FLAG

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Has anyone used the Fanfiction Lightweight Automated Grabber (FLAG)?

How does it compare to Graffer and Fanfiction Downloader in terms of ease of use and the appearance of the finished e-book?

I use Calibre to put .epub files on my Sony PRS-505 if that makes a difference.

Comments

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

I'm interested to hear this as well. I've only used Fanfiction Downloader when I need it, but prefer when authors provide ready-made PDFs.

A random question for you, since I use a Sony as well, why do you prefer the .epub format over PDFs? Just curious.

[amalthia]

I tried it when it first came out but ultimately I decided to continue to use Calibre to create my own ebooks. I liked having control over the style elements.

[josieb1.livejournal.com]

I rely on simple copy and paste onto a word doc, then save as RTF and convert into MOBI (I have a Kindle) using Calibre. I always convert PDFs in Calbre to MOBI and if I hate the way it looks on my Kindle then I convert the PDF to RTF then go in and edit the new RTF and convert that to MOBI.

I haven't used FLAG but when I use Fanfic downloader I get fed up with author comments between chapters, so for me I'll stick with copy and paste, I get a cleaner ebook that way.

[haikitteh.livejournal.com]

I like it a lot. I've actually switched to FLAG for multi-chapter stories from ff.net. I like it a bit better than Fanfiction Downloader: the chapter headings and linked TOC are a little nicer. Also since the update, she's added little details like the original link to the story, and the date it was first posted and last updated.

The only downside to it for me is that I can't replace the title page with a picture of my own choosing in calibre. But that's a small price to pay for a nicely-formatted ebook.

Hit and Run comment

[reppu.livejournal.com]

I use FLAG all the time for Fanficton.net stories. I like that you don't have to download it and that it creates a great table of contents for you. I've never used the other two programs that you've mentioned, but if you want something quick and easy, FLAG is it. Plus with Calibre's Kindle Collections, I can bulk-add new fanfic to my Kindle and it saves me a bunch of time. FLAG has been so good to me that I haven't found a reason to use anything else.

[valkyrie4clex.livejournal.com]

I just went to FFNET and downloaded @ 10 stories. FLAG seems to be as fast as fanfiction downloader. I actually liked FLAG better because I DL fic as PDF's and the PDF's from FLAG don't have all the extra lines of code that show up in pdf's from fanfiction dl'er. in between the chapters. I will be using it in the future.
Thanks for asking about it because I hadn'y heard of it before. I guess when i have something that is working I don't go hunting for something better.