Word Count

leebase · 03-19-2010, 10:12 PM

I can't seem to figure out how to find the word count of a book in Calibre. Does it have this feature or is there a plugin?

I'd like to know "how big is this book" since you can't "see" the size of an ebook.

Lee

kovidgoyal · 03-19-2010, 10:20 PM

You can see the size of a book in the top left corner of the calibre ebook viewer.

leebase · 03-19-2010, 11:47 PM

I see x/y but there's no knowing what "y" means. Pages doesn't mean much when you can change the font size. Is this a "War and Peace" sized book or a "Harlequin Romance" size? It's really a piece of information I find lacking in ebooks. Even on fictionwise, they don't always display the word count.

Lee

kovidgoyal · 03-20-2010, 12:42 AM

pretty much any metric you use will be meaningless without some experience to base it on. The only reason a "number of pages" is meaningful, is because you have certain mental expectations of how long it takes you to read a page. These expectations are often wrong, of course.

theducks · 03-20-2010, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leebase

I can't seem to figure out how to find the word count of a book in Calibre. Does it have this feature or is there a plugin?

I'd like to know "how big is this book" since you can't "see" the size of an ebook.

Lee

How are you going to count characters/words when they are wrapped in dozens of formatting tags?
I might guess that some of my EPUB files are 30% markup and 60% text.

Here is what I tried
convert your document to TXT in Calibre, then use gedit (linux), Notepad++ (Free, for windows) and grab the Stats that way
This count includes all the "Boilerplate" and Calibre jacket

kovidgoyal · 03-20-2010, 02:09 AM

The number that calibre uses as an indicator of size is calculated by stripping out markup.

leebase · 03-20-2010, 03:12 PM

I think "word count" is as good a metric as any as "pages" is meaningless to ebooks (particularly as I read on my iphone). And no, I would not want the markup counted in the words.

So, I know how big some of the books I've read are -- I look at their word count -- and then I understand approx how big a new book I want to read is.

When I looked at the upper left of the book viewer in Calibre for a book I'm reading -- it says "24/341". What does the "341" represent?

And can I get that "341" value to display in my book listings?

Lee

kovidgoyal · 03-20-2010, 10:31 PM

341 represents a character count divided by a common denominator. And no you can't get it to display in the main view, as it requires, at a minimum the unpacking of a book to calculate it, which would be too slow.

wdblevin · 03-22-2010, 10:01 PM

@ kovidgoyal: great piece of software!

I guess an option for those who are interested in knowing a book's physical page count would be to search for the ISBN number on http://isbndb.com and use the tag field within the Meta Information section of Calibre to record the information returned. This is what I have done and it is useful.

I would love to be able to have Calibre tell me the page count, but I can see the problem with that based on the varying file formats out there for eBooks.

Another option is to open each eBook on your device, get the page count, and then record it as noted previously in the tag field within the Meta Information section of Calibre.

On a side note, I believe ADE gives you the page count as it only works with the EPUB file types.

leebase · 03-24-2010, 10:07 AM

ADE? Is that a plugin?

Lee

leebase · 03-24-2010, 10:38 AM

BTW, although I would still like "word count" -- now that I know about x/y -- I find that works very well. I can open a book I know what "size" it is, and thus now I have a good frame of reference, which was all I really wanted.

FYI -- I think you did a good job of making "y" correspond to "book page". For the couple books I looked at whose size I knew -- your number was a pretty close approximation of "page".

I understand about the "slow" thing. But I imagine the size of a book doesn't change. So if you calculate it when you load the book into the library, you could add it to the metadata and display it on the book list browser.
Lee

kovidgoyal · 03-24-2010, 11:30 PM

Calculating book length when adding books is a possibility, at least for EPUB.

wdblevin · 03-26-2010, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leebase

ADE? Is that a plugin?

Lee

Lee -

ADE = Adobe Digital Editions is another piece of software to view and manage eBooks and other digital publications.

http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/

I've used it... Calibre is what I find best to manage my eBook library.

Donna

DoctorOhh · 03-26-2010, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdblevin

Lee -

ADE = Adobe Digital Editions is another piece of software to view and manage eBooks and other digital publications.

ADE is also a ebook renderer provided by Adobe embedded in the firmware of many devices.

CCarrot · 04-19-2011, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Calculating book length when adding books is a possibility, at least for EPUB.

I would like to add a vote for that, please! Approximate book length in either 'number of pages' or even 'number of words' would be a very useful field to work with, especially in column view.

thx,
cc

03-19-2010, 10:12 PM	#1
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,951 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	Word Count I can't seem to figure out how to find the word count of a book in Calibre. Does it have this feature or is there a plugin? I'd like to know "how big is this book" since you can't "see" the size of an ebook. Lee

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03-19-2010, 10:20 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,505 Karma: 24495778 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You can see the size of a book in the top left corner of the calibre ebook viewer.

03-19-2010, 11:47 PM	#3
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,951 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	I see x/y but there's no knowing what "y" means. Pages doesn't mean much when you can change the font size. Is this a "War and Peace" sized book or a "Harlequin Romance" size? It's really a piece of information I find lacking in ebooks. Even on fictionwise, they don't always display the word count. Lee

03-20-2010, 12:42 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,505 Karma: 24495778 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	pretty much any metric you use will be meaningless without some experience to base it on. The only reason a "number of pages" is meaningful, is because you have certain mental expectations of how long it takes you to read a page. These expectations are often wrong, of course.

03-20-2010, 02:09 AM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,505 Karma: 24495778 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The number that calibre uses as an indicator of size is calculated by stripping out markup.

03-20-2010, 03:12 PM	#7
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,951 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	I think "word count" is as good a metric as any as "pages" is meaningless to ebooks (particularly as I read on my iphone). And no, I would not want the markup counted in the words. So, I know how big some of the books I've read are -- I look at their word count -- and then I understand approx how big a new book I want to read is. When I looked at the upper left of the book viewer in Calibre for a book I'm reading -- it says "24/341". What does the "341" represent? And can I get that "341" value to display in my book listings? Lee

03-20-2010, 10:31 PM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,505 Karma: 24495778 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	341 represents a character count divided by a common denominator. And no you can't get it to display in the main view, as it requires, at a minimum the unpacking of a book to calculate it, which would be too slow.

03-22-2010, 10:01 PM	#9
wdblevin Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: B&N Nook	@ kovidgoyal: great piece of software! I guess an option for those who are interested in knowing a book's physical page count would be to search for the ISBN number on http://isbndb.com and use the tag field within the Meta Information section of Calibre to record the information returned. This is what I have done and it is useful. I would love to be able to have Calibre tell me the page count, but I can see the problem with that based on the varying file formats out there for eBooks. Another option is to open each eBook on your device, get the page count, and then record it as noted previously in the tag field within the Meta Information section of Calibre. On a side note, I believe ADE gives you the page count as it only works with the EPUB file types.

03-24-2010, 10:07 AM	#10
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,951 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	ADE? Is that a plugin? Lee

03-24-2010, 10:38 AM	#11
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,951 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	BTW, although I would still like "word count" -- now that I know about x/y -- I find that works very well. I can open a book I know what "size" it is, and thus now I have a good frame of reference, which was all I really wanted. FYI -- I think you did a good job of making "y" correspond to "book page". For the couple books I looked at whose size I knew -- your number was a pretty close approximation of "page". I understand about the "slow" thing. But I imagine the size of a book doesn't change. So if you calculate it when you load the book into the library, you could add it to the metadata and display it on the book list browser. Lee

03-24-2010, 11:30 PM	#12
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,505 Karma: 24495778 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Calculating book length when adding books is a possibility, at least for EPUB.

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