Kindle Previewer version 3.32 and KPF

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have also wondered whether or not publishing a book using a KPF file produced by the Kindle Previewer results in anything different in the final published book compared with uploading a Mater MOBI or an EPUB source file.

If anyone ever does ever publish a book using a Previewer KPF I would like to know the ASIN so that I can check it out.

Truly, the only way we could be SURE is if we published both, no? Or do you think it would be adequately visible or inferrable from what you'd see in the KPF from Previewer?

Hitch

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Truly, the only way we could be SURE is if we published both, no? Or do you think it would be adequately visible or inferrable from what you'd see in the KPF from Previewer?

I know from looking at metadata that book published using a KPF uploaded from KC show that program as their source. Those books have a severe limitation in that they are only available to customers in KFX or MOBI7 format, but never KF8.

I wanted to see if that same limitation also applies to books published using KPF from the Previewer.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I know from looking at metadata that book published using a KPF uploaded from KC show that program as their source. Those books have a severe limitation in that they are only available to customers in KFX or MOBI7 format, but never KF8.

I wanted to see if that same limitation also applies to books published using KPF from the Previewer.

Well, hell, if one of mine says that they've done that (honestly, I've been a bit worried about the idea), I'll let you know.

Hitch

[Kyriosity]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Don't submit a Calibre-created MOBI/AZW3 or anything like that into Amazon... that's just asking for trouble.

Kindle Previewer is the official tool to use.

I start my workflow in InDesign. I've already done the print layout there, so it makes sense to stay there. (Since I've already got the print styles nailed down, it's pretty easy to get those switched over to ebook styles -- I just recycle INDD file that I've previously optimized for EPUB export, copy and paste the content, and sub in the ebook styles. I think I'm pretty on top of styles, but I'll check out your link...I'm sure there's always more to learn!) Next I export to EPUB, view in Kindle Previewer, and thence export to...well, so far to MOBI, which I then check in Kindle for PC. Then I lather, rinse, repeat till I get the kinks worked out.

Y'all lost me at dual MOBI/dual-format MOBI. Those aren't terms I've heard before.

[Kyriosity]

(Ugh...this five-minute edit limit is gonna kill me! Or maybe just humble me, because I'll see my mistakes six minutes later, cemented forever! )

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by Kyriosity

I start my workflow in InDesign. I've already done the print layout there, so it makes sense to stay there. (Since I've already got the print styles nailed down, it's pretty easy to get those switched over to ebook styles -- I just recycle INDD file that I've previously optimized for EPUB export, copy and paste the content, and sub in the ebook styles. I think I'm pretty on top of styles, but I'll check out your link...I'm sure there's always more to learn!)

Nice, using Styles properly is quite rare, even in InDesign circles, so you're a huge step in the right direction.

Note: Those tutorial links are for Word (but similar logic applies to LibreOffice/other programs, they're just located in different places and called slightly different things).

I personally don't use InDesign, so I don't know what the best tutorials are (if you find any really good ones, let me know!).

But here's the link to InDesign's instructions on Character/Paragraph Styles:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/usi...er-styles.html

Side Note: To save a hell of a lot of headaches in the long-run, it's probably still a good idea to learn Word's Styles... since most authors submit DOCX, you could clean up the DOCX file before import. See the "Convert Word styles to InDesign styles" section in the link above.

Originally Posted by Kyriosity

Y'all lost me at dual MOBI/dual-format MOBI. Those aren't terms I've heard before.

It's just the output from Kindle Previewer.

It outputs a "MOBI" file.

Inside this "MOBI" file, it includes 3 different formats:

1. MOBI (KF7). This works on old Kindle devices (Kindle 1/2/DX)
2. KF8. This works on newer Kindles (Kindle 3+).
3. Original Source File. This is used by Amazon for Quality Checking reasons + updated conversions in the future (like KFX).

So some of us like to call this combined file a "Dual MOBI", to separate this from the actual MOBI (old Kindles) format.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Kyriosity

I start my workflow in InDesign. I've already done the print layout there, so it makes sense to stay there. (Since I've already got the print styles nailed down, it's pretty easy to get those switched over to ebook styles -- I just recycle INDD file that I've previously optimized for EPUB export, copy and paste the content, and sub in the ebook styles. I think I'm pretty on top of styles, but I'll check out your link...I'm sure there's always more to learn!) Next I export to EPUB, view in Kindle Previewer, and thence export to...well, so far to MOBI, which I then check in Kindle for PC. Then I lather, rinse, repeat till I get the kinks worked out.

Y'all lost me at dual MOBI/dual-format MOBI. Those aren't terms I've heard before.

How good is the code in your ePub from InDesign since you properly use styles? I've seen plenty of ePub with pretty poor code from InDesign.

[Kyriosity]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Nice, using Styles properly is quite rare, even in InDesign circles, so you're a huge step in the right direction.

Again, thanks for the assistance!

Yep, I do cleanup in Word before formatting for print, so I'm familiar with styles there. First thing I do with a new manuscript is switch it to my personalized style set (all in Verdana, because it's easiest for copyediting, which I also do a lot of, and because it will stick out like a sore thumb in any print layout since I'd never use it there), and start finding and replacing (italics, nonbreaking spaces, etc.) and do an initial run-through to apply paragraph styles. I learned about Word styles the hard way after losing all my italics in a document and not realizing till it was completely typset in InDesign!

At any rate, it sounds like I'm in good shape sticking with exporting to MOBI.

[Kyriosity]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How good is the code in your ePub from InDesign since you properly use styles? I've seen plenty of ePub with pretty poor code from InDesign.

Ummmm...I don't really know! I go by what I see on the screen rather than by code. (My ebook-making skills are very flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, I'm afraid.)

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How good is the code in your ePub from InDesign since you properly use styles? I've seen plenty of ePub with pretty poor code from InDesign.

"Garbage In, Garbage Out".

If you properly use Styles in InDesign, they can be mapped relatively cleanly to ebook CSS.

Keyword though, is "properly"... which 99.9% of users don't do...

Remember back in 2017 when we discussed some of this in "Adobe InDesign and poor code"?

Originally Posted by Kyriosity

Ummmm...I don't really know! I go by what I see on the screen rather than by code. (My ebook-making skills are very flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, I'm afraid.)

If working on ebooks, you really should at least learn the basics of HTML+CSS, so you could pick apart and understand what/why/how things are going wrong.

I think it's best to aim for KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

The less complicated the code, the less likely things are going to go wrong on various devices/settings.

The more of a spaghettified mess you output, other issues are going to creep up.

For example, InDesign tries to carry over too much Print-focused CSS, like tightened kerning, which doesn't work in ebooks or breaks when users choose other fonts. InDesign also aims towards code that works and "looks good" in iBooks, but doesn't play very nice in all the older/other ereaders (Kobo, Nook, ...).

* * *

Anyway, this is trending a lot further from the main topic.

Read some of those tutorials, read some more discussion on MobileRead, learn a bit more on your own, and if you have more InDesign cleanup questions, then perhaps create your own thread and people will be willing to help.

Like I said, you already seem to be a huge step in the right direction with using Styles in the first place! That already puts you leagues above most users of these programs.

[Notjohn]

I followed that link to the Adobe "help" page, and again I marvel: why is it that people find html intimidating?

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

I followed that link to the Adobe "help" page, and again I marvel: why is it that people find html intimidating?

Everything is buried in obscurely hidden and arcane menus... but there's buttons! Buttons I tell you!

[Kyriosity]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

If working on ebooks, you really should at least learn the basics of HTML+CSS, so you could pick apart and understand what/why/how things are going wrong.

I actually do know the basics of HTML and CSS. Well, I should say I know the basics of HTML and used to know the basics of CSS, but haven't touched it in eons. I just have no idea where to find these things in InDesign.

[Kyriosity]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

To save a hell of a lot of headaches in the long-run, it's probably still a good idea to learn Word's Styles...

One more quick question about Word styles: Is there a way to reorder the style gallery? It's so inefficient to flip between two "pages" of it because I don't necessarily have the most frequently used styles on the top one.

[Notjohn]

Originally Posted by Kyriosity

One more quick question about Word styles: Is there a way to reorder the style gallery? It's so inefficient to flip between two "pages" of it because I don't necessarily have the most frequently used styles on the top one.

Everything about Word is inefficient. You're better off IMHO to treat it as a typewriter. Just get the words on screen, and consider it done. If it looks right, it is right.

I suppose it's different for a formatter. Me, I just clean up Word's awful html, which takes a few seconds, and paste it into Sigil. A few times per chapter I must use ShortKeys to paste in a paragraph or heading variant, but the basics (normal paragraph, bold, italic) are all there.

It helps of course if you follow Tex's mantra:

> KISS

Again, not always possible for a formatter, but certainly a worthy goal.