Adobe Community: How can I open an acsm file in ADE?

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How can I open an acsm file in ADE?

Apr 30, 2012 2:04 PM

I am trying to write instructions for someone new to e-readers. Here is the issue.

We downloaded e-books from the Ottawa Public Library. The file offered was an acsm file. We saved it to the desktop. When we opened ADE and used the "add to library" function, it only looks for epub files. We can navigate to the file in explorer and click on it, then ADE opens the file and uses it to create an epub file, which it adds to the library.

My question is: Is there any way to avoid using explorer to open the acsm file? I would have thought that ADE would allow you to point to the acsm file and open it.

Tks

3442 Views 4 Replies Latest reply: gwilki, May 1, 2012 10:37 AM

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1. Frustrated in AZ,

Apr 30, 2012 3:19 PM in reply to gwilki

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Yes, ADE opens .ascm files - that's the little file that points to the
location of an ebook and has other descriptive information in it, such as
loan period for a library ebook.

The process 'should' be automatic - that is that the library will post the
.ascm file and then their software will start ADE on your computer. If all
you get is the .ascm file, then the library's system isn't working well.
You can contact their technical support function and discuss this with
them, and maybe they can fix it. Alternatively, you can find the file on
your computer, right-click on it and use the 'Open With' option in the
drop-down menu, then select Digital Editions from the available programs.
That should do it.

Hope this helps!
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2. gwilki,

Apr 30, 2012 4:12 PM in reply to Frustrated in AZ

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Tks, but I guess that I wasn't clear enough with my question. I knew that I could find the file in "my computer" , or navigate to it in explorer, then either double-click it, or right click it and select ADE as the app to open it. What I am trying to do is to get ADE to actually find the acsm file from within ADE. To put it another way, I want to be able to use the "add to library" function within ADE, point to an acsm file and bring in the epub that it points to. Since the acsm file is the creation of Adobe, it would seem reasonable that they would provide for this. This seems like another instance where Adobe goes half way with something, then stops.

As for the library, we've tried it with 3 different city libraries. The end result is the same, The file downloads, but does not open ADE.

It would appear that I am out of luck. Maybe soon, someone will develop an app that will allow me to drop ADE in favour of a better approach. It took a while for that to happen with pdf, but it did happen.

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3. Frustrated in AZ,

May 1, 2012 6:32 AM in reply to gwilki

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The .ascm file format is a standard that was agreed upon by the industry
some ten or more years ago, and it's used by most, if not all, of the
epublication programs that are in use now. That includes the Overdrive
software that libraries stateside use most of the time. If you're having
this issue with more than one library, I'd check out one other area before
I give up. If you have Windows 7 as your operating system, some of its
security settings can prevent the library software from activating ADE on
your computer. I'm an XP person, so I can't pinpoint which ones to look
at, but there are others reading the blog that may be able to help you.
The library's technical support people may be able to help also.

You're incorrect on expecting ADE to find the ,ascm file on your computer.
That file should exist only during the transfer, and I believe that there
are some expiration parameters inside the file, so you have only a small
window of time to use it. Remember that this file type is only a 'pointer'
- it's not an ebook.

Bottom line? This issue is quite rare on the forum, and there are
literally thousands of other users who don't have this issue. It's not the
product. If you are indeed 'fed up' with the ADE experience, you can look
into other epublication management software: Bluefire Reader, Overdrive
(which most libraries seem to use) and Calibre would be possibilities.

Hope this helps!
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4. gwilki,

May 1, 2012 10:37 AM in reply to Frustrated in AZ

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Tks much, Frustrated. I have the same issue on windows 7 machines and on xp machines. Also, we have now tried yet another public library and the issue is the same. That trial was in a different city, a different pc and a different library. I need to check, but I believe that the issue occurs on the Kobobooks site, too. The download is the acsm pointer. The epub does not automatically download.

I appreciate that thousands are using this function and few have the problem. I know that I'm not alone, as I've found others having the same problem.

I accept what you say about the standard, and I accept that I was wrong about Adobe's involvement. I still wonder, though, why ADE could not have been set to see an acsm file from its add function. It does not, however, and that's that. (I've had a long history with Adobe nonsense, and I admit that I am coloured by that whenever I am pushed to use one of their products.)

As to Caliber, I installed it and it is great. However, it cannot see or use acsm either. It relies on ADE to use the acsm file to create the epub. Then Caliber can do its thing with the epub.

This is clearly just something I need to live with. It's not earth shattering. I am simply trying to make things as simple as I can for my MIL.

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How can I open an acsm file in ADE?

Apr 30, 2012 2:04 PM

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