Some programs are difficult to use, while others are very easy . There are also programs that are a genuine pleasure to use. In my case, that's Calibre.
I dedicated the previous three articles to demonstrating that trying to do anything with the Kindle books we buy that doesn't align with Amazon's monopolistic whims is a real headache. You end up downloading the books you bought from other sources so you can change the font, take notes comfortably, and work with your preferred software. Don't bother, I'm not going to recommend any website where you can do this.
Managing e-books with Caliber
Proprietary formats like those adopted by Amazon and other e-reader manufacturers hinder the realization of the inherent advantages of e-books , particularly the ability to combine, modify, and share content—in other words, everything that helps build knowledge and has nothing to do with copyright infringement.
Fortunately, open standards help to combat this situation.
In the case of Caliber we are referring to three different programs installed from a single package:
- An e-book manager.
- An editor in .epub or .azw format
- An e-book viewer.
Regarding the editor, you cannot create a file from scratch. But, that is solved by exporting a document in .epub format using LibreOffice.
The Caliber versions are as follows:
- windows 32 bit
- windows 64 bit
- Portable windows (Ideal for carrying your book collection on a pendrive
- MacOS
- Linux: In this case you can use the repositories, the package flat pack or the following commands:
sudo -v && wget -nv -O- https://download.calibre-ebook.com/linux-installer.sh | sudo sh /dev/stdin
Caliber does not have an application for Android mobiles, although the application installed on the computer can be accessed wirelessly from the device's browser or, if it is connected via USB, browse the device's files using the program. The same goes for iOS devices.
Starting the book manager
The first time you launch the program, you must choose the language and the location for your library. If you want to use a different location than the default, you must choose an empty folder. In other words, you cannot choose a directory where you already have books stored. It is possible to use an external drive, although when connecting to another Calibre installation, you will need to manually specify the library's location.
Next, choose a reader device configuration. If yours is not listed, select Generic e-ink device.
You can start the wizard again as many times as you want by pressing the button on the right side of the toolbar. With this you will see the preferences button and, if you go down this panel a button called Run the welcome assistant.
The initial screen of Caliber shows us a series of buttons that have an arrow that gives access to a drop-down menu.
To start getting the most out of Caliber we have to add books. This can be done in different ways:
- Add books from a single folder: Selecting this option opens a file explorer that allows us to access a predetermined folder. There we can choose which books to import.
- Add books from folders and subfolders. We choose a folder and the program searches recursively. Unless we indicate otherwise, it will import a single file per subfolder, assuming the others are the same title with other formats.
- Add several books from an archive (ZIP / RAR): This is ideal to have to take the trouble of decompressing the books that you downloaded from the Internet or that you had compressed in some storage medium.
- Add blank book: With this option you can enter the data of one or more books that you do not yet have in your collection so that you do not have to do it when you add it.
- Add from ISBN: If you knows the code ISBN this option allows you to write it in the form. Caliber will search and download the data automatically. IF you already have it downloaded you can add the path to the file and it will add it to the library.
- Add files to selected book records: Allows you to add files to the folder corresponding to each stored book.
- Add empty file to selected book records: Add a blank file in different formats. This is also a good option to later create a book with the editor.
As the last option on this menu is very extensive, it remains for the next article.
We can also add books by dragging it from the source folder and dropping it on the sale of the program.