using the P keyboard shortcut.

[retiredbiker]

When I'm working on massive changes to a book, like a translation, and want to keep various versions as the work progresses, I put a copy of the book in a project folder outside of Calibre. I still use the Calibre editor, but not inside the Calibre interface. Just right-click the version you want and and "open with" the editor. You can set that as the default for your OS if you like.

That way you can mess with file names to keep things organised, and have multiple copies/versions in your folder. This kind of work will just confuse the heck out of Calibre if you try and do it within the main interface program.

At the end of the work, I change the book title in the opf file using the editor, then bring that last version back into the Calibre database. Or you can bring it back in as a duplicate, and then change the title with the Metadata Editor.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by retiredbiker

When I'm working on massive changes to a book, like a translation, and want to keep various versions as the work progresses, I put a copy of the book in a project folder outside of Calibre. I still use the Calibre editor, but not inside the Calibre interface. Just right-click the version you want and and "open with" the editor. You can set that as the default for your OS if you like.

That way you can mess with file names to keep things organised, and have multiple copies/versions in your folder. This kind of work will just confuse the heck out of Calibre if you try and do it within the main interface program.

At the end of the work, I change the book title in the opf file using the editor, then bring that last version back into the Calibre database. Or you can bring it back in as a duplicate, and then change the title with the Metadata Editor.

Except at the end, I delete the original from the calibre 'book record', then add the last version to the calibre 'book record'. I use keyboard shortcuts, but it's easy to do with the mouse if you show the Book Details panel and it shows the Formats column.

BR