• Add Kobo Books To Calibre
• Calibre Kobo Plugin
• Calibre Kobo Ereader

When an ebook is not available directly through a publisher, I’d like to purchase it through Kobo rather than Amazon. A nice part of Kobo is the option to associate your account with an independent bookstore. Once associated, the store receives some amount of money for any ebook you purchase. This allows me to continue to support local shops while also reading books digitally.

Kobo provides ebooks as EPUB files with DRM applied via Adobe Digital Editions. Only Kobo authorized readers have the ability to open these files.

One of the downfalls of the Kobo Aura One is that it tends to jumble up the organization of the library; the Kindle library has a much more organized bookshelf. However, the best ereader application for organization is Calibre. Amazon Fire 7 Tablet. Kobo sync can handle large libraries Filechooser dialog for calibre-database and other external files (use -f option for unconfigured Calibre-Web instances) Advanced search has now Multiselects, making the UI easier for libraries with many series, tages, languages, file formats.

The Kindle does not support any type of EPUB file. If it did, I’m sure it would not support Adobe Digital Editions DRM, as Amazon has its own. Kindle primarily supports the more proprietary MOBI and AZW3 formats. You can convert non-DRM locked EPUB files to MOBI using Amazon’s KindleGen tool on the command line, though I’m not sure how robust it is.

When I purchased a Kindle Voyage 5 years ago, Amazon’s intent was to lock me into their ecosystem as much as possible. I would like to use another reader, but one point of reading digitally is to save natural resources, not burn through them faster by buying more devices. If I can’t use another e-reader, I can at least use another book source.

I’ll avoid digressing any further and save some thoughts on Amazon and e-readers for another time.

According a ruling recapped by the EFF, explaining how to remove the lock from a piece of content is not copyright infringement. The federal judge in that ruling said:

The act of infringement underlying the inducement claim, however, is not the removal of DRM protection. Rather, it is the copying and distribution of ebooks to others after such protection has been removed.

Because of that ruling, I’ll feel comfortable—legally and ethically—following these instructions every time I forget what I had to do the last time to read an EPUB I purchased.

So here’s how to remove the DRM on an ebook purchased from Kobo (or elsewhere) so that it can be read on a Kindle.

Prerequisites

• Download and install Adobe Digital Editions.
• Download and install Calibre, an open source ebook manager.
• Download and extract the latest ZIP release of DeDRM_tools.
• Open Calibre, open its preferences, and navigate to “Plugin” under “Advanced.
• Use “Load plugin from file” to add the obok_plugin.zip file from its respective directory in the extracted DeDRM folder.
• Use “Load plugin from file” to add the DeDRM_plugin.zip file from its respective directory in the extracted DeDRM folder.
• Restart Calibre before loading any books.

Obtain the EPUB file from a Kobo purchase

When a ebook is downloaded from your Kobo library, it is saved by default as URLLink.acsm. This is not an ebook, but instead a document containing a fullfillmentToken element with a bunch of information about the ebook. This includes its format and the license data associated with Adobe. This file can only be opened with Adobe Digital Editions (or a reader that supports Adobe’s DRM).

Drag or otherwise open the ACSM file in Adobe Digital Editions.

You’ll need to authorize your computer the first time you do this, but there’s an option for doing so without an Adobe ID. I have absolutely no idea what happens during that process, but it works.

Once authorized, the book should then open in Adobe Digital Editions. Close the book itself and go back to Bookshelves. Right click on the book title and choose “Show in Finder”. This brings you directly to the EPUB file that was downloaded by Adobe Digital Editions for this ebook.

Convert the EPUB to MOBI

Whether or not the EPUB has DRM, via Adobe and Kobo, or is an unlocked EPUB through a source, like Gutenberg or a forward-thinking author, Calibre can now be used to convert the file into MOBI, a format readable by Kindle, so that you can read the book you purchased.

Drag or otherwise open the EPUB file in Calibre. Right click on the book title, choose “Convert Books” and “convert individually”.

A screen will come up with a bunch of options that are likely unnecessary. In the top left, Calibre will show that the conversion is from EPUB. In the top right, it will show that the conversion is to MOBI.

Click “Ok” in the bottom right and Calibre will proceed to convert the book.

Once that window disappears, MOBI will be listed as one of the book’s available formats. Use “Click to open” next to “Path” or right click on the book and select “open containing folder”.

This folder contains all of the formats available for the book. Either email the MOBI file to Kindle’s personal document service or copy it manually to the device via USB.

The purchased book can now be read! 📚

We use Calibre to help dedrm, convert and even manage our Kindle/Kobo/Google eBooks. But before we add them to Calibre library, where are eBooks downloaded and stored on our computer? And where are eBook files saved after I convert them with Calibre? Is it possible to change or export my library in Calibre? Here is a comprehensive guide and you will get the answers.

Note that:

Part 1. Where is the Calibre Library located?

The first time we run calibre, it will ask you for a folder in which to store your books. Whenever we add a book to calibre and convert formats, it will copy the book into that folder.

We can also click on “Path: Click to open” below the book, then open the calibre library. Virtualbox for mac os x mavericks.

As you see, there is a metadata.db file stored at the top level of the library folder. It’s a sqlite database.

And books in the folder are nicely arranged into subfolders by Author and Title.

Each book folder contains a cover image, metadata.opf, the original book file and others.

Is it possible to move our library to another location? Click on the library’s name(“Calibre Library” button at the top of the window) and select “Switch/create library…”.

On the next screen select the new path for our library and click the option to “Move current library to new location”.

Then, the library location will be changed in Calibre.

Important note:

Part 2. How do I get Calibre to recognize my device?

Calibre can directly connect to all the major (and most of the minor) e-book reading devices, smartphones, tablets, etc. Simply plug your device into the computer with a USB cable, Calibre should automatically detect the device and then you can transfer books to it by clicking the Send to device button.

Add Kobo Books To Calibre

Tips:

But for those downloaded books on our computers, we must know the downloaded location folder first. Here is the full list of Kindle/Kobo/Google books location on our windows/mac computers.

• (Kindle for PC AZW)C:UsersYOURUSERNAMEDocumentsMy Kindle Content
• (*Kindle for Mac AZW) /Users/Mac user name/Library/Application Support/Kindle/My Kindle Content
• (Kobo for PC KEPUB)C:UsersUSER NAMEAppDataLocalKoboKobo Desktop Editionkepub
• (Kobo for Mac KEPUB) UsersUSER NAMELibraryApplication SupportKoboKobo Desktop EditionKepub
• (Adobe Digital Editions on Win/Mac) UsersusernameDocumentsDigital Editions

Note:

And after we have known the stored location of our Kindle/Kobo/Google eBooks, we could find our downloaded files easily and then add them to the Calibre library to manage them.

We can target the folder so that Calibre could help manage our files at once.

And then click on the “Connect/share” button and select “Connect to folder”.

Calibre Kobo Plugin

Target and select folder, then you will see a “Device” button shown near the “Library” button. Click it (or select “Show books in the main memory of the device” from the dropdown list).

Calibre Kobo Ereader

See? Calibre recognizes your downloaded eBooks and shows them in one place.

This method helps add books from one dedicated location folder with just 1-click. Calibre will treat this folder as a device, and after you target this, you can configure this device and edit eBooks’ metadata. Restart Calibre for the changes to Folder Device to be applied.

But if you want to convert eBooks formats, don’t add books by this method. Directly drag them or click on “Add books” button to import those downloaded eBooks from computer, please.