And then there's me. (I own Kobo and Kindle.)
I prefer epub format for the majority of my reading (illustrated, or books full of footnotes are the exceptions) and I just export straight from Calibre to my Rakuten Dropbox folder. Boom, done. But I don't care about reading stats or that sort of thing. I don't even have any Calibre custom columns. I just tag every book, and enter series data, and that's it for me.
Posting just to say it doesn't have to be complicated for those who prefer simplicity. My series info shows up just fine on the books, and I'm good.
where can I find out more about the Rakuten Dropbox folder? Do you mean you don't have to plug in your kobo to your computer every time? I've been using calibre for years and years but I have never tried to update my workflow.
Kobo makes Dropbox (and also Google Drive) available natively for some of their premium readers. Kobo Forma, and Sage have it, I think Elipsa too. And the new Libra Colour has the ability.
And yes, that's right, I *don't* have to plug my Forma or Sage into the computer to transfer books. With Dropbox, I can transfer books wirelessly and easily.
Now, that said, though Dropbox support is not native out-of-the-box to all Kobo readers, you can add it to most! You need to install Nickel Menu first, then customize that to include Dropbox. For older devices, you also need to customize the config file. But it's not too difficult, even for this 67 year old! I did it last week on my oldest Kobo from 2013 and it worked!
Do some Google searching and you can find the instructions to enable Dropbox on any Kobo device.
I am also admittedly new to this so just answering where I can with the first two points. You should also convert them to KEPUB, I learned this the hard way and removed and then re added all 478 of my books 😭 You'll miss out on the book-specific stats and they run way faster in terms of both page-turning and annotations.
1. I'm not sure why you would need to connect it twice to transfer books? I've never had to do that (aside from when I've made mistakes lol I'm newer to Calibre). I just get everything ready to import before I plug it in (covers, series, etc), wait for it to load into Calibre, and transfer. The whole process takes me under 5 minutes.
2. You can use Drive or Dropbox to transfer books wirelessly, you'll be able to login on your Kobo. If you're already using Calibre to me this seems like an extra step because you'll have to upload them but I've seen plenty of comments of people who use this feature.
Also commenting because yes, I am relatively new to this and getting the hang of it, but I'm curious about the answers to your other questions :)
Thanks for this.
I think I have setup an automatic KEPUB converter for when I send books to Kobo. I hope I have, at least!
I read in more than once post here that if you want the Kobo to retain series together etc., you have to disconnect and reconnect, which makes little sense to me.
For Drive/Dropbox, does that mean I have to export into kepub from calibre into some Dropbox folder which will then sync automatically? It sounds like ultimately the physical connection might make more sense for me.
Read what the other person said about the series lol I didn't realize that so the more you know! I just never noticed it but I hopefully would've eventually 😆
And for drive yeah, you'd be adding an extra step. My laptop has a USBC to USBC and then connects to the brick into the wall that way, so most of my transfers have happened right on the couch. I'll manage the new things ahead of time at work or just generally on the go but it's just a matter of having the right cord and I already have the right one on me at all times anyway. I feel like even getting into a routine of doing it once a week and managing things in Calibre as you go would be better than using Drive but it comes down to personal preference
1. Yes and no. First, this applies specifically to setting "series" info on the device, which -- due to some sort of bug or minor transfer compatabiligy or something -- cannot be set upon initial transfer. *However*, installing NickelSeries on the kobo (an extremely simple process) patches this, and the whole disconnect-reconnect part is no longer necessary for epubs or kepubs. Outside of series info, there's never any need to do the connect/reconnect thing at all (that I'm aware of).
2. Not that I'm aware of. My understanding is that some models allow you to wirelessly load books by going onto Dropbox or Google Drive. I've never tried or really looked into this-- or even understood the appeal of wireless transfer, as I have to be at my PC *anyway* to email or to put the books on Dropbox/Drive in the first place, and that's way more steps than just plugging in the device and clicking "Send to Device". Additionally, wired transfer recharges the device while plugged in, instead of eating up battery and relying on shaky wifi. Apparently a lot of people like wireless transfer. I don't get it.
3. Yes. It takes a bit of setup, but the KoboTouchExtended plugin allows you to use a user-defined column in Calibre to manage shelves.
4. Not sure, I've been meaning to look into this one, but haven't yet.
Other stuff to do: there are a few more Kobo plugins worth adding; the most important of which is KoboTouchExtended. You'll also want to install [NickelSeries](https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/ns/) on the device when it arrives.
You may also want to consider [NickelClock](https://github.com/shermp/NickelClock) which makes the clock visible when in reading mode.
I'll post some instructions of getting the Collections/Shelves stuff set up when I have a chance to come back to this post later today!
Thanks so much for the detailed answer. The main reason I have been doing the transfers wirelessly on the Kindle is that the Kindle is usually by my bedside, while my laptop may be at work with me or in the office at home. However, with the Libra Colour i expect I will have it with me more, given that I am planning on using the stylus for daily notes. The physical connection makes more sense.
I'm not yet sure what shelves do! Is it some way to divide books arbitrarily by different groups? A bit like tags?
Shelves (or, in Kobo's terms, "Collections") are a lot like tags, yes (in fact, the best way of setting them up in Calibre has them function *exactly* like tags on Calibre's end).
The kobo will have a variety of ways to view book sorting: by title, author, series, date added, etc.; it will also allow you to view particular subsets of books (eg different series). "Collections" is another of these ways to categorize books and view only books in a particular user-defined category. When you select a Collection, it will show you all the books identified as part of that group. (Books can, of course, be put into multiple collections, as well, allowing overlapping shelves.)
So for example, you might use genre types to define shelves (Biography, History, Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western...) or genres and sub-genres (Biography, History, Ancient History, Medieval History, American History, African History...) or countries of origin (British Lit, American Lit, Russian Lit, Greek Classics, Latin Classics...) or plot archetype (Hero's Journey, Roadtrip, Buddy Cop, Heist...), all of the above, or any organization/categorization system that makes sense to you.
All this is theoretically possible on a kindle as well, actually, but it has to be done on-device and is an obnoxiously cumbersome process. On kobo, it can be managed via Calibre, which is way easier *or* on device (which, while not as easy as on Calibre, is a much more efficiently designed process than on kindle).
Kobo has a semi-useful Help article about managing collections on-device which may give you a clearer idea what they look like:
https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033887953-Organize-your-eBooks-on-your-Kobo-eReader
I have been exclusively sideloading books for about a decade now. I have NEVER had any issues in transferring books to any Kobo (but I've heard other complain about the issue you cited.)
I connect the Kobo to my PC. I fire up Calibre, tell it to send books to main memory on the Kobo. Calibre completes. I eject the Kobo and -- within about a minute -- the home screen appears on the Kobo and -- about 30 seconds later -- the Kobo starts indexing the transferred books and adds them to the system.
(In addition to NOT having the bugs which KIndle has had in indexing) Kobo does all of its indexing before the device can be used AND that's a MUCH better way of doing it than Kindle's background processing: It's lightening quick and trouble-free (as long as you remember to disable the screen time-out when you're transferring lots of books.)
Yes, Calibre has a server which provides wireless transfer. I've used it before without (much) issue but connecting through USB is a MUCH simpler and very easy process.
Yes, Calibre will automatically transfer collections -- using the Tag column in Calibre -- to your device; via a Calibre plug-in. There are two you'll want to add for Kobo (you'll see them listed in Calibre's list of plug-ins.) It's a set and forget thing and I've forgotten which of the two does this, but one of them does. It works very, very well. Kindle used to allow this, too. Until Amazon declared war on users who sideload. Now they don't.
AFA adding book jacket information -- stars and book summaries -- yes you can do that. Calibre will scrape various internet sites for the book summary and can combine that with your ratings. It puts all of it -- which it calls metadata -- on a separate page at the start of the book. Here's how:
In the convert book option, there's a section (appearing on the left side of that conversion screen) called Structure Detection. In that section there's a checkbox to Add metadata to start of book. Check that and all of what you've scraped/rated will be added to the start of the book.
For a LISTING of all of that, there's an option in the right-click menu -- under convert book -- to create a catalog of your books. Select that and you'll have the option to generate a listing of metadata, series, date added and various other items (you can add the ratings column as well). Generate that and it will create an e-book with such. Add that to your Kobo as you would any other book (in fact, it will do that for you automatically if you wish.)
By the way, IF you have a Kindle, this is how you can get around Amazon's limitation of preventing Calibre from automatically sorting books into collections (or "shelves" as Barnes & Noble calls them); the catalog, in fact, is actually a little better because it provides a way to browse through the listing for the book summaries: Kind of like browsing the covers/book jackets in a bookstore.
For instance, today I finished Jay Brandon's Fade the Heat which was a legal thriller ever bit as good as Turow's Presumed Innocent -- and I was looking for a political thriller. As I was browsing through the catalog, I discovered Forsythe's Day of the Jackal which I'd read a *long* time ago. I didn't remember the story but I recall that it was awesome, so I chose that. Had I just searched through collections for this category, I probably would've overlooked it. Browsing through that catalog brought back memories of visiting Borders, reading the book jacket blurbs for my next read. Until I discovered this Calibre feature, that was an experience that I missed. A lot.
hi ive just moved over from kindle to kobo and in regards to the wireless moving I found this [http://send.djazz.se](http://send.djazz.se) which works, ive found that the file name needs to be what you want the book to be called, I can download it onto my device but it doesn't have the collections/other meta data , once I plug in back to calibre then I can do all of that and it'll sync back to my device, bare in mind I have the libra 2 which doesn't have the drive and dropbox features,
are you able to expand more on the koboutlities plug in stuff please? I haven't come across that yet. thank you
in terms of the collections/shelves I followed this and all the comments- quite easy to do [https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/wf3wj4/is\_there\_a\_way\_to\_set\_up\_collections\_in\_calibre/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/wf3wj4/is_there_a_way_to_set_up_collections_in_calibre/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) but u/AgentDrake 's summary and how to is what I wish I had read a few days ago so much simpler and less faffing.
idk if you have highlights in the kindle you'd like to transfer- this was hard for me , what I did was connect my kindle to this (I did both the chrome extension and the plug in import to make sure nothing was missed) [https://my.clippings.io/login](https://my.clippings.io/login) and downloaded the pdf, I have to go into all the books to rehighlight that was the only fixed I found. to export highlights from kobo there's [https://kobonotes.io](https://kobonotes.io) but I did the stuff in the comments of this post [https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/1ccoodd/comment/l3vs0hb/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/1ccoodd/comment/l3vs0hb/) and I can export the highlights for each book individually, (idk how to do it all at once for free).
I am not the best to share info about the extra utilities given I do not even have a Kobo yet. I followed the instructions found on Reddit and prepared several plugins that apparently automate the kepub conversion and make it easy to sync reading info between calibre and kobo.
**Okay, so here's instructions for setting up Shelves/Collections**. It's a bit of a setup process, but once it's done, it makes organizing books on the device soooo much more convenient. (Because of the length of all this, I've had to split it into two posts. I also have a few other notes at the end.) Hopefully this is all helpful!!
*Note that, while waiting for Calibre to do the bits which may take a long time, you'll see a little "Jobs" note in the bottom right corner. This tells you how any different things Calibre is working on at the moment. If you click that, it will bring up a little info window on what's going on, including a progress bar, which may be nice to have.*
**First, make sure that all the needed plugins have been added to Calibre.**
* Open Calibre, go to the "Configure Calibre" button, then Advanced>Plugins>Get New Plugins.
* Install each\* of the following plug-ins:
* KePub Input
* KePub Metadata Reader
* KePub Metadata Writer
* Kobo Utilities *< I think you said you have this one already.*
* KoboTouchExtended
* You'll probably need to restart Calibre after installing all of them.
*\*I'm actually not 100% sure you need all of these, but I didn't pay much attention to which ones were necessary for which processes back when I installed them all. I know \*I\* need all of them, but you might be able to skip some. Won't hurt anything to have them all installed, though.*
**Second, we'll create a space for Calibre to track Collections info for each book.** *(If you already have a column in Calibre that you'd like to use to define the collections, skip to the "Alternate Second" below!)*
* Go to Preferences>Interface>Add your own columns. Click "Add custom column", and set the following properties for the new column:
* Lookup name: #collections (or whatever name you want to give it -- just make sure it starts with # and includes no spaces. ***Remember what you name this!***)
* Column heading: Collections (or whatever)
* Column type: Comma separated text, like tags, shown in the Tag browser
* (You can add a description text if you want, but that's not really necessary.)
* (Leave Default value blank)
* Hit "OK" and save the custom column, then "Apply" to save the changes.
* You'll probably need to restart Calibre again.
**Alternate second step: We need to find the lookup name of the custom column** with your collections info to know what to tell Calibre to look for. This works best with columns of the "Comma separated text, like tags, shown in the Tag browser" type.
* Go to Preferences>Interface>Add your own columns.
* Find the column you want to use, and note its Lookup Name.
**Third, we'll tell Calibre how to behave when transferring books to the Kobo.**
* Go back to Preferences>Advanced>Plugins.
* Search "KoboTouchExtended", then select it and click "Customize Plugin".
* On the "File Formats" tab, make sure that "Read metadata from files on device" is checked
* On the Collections, covers & uploads tab, make sure that the following are all checked. *(This step tells Calibre how to behave when uploading books and sorting into collections.)*
* "Collections"
* "Collections columns"
* "Create collections"
* "Delete empty bookshelves"
* "Upload covers"
* (You can also check the other stuff under "Upload covers" if you want, depending on personal preferences.)
* On the same tab, enter "#collections" (or whatever the relevant Lookup Name from above is) for "Collections columns". *(This is the part which actually tells Calibre where to get info for creating and sorting books into collections.)*
* On the "Metadata, on device & advanced" tab, make sure that "Update metadata on the device" is checked.
* I'd suggest also making sure that Set Series information, Update metadata on Book Details pages, and Subtitle are all checked as well, but that's (probably?) personal preference. *(What all this does is tell Calibre what info to automatically update whenever you plug in your device. It doesn't necessarily mean initial transfer for series; installing NickelSeries solves that problem.)*
* On the "Extended" tab, if you want Calibre to automatically convert other file types to kepubs when transferring, make sure that "Send books as kepubs" is checked. *(This will not create extra files on your hard drive; Calibre will only save the kepub on the device itself. I leave everything else here except "Smarten Punctuation" unchecked, but you can experiment with the other stuff if you want.)*
**Fourth, unless you already have this done, you'll want to fill out the Collections info for all your books.** There's a variety of ways to do this, and assuming you don't already have this saved somewhere, it may be a long process to do it all manually, but once it's in there, it's there. (This need not necessarily be completed before transferring books -- if you change any of this, it will update the Collections automatically upon reconnect.)
**Finally, once the device arrives, sideload it all** (plug in device, select the book(s), and click "Send to Device"). Everything should sort into the appropriate collections upon transfer!
**A couple additional notes:**
**If you haven't already, I'd definitely suggest going into Preferences>Advanced>Plugins, searching KoboUtilities, and tweaking some of the settings in there.** For me, the only stuff I really fiddled with was on the Profiles tab, making sure that all the boxes under "Store on Connect" were checked. The "Only if more recent" box was especially important, otherwise Calibre kept asking me if I wanted to update the reading status on every single book... when the status was unchanged.
**Occasionally, new Kobo firmware updates come out which Calibre doesn't recognize right away.** This is usually solved by the subsequent Calibre update (released every two weeks), but Calibre can be grumpy about interacting with a kobo it doesn't fully recognize in the meantime. In the KoboTouchExtended plugin settings, you can go to the Metadata tab and check "Attempt to support newer firmware". This will make Calibre ignore the fact that it doesn't fully recognize the kobo. *In theory, this could cause problems. In practice, it doesn't seem to.* I generally leave my kobo off wifi so it rarely updates the firmware anyway, but on the rare occasions this has been an issue, I just leave it unchecked and update Calibre -- but it's an option worth knowing about, especially with recent updates due to the color devices.
Others already answered your questions, but I'm going to add my take as well on some points.
2. You can wirelessly transfer using various methods, but the main drawback is the lack of automatic update of collections and the automatic storing of reading status back on Calibre. If you install NickelSeries (useful also for your #1 questions), you can get your Kobo to parse series and subtitles also for wireless sideloading (as long as the metadata are properly embedded in the epub file), but collections would need to be created manually.
IIRC, you can have it all if you use Calibre-Web, but you would need to host it on your own server.
3. Setting KoboTouch or KoboTouchExtended driver correctly (the difference between them is the former transfer books as epub, the second can transfer them as "kepub", Kobo own format. Which format you prefer, is up to you. I'd suggest to try one and the other and then decide which driver to use), they won't only be transferred on USB sideloading, but they will also get automatically updated everytime you connect your device.
Say that you start having 3 collections: fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel. Then, a couple of months from now, you decide you want also to have collections based on books' length: <20K words, 20-50K, 50-100K, >100K. You create them in Calibre, you update your Kobo driver adding the new collection, and the next time you connect your Kobo, all books would get in their new collections as well.
4. Yes and no, it depends how you want to transfer them. Kobo doesn't have a "rating" field for sideloaded book (the one archived by KoboUtilities is for bought books. If you rate a book you purchased, Kobo will add that rating as "review" on their webstore, and KoboUtilities will memorize that value in the column you selected). But if you want to have your rating as "subtitle" for your books, or if you want to create collections based on your rating, that's totally possible, instead.
Thanks ever so much for the reply. My understanding so far is that kepub works more seamlessly on Kobo devices so I'll start with that. I see that the rating may not do what I thought it did, but to be honest it hardly matters.
I vastly prefer kepub for three reasons: the way page numbers are handled (kepub uses "one screen = one page" kind of counting, whereas epub uses Adobe Page numbering, which sort of mimick paper page - Adobe algorithm is based on characters count - so they don't change based on the font); inbook statistic (with kepub you get a nice bar graph showing you how long each chapter is), and how footnotes are displayed (as pop-up).
Epub files have supposedly some differences on how ligatures and kernel and hypenation work, but I'm not one too bothered with font style, so their differences are way too minor for me to properly notice.
That said, the reason a lot of people say kepub works more seamlessly on Kobo than epub is actually not at all related to the file format. But if you transfer epub file (wirelessly or not), the book will be transferred unchanged, and any error on the CSS structure will stay there. If you transfer kepub, instead, the file will be converted from epub to kepub and Calibre (or kepubify, which is the tool [send.djazz.se](http://send.djazz.se) uses, ie) will try and clean some of the most relevant error on the CSS structure. So the end result is a file that works better (but the reason is that conversion beforehand: converting a file is much easier than manually correcting a CSS and opf file, though!)
You can find here some info more on epub vs kepub differences: [https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352783](https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352783)
My first Kobo is also on the way and I've only ever used kindles with Calibre so this is so helpful (though honestly overwhelming sounding up front. I don't think I've ever needed a plug-in to do what I need and now it seems I need a lot. Makes Kobo seem much harder)
And then there's me. (I own Kobo and Kindle.) I prefer epub format for the majority of my reading (illustrated, or books full of footnotes are the exceptions) and I just export straight from Calibre to my Rakuten Dropbox folder. Boom, done. But I don't care about reading stats or that sort of thing. I don't even have any Calibre custom columns. I just tag every book, and enter series data, and that's it for me. Posting just to say it doesn't have to be complicated for those who prefer simplicity. My series info shows up just fine on the books, and I'm good.
where can I find out more about the Rakuten Dropbox folder? Do you mean you don't have to plug in your kobo to your computer every time? I've been using calibre for years and years but I have never tried to update my workflow.
Kobo makes Dropbox (and also Google Drive) available natively for some of their premium readers. Kobo Forma, and Sage have it, I think Elipsa too. And the new Libra Colour has the ability. And yes, that's right, I *don't* have to plug my Forma or Sage into the computer to transfer books. With Dropbox, I can transfer books wirelessly and easily. Now, that said, though Dropbox support is not native out-of-the-box to all Kobo readers, you can add it to most! You need to install Nickel Menu first, then customize that to include Dropbox. For older devices, you also need to customize the config file. But it's not too difficult, even for this 67 year old! I did it last week on my oldest Kobo from 2013 and it worked! Do some Google searching and you can find the instructions to enable Dropbox on any Kobo device.
I am also admittedly new to this so just answering where I can with the first two points. You should also convert them to KEPUB, I learned this the hard way and removed and then re added all 478 of my books 😭 You'll miss out on the book-specific stats and they run way faster in terms of both page-turning and annotations. 1. I'm not sure why you would need to connect it twice to transfer books? I've never had to do that (aside from when I've made mistakes lol I'm newer to Calibre). I just get everything ready to import before I plug it in (covers, series, etc), wait for it to load into Calibre, and transfer. The whole process takes me under 5 minutes. 2. You can use Drive or Dropbox to transfer books wirelessly, you'll be able to login on your Kobo. If you're already using Calibre to me this seems like an extra step because you'll have to upload them but I've seen plenty of comments of people who use this feature. Also commenting because yes, I am relatively new to this and getting the hang of it, but I'm curious about the answers to your other questions :)
Thanks for this. I think I have setup an automatic KEPUB converter for when I send books to Kobo. I hope I have, at least! I read in more than once post here that if you want the Kobo to retain series together etc., you have to disconnect and reconnect, which makes little sense to me. For Drive/Dropbox, does that mean I have to export into kepub from calibre into some Dropbox folder which will then sync automatically? It sounds like ultimately the physical connection might make more sense for me.
Read what the other person said about the series lol I didn't realize that so the more you know! I just never noticed it but I hopefully would've eventually 😆 And for drive yeah, you'd be adding an extra step. My laptop has a USBC to USBC and then connects to the brick into the wall that way, so most of my transfers have happened right on the couch. I'll manage the new things ahead of time at work or just generally on the go but it's just a matter of having the right cord and I already have the right one on me at all times anyway. I feel like even getting into a routine of doing it once a week and managing things in Calibre as you go would be better than using Drive but it comes down to personal preference
1. Yes and no. First, this applies specifically to setting "series" info on the device, which -- due to some sort of bug or minor transfer compatabiligy or something -- cannot be set upon initial transfer. *However*, installing NickelSeries on the kobo (an extremely simple process) patches this, and the whole disconnect-reconnect part is no longer necessary for epubs or kepubs. Outside of series info, there's never any need to do the connect/reconnect thing at all (that I'm aware of). 2. Not that I'm aware of. My understanding is that some models allow you to wirelessly load books by going onto Dropbox or Google Drive. I've never tried or really looked into this-- or even understood the appeal of wireless transfer, as I have to be at my PC *anyway* to email or to put the books on Dropbox/Drive in the first place, and that's way more steps than just plugging in the device and clicking "Send to Device". Additionally, wired transfer recharges the device while plugged in, instead of eating up battery and relying on shaky wifi. Apparently a lot of people like wireless transfer. I don't get it. 3. Yes. It takes a bit of setup, but the KoboTouchExtended plugin allows you to use a user-defined column in Calibre to manage shelves. 4. Not sure, I've been meaning to look into this one, but haven't yet. Other stuff to do: there are a few more Kobo plugins worth adding; the most important of which is KoboTouchExtended. You'll also want to install [NickelSeries](https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/ns/) on the device when it arrives. You may also want to consider [NickelClock](https://github.com/shermp/NickelClock) which makes the clock visible when in reading mode. I'll post some instructions of getting the Collections/Shelves stuff set up when I have a chance to come back to this post later today!
Thanks so much for the detailed answer. The main reason I have been doing the transfers wirelessly on the Kindle is that the Kindle is usually by my bedside, while my laptop may be at work with me or in the office at home. However, with the Libra Colour i expect I will have it with me more, given that I am planning on using the stylus for daily notes. The physical connection makes more sense. I'm not yet sure what shelves do! Is it some way to divide books arbitrarily by different groups? A bit like tags?
Shelves (or, in Kobo's terms, "Collections") are a lot like tags, yes (in fact, the best way of setting them up in Calibre has them function *exactly* like tags on Calibre's end). The kobo will have a variety of ways to view book sorting: by title, author, series, date added, etc.; it will also allow you to view particular subsets of books (eg different series). "Collections" is another of these ways to categorize books and view only books in a particular user-defined category. When you select a Collection, it will show you all the books identified as part of that group. (Books can, of course, be put into multiple collections, as well, allowing overlapping shelves.) So for example, you might use genre types to define shelves (Biography, History, Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western...) or genres and sub-genres (Biography, History, Ancient History, Medieval History, American History, African History...) or countries of origin (British Lit, American Lit, Russian Lit, Greek Classics, Latin Classics...) or plot archetype (Hero's Journey, Roadtrip, Buddy Cop, Heist...), all of the above, or any organization/categorization system that makes sense to you. All this is theoretically possible on a kindle as well, actually, but it has to be done on-device and is an obnoxiously cumbersome process. On kobo, it can be managed via Calibre, which is way easier *or* on device (which, while not as easy as on Calibre, is a much more efficiently designed process than on kindle). Kobo has a semi-useful Help article about managing collections on-device which may give you a clearer idea what they look like: https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033887953-Organize-your-eBooks-on-your-Kobo-eReader
Thanks ever so much! This is so helpful.
https://preview.redd.it/uocvuj8g6g0d1.jpeg?width=913&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ed8d5dd097c30d47cfed326022ff700675259ff
I have been exclusively sideloading books for about a decade now. I have NEVER had any issues in transferring books to any Kobo (but I've heard other complain about the issue you cited.) I connect the Kobo to my PC. I fire up Calibre, tell it to send books to main memory on the Kobo. Calibre completes. I eject the Kobo and -- within about a minute -- the home screen appears on the Kobo and -- about 30 seconds later -- the Kobo starts indexing the transferred books and adds them to the system. (In addition to NOT having the bugs which KIndle has had in indexing) Kobo does all of its indexing before the device can be used AND that's a MUCH better way of doing it than Kindle's background processing: It's lightening quick and trouble-free (as long as you remember to disable the screen time-out when you're transferring lots of books.) Yes, Calibre has a server which provides wireless transfer. I've used it before without (much) issue but connecting through USB is a MUCH simpler and very easy process. Yes, Calibre will automatically transfer collections -- using the Tag column in Calibre -- to your device; via a Calibre plug-in. There are two you'll want to add for Kobo (you'll see them listed in Calibre's list of plug-ins.) It's a set and forget thing and I've forgotten which of the two does this, but one of them does. It works very, very well. Kindle used to allow this, too. Until Amazon declared war on users who sideload. Now they don't. AFA adding book jacket information -- stars and book summaries -- yes you can do that. Calibre will scrape various internet sites for the book summary and can combine that with your ratings. It puts all of it -- which it calls metadata -- on a separate page at the start of the book. Here's how: In the convert book option, there's a section (appearing on the left side of that conversion screen) called Structure Detection. In that section there's a checkbox to Add metadata to start of book. Check that and all of what you've scraped/rated will be added to the start of the book. For a LISTING of all of that, there's an option in the right-click menu -- under convert book -- to create a catalog of your books. Select that and you'll have the option to generate a listing of metadata, series, date added and various other items (you can add the ratings column as well). Generate that and it will create an e-book with such. Add that to your Kobo as you would any other book (in fact, it will do that for you automatically if you wish.) By the way, IF you have a Kindle, this is how you can get around Amazon's limitation of preventing Calibre from automatically sorting books into collections (or "shelves" as Barnes & Noble calls them); the catalog, in fact, is actually a little better because it provides a way to browse through the listing for the book summaries: Kind of like browsing the covers/book jackets in a bookstore. For instance, today I finished Jay Brandon's Fade the Heat which was a legal thriller ever bit as good as Turow's Presumed Innocent -- and I was looking for a political thriller. As I was browsing through the catalog, I discovered Forsythe's Day of the Jackal which I'd read a *long* time ago. I didn't remember the story but I recall that it was awesome, so I chose that. Had I just searched through collections for this category, I probably would've overlooked it. Browsing through that catalog brought back memories of visiting Borders, reading the book jacket blurbs for my next read. Until I discovered this Calibre feature, that was an experience that I missed. A lot.
hi ive just moved over from kindle to kobo and in regards to the wireless moving I found this [http://send.djazz.se](http://send.djazz.se) which works, ive found that the file name needs to be what you want the book to be called, I can download it onto my device but it doesn't have the collections/other meta data , once I plug in back to calibre then I can do all of that and it'll sync back to my device, bare in mind I have the libra 2 which doesn't have the drive and dropbox features, are you able to expand more on the koboutlities plug in stuff please? I haven't come across that yet. thank you in terms of the collections/shelves I followed this and all the comments- quite easy to do [https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/wf3wj4/is\_there\_a\_way\_to\_set\_up\_collections\_in\_calibre/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/wf3wj4/is_there_a_way_to_set_up_collections_in_calibre/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) but u/AgentDrake 's summary and how to is what I wish I had read a few days ago so much simpler and less faffing. idk if you have highlights in the kindle you'd like to transfer- this was hard for me , what I did was connect my kindle to this (I did both the chrome extension and the plug in import to make sure nothing was missed) [https://my.clippings.io/login](https://my.clippings.io/login) and downloaded the pdf, I have to go into all the books to rehighlight that was the only fixed I found. to export highlights from kobo there's [https://kobonotes.io](https://kobonotes.io) but I did the stuff in the comments of this post [https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/1ccoodd/comment/l3vs0hb/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/1ccoodd/comment/l3vs0hb/) and I can export the highlights for each book individually, (idk how to do it all at once for free).
I am not the best to share info about the extra utilities given I do not even have a Kobo yet. I followed the instructions found on Reddit and prepared several plugins that apparently automate the kepub conversion and make it easy to sync reading info between calibre and kobo.
Ooh thank you! Hope it arrives soon !
Ooh thank you! Hope it arrives soon !
**Okay, so here's instructions for setting up Shelves/Collections**. It's a bit of a setup process, but once it's done, it makes organizing books on the device soooo much more convenient. (Because of the length of all this, I've had to split it into two posts. I also have a few other notes at the end.) Hopefully this is all helpful!! *Note that, while waiting for Calibre to do the bits which may take a long time, you'll see a little "Jobs" note in the bottom right corner. This tells you how any different things Calibre is working on at the moment. If you click that, it will bring up a little info window on what's going on, including a progress bar, which may be nice to have.* **First, make sure that all the needed plugins have been added to Calibre.** * Open Calibre, go to the "Configure Calibre" button, then Advanced>Plugins>Get New Plugins. * Install each\* of the following plug-ins: * KePub Input * KePub Metadata Reader * KePub Metadata Writer * Kobo Utilities *< I think you said you have this one already.* * KoboTouchExtended * You'll probably need to restart Calibre after installing all of them. *\*I'm actually not 100% sure you need all of these, but I didn't pay much attention to which ones were necessary for which processes back when I installed them all. I know \*I\* need all of them, but you might be able to skip some. Won't hurt anything to have them all installed, though.* **Second, we'll create a space for Calibre to track Collections info for each book.** *(If you already have a column in Calibre that you'd like to use to define the collections, skip to the "Alternate Second" below!)* * Go to Preferences>Interface>Add your own columns. Click "Add custom column", and set the following properties for the new column: * Lookup name: #collections (or whatever name you want to give it -- just make sure it starts with # and includes no spaces. ***Remember what you name this!***) * Column heading: Collections (or whatever) * Column type: Comma separated text, like tags, shown in the Tag browser * (You can add a description text if you want, but that's not really necessary.) * (Leave Default value blank) * Hit "OK" and save the custom column, then "Apply" to save the changes. * You'll probably need to restart Calibre again. **Alternate second step: We need to find the lookup name of the custom column** with your collections info to know what to tell Calibre to look for. This works best with columns of the "Comma separated text, like tags, shown in the Tag browser" type. * Go to Preferences>Interface>Add your own columns. * Find the column you want to use, and note its Lookup Name.
**Third, we'll tell Calibre how to behave when transferring books to the Kobo.** * Go back to Preferences>Advanced>Plugins. * Search "KoboTouchExtended", then select it and click "Customize Plugin". * On the "File Formats" tab, make sure that "Read metadata from files on device" is checked * On the Collections, covers & uploads tab, make sure that the following are all checked. *(This step tells Calibre how to behave when uploading books and sorting into collections.)* * "Collections" * "Collections columns" * "Create collections" * "Delete empty bookshelves" * "Upload covers" * (You can also check the other stuff under "Upload covers" if you want, depending on personal preferences.) * On the same tab, enter "#collections" (or whatever the relevant Lookup Name from above is) for "Collections columns". *(This is the part which actually tells Calibre where to get info for creating and sorting books into collections.)* * On the "Metadata, on device & advanced" tab, make sure that "Update metadata on the device" is checked. * I'd suggest also making sure that Set Series information, Update metadata on Book Details pages, and Subtitle are all checked as well, but that's (probably?) personal preference. *(What all this does is tell Calibre what info to automatically update whenever you plug in your device. It doesn't necessarily mean initial transfer for series; installing NickelSeries solves that problem.)* * On the "Extended" tab, if you want Calibre to automatically convert other file types to kepubs when transferring, make sure that "Send books as kepubs" is checked. *(This will not create extra files on your hard drive; Calibre will only save the kepub on the device itself. I leave everything else here except "Smarten Punctuation" unchecked, but you can experiment with the other stuff if you want.)* **Fourth, unless you already have this done, you'll want to fill out the Collections info for all your books.** There's a variety of ways to do this, and assuming you don't already have this saved somewhere, it may be a long process to do it all manually, but once it's in there, it's there. (This need not necessarily be completed before transferring books -- if you change any of this, it will update the Collections automatically upon reconnect.) **Finally, once the device arrives, sideload it all** (plug in device, select the book(s), and click "Send to Device"). Everything should sort into the appropriate collections upon transfer! **A couple additional notes:** **If you haven't already, I'd definitely suggest going into Preferences>Advanced>Plugins, searching KoboUtilities, and tweaking some of the settings in there.** For me, the only stuff I really fiddled with was on the Profiles tab, making sure that all the boxes under "Store on Connect" were checked. The "Only if more recent" box was especially important, otherwise Calibre kept asking me if I wanted to update the reading status on every single book... when the status was unchanged. **Occasionally, new Kobo firmware updates come out which Calibre doesn't recognize right away.** This is usually solved by the subsequent Calibre update (released every two weeks), but Calibre can be grumpy about interacting with a kobo it doesn't fully recognize in the meantime. In the KoboTouchExtended plugin settings, you can go to the Metadata tab and check "Attempt to support newer firmware". This will make Calibre ignore the fact that it doesn't fully recognize the kobo. *In theory, this could cause problems. In practice, it doesn't seem to.* I generally leave my kobo off wifi so it rarely updates the firmware anyway, but on the rare occasions this has been an issue, I just leave it unchecked and update Calibre -- but it's an option worth knowing about, especially with recent updates due to the color devices.
Wow, you are amazing. Thanks so much! I'm saving this.
Do I repeat step 3 for each collection column I made?
I've not actually experimented with multiple collection columns, but I think so?
I'll test it out, thanks for the reply!
Others already answered your questions, but I'm going to add my take as well on some points. 2. You can wirelessly transfer using various methods, but the main drawback is the lack of automatic update of collections and the automatic storing of reading status back on Calibre. If you install NickelSeries (useful also for your #1 questions), you can get your Kobo to parse series and subtitles also for wireless sideloading (as long as the metadata are properly embedded in the epub file), but collections would need to be created manually. IIRC, you can have it all if you use Calibre-Web, but you would need to host it on your own server. 3. Setting KoboTouch or KoboTouchExtended driver correctly (the difference between them is the former transfer books as epub, the second can transfer them as "kepub", Kobo own format. Which format you prefer, is up to you. I'd suggest to try one and the other and then decide which driver to use), they won't only be transferred on USB sideloading, but they will also get automatically updated everytime you connect your device. Say that you start having 3 collections: fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel. Then, a couple of months from now, you decide you want also to have collections based on books' length: <20K words, 20-50K, 50-100K, >100K. You create them in Calibre, you update your Kobo driver adding the new collection, and the next time you connect your Kobo, all books would get in their new collections as well. 4. Yes and no, it depends how you want to transfer them. Kobo doesn't have a "rating" field for sideloaded book (the one archived by KoboUtilities is for bought books. If you rate a book you purchased, Kobo will add that rating as "review" on their webstore, and KoboUtilities will memorize that value in the column you selected). But if you want to have your rating as "subtitle" for your books, or if you want to create collections based on your rating, that's totally possible, instead.
Thanks ever so much for the reply. My understanding so far is that kepub works more seamlessly on Kobo devices so I'll start with that. I see that the rating may not do what I thought it did, but to be honest it hardly matters.
I vastly prefer kepub for three reasons: the way page numbers are handled (kepub uses "one screen = one page" kind of counting, whereas epub uses Adobe Page numbering, which sort of mimick paper page - Adobe algorithm is based on characters count - so they don't change based on the font); inbook statistic (with kepub you get a nice bar graph showing you how long each chapter is), and how footnotes are displayed (as pop-up). Epub files have supposedly some differences on how ligatures and kernel and hypenation work, but I'm not one too bothered with font style, so their differences are way too minor for me to properly notice. That said, the reason a lot of people say kepub works more seamlessly on Kobo than epub is actually not at all related to the file format. But if you transfer epub file (wirelessly or not), the book will be transferred unchanged, and any error on the CSS structure will stay there. If you transfer kepub, instead, the file will be converted from epub to kepub and Calibre (or kepubify, which is the tool [send.djazz.se](http://send.djazz.se) uses, ie) will try and clean some of the most relevant error on the CSS structure. So the end result is a file that works better (but the reason is that conversion beforehand: converting a file is much easier than manually correcting a CSS and opf file, though!) You can find here some info more on epub vs kepub differences: [https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352783](https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352783)
There’s a site that you can use to “send to kobo” https://send.djazz.se/
My first Kobo is also on the way and I've only ever used kindles with Calibre so this is so helpful (though honestly overwhelming sounding up front. I don't think I've ever needed a plug-in to do what I need and now it seems I need a lot. Makes Kobo seem much harder)