eBook Previews from Calibre

[jbourdon]

- I manage a (personal) huge collection of ebooks, and heavily rely on previews
- It depends on multiple plugins (acrobat reader + fix for previews, epub, mobi, djvu, some azw(3or4), cbr/cbz)

- Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/) has a command line function to easily extract covers as JPGs for many ebooks formats:
ebook-meta --get-cover Cover.jpg "3D Printing with Delta Printers - Charles Bell.azw3"

- Would it be possible:
- To have a check box in preference to either use OS provided or Calibre output (in which case it would check calibre availability or redirect to the website)
- For the supported formats to replace the Windows provided thumbnails by the output of the calibre function (probably scaled down to a max of 256 pixels to save space?)
- Maybe storing them an invisible ".XYPreviews" directory in each directory, containing jpgs with the same name as the ebooks themselves, so it can be easily flushed/refreshed/prunned
- ebooks covers are unlikely to change, but just in case, an auto refresh function comparing modified dates of ebooks vs creation date of jpegs?
- Context menu to force a refresh of a particular ebook?
- For extra speed, Generate first ebooks displayed in the pathfinder visible area, then continue with others in same directory in the background

[highend]

An alternative suggestion: XYplorer should support displaying images (by using file names) in custom columns...

Then practically all your stuff (apart from context menus) could be scripted and maintained through scripts and requires no additional programming for calibre itself...

[admin]

Hö hö... easy easy...

[highend]

Hö hö... easy easy...

Sarcasm?

If not, I have a few scenarios where this could be extremely useful...

[admin]

Relax, this sounds like a biggie... I have some other plans on my table...

But, sure, I'm always thankful for inspiring mockups...

[jbourdon]

oh. was getting so excited to have it by tomorrow :-( lol

[highend]

I have some other plans on my table...

But, sure, I'm always thankful for inspiring mockups...

Table ->

New Table -> Images in columns

[admin]

Images ... you mean icons or real large images...?

[klownboy]

There is software out there which will allow you to view the "imbedded cover images" in MOBI, AZW, and PRC format files in thumbnail view. http://www.freewaregenius.com/display-y ... bihandler/ I've downloaded MobiHandler but haven't tried it yet.

[highend]

Images ... you mean icons or real large images...?

Let's say: of limited size. About 500 x 500 at max, but more like large thumbnails (e.g. 128x96)

[admin]

And the line height? I need to know that *before* I create the list... and it must be the same for all lines.

[jbourdon]

already use mobi handler but I prefer my solution
and an epub registry patch
like this djvu and others would aslo be supported

I meant large preview icons, just like mobi handler solution

i'm trying for the same solution on Mac (since I use both) with PathFinder
on OSX pdf previews are horrible (left binder + folded ear on the preview) + generation often stops.

[highend]

And the line height? I need to know that *before* I create the list... and it must be the same for all lines

If we wouldn't be able to configure that for a column:

I'd say if images with max 500 x 500 are allowed the line height is the max y value, in this case 500, ofc for all lines. Images that are of lower resolution than the max should be centered and everything around = transparent

[admin]

OK. But I don't want to raise any false hopes. This is not on my list for now.

[highend]

So, tomorrow? Nice