Download the latest version of the hummingbird reader. Caliber program
Caliber is a program for Windows, Mac and Linux that has absolutely all the tools for working with books. It's not just "another reader". Caliber allows you to convert books to different formats, use your computer as a cloud library and have access to all the largest online libraries.
And, of course, in addition to everything else, Caliber is still “another reader”.
The first time you launch Caliber, you will be prompted to use your computer as a cloud library for mobile devices. The function is very interesting and allows you to connect from your gadget to a computer and download from it all the books that you have chosen in advance. Unfortunately, this feature only works with iOS devices that have the Marvin reader installed, as we have already done.
Caliber search includes resources such as Litres, Google Books, Amazon, Biblio, and dozens of others. However, no one bothers you to download your books yourself, and then upload them to Caliber.
A separate plus was the conversion function. The program supports more than 15 formats and allows you to customize every little thing when converting. For me, as a person who often converts PDF books to EPUB or FB2, this turned out to be very useful. Since in other programs the layout is very confused.
Caliber is the ultimate tool for working with books. I don't think I can remember any of his competitors. If you often download books from your computer, convert them or read them, then you should definitely try it.
Part 1: Library Management, Book Reading, Library Sharing
Market e-books corresponds to the demand of a very demanding buyer. What is even more pleasant, these devices are becoming more affordable and technologically advanced. However, along with support for many document formats, functional e-book software is missing. As a result, the user is content with limited out-of-the-box tools.
One of the most topical issues- creation of an electronic library on a computer, followed by synchronization via USB or wireless connection. Equally important is the export of books in a format suitable for reading on the device. With such tasks, the Caliber program will help you cope.
Actually, format incompatibility, software and operating systems and inspired the development of Caliber in 2006. Kovid Goyal, the author of the project, has created an LRF book converter that is relevant for Sony Reader. Since then, the program has acquired many features and runs on Windows, Mac OS and Linux (the review will consider the version for Windows). 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, delete. - 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 formats , TCR, TXT, TXTZ, with easy navigation and page display settings. - Web server
The back end of Caliber is one of the most interesting features, thanks to which users can 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 saving news from Internet sources
At first glance, this feature is purely RSS aggregators. In the case of Caliber, it is possible to create a file from RSS feed news for reading on an electronic device, including on a schedule. - Device sync
Caliber supports a variety 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 when connected via a USB cable. - Converting e-book formats
The program has a 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, the book is easy to save 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 the plug-in. If desired, you can write your own add-on corresponding to the developer's site.
Documentation is available only in English, and not all key features explored in numerous Caliber reviews. At the same time, it cannot be said that a news aggregator or a web server is of less interest than a book converter. Therefore, it makes sense to consider in detail the tools of the program.
First launch of Caliber
At the first stage, the Calibri setup wizard offers to choose a place to store books, as well as localization. The list contains Russian, but the translation is poor quality. For this reason, during the acquaintance with the program, there are moments of misunderstanding. Although, for the most part, the translation is acceptable.
The second step is to select a device to sync with Calibri. An impressive number of devices from such manufacturers are supported: Amazon, Android, Apple, Barnes & Noble, SONY (see screenshot). If the device is not listed, you can select a generic profile (Generic).
According to the choice, access to some options and additional information is opened. For example, in order to synchronize with applications on iOS, it may be necessary to configure the Caliber virtual server in the future (see the corresponding chapter of the review), which will be reported. In the case of Kindle, if books are sent via the Internet, you can specify the recipient's email address.
After closing the dialog, the program starts. A few words need to be said about the interface. The fact is that most of the comments of users are not related to the functional, but 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 the general style of Windows. A more significant drawback is not always smooth scrolling of lists and opening dialogs, 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 delineation of functions, all actions are grouped and placed 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 scaled down, and button placement is customizable via the Toolbar section. Modifications also lend themselves to context menus, columns and other interface elements.
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 pane, you can filter by attributes and search (tag browser). The central column is reserved for the list of books. On the right - information on the selected list item, taken from the metadata of the book. Switching modes are available at the bottom of the window, where you can additionally hide one of the side panels or switch the book display mode - in the form of covers or a grid. Thanks to this, the panels are flexibly configured, making viewing books informative and convenient.
Initially, most of the 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 heading, or drag the column heading to the desired location. Using the template language, you can create columns with your own data, including metadata ("Add custom column" option).
There are several ways to add books. The most obvious is the Add Books button on the toolbar. From the available options of the drop-down list - adding a book from one directory (option 1), adding taking into account subdirectories (option 2) or several (option 3) books per directory. It is also possible to create an empty entry 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, however, adding folders and directories is possible only through the interface. Although you need to be careful, because as a result of illegible imports, you will have to deal with cleaning the list of unnecessary elements. It also makes sense to define a file ignore list in the Add Books menu, Automatic Add tab.
The second way to replenish the library is to search for and purchase books from public and commercial sources (the "Download Books" action). Caliber only provides a wrapper for searching by title, author, and keywords. The remaining functions (purchase, download) are available through the browser, after going to the site. The list of stores is customizable, by eliminating unnecessary elements, you can optimize your search.
Russian-language resources, with the exception of those placed at the end of the list, are clearly not enough. 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 sorted 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, or, say, synchronizing with Dropbox or similar services. However, with Google Drive, at the time of writing, the . It's easy to import or export libraries to another computer - just move the book folder 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 the search is not so in demand.
By the way, searching in several virtual libraries is not supported, it is carried out only in a common database. Otherwise, this feature is integrated into Caliber throughout. Above the central column, a quick search is available, it acts as a filter. Another way to view is the Quickview mode: by highlighting a value in a column and pressing Q, a list is available according to the selected criterion: for example, by author, publisher, genre.
Advanced search (button to the left) allows you to search by content as well as fields. It is allowed to use logical operators, regular expressions, tags in the input line. Requests can be saved for future use (use the field in the upper right corner).
Metadata editor
Experience with Caliber suggests that search is particularly effective when using metadata. The more information you have about a file, the more likely it is to be found quickly by the tag browser.
In the edit dialog, fields such as title, author, series, tags, text/HTML comment, and others are available. If there is an ISBN number of the book, the easiest way to get the necessary information is from the Internet using the data from isbndb.com, Amazon, Google Books services. In the settings, sources are preselected and fields for importing information are marked, the downloaded metadata can be checked against previous information.
In general, there are several things that come in handy when working with metadata. First, books can be edited in turn by selecting them in the list and pressing the edit button. When importing data from the Internet, it is enough to select files, select the command "Download metadata and covers" - all files will be processed in turn. The second point is that even in manual mode, many fields do not have to be filled in 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. A file for reading can be selected both in the library window and directly through the application menu.
At the top is the navigation area, from where you can jump to a position in the text or by pointer. There is a text search. Navigating through the chapters is possible through the slide-out panel "Contents", the corresponding button is located to the left of the viewing area. It is possible to create bookmarks in the document. Reference mode allows you to find out the coordinates of a section of a paragraph in the form of a number when you hover the cursor over the text, then it is entered in the transition field by the pointer.
You can maximize the window to full size or switch to full screen mode. Pages are turned by means of keys or buttons on the panel. It is possible to switch to multi-threaded mode (without pagination), but for some reason it is impossible to switch to two-page display. There are also no other options that are quite obvious to the viewer: fit to the width or size of the window. Of the other "little things" that are familiar by 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, in this app for Caliber, there are many visual options available: choosing a typeface, setting the position of text on the page, colors, background, and flipping behavior. The display of pages is also controlled using easy-to-understand CSS syntax, you can add a style sheet in the "Custom Style Sheet" tab. On the Mobileread themed 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 the long opening, slow scrolling of content and incorrect display.
DJVU format files do not open even if the corresponding plug-in is present in Caliber, although they are perfectly recognized in .
Thus, in order to step over to a qualitatively new level, this application lacks several standard options and conflict-free recognition of at least DJVU and PDF formats.
Library Sharing
Sharing may be needed if the book needs to be transferred to another device (Kindle, Android, iOS) over a local network, over a wireless connection, or over the Internet. In the case of iOS, the server is needed to read books to applications such as Stanza or Marvin.
The server does not actually require any prior configuration. As a last resort, you should check your firewall or antivirus settings to see if the port being used by Caliber is being blocked. The network access configuration is located in the settings section of the same name. Here you can also 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 "Connect / Sharing - Start Content Server" command. As a result, the contents of the server are available at http://:8080/.
Each book has a permanent address and a description based on metadata. The user can navigate through the content: by virtual libraries, tags, publishers and other attributes, track new items. Search is supported - in earlier versions there were problems with Russian-language names, now they are not. Various display modes are provided, including those 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. For a “full-fledged” version of the server, at least access rights and advanced security settings are not enough. But this is clearly not a priority function of the program.
Another networking feature of Caliber is the distribution of e-books by email. For this, a mailing list is used. When sending, books can be converted in one or more specified formats, specified with a separator.
An application is provided for Android devices, with which you can create a wireless connection between Caliber and your phone.
Have you experienced difficulties in reading an e-book due to incompatible formats and software? Or maybe you decided to create or organize an electronic library on a PC. What to do? Use specialized software. Consider 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. But what if there are a lot of books? A good solution is to create an electronic library with subsequent synchronization. It is more convenient to manage 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 slower. Therefore, it is convenient to save the library on a PC, and load 1-2 books that you read into the reader. Consider how to download the Caliber program and work with it.
What can Caliber do?
The incompatibility of the formats prompted the 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 browsing;
- Ability to access the library through the browser;
- Receiving news from Internet 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. Then send it to the reader or by mail;
- Working with add-ons With the help of 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://caliber-ebook.com/ . Click "Download Caliber".
Select OS.
A window will open where we will download the latest version. Click on the "Download" link.
The download will start automatically. The installer file will have an "msi" extension. Launch it by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button. We agree to the license. When the installation is completed, 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 a device for reading. The screenshot shows that devices from many manufacturers are supported.
If the device is not listed, select the Generic profile.
Depending on the choice, additional options will be available. For example, if you choose Kindle, sending will occur via the Internet. Now you can 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 functions of the program 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, the switching modes will be displayed. This makes work comfortable.
How to add
The book is loaded in two ways. Find the "Add" button. When you click on the black triangle, the following options will appear:
- From one directory;
- Subject to subcategories;
- Add from archive;
- According to ISBN;
- Download 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 the buttons, if necessary, switch to the mode where there is no pagination. Customize the font and position of the text.
The main advantage of the viewer is support for many formats
How to translate 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 the 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 schedules for downloading.
Synchronization
The most convenient way is with a cable. To download to the device, connect the reader to the PC. Select a book, right-click on it, then "Submit".
Other methods are available by clicking Connect.
Working with plugins
Thanks to the open source code and documentation API (available at: https://manual.caliber-ebook.com/creating_plugins.html), the functionality of the program is extended. New additions are available on the official blog at: http://blog.caliber-ebook.com/. To work with them, go to "Options" - "Get Plugin". 
They fall into 4 categories:
- Custom. To create books, maintain statistics;
- Getting 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 the export of files. Changes save formats;
- Find Duplicates. Searches for duplicates (by titles) using metadata;
- Reading list. Create reading lists.
Conclusion
We looked at how to download the Caliber program 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 it easier to synchronize and work.
Download Caliber for free via a direct link from the official website in Russian for any Windows XP, 7, 8, 10. The Caliber program will help you read e-books.
A special free manager for e-books, which provide very wide opportunities for organizing your own library. Caliber also offers to convert types of e-books to others, so with the help of the Caliber utility, you can convert files such as RTF, ODT, PRF, HTML and other formats used by devices for reading books.
With the help of Caliber, reading books is not a problem, even editing them and setting up covers. It is possible to import files among themselves, between connected devices and at the same time perform a range of other, no less convenient and interesting operations. The utility supports all known and popular formats for reading e-books, knows how to work with each of them, supports additional text readers, including Amazon Kindle and standard utilities on the Android platform.
Benefits of Caliber:
- Support for a wide range of formats, including FB2, TXT, HTML, CBR, CBZ, EPub, IMP, LIT, MOBI, ODT, OPF, PDF, TPZ, SNB, RTF and others;
- View e-books straight from archives in and 7z formats;
- Application E-book viewer as a built-in application for reading books directly in the Calibri utility;
- Correct display of the database with book titles, authors, release date, cover and publishers;
- Ability to set labels and ratings of works;
- The program's capabilities can be extended through special plug-ins for Caliber;
- High-quality Internet connection for more information. This is done with the help of ISBN;
- Ability to connect to an online library created by the user.
You can download Caliber in Russian from the link above. The program has a really interesting and convenient set of features that will greatly help readers in their reading business.
| Standard installer |
Is free! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| check | Official distribution of Caliber | check | |||
| close | Silent installation without dialog boxes | check | |||
| close | Recommendations for installing the necessary programs | check | |||
| close | Batch installation of multiple programs | check | |||
About the program and its features
Caliber is a free and open source cross-platform application designed for e-book users with a lot of features.- Library management.
Caliber gives you the ability to manage your book collection. The concept of the program - a lot of identical books in different formats are presented as one book in the library.
You can sort and search books by metadata such as: title, author, publication date, date added, size, book series, rating, etc. There is also support for tags and comments and reviews.
You can easily find the required book with a simple search or use the advanced search.
The program organizes the books you add into a clear hierarchical folder structure on your hard drive, so that even in the absence of the program, you can sort through your library.
Plus caliber can search the web for book metadata and cover art by title/author or ISBN. The metadata search system is defined by plugins and can be easily extended independently (With literature in English, it searches with a bang) - Book Converter
Caliber supports converting from a bunch of formats to a bunch of others.
Input Formats: CBZ, CBR, CBC, EPUB, FB2, HTML, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC**, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, TCR, TXT
Output Formats: EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, TCR, TXT
The conversion has many options, such as changing the font size, creating the structure of the book and footnotes, etc. - Synchronization with readers
Caliber uses a modular reader driver system that allows you to add new devices. Now the program already supports many devices. When synchronizing, Caliber chooses the most suitable format by itself, or if there is no necessary one, it converts it to the required one. It also adds all the necessary metadata and information about book series to the reader. - Download news and convert it into a book
Caliber contains already 3 hundreds of news sources. And after reading the manual, it will not be difficult for you to add new sources - Built-in book reader
Caliber contains built-in programs for reading all supported book formats. - Content Web Server
Caliber contains a built-in web server for remote library management. It can also download and email books to you.
Installation
For Windows, everything is simple - we take the distribution kit and install it.For Mac.
For Linux, we are looking in the repositories of your distribution, with a high probability there will be.
If you use something less common (in arch, for example, there is only in AUR) or we want to have the latest version, then run the script
sudo python -c "import urllib2; exec urllib2.urlopen("http://status.caliber-ebook.com/linux_installer").read(); main()"
Or we take the source and act according to the instructions
http://caliber-ebook.com/download_linux
At the first start, we configure the program using the wizard.
Select the language, the location of the library. Next, select the model of our reader. And the installation is complete. We can enjoy our work.
User experience
Having started working with this library manager, the first thing I did was throw my entire collection there. It didn't take long, since everything was in one folder, which had something similar to the order, but not perfect. Having chosen to add all the books from this folder, Caliber scanned its contents and transferred it to its library, sorting everything neatly into folders.
Further, it is a pleasure to use it. I really liked the conversion of books into the format I needed and downloading information about the book by ISBN. Some of the books I had in fb2 and there were already some descriptions of the books. I put it in order a little and after checking the series of books and the uniformity of the spelling of the names of the authors, I connected my Sony reader and indicated to throw all the books on the reader's card. Caliber itself converted all the books to lrf and carefully placed them on the reader's memory card.
I also really liked the built-in content server. At work, the computer is constantly connected to the Internet and has a white address, then my main library has become there. It is convenient that I download all the books at work and throw them into a single library. If the reader is with me, I immediately synchronize it. Or I download at home already from my library and synchronize with my home library. But the most convenient thing is when you go somewhere in the city or on a business trip and forget the reader, you can get on your phone and download the book you need to finish reading even on your mobile. Or conveniently share a book with a friend.
For books in English, the program finds all metadata and cover with a bang, with Russian it is more difficult. The function of downloading news was not deeply tested as it was especially unnecessary. But at first glance it is quite convenient.