Part 1: Managing Your Library, Reading Books, Sharing Your Library
The e-book market meets the demands of a very demanding buyer. What's even better is that these devices are becoming more affordable and technologically advanced. However, along with support for many document formats, there is no functional software for working with e-books. As a result, the user is content with limited tools out of the box.
One of the most pressing issues is creating an electronic library on a computer, followed by synchronization via USB or wireless connection. Equally important is exporting books in a format suitable for reading on a device. The Caliber program will help you cope with such tasks.
Actually, the incompatibility of formats, software and operating systems was the impetus for the development of Caliber in 2006. Kovid Goyal, the author of the project, created a converter of books into the LRF format, relevant for Sony Reader. Since then, the program has acquired many functions and runs on Windows, Mac OS and Linux (the review will cover the Windows version). The main features of the program are revealed in the following areas:
- Library management
The program allows you to store books of various formats, combine them into collections, edit metadata (information about the author, publisher, etc.), search for information on the library, perform operations with files, such as import, export, deletion. - Reading books
Caliber can be used to read or preview books in CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, DJVU, DOCX, EPUB, FB2, HTML, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB format books , TCR, TXT, TXTZ, with convenient navigation and customization of page display. - Web server
The Caliber backend is one of the most interesting features that allows users to access the digital library through a browser. The web shell is necessary when working with a number of devices over a wireless connection, as well as for organizing access to the library over a local network or via the Internet. - Collecting and storing news from online sources
At first glance, this function applies specifically to RSS aggregators. In the case of Caliber, you can create a file from RSS feed news for reading on an electronic device, including on a schedule. - Synchronizing devices
Caliber supports all kinds of devices from well-known vendors and allows you to download books in a variety of ways: over the Internet, over a local network, or directly by connecting via a USB cable. - Converting eBook formats
The program has a built-in powerful converter that works with popular file formats (see above) and exports to AZW3, EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, HTMLZ, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, RTF, SNB, TCR , TXT, TXTZ. Thanks to this, it is easy to save the book in the desired format and immediately send it to your device or send it by email. - Plugin support
It is important that Caliber supports extensions. Thanks to this, users have the opportunity to improve the functionality of the program by enabling this or that option freelance, through a plugin. If you wish, you can write your own addition, corresponding to the developer’s website.
Documentation is only available in English, and not all key features have been covered in Caliber's many reviews. However, it cannot be said that a news aggregator or web server is of less interest than a book converter. Therefore, it makes sense to consider the program’s tools in detail.
First launch of Caliber
At the first stage, the Calibri setup wizard prompts you to select a location for storing books, as well as localization. The list contains Russian, but the translation is poorly done. For this reason, during familiarization with the program, moments of misunderstanding arise. Although, for the most part, the translation is acceptable.
The second stage is choosing a device to synchronize with Calibri. An impressive number of devices from the following manufacturers are supported: Amazon, Android, Apple, Barnes & Noble, SONY (see screenshot). If the device is not listed, you can select a generic profile.
Depending on your selection, you will have access to some options and additional information. For example, in order to synchronize with applications on iOS in the future, you may need to configure the Caliber virtual server (see the corresponding chapter of the review), which will be discussed. In the case of Kindle, if books are sent via the Internet, you can specify the recipient's email.
After closing the dialog, the program starts. A few words need to be said about the interface. The fact is that most user comments relate not to the functional, but specifically to the visual side of the program. The Caliber shell uses a cross-platform library, as a result of which the “non-native” interface is somewhat out of touch with the general Windows style. A more significant drawback is that scrolling lists and opening dialogs is not always smooth, and slow responsiveness in general.
However, these “roughnesses” are fully compensated by the functionality of Caliber and cross-platform in particular: here you can recall the supported devices and OS, between which import, export and synchronization are possible.
The Caliber toolbar has a clear distinction between functions; all actions are grouped and displayed as buttons on the Actions panel at the top of the window. Full-screen mode allows you to see all available commands on the panel, but in a more compact mode, one bar is not enough.
Icons can be made smaller, and button layout can be customized through the “Toolbar” section. Context menus, columns and other interface elements can also be modified.
Library management
The main window of the program is represented by the library, which is the core of the program and its main tool. In the left panel, a filter by attributes and search (tag browser) are available. The central column is reserved for a list of books. On the right is information on the selected list item, taken from the book’s metadata. Switching modes are available at the bottom of the window, where you can additionally hide one of the side panels or switch the display mode of books - in the form of covers or a grid. Thanks to this, the panels are flexibly customizable, making viewing books informative and convenient.
Initially, most columns in Caliber are activated: author, date, size, rating, etc. In order to change the established order, you need to use the context menu by clicking on any list header, or drag the column header to the desired location. Using the template language, you can create columns with your own data, including metadata (the “Add custom column” option).
There are several ways to add books. The most obvious is the Add Books button on the toolbar. The available drop-down list options include adding a book from one directory (option 1), adding taking into account subdirectories (option 2) or several (option 3) books per directory. You can also create an empty record or add a book by number.
It has been noticed that to add a small number of books, it is enough to drag the books into the window, but adding folders and catalogs is only possible through the interface. Although you need to be careful, since as a result of indiscriminate import you will have to clean the list of unnecessary elements. It also makes sense to define a file ignore list in the “Adding Books” menu, “Automatic Adding” tab.
The second way to replenish your library is to search for and purchase books on public and commercial sources (“Download books” action). Caliber only provides a shell for searching by title, author, and keywords. Other functions (purchase, download) are available through the browser after going to the site. The list of stores is customizable; by excluding unnecessary elements, you can optimize the search.
There are clearly not enough Russian-language resources, with the exception of those placed at the end of the list. The available search in Russian does not cover the widest area: in fact, this is information from.
When you add a book, the files are automatically saved on your computer in subfolders organized by the “Author” and “Title” attributes. There is no point in adding files to the Caliber directory yourself: they will be deleted.
Metadata is stored in a separate metadata.db file for each book, which is also convenient for moving the database, creating a backup copy, or, say, synchronizing with Dropbox or similar services. However, from Google Drive, at the time of writing, the . It's easy to import or export libraries to another computer - just move the folder with books and specify it in the step-by-step setup wizard.
Thanks to virtual libraries, books can be organized into collections. The interface supports tabs (“Virtual library - Show virtual libraries as tabs”), which makes managing a large library even more convenient. As a result, the necessary books will always be at hand and searching will not be so in demand.
By the way, searching through several virtual libraries is not supported; it is carried out only through a common database. Otherwise, this feature is integrated throughout Caliber. A quick search is available above the central column; it acts as a filter. Another way to view is Quickview mode: by highlighting a value in a column and pressing Q, a list is available by selected criterion: for example, by author, publisher, genre.
Advanced search (button to the left) allows you to search by content as well as fields. You can use logical operators, regular expressions, and tags in the input line. Requests can be saved for later use (use the field in the upper right corner for this).
Metadata editor
Experience with Caliber suggests that search is particularly effective when using metadata. The more information about a file, the greater the chance of quickly finding it using the Tag Explorer.
In the editing dialog, fields such as title, author, series, tags, text/HTML comment and others are available. If you have a book's ISBN number, the easiest way to get the necessary information is from the Internet, using data from the services isbndb.com, Amazon, Google Books. In the settings, sources are pre-selected and fields for importing information are marked; the downloaded metadata can be checked against previous information.
In general, there are several things that are handy when working with metadata. First, books can be edited in order by selecting them in the list and clicking the edit button. When importing data from the Internet, just select the files, select the “Download metadata and covers” command - all files will be processed in order. The second point is that even in manual mode, many fields do not have to be filled out from scratch; it is enough to use drop-down lists in the fields. And thirdly, the editor supports search and replace, as well as regular expressions.
Reading books in Caliber
The Caliber viewer is available in a separate window by clicking the “View” button on the action bar. The file to read can be selected both in the library window and directly through the application menu.
At the top there is a navigation area, from where you can move to a position in the text or by following the index. There is a text search. Navigating between chapters is possible through the “Contents” slide-out panel; the corresponding button is located to the left of the viewing area. It is possible to create bookmarks in a document. The help mode allows you to hover the cursor over the text to find out the coordinates of a particular section of the paragraph in the form of a number, which is subsequently entered into the navigation field using the pointer.
You can maximize the window to full size or switch to full screen mode. Pages are turned using keys or buttons on the panel. It is possible to switch to multi-threaded mode (without pagination), but for some reason you cannot switch to two-page display. There are also no other options that are quite obvious to the viewer: adjustment to the width or size of the window. Among other “little things” that are familiar from their presence in e-books: there is no option to switch to “night” reading mode, you cannot leave notes in the book.
On the other hand, this Caliber app offers many visual options: choosing a font typeface, adjusting the placement of text on the page, colors, background, and swiping behavior. Page display is also controlled using easy-to-understand CSS syntax, and you can add a style sheet in the Custom Style Sheet tab. On the Mobileread thematic forum there are ready-to-use examples that will be useful to all those who are not familiar with CSS syntax.
Perhaps the viewer's greatest strength is its support for multiple formats. However, reading PDF files is problematic due to long opening times, slow content scrolling, and incorrect display.
DJVU format files do not open even if there is a corresponding plugin in Caliber, although they are perfectly recognized in .
Thus, in order to step to a qualitatively new level, this application lacks several standard options and conflict-free recognition of at least the DJVU and PDF formats.
Library sharing
Sharing may be needed if the book needs to be transferred to another device (Kindle, Android, iOS) via a local network, wireless connection or the Internet. In the case of iOS, the server is needed to read books for applications such as Stanza or Marvin.
The server actually does not require any preliminary configuration. As a last resort, you should check your firewall or antivirus settings to see if the port used by Caliber is blocked. The network access configuration is located in the settings section of the same name. Here you can set the username and password for connection. When organizing access to the library via the Internet, you need to configure port forwarding on the router.
To start the server, use the command “Connect/Share - Start content server”. As a result, the server content is available at http://:8080/.
Each book has a permanent address and description based on metadata. The user can navigate through the content: through virtual libraries, tags, publishers and other attributes, and track new items. Search is supported - in earlier versions there were problems with Russian-language names, but now there are none. There are various display modes, including for mobile devices.
As you can see, the web server is quite simple, you can use it for personal purposes or share books with friends. A “full-fledged” version of the server lacks, at a minimum, access rights and advanced security settings. But this is clearly not a priority function of the program.
Another networking feature of Caliber is sending e-books by email. A mailing list is used for this. When sending, books can be converted into one or more specified formats, specified through a separator.
For Android devices, there is an application that can be used to create a wireless connection between Caliber and your phone.
Have you encountered difficulties reading an e-book due to incompatible formats and software? Or maybe you decided to create or organize an electronic library on your PC. What to do? Use specialized software. Let's look at what the Caliber program is, how to install and use it.
What is it for
There are books on the Internet in the following formats: EPub, Mobi. How to read them? The existing one does not always cope with such formats. What to do if there are a lot of books? A good solution is to create an electronic library with subsequent synchronization. It is more convenient to control it from a PC than from a reader. Higher speed of information processing. These and other useful functions are solved by the Caliber program in Russian.
If the reader holds a lot of books, the indexing speed will be lower. Therefore, it is convenient to save the library on your PC and load 1-2 books that you read into the reader. Let's look at how to download the Caliber program and work with it.
What Caliber can do
The incompatibility of formats prompted developers to create the Caliber program. Its capabilities are:
- Works with the library. Save books in different formats, edit metadata;
- Reading. Supports work with 24 formats. Has clear navigation and page viewing;
- Ability to access the library through a browser;
- Receiving news from online sources;
- Synchronization. Works with devices from different manufacturers. Downloading occurs via the Internet, cable, local network;
- Conversion. Allows you to save the book in a format convenient for you. Next, send it to a reader or email;
- Working with additional add-ons. Using plugins, the functionality of the program is expanded.
How to install
To download the Caliber program in Russian for free, go to its official website at: http://calibre-ebook.com/. Click “Download Caliber”.
Select the OS. 
A window will open where we will download the latest version. Click the “Download” link. 
The download will start automatically. The installer file will have the extension "msi". We launch it by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button. We agree with the license. When the installation is complete, click the “Finish” button. 
The installation wizard will open. Select the language and folder where the library will be located. 
In the next step, select the reading device. The screenshot shows that devices from many manufacturers are supported. 
If the device is not in the list, select the Generic profile.
Depending on your selection, additional options will be available. For example, if you chose Kindle, sending will occur via the Internet. It is now possible to specify the recipient's email address. Click Next.
The program shell uses the Qt library (a framework for software development in C++).
The program will start automatically.
Interface
All program functions are grouped. They are accessed using the buttons located at the top of the window. 
On the left is a panel that allows you to manage the library. A search filter by tags is available. The column located in the center displays a list of references. On the right is information about the selected book. It is taken from the metadata. 
At the bottom, when you click the “Layout” button, switching modes will be displayed. This makes work comfortable. 
How to add
There are two ways to download a book. Find the “Add” button. When you click on the black triangle, the following options will appear:
- From one directory;
- Taking into account subcategories;
- Add from archive;
- By ISBN;
- Load a blank book.
How to read
Select the book and click “View”. 
A new window will open. The navigation bar is located at the top. There is a search, the ability to create bookmarks so that the text opens from the place where you left off. Pages are scrolled using buttons; if necessary, switch to a mode where there is no pagination. Customize the font and text layout. 
The main advantage of the viewer is support for many formats
How to convert a book from one format to another
Select the book, then click the “Convert” button. 
In the new window at the top right, select the desired format. 
News feeds
The developers have added a feature that allows you to read news offline. Click the “Collect” button. A list of news feeds will open. Select from the list or add a new channel and set up download schedules. 
Working with plugins
Thanks to open source code and API documentation (available at: https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/creating_plugins.html), the functionality of the program is expanded. New additions are available on the official blog at: http://blog.caliber-ebook.com/. To work with them, go to “Options” - “Get plugin”. 
They are divided into 4 categories:
- Custom. To create books, maintain statistics;
- Receiving metadata from sites;
- Conversion. Contained in the program;
- Connecting to a device.
To install them, click “Options” - “Get”. 
TOP 3 useful plugins
- Save Format. Changes file export. Changes saving formats;
- Find Duplicates. Searches for duplicates (by titles) using metadata;
- Reading List. Creating reading lists.
Conclusion
We looked at how to download Caliber for free. It should be installed for all e-book readers. Supports common formats. Has a user-friendly interface. Thanks to its open source code, it allows you to install additional extensions that make synchronization and operation easier.
Russian Caliber is a powerful free e-book reading program that provides ample opportunities for organizing an electronic library. The new Caliber also allows you to convert e-books from one format to another, allowing you to convert PDF, RTF, ODT, HTML, etc. files into formats suitable for reading on various portable devices.
Using the Caliber 4.9.1 application, you can read books, edit their metadata and covers, send files to connected devices, and perform a number of other operations. The program supports all the most popular e-book formats and can work with a wide variety of readers, from Amazon Kindle to Android smartphones.
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There is also a conversion function. It can be done manually or you can instruct the Caliber application in Russian to automatically convert books to a supported format when transferred to another device. The list of formats supported by the application includes both the common EPUB and TXT and little-known ones like LRF and MOBI. In general, finding a book in a format that the Calibri program could not “swallow” is almost impossible.
If you update Caliber rus, you can manage downloaded books and transfer them between devices. The application also contains a built-in “viewer” and design creation tools, which allows you to edit metadata.
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Changes in the latest version of Caliber 4.9.1:
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- Added support for dark mode in Windows 10
- Implemented a function to switch reading mode to version 3.x
- Fixed option to break long words at the end of lines (PDF)
Caliber 3.1.0
- The capabilities of the “Edit Metadata” tool have been expanded:
- Fixed an error when launching on Windows systems, where the home directory name is in an encoding different from the system one.
- Fixed vertical text overlap for some systems/font sizes
Caliber 2.81.0
- Added support for KFX format files
- Added drag-and-drop functionality for images and styles when creating e-books
- Added update option for Kobo driver
- Expanded spell checking capabilities
- Added the ability to hide/show toolbars using the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + F11)
- Fixed problems when exporting to PDF format
- The problem with email clients filtering notification emails from Caliber has been resolved.
- Updated Virualo store plugins
- Fixed the program freezing when opening books with incorrect content (lack of certain images, styles and fonts)
- Improved compatibility with news sources The Atlantic and The Financial Times
Caliber 2.79.0
- Recently viewed books appear in the Jump List
- Improved EPUB format conversion
Caliber 2.77.0
- Fixed cover image conversion issues
- Upgraded DOCX conversion tool
- Updated functions for downloading metadata from Amazon
Caliber 2.72.0
- Added automatic attachment of fonts if they differ in characteristics from the generally accepted ones (character weight (Extra Bold), shadow, light, etc.)
- This version implements the ability to interrupt the library copying process
- Improved and expanded spell checking capabilities
Caliber 2.68.0
- Improved work with library servers
- Improved reading of metadata of PDF files
Caliber 2.54.0
- Improved usability of the search function
- More convenient visual distribution of books in the program explorer
- Added Screenlight driver support
- Improved work with PDF format
Caliber 2.53.0
- Expanded options for inserting tooltips and footnotes
- Added the ability to configure mouse wheel settings for more convenient scrolling
- Improved ability to convert DOCX to eBook formats
- Text formatting tools have been improved, changes have been made to work with the “automatic addition of tags” function
- Significantly expanded collaboration with Kobo
- New fonts available with anti-aliasing capabilities
- Improved image compression algorithm
You will learn how to work with Caliber in this article. Although you can find almost any book on the Internet in the most common formats (EPub, FB2, Mobi), we still periodically encounter the problem of converting one format to another. In addition, managing the library is much more convenient on a computer than in a reader. There are many reasons for this. Ease of interface, file processing speed, device capacity. Even if your device can accommodate thousands of books, the indexing speed of such a library will still be lower than on a regular computer. And searching for the book you need in the reader will not be so convenient. It is better to store the library on your computer and send several books that you are currently reading to the reader. And here special programs come to the rescue. Let's look at one of these programs today - Caliber.
The program is free, which is undoubtedly one of the advantages. In addition, it is easy to install and has a convenient Russified interface. To download the program, go to its official website https://calibre-ebook.com/ and click on the “DOWNLOAD CALIBRE” button
We select the required system on which we will install the program.
In the window that opens, select download the latest version of the program – Download caliber...
Find the downloaded installer file “calibre-x.x.x.msi” on the computer (usually in the “My Documents/Downloads” folder) and launch it by double-clicking the mouse. Number x.x.x. changes as new versions are released.
We read the license agreement, agree to it and continue with the installation. When finished, launch the program by clicking the “Finish” button.
The program setup wizard will open. At the first step, you can select the installation language and the folder to store the library.
If you have selected a Kindle for your device, then you can skip the next step - in fact, it duplicates sending books to the Kindle via email. Just click the "Next" button.
All. At this point, setting up the program is complete - you can proceed to use. Click the "Finish" button to start the program.
The main program window will open.
If you already have books saved on your computer, you can add them to the Caliber library. Click the “Add Books” button and select the books that you want to add to the library.
Or click the arrow next to the “Add books” button and select search and add books from the specified folder. At the same time, if filters for book formats are not configured, then all documents from this folder that can only be read will be added.
This button can also be used to automatically add books to the library. To do this, select the bottommost item “Configure adding books” in the drop-down list and select the “Automatic addition” tab.
Next, specify the folder in which the books will be stored, click the apply button and restart Caliber. Now we can immediately download files from the Internet into this folder and they will appear in the Caliber library. Now we have a library, and we can view it as convenient for us - by authors, languages, series, formats, etc.
By double-clicking on the title of a book in the library, you can read it using the built-in reader. But we are interested in using the program in conjunction with our electronic reading device, so let’s move on to the next step - connecting the reader to the computer. Having connected our device to the computer using a USB cable, we will see that in the top menu we have two additional buttons “Send to device” and “Device”
By clicking on the “Device” button we will see the contents of our reader and will be able to copy books from it to the Caliber library. If we want to copy a book from the library to the reader, then we go to the library again by clicking the “Library” button. We select the book or books that we want to send to the reader and click the “Send to device” button (moreover, if the device has a memory card, then you can select the storage location for the book - in the main memory or on the memory card).
At the bottom of the program window you can track the progress of the task:
If for some reason we could not find a book in a format supported by our device, then we can use Caliber to convert it to the format we need, and this is done, as they say, “on the fly” - i.e. simultaneously with sending the book to the device. We also select a book from the library and send it to the device. The program will automatically convert it into the required format and load it into the reader (of course, this does not apply to formats such as PDF and DjVu). After this, you can safely disconnect the device from the computer by selecting the “Remove device” menu item.
Of course, this is not all that this wonderful program is capable of. This article describes only the basic actions with the Caliber program that you may need to comfortably manage your library and convert files from one format to another. You can continue to explore all its capabilities on your own and get the most out of its use. Thank you for your attention! Good books to you and happy reading!