e-library software

Thanks for all, who is taking part in the AlfaEbooks Manager 1.8 beta testing. We have fixed some issues and added some new features requested by beta-testers. In particular, we have added the batch Web Update tool, so you will be able to update multiple books from the Web by ISBN.

We have built the new AlfaEbooks Manager 1.8 demo. It's available for download here. It comes with the sample e-library database. We invite you to test it, and you can still get the free license.

All existing users, who purchased the software license earlier, please test the demo version with the sample database, and if it works fine, please send your name and Order ID to support@alfaebooks.com and we'll provide you the working version of AlfaEbooks Manager 1.8.

And don't forget that you need .NET framework 3.5 SP1 installed.

Today we have released a new version of Alfa Ebooks Manager 0.7.5. Here are the most interesting updates in the software:

Favorites

Of course any book lover has favorite books that should be stored separately. Until now you were able to create book ratings and access the best books by sorting the whole e-library using the Rating option. But, it's not suitable in some cases. Now we added the Favorites section, that allows to display these ebooks that you can manually select. Unlike the Selection feature, Favorites tool doesn't provide group operations, because you probably don't have a hundred of favorite books. To add a book to Favorites just make a right click on it and select "Add to Favorites" in the context menu. To remove book from the Favorites - click on "Remove from Favorites" in the right-click menu.

GhostScript integration for viewing PDF ebooks in 3D

As you know, Alfa Ebooks Manager always used Adobe Acrobat Pro to render PDF ebooks, so that you could view them in 3D space. But as this software is quite expensive and some users can't afford it, we decided to provide another option - GhostScript. It's a free interpreter for PDF files. To install GhostScript, open Tools->Options menu, PDF programs tab. There you will find a link to the setup file and instructions of how to complete the installation. Of course, you need to select the GhostScript radio-button there.

Google Books Integration

Google Books is the most popular book e-library on the Web. And you probably know that it allows to add books to a personal library. No you can import and export books between your Google Library and Alfa Ebooks Manager. To import the book list from Google Books save it as XML file on your computer. Then open File -> Import -> Google Library and select this XML file. Then load book list and add selected books to the database. To export books to Google Library open File -> Export -> Text File and leave only ISBN field in the template, so you'll get a list of ISBNs that is needed to import in Google Library.

3D Wall

As you probably noticed, that we pay much attention to the appearance of your e-Library, so that you could be proud of it when showing it to your friends or co-workers. Today we are happy to introduce you the Virtual 3D-Wall View. The best way to understand what is it - is to give it a try. You can turn it on by clicking on the Wall View icon in the View toolbar. To make this view default - open Tools->Options->General and select "Wall" in the "Default view" drop-down list.

Online ISBN validation

When scanning ebook files on your computer, Alfa Ebooks Manager tries to retrieve ebook ISBN from the file body. Of course, there is no standard, that defines exact ISBN position in the ebook file. That is why sometimes ISBN can be corrupted. Now you have an option to check if the given ISBN is valid using isbndb.com

Today we are happy to announce that the brand new version of Alfa Ebooks Manager 0.7 has arrived. Yes, its not free anymore, but you will forget about this when you give it a try. We totally redesigned the software interface. Now you will be really able to impress your friends when showing them your e-Library. You can select the e-Library layout and color scheme that better fits your style.

The most outstanding new feature is 3D book view. Just imagine tha you have a real book on your computer screen. It has realistic size, back and front covers. You can rotate it in 3D space, open it and to turn over the pages. The content for these pages is either downloaded from Google Books and Amazon (these two sites provide the rendered book previews) or rendered from the book PDF file with the help of Adobe Acrobat Professional. If you have a blog or a website, you can easily take the 3D book snapshot and post it online, so that your friends had a better image of the book that you recommend.

A little tip: in the 3D View section to display the controls, you need to point your mouse below the 3D book.

The following video shows how to play with 3D book.

Please pay attention, that the new version requires .Net Framework 3.5 or higher, unlike the previous version that used .Net Framework 2.0.