How to get the book on Kobo device to follow the cover in book on Calibre's library?

[droopy]

Let's say I have an ebook that I first add to my Calibre library. In excitement, I click "Send to Device" so that my Kobo Forma has a copy of the ebook.

Weeks later, when the device is not connected to my Calibre laptop (by USB), I then update the cover of the book that is in my Calibre library. The book on the Kobo still has no cover at all (or a bad cover).

What's the way to get the book on my Kobo to have the updated cover that is on the book in my Calibre?

Right now, the fastest thing I can think of is to delete the book from my Kobo device and then "Send to Device".

[theducks]

Kobo Utilities (PI): Upload covers for Selected books?

[droopy]

Ducks,
I do have Kobo Utilities plugin installed. I'm looking at the "Customize Kobo Utilities" window... all three tabs (Profiles, Devices, and Other), but I don't see "Upload covers for selected books".
UPDATE: ah, I see "Upload covers for selected books" in the Kobo Utilities button on the toolbar.

[droopy]

It's too bad that I have to update the cover when I'm in the Calibre-library. In other words, when I'm in the device-library view, KoboUtilities_button>"Upload covers for selected books" is greyed out. I wish the developer for this plugin lets us click "Upload covers for selected books" from within the device-library view.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by droopy

It's too bad that I have to update the cover when I'm in the Calibre-library. In other words, when I'm in the device-library view, KoboUtilities_button>"Upload covers for selected books" is greyed out. I wish the developer for this plugin lets us click "Upload covers for selected books" from within the device-library view.

One issue might be that device view shows books that are not in the calibre library. The concept of uploading covers from the destination of the upload gives me a sprong-ache.

As for the cover images themselves, I really don't see the fuss over them. I don't show cover images when my Kobos are sleeping, I skip over them when I open a book. When I have an ebook in my Intake library, I clean up the metadata which does include covers but that's is the last time I look at the cover images.

[droopy]

I see the covers in my Kobo's Home screen or when browsing for books. I'd rather not see a black rectangle for a cover, or a large Penguin logo for a cover. It doesn't tell me what the book is. I'd have to tap the ambiguous cover to find out what the book is.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by droopy

I see the covers in my Kobo's Home screen or when browsing for books. I'd rather not see a black rectangle for a cover, or a large Penguin logo for a cover. It doesn't tell me what the book is. I'd have to tap the ambiguous cover to find out what the book is.

The covers come from the books. Either the device extracts the image marked as the cover (kepubs) or the device renders the first page of the book and uses that (epubs, PDF etc). It is only for formats such as TXT that there is no cover. For purchased books, the cover comes from the Kobo server.

If we are talking about sideloaded books of formats that include covers, if they are missing when looking at books using the device, then they were not in the book when you sent them. And if you don't like the cover that the device displays, it means you should fix it in the book and resend the book to the device. That will remove the current cover image on the device and let it generate the updated.

Alternatively, use the options in the driver to send the cover when you send the book. This uses calibre to generate the cover image which can result in a better image. This is what you need to do if for some reason you don't want to update the book with the cover, or are sending a format that doesn't contain a cover.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by droopy

I see the covers in my Kobo's Home screen or when browsing for books. I'd rather not see a black rectangle for a cover, or a large Penguin logo for a cover. It doesn't tell me what the book is. I'd have to tap the ambiguous cover to find out what the book is.

That's why I have an Intake library where I clean up the books prior to moving them to my Main library and then sending them to my ereaders. Cleaning up the metadata, covers, etc. is a lot easier than sending the ebook to your ereader and then deciding it's metadata, cover, etc. looks like crap and needs to be cleaned up. Being able to more easily manage metadata is one of the reasons I switched from my old homebrewed book cataloging system to calibre a decade back.

Quite a few posters seem to use that same dual library setup and are happy with their workflow. It may be a bit more effort at the start but the results are worth the effort.

My preferred Books view is the list view so I see the book title, series, subtitle, Overdrive expiry, ebook type, file size, etc. with a small thumbnail which I find a lot more useful than a cover with a possible download arrow and needing to tap the ... to find more information. On the home screen, since I have taken the effort to clean up metadata ahead of time, I see what I think of as decent covers for the few seconds I might spend on the home screen in a week.

Edit: Since you seem to be happy with the covers in your calibre library, why not connect your ereader, select all the books and then use the KoboUtilities function to send the covers to your device. It may take a while but probably the easiest fix.