[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is that most publishers have a CSS they use that has lots of extra junk in it. And what they do use from the CSS can be a rather big mess. That's why a lot of ePub look awful as they come. If it wasn't for the fact that I can strip the DRM and then clean up the CSS to look how I want, I'd be maybe back to paper books.

I think the key for a viable ebook format is consistency. Based on what I've read, it seems like ePub formatting is not consistent from reader to reader. To contrast, one of the main strengths of a PDF is that it renders consistently as long as it is sized for the ereader's screen. When I create a PDF for my reader I know exactly what it will look like on my reader.

I've taken a look at CSS for HTML and one of the things that struck me about it is how inconsistent it is with HTML formatting. It basically has its own rules that differ from HTML, and this makes things more complicated.

For me, HTML is a good ebook format as long as consistent rules are set down when tagging (such as not allowing tags that cross each other) that must be followed without exception. Rather than CSS, I'd like to see consistent default formatting established as a starting point for all ebooks on all readers (such as a default font and a standard amount of space between the paragraphs), but these can be altered via formatting instructions within the tags (like tag codes that indicate "this paragraph is in Helvetica" and "no space after this paragraph").

If no specific formatting instructions are provided within an ebook, then the ebook should look the same on all ebook readers. Also, rather than trying to take shortcuts within the format, I'd rather see a very verbose ebook format where everything that is not the default is explicitly spelled out within the tags. This will allow for better rendering since everything is clearly spelled out within the ebook.

Just my opinions, thanks for reading.