iBooks frustration
- Thread starter sdurf
- Start date
bluesman41
iPF Noob
I'm having trouble with iTunes and iBooks. New, up to date iPad (3). I scan a document ( to PDF ) and load it into iTunes for uploading to my iPad.
The first problem is that the iTunes "Info" for the PDF is the same as the info for a music file. None of the fields use names that are appropriate for books, and I can't find a description of how the fields map. For instance, the field offered is "artist", but should be " author". And there are a lot of fields, and the correlations are not always so obvious. I got past this by trial and error - putting values in fields and observing the effect in iBooks. That takes a while!
Along the way I discovered what I consider a bug. When I change a field in iTunes - and sync - the change does not show in iBooks, even though it does show in my iPad Books display in iTunes. In other words, iTunes believes my iPad has been updated appropriately, but iBooks still displays the old information. The only way I've found to fix this is to delete the PDF in iTunes, sync, (that works, the PDF is removed from the iPad), then do it all over again.
That's the main two problems. Thirdly, there is the question of interpreting the iTunes screen. What do the sync icons mean that are next to only some of the books? And what does it mean that some entries in the list of books are grayed out?
Thanks to anyone who can help me with these things.
The first problem is that the iTunes "Info" for the PDF is the same as the info for a music file. None of the fields use names that are appropriate for books, and I can't find a description of how the fields map. For instance, the field offered is "artist", but should be " author". And there are a lot of fields, and the correlations are not always so obvious. I got past this by trial and error - putting values in fields and observing the effect in iBooks. That takes a while!
Along the way I discovered what I consider a bug. When I change a field in iTunes - and sync - the change does not show in iBooks, even though it does show in my iPad Books display in iTunes. In other words, iTunes believes my iPad has been updated appropriately, but iBooks still displays the old information. The only way I've found to fix this is to delete the PDF in iTunes, sync, (that works, the PDF is removed from the iPad), then do it all over again.
That's the main two problems. Thirdly, there is the question of interpreting the iTunes screen. What do the sync icons mean that are next to only some of the books? And what does it mean that some entries in the list of books are grayed out?
Thanks to anyone who can help me with these things.
twerppoet
iPad Fan
The only important fields for a book entry are Name, Artist, and Genre. You can also change the sorting order using the Sorting tab to enter the sort by names in a different order (Dickens, Charles) as opposed to (Charles Dickens). The year field can also by useful for tracking versions; though only in iTunes itself.
The necessity to delete and reload PDF books to see the changes is a known bug. I'd hoped it was squashed by now. On the other hand it may not be all that well known to Apple, so it wouldn't hurt to say something if you feel strongly about it.
I'm not sure what you mean by the sync icon or the grayed out entries. On the iPad or on the computer? And in what view/store/mode are they showing up?
The necessity to delete and reload PDF books to see the changes is a known bug. I'd hoped it was squashed by now. On the other hand it may not be all that well known to Apple, so it wouldn't hurt to say something if you feel strongly about it.
I'm not sure what you mean by the sync icon or the grayed out entries. On the iPad or on the computer? And in what view/store/mode are they showing up?
