04-16-2011, 09:04 PM | #1 |
Junior Member
Posts: 7
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2011
Device: iPad, Kindle
|
Is it possible to embed PDFs in EPUB?
OK, this question probably sounds nuts, but here goes...
Is there a way to embed a PDF file in an EPUB? I have a high-res map that doesn't look good on an iPad or Nook screen (let alone a phone screen), and I'd like to embed the map as a PDF, so the user could then zoom in and find what they need. Maybe something that, once the user clicked on it, opened up in iBooks as a separate PDF. (Of course the dream would be to have something you could zoom in and out IN the EPUB, but I'm assuming that's still a ways off) Anybody out there work with PDFs in EPUB??? |
04-17-2011, 12:45 AM | #2 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
You can't embed a PDF in an epub. Epub is a renamed .zip file, with some metadata attached to an HTML file or set of HTML files. Just like you can't embed a PDF inside an HTML file, you can't put one in an epub. You can make a link to one, but how that works depends on the software involved.
You might be able to make a link to a PDF file outside of the epub--but whether that would work depends on the software used to read the epub. Zooming in on a PDF depends on the software used to read the PDF. On a Kindle or Sony 505, for example, there's no zoom option, so it doesn't matter if the PDF was used or not--readers would still be stuck with whatever was viewable on their screen. PDFs aren't inherently zoom-able; that depends on the reading software. (Just like making the map a jpg or png might be zoom-able if it were being read on a PC-based epub reader instead of a portable device.) |
04-17-2011, 01:09 PM | #3 |
Junior Member
Posts: 7
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2011
Device: iPad, Kindle
|
Got it. Thanks for the info.
And here's to hoping that someday EPUB readers can handle more complex files than just low-res JPEGs. |
04-17-2011, 01:42 PM | #4 |
Sigil Developer
Posts: 7,727
Karma: 5444398
Join Date: Nov 2009
Device: many
|
Hi,
They can. I use svg images all of the time in epubs and they are perfectly scalable, zoomable, etc. Try to convert your pdf to an svg image. |
04-17-2011, 01:43 PM | #5 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Scalable and zoomable in what? I don't think my Sony Reader will zoom on images, regardless of what format they're made in.
|
04-17-2011, 02:43 PM | #6 |
Junior Member
Posts: 7
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2011
Device: iPad, Kindle
|
The map I'm trying to embed was made in Illustrator. I just saved it as a SVG, added it to my EPUB, but my iPad doesn't allow any zooming, etc.
|
04-17-2011, 04:46 PM | #7 | |
Sigil Developer
Posts: 7,727
Karma: 5444398
Join Date: Nov 2009
Device: many
|
Quote:
That is funny. My Sony PRS-600 does it for all images. I simply go to the page with the image and then hit the button with magnifying glass + on it, and then hit the "Zoom In" button and a vertical magnification scrollbar appears along with navigation arrows to move around the zoomed image. It seems to work great with my svg images. Everytime I zoom in, the image starts as fuzzy and then gets redrawn looking beautiful at that scale. Last edited by KevinH; 04-17-2011 at 04:55 PM. Reason: more specific instructions |
|
04-17-2011, 04:49 PM | #8 |
Sigil Developer
Posts: 7,727
Karma: 5444398
Join Date: Nov 2009
Device: many
|
Sorry, I don't think iBooks support SVG images yet (even though it is part of the official epub spec). Have you tried in another epub reader on your ipad such as the Bluefire.app or Stanza or .. Perhaps it will work better?
|
04-17-2011, 05:35 PM | #9 | |
Sigil Developer
Posts: 7,727
Karma: 5444398
Join Date: Nov 2009
Device: many
|
Quote:
I created a quick svg image in an epub and loaded it into my iPad. Normally, in iBooks you simply double-click on an image and then iBooks loads it into its own screen and you can pinch to zoom and move around. When I do this with "SVG" images in an iPad, I get a blank screen and then iBooks terminates (crashes). I tried with the Kobo reader software on iPad and none of the SVG images even showed up on the screen (quite sad). I tried with the Bluefire reader app and the svg images appeared but I could not figure out how to zoom in on any image, let alone a SVG image. So you are right, this solution will not work on an iPad using iBooks, Bluefire, Kobos, etc It does work well on my Sony though. Sorry for getting your hopes up. It may work in Safari. I know in Desktop Safari you can open standalone SVG images and zoom around on them (and with FireFox 4) but I am not sure if that would work on an iPad, though. You would probably be better off just making your entire ebook a pdf one and not an epub if you want it to work with scalable images on an iPad. Last edited by KevinH; 04-17-2011 at 05:43 PM. Reason: added info |
|
04-17-2011, 08:21 PM | #10 |
temp. out of service
Posts: 2,794
Karma: 24285242
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Duisburg (DE)
Device: PB 623
|
@KevinH
iPub has so often proven absolute ignorance about the specs, that I'd always crosscheck with something different before asking myself what I've done wrong |
04-17-2011, 09:09 PM | #11 |
Media Bloke
Posts: 2,381
Karma: 113956855
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NSW - Australia
Device: iOS
|
I started toying with SVG for a similar purpose. It did work in iBooks and was zoomable.
That was before the latest upgrades to iOS and iBooks and I haven't tried it since. They looked great but wouldn't validate as the file became too big. |
04-17-2011, 11:13 PM | #12 | |
Sigil Developer
Posts: 7,727
Karma: 5444398
Join Date: Nov 2009
Device: many
|
HI,
Quote:
Is there a sample epub you could post so that I can see how you got it to work in iBooks? Thanks, KevinH |
|
04-18-2011, 12:23 AM | #13 |
Addict
Posts: 351
Karma: 70000
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Australia
Device: ADE, iPad
|
ePub Kindle conversion to .mobi via kindlegen also has a real problem with SVGs
|
04-18-2011, 12:50 AM | #14 | |
Media Bloke
Posts: 2,381
Karma: 113956855
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NSW - Australia
Device: iOS
|
Quote:
However the way I added the SVG image was from Adobe InDesign. It was inserted into the text in InDesign and exported as an ePub in the same way the JPGs are with the ORIGINAL selected rather than FORMATTED which collects the SVG into the OPF folder. |
|
04-18-2011, 06:01 AM | #15 |
frumious Bandersnatch
Posts: 7,516
Karma: 19000001
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spaniard in Sweden
Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura
|
Actually, you can embed a PDF in an ePUB. You can embed practically anything in an ePUB, the problem is there is no guaranty at all that any reading system will know what to do it, and you should provide a fallback for the (likely) case that the reader does not support the embedded content.
In the case of PDF, you can include a PDF file in the manifest, and link to it in the text, but you must include some fallback XHTML file to be used when the PDF is not supported. Even when the reader supports PDF, don't expect it to be opened in a nice user-friendly environment, it will probably be opened as a full page inside the ePUB viewer, with the same options as with any illustrations (usually no zoom, etc.) If you want the user to be able to pan, zoom, rotate, etc. an image, that's a feature of the reading software, not something you can include or not in your ePUB. |
Tags |
epub design |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
How to embed fonts in ePub after Calibre | fiery | ePub | 79 | 12-05-2016 02:18 AM |
How to embed animation in epub | q5485 | ePub | 17 | 05-01-2012 11:41 AM |
PDFs to ePub | Muto | ePub | 4 | 05-21-2010 08:40 AM |
Any free software can embed fonts in epub | droople | ePub | 4 | 03-06-2010 05:40 PM |
Properly formatted PDFs to Epub | AgentBEATS | Calibre | 10 | 11-01-2009 11:02 PM |