How to edit MOBI documents?

mb2u · 10-01-2013, 10:25 AM

Once I download a reference book I want the Table of Contents to be the first thing I see when I open it...duh. Not copyright/introduction/preface stuff I always see and have to wade through every time its opened. With a book on paper it doesn't matter so much but we all know navigating with digital tools is often a real chore. So I want to start my navigation obviously at the TOC. So I'd love to just delete everything before the TOC. Is this easily possible? I've tried a few mobi readers but none seem to allow any deletion of text.

Doitsu · 10-01-2013, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb2u

So I'd love to just delete everything before the TOC. Is this easily possible? I've tried a few mobi readers but none seem to allow any deletion of text.

Mobi files are binary files and cannot be edited. However, you can convert them with Calibre to ePub files, edit them with Sigil and then convert them back to MOBI or AZW3.

DiapDealer · 10-01-2013, 10:48 AM

You can't edit a mobi file (not easily anyway). It's a compiled binary database. You must convert to an easily editable format (or extract the markup using kindle|mobi-unpack) edit that, and then rebuild the mobi.

It's possible that you may be able to achieve what you want through a calibre mobi-to-mobi conversion, but not likely. If you want to delete content, your best bet is to convert to epub/html, delete the content you don't want, and then convert back to mobi with calibre or kindlegen.

EDIT: what Doitsu said.

RbnJrg · 10-01-2013, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Mobi files are binary files and cannot be edited. However, you can convert them with Calibre to ePub files, edit them with Sigil and then convert them back to MOBI or AZW3.

Another way is to use KindleUnpack to obtain the source code for the .mobi file. After that, as Doitsu said, you can edit it with Sigil. But if your .mobi file is an old .mobi (a K7 mobi) then is better to use Calibre, as Doitsu also said.

Billi · 10-02-2013, 06:01 AM

I know this is not exactly what you've been asking but doesn't your reader give you the option to open the TOC with just two (??) menu clicks?

mb2u · 10-02-2013, 12:32 PM

I sure wish I could open the TOC with 2 menu clicks but often its unavailable. I have to manually scroll to it by turning pages. Usually I set the zoom to minimum so I'm scrolling as many pages as possible per page turn. Another option is to bookmark the TOC.

mb2u · 10-02-2013, 12:33 PM

I should mention also that keeping the book in mobi doesn't matter. I could read it in txt, doc, html, epub, who cares? As long as text isn't missing I'm very happy. I found reading in txt has many advantages as page turning is much faster. Plus, you can copy and paste to your computer, edit what you want effortlessly, and copy back to the ereader. Its wonderful to work with.

AnemicOak · 10-02-2013, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb2u

I should mention also that keeping the book in mobi doesn't matter. I could read it in txt, doc, html, epub, who cares? As long as text isn't missing I'm very happy. I found reading in txt has many advantages as page turning is much faster. Plus, you can copy and paste to your computer, edit what you want effortlessly, and copy back to the ereader. Its wonderful to work with.

Problem with txt, for me at least, is you lose a lot of the formatting.

mb2u · 10-02-2013, 03:19 PM

Yeah you lose formatting. I couldn't care less about that. I love the way mobi allows you to choose what font, size, margin parameters, etc, it displays. Formatting...that is long gone.

AnemicOak · 10-02-2013, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb2u

Yeah you lose formatting. I couldn't care less about that. I love the way mobi allows you to choose what font, size, margin parameters, etc, it displays. Formatting...that is long gone.

I mean things like italics.

mb2u · 10-02-2013, 04:39 PM

It would be nice to have stuff like italics, I grant you that. That's the author pointing things out and should be retained if possible. But if its not, its not so bad. The words are there and that's what matters.

Katsunami · 10-02-2013, 08:12 PM

You could do a two-step conversion: first to HTML, replace the formatting, and then to TXT.

If I remember correctly, the desired formatting was indicated like this on a typewriter:

*bold*
/italics/
_underline_

In HTML you would need to replace (using some regular expressions):

text -> *text*
text -> /text/
text -> _text_

Then convert to txt, and you'll retain the formatting indication.

However, if the book uses something like text, where the text is set to bold in the stylesheet, you'll need to replace the spans.

10-01-2013, 10:25 AM	#1
mb2u Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 6052 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo Touch and Mini	How to edit MOBI documents? Once I download a reference book I want the Table of Contents to be the first thing I see when I open it...duh. Not copyright/introduction/preface stuff I always see and have to wade through every time its opened. With a book on paper it doesn't matter so much but we all know navigating with digital tools is often a real chore. So I want to start my navigation obviously at the TOC. So I'd love to just delete everything before the TOC. Is this easily possible? I've tried a few mobi readers but none seem to allow any deletion of text.

10-02-2013, 08:12 PM	#12
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	You could do a two-step conversion: first to HTML, replace the formatting, and then to TXT. If I remember correctly, the desired formatting was indicated like this on a typewriter: bold /italics/ _underline_ In HTML you would need to replace (using some regular expressions): <b>text</b> -> <b>text</b> <i>text</i> -> <i>/text/</i> <u>text</u> -> <u>_text_</u> Then convert to txt, and you'll retain the formatting indication. However, if the book uses something like <span class="fat">text</span>, where the text is set to bold in the stylesheet, you'll need to replace the spans. Last edited by Katsunami; 10-02-2013 at 08:14 PM.

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10-01-2013, 10:48 AM	#3
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,580 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	You can't edit a mobi file (not easily anyway). It's a compiled binary database. You must convert to an easily editable format (or extract the markup using kindle\|mobi-unpack) edit that, and then rebuild the mobi. It's possible that you may be able to achieve what you want through a calibre mobi-to-mobi conversion, but not likely. If you want to delete content, your best bet is to convert to epub/html, delete the content you don't want, and then convert back to mobi with calibre or kindlegen. EDIT: what Doitsu said.

10-02-2013, 06:01 AM	#5
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	I know this is not exactly what you've been asking but doesn't your reader give you the option to open the TOC with just two (??) menu clicks?

10-02-2013, 12:32 PM	#6
mb2u Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 6052 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo Touch and Mini	I sure wish I could open the TOC with 2 menu clicks but often its unavailable. I have to manually scroll to it by turning pages. Usually I set the zoom to minimum so I'm scrolling as many pages as possible per page turn. Another option is to bookmark the TOC.

10-02-2013, 12:33 PM	#7
mb2u Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 6052 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo Touch and Mini	I should mention also that keeping the book in mobi doesn't matter. I could read it in txt, doc, html, epub, who cares? As long as text isn't missing I'm very happy. I found reading in txt has many advantages as page turning is much faster. Plus, you can copy and paste to your computer, edit what you want effortlessly, and copy back to the ereader. Its wonderful to work with.

10-02-2013, 03:19 PM	#9
mb2u Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 6052 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo Touch and Mini	Yeah you lose formatting. I couldn't care less about that. I love the way mobi allows you to choose what font, size, margin parameters, etc, it displays. Formatting...that is long gone.

10-02-2013, 04:39 PM	#11
mb2u Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 6052 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo Touch and Mini	It would be nice to have stuff like italics, I grant you that. That's the author pointing things out and should be retained if possible. But if its not, its not so bad. The words are there and that's what matters.