iPad Better formatting in Pages for iBooks/Stanza?

parameter_bond · 07-24-2011, 05:16 AM

Hi! I received an iPad for my birthday, and I love the iBooks app. Since I had a copy of iWork Pages, I tried making an ePub with it, and the results were quite good. Some minor formatting issues (orphans mainly), but nothing bad.

However, when I looked at it on Stanza/iPad I was disappointed at how much worse it looked. The pages are too wide (is there no double-page layout?), headings are too small and centred rather than left-justified, the illustrations are left-justified rather than centred, inter-paragraph margins default to being too big, footnotes don't work, the invert-screen button hides the text, and the app crashes a lot with unhandled exceptions.

Are there any tricks to format a book in Pages that works better with Stanza? Or is Stanza just, well, not as good?

I was using the Pages template, though - perhaps that's the problem...

file is at http://clock24.nfshost.com/counting-time.html if examining it helps

kjk · 07-24-2011, 04:36 PM

Apple has a support document for best practices using Pages for ePub export:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4168

Maybe this will help! (haven't tried it myself yet-I use Sigil).

Synergi · 07-29-2011, 11:26 AM

I'd look at the support document. I love Stanza but it hasn't seen a real update in forever. Amazon bought stanza and so far hasn't did anything with it. Maybe they are waiting for their new tablet, who knows. I really miss that App getting updates though.

JSWolf · 07-29-2011, 11:28 AM

Stanza is buggy. (IMHO) it's not worth using until the bugs are fix and that may be never.

Synergi · 07-29-2011, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Stanza is buggy. (IMHO) it's not worth using until the bugs are fix and that may be never.

Yea, agreed. It seems strange amazon would buy it just to shelve it. I read the Stanza team moved to Settle after Amazon bought them so hopefully Amazon is planning to do SOMETHING with it.

jswinden · 07-29-2011, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synergi

Yea, agreed. It seems strange amazon would buy it just to shelve it. I read the Stanza team moved to Settle after Amazon bought them so hopefully Amazon is planning to do SOMETHING with it.

Amazon might have just wanted the development team rather than the software they had already developed.

Kolenka · 07-29-2011, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jswinden

Amazon might have just wanted the development team rather than the software they had already developed.

I'd have to agree. Good development folks are actually harder than you'd think to find these days. You can get people who will get stuff done, but that isn't what gets you the next big thing. But personnel are just as valuable, if not more, as the knowledge/technology they bring.

Synergi · 07-29-2011, 06:45 PM

Ahhh very good points. Lets hope the Stanza team brings something fantastic to Amazon's new tablet.

07-24-2011, 05:16 AM	#1
parameter_bond Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: iPad	Better formatting in Pages for iBooks/Stanza? Hi! I received an iPad for my birthday, and I love the iBooks app. Since I had a copy of iWork Pages, I tried making an ePub with it, and the results were quite good. Some minor formatting issues (orphans mainly), but nothing bad. However, when I looked at it on Stanza/iPad I was disappointed at how much worse it looked. The pages are too wide (is there no double-page layout?), headings are too small and centred rather than left-justified, the illustrations are left-justified rather than centred, inter-paragraph margins default to being too big, footnotes don't work, the invert-screen button hides the text, and the app crashes a lot with unhandled exceptions. Are there any tricks to format a book in Pages that works better with Stanza? Or is Stanza just, well, not as good? I was using the Pages template, though - perhaps that's the problem... file is at http://clock24.nfshost.com/counting-time.html if examining it helps

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07-24-2011, 04:36 PM	#2
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	Apple has a support document for best practices using Pages for ePub export: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4168 Maybe this will help! (haven't tried it myself yet-I use Sigil).

07-29-2011, 11:26 AM	#3
Synergi Addict Posts: 341 Karma: 4683770 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW, iPadPro, Galaxy Note 5, 8 (tab) & Galaxy Tab S3	I'd look at the support document. I love Stanza but it hasn't seen a real update in forever. Amazon bought stanza and so far hasn't did anything with it. Maybe they are waiting for their new tablet, who knows. I really miss that App getting updates though.

07-29-2011, 11:28 AM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,931 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Stanza is buggy. (IMHO) it's not worth using until the bugs are fix and that may be never.

07-29-2011, 06:45 PM	#8
Synergi Addict Posts: 341 Karma: 4683770 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW, iPadPro, Galaxy Note 5, 8 (tab) & Galaxy Tab S3	Ahhh very good points. Lets hope the Stanza team brings something fantastic to Amazon's new tablet.

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