# 📚 Python Tutorial: Convert EPUB to PDF (Preserving Images)
#Python #EPUB #PDF #EbookConversion #Automation

This comprehensive guide will show you how to convert EPUB files (including those with images) to high-quality PDFs using Python.

---

## 🔹 Required Tools & Libraries
We'll use these Python packages:
- ebooklib - For EPUB parsing
- pdfkit (wrapper for wkhtmltopdf) - For PDF generation
- Pillow - For image handling (optional)

pip install ebooklib pdfkit pillow

Also install system dependencies:

# On Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf

# On MacOS
brew install wkhtmltopdf

# On Windows (download from wkhtmltopdf.org)

---

## 🔹 Step 1: Extract EPUB Contents
First, we'll unpack the EPUB file to access its HTML and images.

from ebooklib import epub
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
import os

def extract_epub(epub_path, output_dir):
    book = epub.read_epub(epub_path)
    
    # Create output directory
    os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
    
    # Extract all items (chapters, images, styles)
    for item in book.get_items():
        if item.get_type() == epub.ITEM_IMAGE:
            # Save images
            with open(os.path.join(output_dir, item.get_name()), 'wb') as f:
                f.write(item.get_content())
        elif item.get_type() == epub.ITEM_DOCUMENT:
            # Save HTML chapters
            with open(os.path.join(output_dir, item.get_name()), 'wb') as f:
                f.write(item.get_content())
    
    return [item.get_name() for item in book.get_items() if item.get_type() == epub.ITEM_DOCUMENT]

---

## 🔹 Step 2: Convert HTML to PDF
Now we'll convert the extracted HTML files to PDF while preserving images.

import pdfkit
from PIL import Image  # For image validation (optional)

def html_to_pdf(html_files, output_pdf, base_dir):
    options = {
        'encoding': "UTF-8",
        'quiet': '',
        'enable-local-file-access': '',  # Critical for local images
        'no-outline': None,
        'margin-top': '15mm',
        'margin-right': '15mm',
        'margin-bottom': '15mm',
        'margin-left': '15mm',
    }
    
    # Validate images (optional)
    for html_file in html_files:
        soup = BeautifulSoup(open(os.path.join(base_dir, html_file)), 'html.parser')
        for img in soup.find_all('img'):
            img_path = os.path.join(base_dir, img['src'])
            try:
                Image.open(img_path)  # Validate image
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Image error in {html_file}: {e}")
                img.decompose()  # Remove broken images
    
    # Convert to PDF
    pdfkit.from_file(
        [os.path.join(base_dir, f) for f in html_files],
        output_pdf,
        options=options
    )

---

## 🔹 Step 3: Complete Conversion Function
Combine everything into a single workflow.

def epub_to_pdf(epub_path, output_pdf, temp_dir="temp_epub"):
    try:
        print(f"Converting {epub_path} to PDF...")
        
        # Step 1: Extract EPUB
        print("Extracting EPUB contents...")
        html_files = extract_epub(epub_path, temp_dir)
        
        # Step 2: Convert to PDF
        print("Generating PDF...")
        html_to_pdf(html_files, output_pdf, temp_dir)
        
        print(f"Success! PDF saved to {output_pdf}")
        return True
    
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Conversion failed: {str(e)}")
        return False
    finally:
        # Clean up temporary files
        if os.path.exists(temp_dir):
            import shutil
            shutil.rmtree(temp_dir)

---

## 🔹 Advanced Options
### 1. Custom Styling
Add CSS to improve PDF appearance:

def html_to_pdf(html_files, output_pdf, base_dir):
    options = {
        # ... previous options ...
        'user-style-sheet': 'styles.css',  # Custom CSS
    }
    
    # Create CSS file if needed
    css = """
    body { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; }
    img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; }
    """
    with open(os.path.join(base_dir, 'styles.css'), 'w') as f:
        f.write(css)
    
    pdfkit.from_file(/* ... */)

### 2. Handling Complex EPUBs
For problematic EPUBs, try this pre-processing:

def clean_html(html_file):
    with open(html_file, 'r+', encoding='utf-8') as f:
        content = f.read()
        soup = BeautifulSoup(content, 'html.parser')
        
        # Remove problematic elements
        for element in soup(['script', 'iframe', 'object']):
            element.decompose()
            
        # Fix image paths
        for img in soup.find_all('img'):
            if not os.path.isabs(img['src']):
                img['src'] = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(html_file), img['src']))
        
        # Write back cleaned HTML
        f.seek(0)
        f.write(str(soup))
        f.truncate()

---

## 🔹 Full Usage Example

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import argparse
    
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Convert EPUB to PDF')
    parser.add_argument('epub_file', help='Input EPUB file path')
    parser.add_argument('pdf_file', help='Output PDF file path')
    args = parser.parse_args()
    
    success = epub_to_pdf(args.epub_file, args.pdf_file)
    if not success:
        exit(1)

Run from command line:

python epub_to_pdf.py input.epub output.pdf

---

## 🔹 Troubleshooting Common Issues
| Problem | Solution |
|---------|----------|
| Missing images | Ensure enable-local-file-access is set |
| Broken CSS paths | Use absolute paths in CSS references |
| Encoding issues | Specify UTF-8 in both HTML and pdfkit options |
| Large file sizes | Optimize images before conversion |
| Layout problems | Add CSS media queries for print |

---

## 🔹 Alternative Libraries
If pdfkit doesn't meet your needs:

1. WeasyPrint (pure Python)

   pip install weasyprint
   

2. PyMuPDF (fitz)

   pip install pymupdf
   

3. Calibre's ebook-convert CLI

   ebook-convert input.epub output.pdf
   

---

## 🔹 Best Practices
1. Always clean temporary files after conversion
2. Validate input EPUBs before processing
3. Handle metadata (title, author, etc.)
4. Batch process multiple files with threading
5. Log conversion results for debugging

---

### 📚 Final Notes
This solution preserves:
✔️ All images in original quality
✔️ Chapter structure and formatting
✔️ Text encoding and special characters

For production use, consider adding:
- Progress tracking
- Parallel conversion of chapters
- EPUB metadata preservation
- Custom cover page support

#PythonAutomation #EbookTools #PDFConversion 🚀

Try enhancing this script by:
1. Adding a progress bar
2. Preserving table of contents
3. Supporting custom cover pages
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