and lesser known authors. The 'Get books' icon in the toolbar allows you to easily comparision shop by opening a store search dialog. This will search many different stores (uncheck or check the stores you want it to use on the left) stores helping you find the best price and the right format for the book you're looking for. Please note that this feature connects you to a third party, the store, so any issues related to a purache should be directed to the store itself calibre is not part of this exchange.
Often you can download these e-books in a variety of formats, but you won’t always find them in the format your e-book reader supports. Here is where conversion comes in. There is a very good chance that you will be able to take an e-book and convert it to a format your reader supports, as long as the book doesn’t use Digital Rights Management (DRM) anti-copying technology.
In the rest of the conversion section I will focus on (1) the Amazon Kindle which supports the Mobipocket format, aka MOBI, and (2) the Sony Reader line (the PRS line such as the PRS-600), which supports the EPUB format, and (3) the Barnes & Noble Nook, which also supports the EPUB format. (The Nook has some issues with DRMed books .)
2.2: Why are there different e-book formats?
Just why do so many different e-book formats exist? Advances in technology? In fact, that’s a major reason. Just like the transition from VHS to DVD and now to Blu-Ray, older formats which were created to solve the problems faced at that time are replaced with newer formats that better meet the needs of today's e-book reader devices. A great example of this is the old books people read back in the ’90s on their PDAs. Those devices were very limited in what they could display. E-book readers today are much more advanced. They can display large images and handle advanced formatting. These newer devices needed updated formats providing these features.
Another major reason is exclusivity. Many vendors like to control their own proprietary formats so they are not dependent on outside companies. They also have the benefit of being able to license their format for use by others. This allows them to lock users into their platform. E-books, being relatively new, are undergoing the same growing pains that Betamax and VHS or HD-DVD and Blu-Ray went though. The EPUB format, from the International Digital Publishing Forum, is an industry standard intended to reduce these problems. However, it has created problems of its own due to allowing companies to use their own in compatible DRM systems.
2.3: Conversion basics
The first thing you need to do is find out what formats your e-book reader supports. The Kindle supports AZW, MOBI, PRC, AZW1, TPZ, PDF and TXT. The PRS line from Sony supports EPUB, LRF, LRX, RTF, PDF and TXT. Don’t let this scare or confuse you; all of the major e-book readers support multiple formats. Even with this jumble of letters, you only need to worry about the preferred format for the e-book reader. This preferred format is the one that gives the best formatting. As I mentioned earlier for the Kindle, you really only need to worry about Mobipocket (MOBI), and for the Sony Reader line (PRS) and Nook you only need to worry about EPUB. However, it is a good idea to be aware of all of the supported formats because it wouldn’t make sense to convert an AZW to MOBI for reading on your Kindle because the Kindle can already read AZW books. Conversion is only necessary to fill in the gaps. For example, if you want to read an EPUB file on your Kindle you convert the EPUB to MOBI.
Converting e-book formats with calibre is simple and straightforward:
Open Calibre and select the e-book to convert in the library list.
Connect your e-book reader to your computer. Calibre takes a moment to detect and scan your e-book reader.
Click the 'Send to device' button in the top tool bar.
Calibre is smart enough to know if the book is in a format supported by your reader. If it’s
Often you can download these e-books in a variety of formats, but you won’t always find them in the format your e-book reader supports. Here is where conversion comes in. There is a very good chance that you will be able to take an e-book and convert it to a format your reader supports, as long as the book doesn’t use Digital Rights Management (DRM) anti-copying technology.
In the rest of the conversion section I will focus on (1) the Amazon Kindle which supports the Mobipocket format, aka MOBI, and (2) the Sony Reader line (the PRS line such as the PRS-600), which supports the EPUB format, and (3) the Barnes & Noble Nook, which also supports the EPUB format. (The Nook has some issues with DRMed books .)
2.2: Why are there different e-book formats?
Just why do so many different e-book formats exist? Advances in technology? In fact, that’s a major reason. Just like the transition from VHS to DVD and now to Blu-Ray, older formats which were created to solve the problems faced at that time are replaced with newer formats that better meet the needs of today's e-book reader devices. A great example of this is the old books people read back in the ’90s on their PDAs. Those devices were very limited in what they could display. E-book readers today are much more advanced. They can display large images and handle advanced formatting. These newer devices needed updated formats providing these features.
Another major reason is exclusivity. Many vendors like to control their own proprietary formats so they are not dependent on outside companies. They also have the benefit of being able to license their format for use by others. This allows them to lock users into their platform. E-books, being relatively new, are undergoing the same growing pains that Betamax and VHS or HD-DVD and Blu-Ray went though. The EPUB format, from the International Digital Publishing Forum, is an industry standard intended to reduce these problems. However, it has created problems of its own due to allowing companies to use their own in compatible DRM systems.
2.3: Conversion basics
The first thing you need to do is find out what formats your e-book reader supports. The Kindle supports AZW, MOBI, PRC, AZW1, TPZ, PDF and TXT. The PRS line from Sony supports EPUB, LRF, LRX, RTF, PDF and TXT. Don’t let this scare or confuse you; all of the major e-book readers support multiple formats. Even with this jumble of letters, you only need to worry about the preferred format for the e-book reader. This preferred format is the one that gives the best formatting. As I mentioned earlier for the Kindle, you really only need to worry about Mobipocket (MOBI), and for the Sony Reader line (PRS) and Nook you only need to worry about EPUB. However, it is a good idea to be aware of all of the supported formats because it wouldn’t make sense to convert an AZW to MOBI for reading on your Kindle because the Kindle can already read AZW books. Conversion is only necessary to fill in the gaps. For example, if you want to read an EPUB file on your Kindle you convert the EPUB to MOBI.
Converting e-book formats with calibre is simple and straightforward:
Open Calibre and select the e-book to convert in the library list.
Connect your e-book reader to your computer. Calibre takes a moment to detect and scan your e-book reader.
Click the 'Send to device' button in the top tool bar.
Calibre is smart enough to know if the book is in a format supported by your reader. If it’s
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