August 8, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
You can read more and download Calibre at http://calibre-ebook.com/. There is a version for Windows, Mac (OS X), as well as Linux computers. Every day you use it you will wonder what on earth you ever did without it.
Calibre is a great Open Source, absolutely free to use and share application for your PC or Mac. If you download ebooks from places other than Amazon or have ever had to deal with the various other ebook formats (not Amazon .azw files), Calibre could become your new best friend. Once you turn a few search engines loose, you will be amazed how many places there are to find good DRM-free (digital rights management-free) books to add to your Kindle library. Manybooks.net, feedbooks.com, gutenberg.org and inkmesh.com are four of my favorites.
Calibre will open many different ebook file types, some the Kindle won't touch, and Calibre can convert those for you quickly and easily to a Kindle friendly format. The help area on the Calibre site includes a step by step guide to converting html and Microsoft Word format files using Calibre. These are the types of files you may be likely to use for personal files you might want to use on your Kindle. Calibre is a great tool for taking a personal file and making it perfectly readable on your Kindle.
Calibre knows when you have a Kindle hooked up to your computer (mac or pc) so transferring your files to your Kindle is as simple as clicking the Send to device button. Kindle related buttons only appear when your Kindle is connected. When your Kindle is connected, you will also see little green check marks next to any books Calibre has sent to it before.
Over the next few days I will share some of my favorite Calibre tips and tricks. Stay tuned!
