MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - At what point do we deprecate the 300KB image limit?

eggheadbooks1 · 06-08-2014, 05:29 PM

For the longest time we've all had to keep our images in ePubs below the 300KB limit, with 260KB the norm to account for differences in the way ereaders read image size. I am told this was never a limitation of the ePub format itself but originated from the way Adobe programmed ADE, and older devices based on ADE (like Sony) would crash if images exceeded 300KB. But with the advance of high-resolution tablets, and high-resolution ePub devices such as Kobo's Aura, Ark, etc., why are we STILL restricted to this ridiculous 260KB image size?

I realize there are old devices still out there that will crash, but at some point we have to move on if we are to produce books for the newer higher-resolution devices. To not do so would be like not producing HD DVDs because some people can't watch them on their old TVs. Perhaps we may find ourselves having to produce two products, a smaller-image ePub for older devices and larger-image ones for newer devices, distributed under different ISBNs and even titles (like adding "HD" to the title).

Anyone heard anything about this on the wind?

06-08-2014, 05:29 PM	#1
eggheadbooks1 Read, don't parrot. Posts: 224 Karma: 110242 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle Fire, Kobo Touch, Aldiko for Android	For the longest time we've all had to keep our images in ePubs below the 300KB limit, with 260KB the norm to account for differences in the way ereaders read image size. I am told this was never a limitation of the ePub format itself but originated from the way Adobe programmed ADE, and older devices based on ADE (like Sony) would crash if images exceeded 300KB. But with the advance of high-resolution tablets, and high-resolution ePub devices such as Kobo's Aura, Ark, etc., why are we STILL restricted to this ridiculous 260KB image size? I realize there are old devices still out there that will crash, but at some point we have to move on if we are to produce books for the newer higher-resolution devices. To not do so would be like not producing HD DVDs because some people can't watch them on their old TVs. Perhaps we may find ourselves having to produce two products, a smaller-image ePub for older devices and larger-image ones for newer devices, distributed under different ISBNs and even titles (like adding "HD" to the title). Anyone heard anything about this on the wind? Last edited by Jellby; 06-09-2014 at 03:21 AM.