Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellby
For a starter, just create a PDF, but with a reduced page size. Instead of setting the paper size to A4 or US-letter, set it to something more similar to the real screen sizes, 9×12 cm (3.5×4.7 in) is a popular size. Reduce margins to a minimum (1-2 mm) and the PDF should pretty readable in most ebook readers. Depending on the kind of book, this may require an extensive reworking of the layout.
|
This is precisely my experience when providing my textbook in pdf format. It's a book on computer programming, so lots of equations, line figures, and computer code listings. I wrote it using LaTeX, which produces beautiful typesetting but is mostly irrelevant in epub. Students complained that the margins wasted screen space on their small mobile devices, and the binding gutter caused each page to "hop" from side to side. I made them happy by producing a second pdf that had uniform 0.1" margins. (A little arithmetic in LaTeX settings keeps the pagination between the pdf and paperback versions the same. BTW your president is wrong about pagination in the sense of a page number identifying the location of text to all readers.)
Quote:
|
Then you can concentrate on creating the ePub (or mobi), which, as a first approximation, is similar to creating a web page with very few bells and whistles. If the book relies on many text boxes, fixed pagination and relative positioning of images, then a "standard" ebook is probably not the most adequate choice. If, however, it like a normal novel, with a single text flow and some interspersed images between paragraphs (or can be conveniently rendered as such), then conversion is straightforward.
|
After spending many hours researching how to convert my book to epub in Spring 2012, this is precisely my conclusion. I ended up leaving my book in pdf because I realized that an epub version would be a different book, not just a conversion of the paperback.