Calibre - how accurate is the preview

[guycruls]

I'd like to use Calibre to preview epub books created in Indesign rather than use Adobe Digital editions. Is Calibre accurate enough to show me how the ebooks will display, say on iphone?
Many thanks

[HarryT]

Every ePub display engine has its own quirks. If you want to see how your books will look on an iPhone, the only way to be sure is to look at them on an iPhone. And even then the results will be app-specific. There are at least half a dozen different apps that the user could be using to display books on their iPhone, and the book will look different in each one.

By far the most commonly used ePub display engine used in bookreaders is Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). I'd recommend that you use that as your main test environment.

[mrmikel]

If you are making books solely to be displayed on iphone then you should check using one. But as Harry noted they are not all the same, even on the iphone and that is true for other devices. If it is to be displayed on something other than iphone, then you might check out the various PC versions such as Nook for PC and Sony Library, the last of which is very accurate for Sony readers.

[holymadness]

I've found the Calibre previewer sometimes has trouble with accented characters. I almost always use ADE on the desktop to check an ePUB I've tinkered with, though nothing beats reading through it on the phone itself.

[guycruls]

thanks to HarryT, mrmikel and holymadness for feedback. I don't use ADE because adobe warns you at download that the app can see your material and that doesn't suit me.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by guycruls

thanks to HarryT, mrmikel and holymadness for feedback. I don't use ADE because adobe warns you at download that the app can see your material and that doesn't suit me.

Then get a (fairly common) standalone, dedicated reader device that only connects via USB or allows a SD card to be inserted. Since you don't appear to be concerned wit batter life issues , the field is a lot more open to cheap models that support (ADE) Mobile Reader. http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_devices

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by guycruls

thanks to HarryT, mrmikel and holymadness for feedback. I don't use ADE because adobe warns you at download that the app can see your material and that doesn't suit me.

How could the app display your book if it couldn't "see your material"?

Surely the important point here is that ADE is the "de facto" standard for displaying ePub books. If you're creating eBooks, you must, if you're acting in a professionally responsible manner, test under ADE.

[guycruls]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How could the app display your book if it couldn't "see your material"?

Surely the important point here is that ADE is the "de facto" standard for displaying ePub books. If you're creating eBooks, you must, if you're acting in a professionally responsible manner, test under ADE.

you misunderstood my meaning. adobe state in their terms and conditions that they can access what you open. that was my issue. not any more. Calibre, I have found, meets my needs.