Converting with Calibre
Word documents to and from eBooks
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................ 1
Installing Calibre ........................................................................ 2
The Calibre library .................................................................. 2
Help ....................................................................................... 2
Converting eBooks to styled Word documents........................... 3
Converting your eBook to RTF format .................................... 3
Creating the styled Word document ....................................... 3
Recreating lists....................................................................... 4
Inserting images ..................................................................... 4
Inserting tables ....................................................................... 5
Rebuilding hyperlinks ............................................................. 6
Paragraph spacing ................................................................. 6
Final checking ........................................................................ 7
Table of contents.................................................................... 7
Converting styled Word documents to eBooks .......................... 7
Endnote ..................................................................................... 7
Further resources ...................................................................... 8
Introduction
Calibre is a free open source conversion tool that makes it easy to
convert between many different eBook formats and document
types. It is particularly suited to converting common eBook formats
such as EPUB and Kindle into files which can be loaded into a
word processor such as Microsoft Word. It does this by converting
the contents of the eBook to Rich Text Format (RTF).
Once loaded into a word processor such as Microsoft Word the
document can then be easily styled for accessibility or conversion
to other accessible formats such as large print or braille.
Conversely, styled Word documents can be converted to a variety
of eBook formats including EPUB and Amazon Kindle.
It is important to note that Calibre will only work with eBooks which
are free of any Document Rights Management (DRM). DRM
effectively renders any eBook inaccessible as far as conversion to
other formats is concerned. Calibre itself is also inaccessible to
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screen reader software such as JAWS and only supports limited
and non-standard keyboard commands. A list of these keyboard
commands is included in the help manual. However, Calibre does
have a command line interface for handling conversions if
required.
Installing Calibre
These guidelines are based on Calibre version 1.28. Calibre is
updated on a regular basis so these guidelines may not
correspond exactly to the version you are using.
 Calibre can be downloaded from http://calibre-eBook.com/.
 During installation a default library will be created. This library
can be relocated now or later if required. Refer to the Calibre
library note below.
 The Preferences icon on the toolbar can be used to set default
options such as output format. At least to start with the program
defaults can be left as they are.
The Calibre library
During installation Calibre will have created a default library for
you. When a book is added to the library Calibre creates a folder
for the author and within that a folder for the book. This folder will
contain all versions of the book (including RTF) that you import or
create by conversion.
You may find it more convenient to move the location of the library
to your Documents folder for easier access to the converted files.
If so, the location of the library can be easily changed by selecting
Switch/create library from the Calibre Library drop down menu.
Help
Selecting Help from the main window will take you to the online
user manual. There is also an extensive and useful system of
inbuilt tips which appear when the mouse pointer is placed over an
item or the question mark at the top of some dialogue boxes is
selected.
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Converting eBooks to styled Word documents
It is a straightforward two stage process to turn your DRM free
eBook into an accessible Word document. The eBook first needs
to be converted to RTF using Calibre and then the structure and
styling needs to be tidied up in your word processor. The
guidelines given here refer to Microsoft Word but would apply
equally well to any word processor with similar document styling
capabilities.
Converting your eBook to RTF format
1.
2.
3.
4.
Add the book to your Calibre library.
Select the book to be converted.
Select Convert books from the toolbar.
Choose the format of your eBook from the Input format drop
down list at the top left of the screen.
Note: The correct format for your eBook should automatically
be displayed by Input format unless you have different
versions stored in the Calibre library. The conversion works
very well from eBook formats such as EPUB or Kindle. PDF
files can have very mixed results depending on how the PDF
was originally created.
5. Choose RTF from the Output format drop down list at the top
right of the screen.
6. Select OK to create your RTF file. The Jobs field in the bottom
right hand corner will change to Jobs: 1. When it finishes this
will revert back to Jobs: 0. The new RTF file will then be added
to the list of formats for your book.
7. Choose Path: Click to open on the right hand side to open the
folder for your book and you can then open the converted RTF
file.
Creating the styled Word document
Guidelines for creating styled Word documents are available on
www.load2learn.org.uk and contain further information on styling
for accessibility which can be used in conjunction with these
conversion guidelines.
Converting your eBook to RTF in Calibre retains much of the
styling and will also retain some or all of the images. However, it is
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most likely that some additional editing of the Word copy will be
required to ensure accessibility.
Whilst the converted RTF file can be opened directly in Word it is
likely that you will already have a template or templates for
creating documents styled for accessibility. If this is the case it is
better to open a new blank document using your existing template
and then Insert the converted RTF file. This will ensure it uses
your existing styles. Otherwise, you may need to manually change
the default converted styles to something more suitable for your
learners.
Examination of the converted file may reveal some or all of the
following issues:
 Lists will be indented but with normal style applied and may not
have numbering or bullets.
 You may find that some images have not been converted.
 Alternative text (Alt text) for images is not copied over.
 Hyperlinks will be underlined but will no longer be links and will
not contain any information about the link destination.
 Tables are converted to text and the content is simply laid out
row by row.
 The first line of each paragraph is automatically indented
irrespective of the original styling.
Recreating lists
Recreate lists by selecting the relevant text and changing the style
to list bullet or list number. Note that you may need to delete any
bullets that remain displayed within the text.
Inserting images
Any missing images will need to be copied from the original eBook
file. If the images have any alternative text (Alt text) applied this
can be copied also. There are a number of ways of doing this
depending on the type of file but Calibre itself offers a simple
solution:
1. Open your original eBook in the Calibre viewer. Click on the
arrow next to the View icon on the toolbar and select View
specific format. Click on your original eBook format (for
example EPUB or Mobi) as applicable.
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2. Click the right mouse button over the image to be copied over.
Select Copy image. The image can now be pasted into your
Word document using the mouse or pressing Alt V.
Note: Image Alt text, if present, can be copied using Calibre's
Inspect function:
1. Right click over the image and select Inspect.
2. Click img on the bar at the bottom of the Web Inspector window
to display the code for the image including any Alt text. This will
be indicated by alt=“…”.
3. Double click within the Alt text to select it and press Ctrl C to
copy.
4. Right click the image in your Word document and select Format
picture.
5. Navigate to the Alternative text window and press Ctrl V to
paste the copied text.
Note: Graphics which convey important information should
always have Alt text applied. If none exists you can type
directly into the Alternative text window.
Inserting tables
It is usually quicker to copy complete tables from the original
eBook file rather than to recreate them in Word. As with images
there are a number of solutions for doing this but Calibre offers a
straightforward route.
1. Open your original eBook in the Calibre viewer. Click on the
arrow next to the View icon on the toolbar and select View
specific format. Click on your original eBook format (for
example EPUB or Mobi) as applicable.
2. Use the mouse to select the entire table to be copied.
3. Copy the table using Ctrl C or right mouse click and Copy.
4. The entire table can now be pasted into your Word document
using the mouse or pressing Alt V.
Don't forget to delete the table contents previously inserted by
Calibre!
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Rebuilding hyperlinks
Hyperlinks may be pointing to another place in the book or to an
external website. In either case, if required, the link will need to be
recreated in the word document.
For links pointing to another place in the book:
1. Open your original eBook in the Calibre viewer.
2. Follow the link to see where it goes.
3. In your Word document select the destination word.
4. Insert a Bookmark.
5. Give the bookmark an appropriate name.
6. Select the hyperlink text.
7. Right click the mouse button and select Hyperlink.
8. Select Place in this document.
9. Choose your hyperlink destination from the list of bookmarks.
10. Click Ok to create the hyperlink.
For links pointing to an external website:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Open your original eBook in the Calibre viewer.
Point to the hyperlink and click the right mouse button.
Select Inspect and point to the highlighted web address.
Click the right mouse button and select Copy link.
Select the hyperlink text in your Word document.
Right click the mouse button and select Hyperlink.
Select Existing file or web page.
Paste the web address into the Address field.
Click Ok to create the hyperlink.
Paragraph spacing
By default the current version of Calibre will save the RTF file with
single space indented paragraphs irrespective of the file's original
formatting.
Find and replace can be used to modify the paragraph spacing.
For example, the following instructions will convert single space
indented paragraphs to be left aligned with a single line space in
between:
1. Select Replace from the Edit menu.
2. In the Find what field type ^t to find single tab characters.
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3. In the Replace with field type ^p to replace with a single
paragraph space.
4. Replace all will convert the paragraph spacing of the whole
document at once.
Final checking
You should check the converted book for any other issues and for
any formatting changes required. For example, you may want to
insert 'real' page numbers, modify the font size and typeface etc.
When this is done the last step will be to create a table of contents
if required.
Table of contents
If there was a table of contents within the text in the original eBook
this will be displayed simply as underlined text. This can be
deleted and recreated using Word’s table of contents feature. The
table of contents is created automatically using heading levels and
you can choose how many levels to include.
Converting styled Word documents to eBooks
Word document files in docx format can be converted directly to
popular eBook formats using Calibre.
1. In Microsoft Word create a table of contents. This will be used
as the table of contents for your eBook.
2. In Calibre, add to the library through Add Book.
3. Select the book and click on Convert.
4. Select the desired output format (EPUB or Mobi for example)
and add any metadata you want included with your eBook.
5. Choose OK to create your eBook.
You can also convert between EPUB and Kindle eBook formats
and vice versa using Calibre. As above, add the book and then
convert it. There should be no need to amend any options to do
this.
Endnote
Calibre is an easy to use solution for quickly converting between
different types of eBooks. Apart from eBook conversions it is
especially useful for generating Word documents from the various
eBook formats. Once a Word document is obtained this can then
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be easily converted to any other accessible format such as braille,
large print, audio or DAISY.
Further resources
Information on creating accessible documents and a whole lot
more can be found in the Training and guidance section of the
Load2Learn website:
www.load2learn.org.uk
The Calibre conversion package can be freely downloaded from
the Calibre website:
http://calibre-eBook.com
Information on eBooks and eBook readers can be found on the
RNIB website:
www.rnib.org.uk/ebooks
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