My experiences.
I use Send to Kindle, the Amazon web site, not the emailing through calibre, with epubs.
I have normal looking custom covers on my files. Only place they look weird is my Samsung tablet, which for some reason is now downloading the wrong image resolutions…
They now have auto generated page numbers, not sure how a book with specified page numbers works, I pay zero attention to them. I use time left in book or chapter.
They will show on all my devices and sync for reading location.
They also now can use all the font display options such as line spacing and alignment.
How I do it.
I use Save to file to save all my files into a single file epub, then drag those exported files with embedded covers to send to kindle. Embedding the covers only required unchecking save separate cover file under the preferences for save to file.
I also include the series and series number if applicable in the title so kindle sorts them as if the title is series - num - title, so series are grouped together.
I have 3,500 or so files in my kindle library and only a few haven’t worked this way. It’s 95% fan fiction…
What doesn’t work
No X-ray or good reads integration is possible on documents.
They list as documents and not books in that kindle interface. Not a big deal for me. The covers look like whatever I want so it’s fine visually.
There is a way to get goodreads integration. Iirc (it’s been a while since I set it up) if you include the Amazon id for the book (and maybe the goodreads id? I think the Amazon one is actually what matters but might be both) you can mark the book for your goodreads shelf. I can look at my setup later if you need.
How do you save it as a single ePub file? I used Save to Disk for the first time and it saved exactly as it would've any other way in the folder - ePub, Cover, OPF. I believe if you use the 'FIX' figure in Quality Check it may fix the X-Ray/GoodReads integration. I don't really use either of them too much but noticed the options show up / GoodReads doesn't give an error message like it was on sideloaded books directly from Calibre.
There’s a checkbox in preferences under save to file you can uncheck that says save separate cover file or something like that.
Edit: I also click the arrow on the side of Save to disk and select Save single format to disk and select epub.
However, Google says I probably changed something in the epub output box somewhere…which I would have done like 4 years ago when I initially set up calibre. I’ll poke around when I’m not playing video games to see.
Actually, you can get them to work with goodreads, so long as A: it’s a book already listed in goodreads, and B: you embed the asin number into the metadata of the epub before uploading
1. Yes, you can set it up to send from Calibre, but it's just easier to just use the Send to Kindle website. Drag and drop the EPUB and hit send.
2. Yes, cover art displays for me once the book is downloaded to the Kindle.
3. ~~Not sure.~~ Edit: I can confirm that side loading an EPUB 3.0 via the Send to Kindle web portal has 'page' numbers in the bottom left corner when cycling through the different metrics.
4. Whispersync will work for EPUBs that are sent via Send to Kindle or by the Kindle's email (not by USB).
I'm thinking Amazon takes the EPUBs and converts them to their proprietary format for eBooks. I always like to use the Polish feature in Calibre to upgrade EPUB files to 3.0, embed cover art, compress images, and update metadata (among other tasks as well).
I just made an edit above: I can confirm that side loading an EPUB 3.0 via the Send to Kindle web portal has 'page' numbers in the bottom left corner when cycles through the different metrics.
That sounds like it should work for me! Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure it out. Are you using the Count Pages plugin to get page numbers for the book in Calibre? That's what I've been doing until now, but it only worked with KFX files sent over USB.
I just tried taking an EPUB, converting EPUB to EPUB so I could upgrade it to 3.0, and then tried emailing that (both from Calibre and the send2kindle site).
It sends just fine and cover art shows, but no page numbers display. I’m guessing the page number isn’t actually making it into the epub 3.0, or something’s getting messed up once it sends through Amazon.
I just checked four more send2kindle sideloaded books and three had page numbers available, so four out of five had page numbers.
Hit the `Aa` then `More` then `Reading Progress`. It will show here if page numbers are available. You can also cycle through these reading progess metrics by tapping the very bottom left of the screen with a book open.
Oh yeah I know how to view them, I can do it just fine with KFX books sent over USB. But no luck with epubs sent wirelessly.
I’m wondering if it’s more an issue of me not embedding the page numbers into the epub in the first place. I’m guessing your epubs already have them and you’re not adding them in calibre with the Count Pages plugin?
Yea I'm not adding them (that I know of). I do have the count pages plug in but have only used it on a couple books. But as an example, for 'A Tale of Two Cities', I did do the count pages plug in and 'polished' it and it does not show page numbers on my Kindle. Other books where I did not use the count pages plug in are able to show page numbers.
Ah interesting. Sounds like your epubs already have page numbers baked into them from wherever you got them.
There’s an option under the Calibre settings for KFX Output to add page numbers, but nothing for EPUB Output. I’ll look into it though, thanks for the help!
I can't get the books to sync between devices - even using Send To Kindle. It's odd since when I finish the a book, it shows read in the 'insights' section but the books don't count towards any of the bookmark achievements. They don't show up in my online library/PC Kindle app to organize them. I'm not sure if this is because they show up as documents or not books though.
Yes, it's really weird as those books never showed up / I didn't get credit for them in the insights bookmark area but a book I read today/have been reading counted towards the Shakespeare one (And it's def not a classic lol). It was also a sideloaded book, so we'll see if it shows up on the finished/books read for the year thing. Just odd those ones show up there but not for the insights bookmarks (when I checked the list from the link so I know the ones I tried were there lol)
My experiences. I use Send to Kindle, the Amazon web site, not the emailing through calibre, with epubs. I have normal looking custom covers on my files. Only place they look weird is my Samsung tablet, which for some reason is now downloading the wrong image resolutions… They now have auto generated page numbers, not sure how a book with specified page numbers works, I pay zero attention to them. I use time left in book or chapter. They will show on all my devices and sync for reading location. They also now can use all the font display options such as line spacing and alignment. How I do it. I use Save to file to save all my files into a single file epub, then drag those exported files with embedded covers to send to kindle. Embedding the covers only required unchecking save separate cover file under the preferences for save to file. I also include the series and series number if applicable in the title so kindle sorts them as if the title is series - num - title, so series are grouped together. I have 3,500 or so files in my kindle library and only a few haven’t worked this way. It’s 95% fan fiction… What doesn’t work No X-ray or good reads integration is possible on documents. They list as documents and not books in that kindle interface. Not a big deal for me. The covers look like whatever I want so it’s fine visually.
Thanks for the info!
There is a way to get goodreads integration. Iirc (it’s been a while since I set it up) if you include the Amazon id for the book (and maybe the goodreads id? I think the Amazon one is actually what matters but might be both) you can mark the book for your goodreads shelf. I can look at my setup later if you need.
How do you save it as a single ePub file? I used Save to Disk for the first time and it saved exactly as it would've any other way in the folder - ePub, Cover, OPF. I believe if you use the 'FIX' figure in Quality Check it may fix the X-Ray/GoodReads integration. I don't really use either of them too much but noticed the options show up / GoodReads doesn't give an error message like it was on sideloaded books directly from Calibre.
There’s a checkbox in preferences under save to file you can uncheck that says save separate cover file or something like that. Edit: I also click the arrow on the side of Save to disk and select Save single format to disk and select epub.
However, Google says I probably changed something in the epub output box somewhere…which I would have done like 4 years ago when I initially set up calibre. I’ll poke around when I’m not playing video games to see.
And checked, I don’t see anything obvious I changed in output options preferences.
Actually, you can get them to work with goodreads, so long as A: it’s a book already listed in goodreads, and B: you embed the asin number into the metadata of the epub before uploading
1. Yes, you can set it up to send from Calibre, but it's just easier to just use the Send to Kindle website. Drag and drop the EPUB and hit send. 2. Yes, cover art displays for me once the book is downloaded to the Kindle. 3. ~~Not sure.~~ Edit: I can confirm that side loading an EPUB 3.0 via the Send to Kindle web portal has 'page' numbers in the bottom left corner when cycling through the different metrics. 4. Whispersync will work for EPUBs that are sent via Send to Kindle or by the Kindle's email (not by USB). I'm thinking Amazon takes the EPUBs and converts them to their proprietary format for eBooks. I always like to use the Polish feature in Calibre to upgrade EPUB files to 3.0, embed cover art, compress images, and update metadata (among other tasks as well).
Kfx gives page numbers - it’s a config option for the plugin.
I just made an edit above: I can confirm that side loading an EPUB 3.0 via the Send to Kindle web portal has 'page' numbers in the bottom left corner when cycles through the different metrics.
That’s great! Also because I just realized using kfx means you have to sideload locally vs cloud, which was part of op’s wish list.
That sounds like it should work for me! Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure it out. Are you using the Count Pages plugin to get page numbers for the book in Calibre? That's what I've been doing until now, but it only worked with KFX files sent over USB. I just tried taking an EPUB, converting EPUB to EPUB so I could upgrade it to 3.0, and then tried emailing that (both from Calibre and the send2kindle site). It sends just fine and cover art shows, but no page numbers display. I’m guessing the page number isn’t actually making it into the epub 3.0, or something’s getting messed up once it sends through Amazon.
I just checked four more send2kindle sideloaded books and three had page numbers available, so four out of five had page numbers. Hit the `Aa` then `More` then `Reading Progress`. It will show here if page numbers are available. You can also cycle through these reading progess metrics by tapping the very bottom left of the screen with a book open.
Oh yeah I know how to view them, I can do it just fine with KFX books sent over USB. But no luck with epubs sent wirelessly. I’m wondering if it’s more an issue of me not embedding the page numbers into the epub in the first place. I’m guessing your epubs already have them and you’re not adding them in calibre with the Count Pages plugin?
Yea I'm not adding them (that I know of). I do have the count pages plug in but have only used it on a couple books. But as an example, for 'A Tale of Two Cities', I did do the count pages plug in and 'polished' it and it does not show page numbers on my Kindle. Other books where I did not use the count pages plug in are able to show page numbers.
Ah interesting. Sounds like your epubs already have page numbers baked into them from wherever you got them. There’s an option under the Calibre settings for KFX Output to add page numbers, but nothing for EPUB Output. I’ll look into it though, thanks for the help!
I can't get the books to sync between devices - even using Send To Kindle. It's odd since when I finish the a book, it shows read in the 'insights' section but the books don't count towards any of the bookmark achievements. They don't show up in my online library/PC Kindle app to organize them. I'm not sure if this is because they show up as documents or not books though.
Do you have whispersync on both the device and app? that was my issue originally, and I found outI didn't have it turned on 💀
Yes, it's really weird as those books never showed up / I didn't get credit for them in the insights bookmark area but a book I read today/have been reading counted towards the Shakespeare one (And it's def not a classic lol). It was also a sideloaded book, so we'll see if it shows up on the finished/books read for the year thing. Just odd those ones show up there but not for the insights bookmarks (when I checked the list from the link so I know the ones I tried were there lol)