Converting eBook Formats with Calibre
About 2 min read
Calibre is a free ebook library management application that has an excellent format conversion feature. The application supports the conversion of a comprehensive list of input formats and output formats.
To convert from one ebook format to another, you add your ebook to the Calibre Library, adjust input and output features, and then convert and see output.
Questions you may have include:
- What is the first thing you need to do?
- What output features can you adjust?
- How do you convert and see the ebook?
This lesson will answer those questions.
First, add ebook to library
In order to convert an ebook to another format, you first add the book to your Calibre library by clicking the Add books button. Your computer folders directory will display, allowing you to find the desired file.
You can also get the book from your connected ebook reader or from an online source.
Input formats
Major input formats, in the order of preference, include:
- LIT
- MOBI
- EPUB
- FB2
- HTML
- PRC
- RTF
- PDB
- TXT
Other formats supported are:
- CBZ
- CBR
- CBC
- CHM
- HTMLZ
- LRF
- ODT
- PML
- RB
- SNB
- TCR
- TXTZ
Select output features
You can then select a book to convert from the list in your Library. Highlight the book and click the Convert books button. The Convert window will display.
If the book is already in more than one format, you can use the Input format drop down list on the left to select the file type from which to convert.
Then select the Output format from the drop down list on the right of the window.
Output formats
The output formats, in alphabetical order, are:
- EPUB
- FB2
- OEB
- LIT
- LRF
- MOBI
- HTMLZ
- PDB
- PML
- RB
- RTF
- SNB
- TCR
- TXT
- TXTZ
Conversion features
You can adjust the conversion features to get the desired output. Selecting buttons on the left column will display dialog windows for the specific feature:
Metadata – inserts the book metadata into a “Book Jacket” at the start of the book
Look & Feel – rescales all font sizes, ensuring the output ebook is readable no matter what font sizes the input document uses
Hueristic Processing – automatic cleaning up book; disabled by default
Structure Detection – automatically detects or creates book structure, like chapters and Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Search & Replace
(format) Output – change output for selected book output format
Debug
(I wonder if you can convert into the same file type?)
Convert and see output
Click the OK button to convert the book file. After the file is converted, you can see the output in the Calibre ebook reader.
Summary
You can use Calibre to convert from one ebook format to another. The application supports the conversion of a comprehensive list of input formats to output formats.
To convert from one ebook format to another, add your ebook to the Calibre Library, adjust input and output features, and then convert and see output.
Use tools to make your work easier
Resources and references
The following resources provide information on this subject:
Websites
What do you think?
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