Opening a .acsm file?

TidBITS Talk
1

I bought a DK travel guide and the only options were Kindle and Google Play. I understood that Google Play would be a .epub file which I could import into Books.

However, the download was actually an **epub.acsm file.

I tried the https://www.acsmconverter.com web site but it keeps timing out on me, I suspect the file is too large?

I also downloaded Adobe Digital Editions 4.5 but when I try to authorise with my Google account I get a message incorrect login ID or password for the selected eBook vendor. Please try again.

Anyone familiar with .acsm and any ideas how I can open this file and get it into Books?

2

I’d never heard of this but ChatGPT spat out the following.

An .acsm file isn’t actually an ebook — it’s a license file created by Adobe Content Server. It’s basically a “ticket” that tells Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) how to download the real ePub or PDF that you purchased or borrowed.

Here’s how you can open it so you can eventually read the book in Apple Books:

Steps

  1. Install Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) on your Mac (free download from Adobe).
  2. Authorize ADE with an Adobe ID (required to unlock DRM-protected books).
  3. Open the .acsm file in ADE (double-click, or drag it into ADE).
  • ADE will then download the actual ebook file (usually .epub or .pdf) tied to your license.
  1. Once downloaded, locate the ebook file (ADE typically saves it in Documents/Digital Editions).
  2. Finally, add the real .epub file to Apple Books (drag it into the Books app or use File → Add to Library).

Note step 2, you have to authorise with an Adobe ID to use Adobe Digital Editions.

2 Likes
3

My usual process is to drop onto Digital Editions to get the encrypted file, drop the epub onto Calibre book manager to decrypt, then drop the new file into Books or sync with my Kobo reader.

So the process works.

I can’t help with your real problem: the login error.

1 Like
4

Thanks, I will have a play.