03-13-2014, 06:42 PM | #1 |
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Problems with Covers on eBooks & Kindle
Apologies if this has been addressed already. I searched and found people having one of these problems, but not all of them together.
I exported an epub file from InDesign, then cleaned it up in Sigil (removing the 203 cover InDesign creates and streamlining the CSS). Right now, the epub looks perfect in Nook, Adobe Digital Editions, Calibre, and when using the Firefox Epubreader extension. The book opens to the front cover, and the TOC lists the cover as the first item. However, in iBooks and in the .mobi file created by the Kindle Previewer, the book opens to the title page and does not list the cover in the TOC. I know this is a small thing most readers won't notice, but I want it to look the way I want it to look! At the very least, I'd like to understand why it's behaving this way. Thanks in advance for all assistance. |
03-13-2014, 07:45 PM | #2 |
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At least on the Kindle, where you start is controlled by the "Text" attribute in the <guide>, Sigil has a semantics menu in the file browser.
However, the Kindle does not consider the cover.jpg to be "part" of the book. You can always add a cover.xhtml in addition to the cover, and set that to "Text",but then you will have two cover images which doesn't look good. I have no idea about iBooks. |
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03-13-2014, 08:27 PM | #3 |
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Thanks for the reply, eschwartz.
I actually do have a cover.xhtml file that points to the image I've marked as the cover through the semantics menu. This seems to take care of the double cover problem, but doesn't explain why Kindle doesn't recognize the file. Before I knew better, I left the 203.png file InDesign created in the epub file and never had this problem--but I had epub files that were between 5 and 7 Mbs. Now that I use the semantics menu to mark the jpeg file as the cover and then delete the large 203.png file, both Kindle and iBooks open to the title page and don't include "Cover" in the TOC. No idea why that is! |
03-13-2014, 08:32 PM | #4 |
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If the cover.xhtml is marked as "cover" I am pretty sure kindlegen will strip it out to prevent a double cover.
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03-13-2014, 08:35 PM | #5 |
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Ha, of course. That's the way with ebooks, isn't it? You finally get the file perfect for one device, then another one messes it up! I'll try Kindle & iBooks using a smaller version of the 203.png file Adobe creates and see if that solves the problem. Thanks for the help!
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03-13-2014, 10:13 PM | #6 | |||
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Kindles should open where the "Text" attribute is marked:
Now you can repeat 1-3 to double-check that there is a little checkmark next to "Text". Quote:
Anyway, if you don't mind, you can PM/email me a copy and I can take a look and see if I can figure anything out. It could potentially be something annoying that InDesign stuck in the EPUB, that Sigil is not deleting. My email is: *insert my MobileRead Username* @gmail.com Quote:
Side Note: I personally recommend against including front/backmatter in the TOC (either XHTML file or the ncx). I believe the TOC should easily allow you to jump around the book material (Preface, Introduction, Chapters, Afterword, Appendix, ...). You never really see "Cover", "Title Page", "Copyright page" in a physical book TOC.... and I believe it doesn't fit in an ebook TOC either. There was some more discussion of frontispieces and other front/backmatter in ebooks in this topic: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=228927 |
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03-14-2014, 02:40 PM | #7 | |||
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Thanks for all the help, Tex.
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Thanks again for all the help. Such a simple fix, but it seems to be doing the job. |
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03-14-2014, 06:38 PM | #8 |
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mjm01:
I don't know what ebooks you have, but I've never seen the "cover" on an ebook TOC, and we've never put it on any ebook TOC in the more than 2K books we've made. I find having books open on the cover exceedingly annoying, as a reader. The cover has already served its purpose; it lured me to the book, I looked at the LITB for the book and the description, read blurbs, if any, and bought it. If I want to see it again, every reader has a "go to cover" option. I don't need to see it again. I don't know if they've changed this, but for years, the Dresden Files ebooks were distributed coverless. {shrug}. I'm glad you're happy, but be prepared for the very real possibility that this may NOT work (mobi or iBooks) once it's been through the publishing workflow ("PW") at the retailers. Amazon consistently and routinely changes the SRL (start reading location) to the first page past the TOC, and iBooks sets it at the TOC. The PW is not the upload process; it's what happens AFTER you've uploaded the book, BEFORE it appears for sale, while it's being further processed by Amazon/iBooks (during the "review" period). You may get lucky--but don't count on it, and in the interim, if you had a better place in the book for the TEXT attribute, now it's already been used for the cover, which won't work after Amazon/iBooks changes it. Hitch |
03-14-2014, 07:47 PM | #9 | |||
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I guess that is just my error correcting mind at work.... I mean, what if they had a typo in the Title/Copyright Page? Quote:
Example: Where I work, the artist creates original 1800px x 2700px book covers, and they are typically 1MB-8MB. I resize to 800x1200 and embed in the book + pick a JPG compression ~80-95 quality (I try to get the size down to ~300 KB). We also have the original covers available on a site for anyone who is interested in higher quality, and can also resize covers in the future (if requirements at retailers change, next generation ebook formats come out, etc. etc.). I would at least prefer the cover in the book to not be an extremely compressed JPG (like the kind that gets pulled down from B&N/Amazon using Calibre). Example: I purchased an EPUB of George R.R. Martin's book, "Busted Flush". Here is a generic cover that was actually in the EPUB: Here is the compressed version that Calibre pulled from B&N: And this is a high resolution cover that I grabbed directly off of George R.R. Martin's site: I purchased the book, I just wish that I could have a cover that is closer to the original cover file!!! I mean, when you purchase a physical book, they don't say: "Thank you for your purchase, hold on, let me swap out that cover for this tiny cover that fits in your wallet!" or "Thank you for your purchase, hold on, let me just swap this cover sleeve with one that just says the book name and author!" You purchase the ebook, you should get the cover in all of its glory! Last edited by Tex2002ans; 03-14-2014 at 07:49 PM. |
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03-14-2014, 08:26 PM | #10 |
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Hey, Tex:
I don't have any issue whatsoever with delivering the cover; as a reader, I'm not that interested in it, post-purchase. As a bookmaker, I'm with you; we embed them in their full glory for our clients. My real point in the post was the publishing-workflow "gotcha," so s/he knows that may well be coming. Vis-a-vis corrections/errata: I think you and I had a gab about this at some point in time, here on MR. I absolutely do NOT crack open books and fix them. I try really hard not to see the errors, as that yanks me out of my enjoyable experience. It's harder now (not to see them) than it was 'ere I started this business, but still...I give it the old college try. And mostly, I'm not that interested in the frontmatter (heresy, I know!). I know that authors are horrified to hear it, but I truly don't read the dedication, acknowledgements, etc. Epigraph? Sure. Prologue? Sure. Other stuff? Not so much. ;-) Again: speaking as a reader here, not a bookmaker. Hitch |
03-24-2014, 09:05 PM | #11 | ||
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Regarding the cover, I like to see the cover when I first open the book. Yes, I ostensibly see the cover before I open it, but only a tiny thumbnail of the cover. I'd like to actually see it at full size. That said, it's strictly a matter of personal preference—there's no right or wrong answer. |
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cover format, sigil, toc problem |
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