Post updated on 10 August, 2015
Calibre Mac free download - Calibre (64-bit), WinZip Mac, Technitium MAC Address Changer, and many more programs. 6 5 Cons 1 Top Pro. Reads many file types. Including PDF, XPS, DjVu, CHM, EPUB, Mobi. Apr 17, 2021 Calibre, bless it, is the only app that will let me easily add books to my Barnes & Noble Nook HD- a fine little tablet on many levels but Mac-hostile beyond belief in this day and age. Still no idea how to add photographs and music though.
About calibre
Calibre is a free, open source, ebook management and conversion utility created and maintained by Kovid Goyal. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
Calibre cannot, on its own, remove DRM from ebooks. However, it is possible to added third-party software (‘plugins’) to enhance calibre.
To be able to use the DeDRM plugin for calibre, it is necessary to install calibre first. The latest version can be downloaded from http://calibre-ebook.com/download.
The DeDRM plugin for calibre
The DRM removal plugin (DeDRM_plugin.zip) can be found in the tools archive linked from the most recent post in this blog. The DeDRM plugin can remove DRM from Kindle eBooks (but not rented Kindle ebooks, books downloaded to a Kindle Fire, Kindle for iOS or the Windows Store Kindle App), Barnes & Noble ePub ebooks (but not books downloaded to the Windows Store Nook App) , any ebooks using Adobe Digital Editions DRM (this includes ePubs from Kobo and Sony that are downloaded for Adobe Digital Editions), and the older Mobipocket and eReader ebooks. For other kinds of ebooks see the other posts in this blog.
Installing the DeDRM plugin for calibre
- Download the latest tools package, and unzip it.
(On Windows, right-click and “Extract All…”; After extracting all, rename the tools_vX.X.X.zip file to tools_zipped_vX.X.X.zip to prevent later confusion) - Run calibre. From the Preferences menu select “Change calibre behavior”.
(Do not click “Get plugins to enhance calibre”, that option is reserved for ‘official’ calibre plugins.) - Click on Plugins (under “Advanced”) — it looks like a jigsaw puzzle piece.
- Click on the large “Load plugin from file” button
- Navigate to the tools folder unzipped in step 2
- Open the “DeDRM_calibre_plugin” folder
- Select the DeDRM_plugin.zip file in that folder
- Click on the “Add” (sometimes “Open”) button.
- Click on the “Yes” button in the “Are you sure?” warning dialog that appears. A “Success” dialog will appear, saying that the plug-in has been installed. Click on “OK”.
Customising the plugin with encryption keys
On Macintosh and Windows systems no customisation is required for ebooks from Kindle for Mac/PC, Nook Study, or Adobe Digital Editions (ADE), provided that calibre is run on the same computer and user account as the installation of Kindle for Mac/PC, Nook Study, or ADE to which the books were downloaded. The default key is found and stored in the preferences automatically. Anyone using Linux should read the ReadMe file for details of how to obtain the keys manually.
For other sources of ebooks, or on Linux systems, you must configure the plugin. To configure the plugin, you must find it in the list of plugins. Usually calibre will have automatically selected the DeDRM plugin after you add it. If not, the DeDRM plugin can be found under “File Type plugins”. It might easier to find if you check the “Show only user installed plugins” checkbox. You might need to click on the triangle next to the “File Type plugins” label to show the list of File Type plugins.
If it’s not already selected, click on the DeDRM plugin in the list to select it, and then click on the Customize plugin button. This will open that main “Customise DeDRM” dialog which contains a set of buttons describing different type and sources of ebooks. If you have DRMed ebooks that match the description on any of the buttons, you will need to click on the button and enter the required information in the sub-dialog that will pop up.
All the dialogs have a help link in the top right of the dialog, that gives further information about the required information.
When all the configuration for your DRMed ebooks has been entered, click “OK” in the main dialog to save all the information you’ve entered. You’re now ready to remove the DRM from your ebooks.
Using the DeDRM calibre plugin
The DeDRM calibre plugin removes DRM from ebooks as they are imported into calibre. So to use the plugin, just import your DRMed ebooks into calibre, and the DRM will be removed. If you have already imported your ebooks into calibre, you will need to remove the DRMed ebooks and import them again.
You can check that the DRM has been removed from an imported ebook by trying to view it using calibre’s built-in viewer. Note that for .azw3 Kindle ebooks you might need to check a checkbox in calibre’s preferences to say that .azw3 ebooks should be viewed using calibre’s internal viewer.
If things go wrong
The calibre developers are not involved in the development of the DRM removal plugin, and are not able to help with any DRM removal questions. If you have any difficulties following the instructions in this post, the calibre developers will not be able to help.
You must ask any questions about installing or using the DeDRM calibre plugin in a comment to most recent post on this blog.
Credits
Most of the work on converting the DRM removal scripts to a calibre plugin has been done by DiapDealer and Apprentice Alf.
When talking about Calibre DRM Removal 2020, we will know that we should add DeDRM tools to Calibre because they are must-have if we want to remove DRM from eBooks with Calibre.
In this post, I’ll focus on DeDRM with Calibre for Kindle/Kobo/ACSM eBooks part by part — and 10+ exclusive and effective solutions if you meet errors.
Disclaimer:
1. DeDRM from eBooks is acceptable only when you want to backup or share your own files. DON’T resell those drm free eBooks and respect every author please.
2. This post introduces exactly how to dedrm eBooks from Kindle, Kobo and Adobe Digital Editions (such as Google Play books) files. Apple books and Nook ePubs are not supported now.
3. DeDRM tools only work on our own purchased eBooks, eTextbooks and rented eBooks are not supported.
4. Here what I introduced are all tested on my personal Windows laptop and Mac computer. Calibre supports Linux, if you meet any problems when running calibre drm plugins on Linux, please contact Alf team to ask for help as I didn’t test Calibre DRM Removal for eBooks on Linux.
Part 1. Preparing (What You Need)
- Calibre 5 and DeDRM plugin v7.1.0 (Or dedrm v6.8.1 for calibre 4)
- Kindle/Kobo/Adobe eBooks downloaded via official desktop app.
- Import eBooks to Calibre to DeDRM.
Note:
1. Simply download the new Calibre and DeDRM tools v7.1.0 please. If you are using the older calibre 4.x you should be using the older DRM i.e. 6.8.1.
2. The DeDRM_tools (calibre drm removal plugins 2021) contains two plugins: DeDRM and Obok. The DeDRM plugin handles books that are downloaded from Kindle, Adobe Digital Editions, and some historical formats. The Obok plugin handles books that are downloaded from Kobo desktop app.
Part 2. How to Add DeDRM tools to Calibre?
This is how you add a plugin to the Calibre program.
(Add: You can also download the latest dedrm tools and calibre 5.)
Step1. Download Calibre version 4.x or earlier.
Step2. Download DeDRM_tools_6.8.1.zip and unzip it.
Step3. Add downloaded plugin zip file to Calibre.
Run calibre, select “Preferences” > “Plugin” > “Load plugin from file”, then choose the “DeDRM_plugin.zip” or “Obok_plugin.zip” from the unzipped DeDRM_tools_6.8.1 archive, click on the “Open” button. Ignore the “Are you sure?” warning dialog(Yes”), then A “Success” dialog will appear, saying that the plug-in has been installed. Click on “OK” and then “Apply”.
Step4. Restart Cablire.
Part 3. DRM removal plugin failed to install Issues
Have followed the above steps but the calibre dedrm plugin is not working?
SyntaxeError: invalid syntax
As of calibre 5, calibre has moved from Python 2 to Python 3, because Python 2 has been end-of-lifed.
To resolve this bug, you just need to update your Calibre to the latest version, and then add the DeDRM plugin v7.1.0 to calibre. If you’ve added the older version of drm plugins, delete it from calibre first and then re-import.
Unhandled exception: does not contain a top-level init.py file
You see this error may be because you added the whole archive file into calibre. Unzip the DeDRM_tools_6.8.1 archive, and look in the DeDRM_tools_6.8.1 folder for the zip file(named DeDRM_Plugin.zip and Obok_plugin.zip) to load into calibre.
Another reason is the downloaded drm plugin file is not the latest version. If so, you should remove the older version plugin first, and then download the latest one and import them again to calibre.
Part 4. How to unlock DRM from Kindle KFX eBooks with Calibre plugin?
Since Amazon started using new KFX format to Kindle eBooks, calibre plugin no longer works for unlocking DRM from KFX format. The DeDRM plugin here works with non-KFX Amazon books only, and the solutions introduced here are walkaround solutions, not the direct (quick) one.
Note:
1. The plugin doesn’t work on books downloaded from Kindle Fire(HD) tablets, Kindle for Android/IOS applications.
2. The tools do not work with the Windows 8 AppStore Kindle app.
3. To convert KFX to ePub/PDF with Calibre, the KFX Input Plugin (version 1.36.0 at the time of writing) must be installed too.
4. If you have a Kindle e-ink device, don’t directly download and import books to calibre as it doesn’t work on these files. But you can download and transfer via USB to your device, then the downloaded file will be .azw3 format. Import azw3 to Calibre and configure the DeDRM plugin by inputting KSN, then you can also remove drm.
Walkaround 1. (For Windows) Install an outdated Kindle (such as version 1.24)
If you have downloaded the latest Kindle for PC, deregister the Kindle PC app first, and then uninstall it from your windows computer.
Install, launch, and register this Kindle installation with your own amazon account.
Don’t forget to uncheck the auto-update from Kindle’s settings. Otherwise, when you launch it next time, it will update to the latest version automatically, which does not work with DeDRM.
If asked if you want to update to the newest version, always select “Skip this version” please.
Now you can select books from your Kindle library and download them to your local Windows.
Important:
You can find(and even change) the kindle for pc books location by clicking on “Tools” > “Options” > “Content” > “Change Folder”.Import Kindle books to Calibre library, and the DRM will be removed.
As the above image shows, the drm removed KFX books will be turned to KFX(non-DRM). After you installed the kfx input plugin to calibre, you can continue to convert kfx eBooks to other formats.
Walkaround 2. (For Mac) Avoid KFX downloads by renaming renderer-test on Kindle for Mac
Important:
For mac computer users, we can also use an older version kindle for mac（such as v1.23) to get around the new kfx format. But in fact, considering that the older version kindle app can’t run on catalina and big sur, while more users have updated (or will update soon) their mac system to the newest one, so here I write down this solution in detail for Mac users, save your time to understand and test.The key to avoiding KFX downloading from K4Mac 1.25+ is to block KFX with chmod -x, then download books using right-click on mouse and selecting “Download”.
Install the latest version of Kindle for Mac or update to the latest one, v1.30.
If there are kindle books already in the “Downloaded” tab, remove them first(Remove from device).
Then, run Terminal app, copy and paste following command in terminal, if needed input password to execute command.
If you don’t have a password, then run this command.
After patching the Kindle app, run the Kindle app and select one book, right-click and “Download”.
The downloaded books are saved under “My Kindle Content” folder. By clicking Kindle > Preferences > Content > Change Folder, you can find and modify the location.
Now you can import the downloaded kindle books from “My Kindle Content” folder to Calibre, then as what you see, the drm is removed automatically and calibre turns these books to AZW3 format.
Note:
Right-click to download is key important. If you double click to download the book, you will get the new kfx or kcr format.After the downloading is completed, DON’T double click to open it, otherwise it will cause the Kindle app crashes unexpectedly. The downloaded old format is incompatible with the newest kindle app. After all, amazon prefers us to download and use the new KFX format.
Kindle KFX DeDRM Failed and Solutions
01. The Kindle DRM has been removed, but all the pictures are gone
Most likely, this is an AZW6 format book that the tools don’t support. But as the azw6 is only downloaded directly via Kindle e-Ink device, so the solution is downloading your book by “Download & Transfer via USB”.
02. The Kindle book (AZW4) conversions takes a long time
The AZW4 is a Print Replica Kindle ebook. This is a PDF in a Kindle wrapper. After you adding it to Calibre, the azw4 DRM will be removed successfully. Now all you should do is using the KindleUnpack plugin.
03. AZW/KCR/KFX-ZIP in Calibre
In fact, if Calibre shows the book in “AZW”, “KCR”, “KFX-ZIP” format after you add one book to the calibre library, it’s likely that Calibre failed to remove its DRM.
See, after I click on “Convert books” and select “epub” to convert, calibre shows the above error message.
To avoid this, I would say please follow all the details step by step as what I write at the above.
You can also click on the “Jobs: 0” label in the lower right corner of the calibre window to activate the Jobs dialog.
Select the failed conversion job from the list (the most recent will be first) and click the “Show job details” button. Copy the log to the clipboard and then paste it to Github or Mobileread for help.
DRM plugin driving me mad? If you think Calibre and the plugin are complex, here you can choose a good alternative, iSummersoft Kindle Converter.
When started, it will detect your computer system and show you the official guide on how to download your kindle books in the correct way. And then, after you downloaded books well, it will auto-detect your books and show them at the left side. All you need to do is just to add them from the left to the right area, choose output format (from ePub, pdf, mobi, azw3, txt, docx options) and convert.
Part 5. How to disable DRM from Adobe Digital Editions (ACSM)?
The installed DeDRM plugin also works on Adobe ACSM files, such as the downloaded books from Google Play.
You will find that the downloaded file is in acsm format. ACSM is associated with Adobe Digital Editions. It means we must use the ADE to open this type of files.
The first time running ADE, you should authorize an Adobe ID, and then open your acsm with it. When the acsm is opened via ADE, the acsm is turned to ePub or PDF (depends on ebooks vendors), but with DRM. And they are stored under “My Digital Editions” folder.
Now you can import them from the digital editions folder to Calibre. Then, the Adobe DRM is removed by the dedrm plugin in Calibre.
Note:
Not all the acsm files that you downloaded from an online eBook store will be supported by the dedrm plugin, though you can open them via ADE.You may meet problems when authorizing an Adobe ID or opening acsm file via ADE.
Please ensure that you are using the same email address as your ebookstore account’s, this is important. Another reason is you used an incorrect Adobe ID, if so you should switch your adobe account to login.
Calibre Ios App
What is an ACSM file? Why should we use ADE to open this type of file? Is it possible to convert and print adobe to normal PDF?
Calibre Download For Mac
Part 6. How to Use Calibre kepub plugin?
The Obok_plugin.zip you added to Calibre is used for removing DRM from Kobobooks. By default, Calibre will show this plugin at the top menu bar.
Firstly, you should use Kobo for PC/Mac to help download your books.
Where to find them? Books downloaded via Kobo PC are saved here:
And Kobo for Mac books are saved in this location:
Calibre Macbook Pro
Launch Calibre and click on the “Obok” plugin. If you don’t see it, click on the three dots icon at the top menu bar.
Then from the popup window you will find that it automatically detects all of your downloaded Kobo EPUB books.
The red lock icon means that book is drm protected, and the green lock icon means that book is drm free. To crack those drm protected books, you can click “All with DRM” and then touch “OK”. Wait for the job to complete.
Now the drm limitation is removed from your Kobo books, and they are in EPUB format (the original is kepub, with drm). If you want to transfer Kobo books to Kindle, you can continue to convert them to Mobi format in Calibre.
Tips that work:
1. If you already downloaded Kobo books on Kobo eReader, you can also connect it to the computer and then import that book to calibre so that you can remove DRM directly from them.
2. If you use the Kobo desktop app to help download files, download and install the app from Kobo official site please. DON’T install the app from any app stores. Otherwise, you may fail to remove DRM from kepub.
3. Couldn’t find the kepub folder on Mac? Use Terminal and running following command: write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles yes
then Enter.
Final Words, with Some Useful Tricks
This is all I could share with you on Calibre DeDRM 101. If you follow this guide step by step, I think you will succeed in unlocking your purchased eBook files.
Calibre Ios
- Check you are using the correct version of Calibre.
- Check you are using the latest version of Plugins.
- Downloading eBooks via desktop app makes the DeDRM more easier to function.
- Re-import eBooks to Calibre again.
- The drm is removed after importing the book, not converting it.
- Don’t forget to submit your error log to Mobileread, github, reddit to get help.
- Or use the best alternatives from iSummersoft, these products deserve your trial and are much easy to use.