ebook-thumbnailer

ebook-thumbnailer is a cool Python script that helps you create thumbnails for popular ebook formats. If you're someone who loves reading ebooks, you'll find this tool super handy!

Supported Ebook Formats

This nifty package comes with all the schemas you need to integrate with the GNOME 3 Desktop. But don’t worry, it works well with other desktop environments too! Currently, it supports these formats:

• .fb2


• .epub


• .pdf


• .mobi, .prc, .azw, .azw4


• .chm

Getting Started with mobi Files

Just a heads up: if you want to work with mobi files, you'll need to download mobi_unpack from MobileRead since it's not usually included in your OS. After downloading it, just pop it into your system and tweak line #160 in the script. You can find more details by looking for the MOBI section in the source.

Using PIL/Imaging for Thumbnails

If you prefer using PIL/Imaging instead of pygtk for creating images, you're in luck! The code is already set up; all you have to do is comment or uncomment the right lines in the create_thumb function.

Installation Steps

Ready to get started? Here’s how to install:

  cp ebook-thumbnailer.py /usr/local/bin

  cp {chm,epub,fb2,mobi}.thumbnailer /usr/share/thumbnailers

If you're using evince (the default PDF viewer on GNOME), it can already create thumbnails for PDF files. But if you want to add support for PDFs anyway, run this optional command:

  cp pdf.thumbnailer /usr/share/thumbnailers

Then just restart Nautilus to see everything in action!

A Quick Reminder!

Don’t forget that extra step if you're working with mobi ebooks. Happy thumbnailing!