EPub with word styling almost from scratch questions

[ralphiedee]

I have an .rtf document that I need to use for an e pub. If I select all and copy right into Sigil of course I'm not going to have the paragraph spaces like in the .rtf

If select all and copy into word and save as html then I get the styling ( of course) now here is the first question;

The main fonts are helvetica and helvetica bold / italic, since the styling is generated by word I still need to embed the font in the epub but how do I apply the fonts to the styles already there as this would cause a mess, no?

Second and most important; There are a few pages that are using images and the client wants them coded and those fonts embedded. It's 4 fonts, which I have and know how to embed font but I will have to attach a css page to the epub with the styling for those separate pages. Is this going to cause a problem as the word styling is throwing me off in terms of css thinking here.

I also thought about creating a css page, adding the helvetica font family and use THAT styling and remove the word styling all together.

Is this an option?

Either way , alot of time consuming work I would think.

any help?

RD

[JSWolf]

um.. paragraph spaces are bad news. Don't use them. They make reading poor. As for Helvetica, don't use a snas-serif font for the main body font. It doesn't work and again, makes for poor reading.

[DiapDealer]

You said client.

[mrmikel]

You can create a stylesheet that only applies to one section. Just create the special stylesheet and then right click on the section involved and link the spreadsheet to it. Delete any other link statement at the top of the involved section.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You said client.

Ditto. @RalphieDee, are you charging a client for doing this work?

Hitch

[JSWolf]

When you embed the fonts, you need to make sure you are legally allowed to do so.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Ditto. @RalphieDee, are you charging a client for doing this work?

Hitch

I would say yes given the word client is used.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would say yes given the word client is used.

Well, arguably, not every "client" pays. I had "clients" when I was first learning, who were my volunteer guinea pigs. Personally, of course, I think when you start charging people money, for ePUBs, converting from Word should be second nature.

And, yes, on the fonts--both Helvetica and its kissing cousin, Arial, are, to the best of my knowledge, copyrighted. In fact, almost every font in the Windows font file is copyrighted. There are, however, many open-source sans-serif fonts that can be used, although you have to spend some time rummaging through them, and of course, they have to be tested on the devices, as not every one actually renders.

As I think I mentioned here, before, we had an Adobe foundry font literally become invisible on a Kindle3/Touch in its italic face. Such fun! The (paying) client was less than amused, though. I personally went out and found a font substitute that worked for that one. ;-)

Hitch

[exaltedwombat]

Don,'t embed fonts unless there are very special reasons. Just specify serif or sans-serif. Or don't specify anything, let the reader choose. Customers have to learn that it's not about attempting a facsimile of the printed layout!

[theducks]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

Don,'t embed fonts unless there are very special reasons. Just specify serif or sans-serif. Or don't specify anything, let the reader choose. Customers have to learn that it's not about attempting a facsimile of the printed layout!

Your opinion
What customers do need to learn is what can't be done, and what should be avoided.
I have made many of my e-books look closer to what their printed cousins do without large bloat or loss of flexibility on (dedicated EPUB readers. I don't do phones )

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, arguably, not every "client" pays. I had "clients" when I was first learning, who were my volunteer guinea pigs. Personally, of course, I think when you start charging people money, for ePUBs, converting from Word should be second nature.

And, yes, on the fonts--both Helvetica and its kissing cousin, Arial, are, to the best of my knowledge, copyrighted. In fact, almost every font in the Windows font file is copyrighted. There are, however, many open-source sans-serif fonts that can be used, although you have to spend some time rummaging through them, and of course, they have to be tested on the devices, as not every one actually renders.

As I think I mentioned here, before, we had an Adobe foundry font literally become invisible on a Kindle3/Touch in its italic face. Such fun! The (paying) client was less than amused, though. I personally went out and found a font substitute that worked for that one. ;-)

Hitch

I don't have people paying me to convert their Word documents into ePub, but I could do it. I've cleaned up a number of Word documents and made them clean ePub. It can be time consuming.

So, anyone looking to have a Word document converted to ePub cleanly and pay me to do so?

As for the fonts, there is a thread someplace on MR about why sometimes a font fails to render with ADE. I believe if the font is set to version 4, it fails to render in some older versions of ADE.

And as to copyright, you do have to be very careful about what fonts are chosen. Charis SIL is free and it is allowed to be embedded. It's the most widely used embedded font family.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't have people paying me to convert their Word documents into ePub, but I could do it. I've cleaned up a number of Word documents and made them clean ePub. It can be time consuming.

So, anyone looking to have a Word document converted to ePub cleanly and pay me to do so?

I think my soliciting commercial help or work on this forum is a big ixnay, but if you could be less irascible, and get past your hatred of html toc's, maybe we could chat. ;-) I know that there is ePUB-making work out there, but the better-paying work requires you to handle the client interface. I have sub-contractors at my shop that like book-making, but can't deal with the clients, so they work for me as contractors, making less per book, for themselves, but I get the headaches.

As for the fonts, there is a thread someplace on MR about why sometimes a font fails to render with ADE. I believe if the font is set to version 4, it fails to render in some older versions of ADE.

Wasn't ADE. Rendered like a champ in ADE, on Nook, on iBooks, on Kobo. Disappeared, altogether--literally, the text became invisible--on K3 and/or Touch with "publisher font" selected. Yowza, that was fun.

And as to copyright, you do have to be very careful about what fonts are chosen. Charis SIL is free and it is allowed to be embedded. It's the most widely used embedded font family.

We spend a LOT of time these days finding bloody fonts for clients that want fonts until they find out how much it costs to render at the foundry. We charge for the "font-finding" service, because of course, sitting around staring at OS fonts until your eyes bleed lacks fun. "Lessee, does that g's tail close, and does that m have an opening downstroke..." ACK! If it was me, I'd stick with plain-ol' plain-ol' TNR. It's popular for a reason, although oddly enough, I also like Trebuchet for reading. {shrug}

[PeterT]

See http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...09&postcount=2 for a post discussing the issue with font rendering.

ADE is quite finicky when it comes to embedded fonts. There are many examples of fonts that work practically everywhere but ADE. I've found that most of the time ... the OS/2 version property of the font is the culprit. Seriously. I know ... crazy, right? Fontforge seems to default to OS/2 version 4 if the setting is left to automatic when generating the TrueType or OTF fonts, and I've never found a font yet saved as OS/2 version 4 that will work in ADE (when embedded in an ePub). Ever.

[DiapDealer]

Hmmm. That quote sounds very familiar. Such a clever-sounding chap, as well.