post updated on August 10, 2015
about caliber
caliber is a free and open source e-book 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 e-books. however, it is possible to add third party software (“plugins”) to enhance caliber.
You are reading: Apprentice alf’s drm removal tool for e-books
In order to use the dedrm plugin for caliber, caliber must first be installed. the latest version can be downloaded from http://calibre-ebook.com/download.
the dedrm plugin for caliber
The drm removal plugin (dedrm_plugin.zip) can be found in the tools archive linked to the most recent post on 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 from the windows store nook app), any ebook that uses adobe digital editions drm (this includes kobo and sony epubs that are downloaded for adobe digital editions), and older mobipocket and ereader ebooks . for other types of e-books, check out the other posts on this blog.
installation of the caliber dedrm plugin
- download the latest toolkit and unzip it. (on windows, right click and “extract all…”; after extracting all, rename the file tools_vx.x.x.zip to tools_zipped_vx.x.x.zip to avoid confusion later)
- run caliber . in the preferences menu, select “change caliber behavior”. (don’t click “get plugins to enhance caliber”, that option is reserved for ‘official’ caliber plugins).
- click plugins (under “advanced”) – looks like a puzzle piece.
- click the big “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 the “add” (sometimes “open”) button.
- click the “yes” button on the “are you sure?” warning dialog box that appears. A “success” dialog will appear, indicating that the plugin has been installed. click “accept”.
plugin customization with encryption keys
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on macintosh and windows systems, customization is not required for kindle ebooks for mac/pc, nook study or adobe digital editions (ade), as long as caliber is running on the same computer and user account as the caliber installation. kindle for mac/pc, corner study or ade in which the books were downloaded. the default key is found and stored in preferences automatically. anyone using linux should read the readme for details on how to get the keys manually.
for other ebook sources, or on linux systems, you need to configure the plugin. to configure the plugin, you need to find it in the list of plugins. usually caliber will have automatically selected the dedrm plugin after you add it. if not, the dedrm plugin can be found under “file type plugins”. it may be easier to find if you check the “only show user-installed plugins” checkbox. you may need to click the triangle next to the “file type plugins” label to display the list of file type plugins.
If it is not already selected, click the dedrm plugin in the list to select it, and then click the customize plugin button. this will open the main “customize dedrm” dialog which contains a set of buttons describing different types and sources of e-books. If you have edited e-books that match the description on any of the buttons, you will need to click the button and enter the required information in the sub-dialog that appears.
all dialogs have a help link at the top right of the dialog, which provides more information on the information required.
When you have entered all the settings for your drmed e-books, click “ok” on the main dialog to save all the information you entered. Now you are ready to remove the drm from your e-books.
using caliber dedrm plugin
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the caliber dedrm plugin removes drm from ebooks as they are imported into caliber. so to use the plugin, simply import your drmed ebooks into caliber, and the drm will be removed. if you have already imported your ebooks into caliber, you will need to remove the drmed ebooks and import them again.
You can verify that the drm has been removed from an imported eBook by trying to view it with caliber’s built-in viewer. note that for kindle .azw3 ebooks, you may need to check a checkbox in caliber preferences to indicate that .azw3 ebooks should be viewed with caliber’s internal viewer.
if things go wrong
The caliber developers are not involved in the development of the drm removal plugin and cannot help with any drm removal questions. If you have any difficulty following the instructions in this post, the caliber developers will not be able to help you.
You should ask any questions about installing or using the dedrm caliber plugin in a comment to the most recent post on this blog.
credits
diapdealer and trainee alf have done most of the work to turn the drm removal scripts into a caliber plugin.
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