Book metadata

The title, the author and the language of a book are written into the file, and each format has a different place for them, or none. Book metadata in Advanced conversion options holds ComicInfo title, EPUB language and Keep ComicInfo.xml. A book’s own title, author and language are set per item with the book-details action of the queue, as described in Adding manga, and Name the book .epub is next to the device. This page reads every one of them back from a real book.

The examples convert three pages of Pepper&Carrot, episode 6, kept in a folder named Pepper and Carrot 06, to an EPUB for the Kindle Paperwhite 6 unless a row says otherwise. Pepper&Carrot has no ComicInfo.xml, so the folder has one written for the examples, with the comic’s own title, series number and author:

<ComicInfo>
  <Title>The Potion Contest</Title>
  <Series>Pepper&amp;Carrot</Series>
  <Number>6</Number>
  <Volume>1</Volume>
  <Writer>David Revoy</Writer>
  <LanguageISO>en</LanguageISO>
</ComicInfo>

Where each format keeps it

The three rows were converted with the same title, author and language: --title, --author and --language.

Measured with mangaprep 0.9.0: each value is read back from the book it wrote.
Setting	On the command line	Book title	Author	Language
EPUB	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --author "D. Revoy" --language ja`	Pepper & Carrot 6	D. Revoy	ja
PDF	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --author "D. Revoy" --language ja`	Pepper & Carrot 6	D. Revoy	not in the book
CBZ	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --author "D. Revoy" --language ja`	not in the book	not in the book	not in the book

An EPUB keeps all three in its package file.
A PDF keeps the title and the author in its document properties, and mangaprep writes no language in it.
A CBZ made by mangaprep holds only the pages, and a ComicInfo.xml when you ask for one, as below. The title, the author and the language are not in it, so the book is known by its file name.

Book title and author

Without them, the title is built from the ComicInfo.xml when the input has one, and is the name of the input when it has none. The author is the Writer of the ComicInfo.xml, or Unknown. --title and --author replace them, and -t and -a are their short forms.

Measured with mangaprep 0.9.0: each value is read back from the book it wrote.
Setting	On the command line	Book title	Author
Nothing given, and no ComicInfo.xml	`no flag`	Pepper and Carrot 06	Unknown
Nothing given, with a ComicInfo.xml	`no flag`	Pepper&Carrot Vol. 01 #006	David Revoy
Title given	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6"`	Pepper & Carrot 6	David Revoy
Author given	`--author "D. Revoy"`	Pepper&Carrot Vol. 01 #006	D. Revoy
Both given	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --author "D. Revoy"`	Pepper & Carrot 6	D. Revoy

In the app, a book’s title and author come from Series title or Book title and Author in its details. --title and --author only reach an EPUB or a PDF; in a CBZ they change nothing.

ComicInfo title

Which title a ComicInfo.xml gives is the choice of ComicInfo title. The default builds it from the series, the volume and the number; Append the ComicInfo title adds the ComicInfo’s own Title after it; Use the ComicInfo title only takes that Title alone, and then not even a title you give is used. --metadatatitle takes series-only, combine or title-only.

Measured with mangaprep 0.9.0: each value is read back from the book it wrote.
Setting	On the command line	Book title
ComicInfo title: Use series, volume, and number	`--metadatatitle series-only`	Pepper&Carrot Vol. 01 #006
ComicInfo title: Append the ComicInfo title	`--metadatatitle combine`	Pepper&Carrot Vol. 01 #006: The Potion Contest
ComicInfo title: Use the ComicInfo title only	`--metadatatitle title-only`	The Potion Contest
A title given, with Use series, volume, and number	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --metadatatitle series-only`	Pepper & Carrot 6
A title given, with Append the ComicInfo title	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --metadatatitle combine`	Pepper & Carrot 6
A title given, with Use the ComicInfo title only	`--title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --metadatatitle title-only`	The Potion Contest
Use the ComicInfo title only, and no ComicInfo.xml	`--metadatatitle title-only`	Pepper and Carrot 06

With no ComicInfo.xml in the input there is no title to apply, and the last row is the name of the input. A title you give wins in every row but one: Use the ComicInfo title only, since that is what it is for.

Keep ComicInfo.xml

A CBZ made by mangaprep has no ComicInfo.xml unless this is on. With --keepcomicinfo the one of the input is copied in as it is, not rewritten, even when you give a title and an author. An input without one gets none. The option applies to a CBZ and nothing else, and the app dims it for an EPUB and a PDF; the last two rows give the flag anyway, to show that it adds nothing to them.

Measured with mangaprep 0.9.0: each value is read back from the book it wrote.
Setting	On the command line	ComicInfo.xml in the book
CBZ, Keep ComicInfo.xml: Off	`no flag`	no
CBZ, Keep ComicInfo.xml: On	`--keepcomicinfo`	yes, the input’s own, unchanged
CBZ, Keep ComicInfo.xml: On, with a title and an author given	`--keepcomicinfo --title "Pepper & Carrot 6" --author "D. Revoy"`	yes, the input’s own, unchanged
CBZ, Keep ComicInfo.xml: On, and no ComicInfo.xml in the input	`--keepcomicinfo`	no
EPUB, Keep ComicInfo.xml: On	`--keepcomicinfo`	no
PDF, Keep ComicInfo.xml: On	`--keepcomicinfo`	no

EPUB language

The language is written in the EPUB’s package file, and en-US is used when none is given. A CBZ and a PDF are not given one, as the first table showed. --language takes the language code.

Measured with mangaprep 0.9.0: each value is read back from the book it wrote.
Setting	On the command line	Language
EPUB language: not given	`no flag`	en-US
EPUB language: ja	`--language ja`	ja
EPUB language: pt-BR	`--language pt-BR`	pt-BR
PDF, with ja	`--language ja`	not in the book
CBZ, with ja	`--language ja`	not in the book

The setting asks for a code that is not empty, and a book’s own details name a language in the form pt-BR; a book whose details name one uses it and not the setting. See Adding manga.

Name the book .epub

A Kobo’s own reader looks for the name .kepub.epub, so mangaprep names the EPUB it makes for a Kobo profile that way, when it makes the name from the input. Name the book .epub, --nokepub, keeps the plain .epub. Only the name changes: the book inside is the same file. A custom screen size stops mangaprep from treating the device as a Kobo, a book for any other device is named .epub anyway, and a CBZ is always .cbz.

Measured with mangaprep 0.9.0: each value is read back from the book it wrote.
Setting	On the command line	File name
Kobo Libra Colour, EPUB	`no flag`	Pepper and Carrot 06.kepub.epub
Kobo Libra Colour, EPUB, Name the book .epub: On	`--nokepub`	Pepper and Carrot 06.epub
Kobo Libra Colour, EPUB, with a Custom width	`--customwidth 1000`	Pepper and Carrot 06.epub
Kobo Libra Colour, CBZ	`no flag`	Pepper and Carrot 06.cbz
Kindle Paperwhite 6, EPUB	`no flag`	Pepper and Carrot 06.epub