Kindle .apnx set first "page" offset

FredLx · 03-15-2012, 05:08 AM

I have been making .mobi ebooks for my kindle and have figured out how to use Calibre to create mobi ebooks that show pages in the kindle by using the Count Pages plugin and also enabling "send page information" in the Kindle 2/3/4 interface plugin which exports the page info/count in an .apnx file.

This works great. The thing is that the first page is always at the immediate beginning of the ebook. I would like the first page to be after the cover, table of contents, etc., and for it to be at the start of the first chapter while keeping the page count the same. This is something I have seen in ebooks downloaded from amazon so I know it possible. I am certain it is something in the .apnx file but am not sure what.

Skydog · 03-15-2012, 12:51 PM

The Calibre sub-forum is a better place for this question.

FredLx · 03-16-2012, 10:44 PM

So I've done a little fiddling around and figured a bit of it out. The offset is defined in the apnx file where it says "pageMap":"(1,a,1)" . The first digit in the parenthesis is the start offset from what little experimenting I did. This can be changed in a text editor but only up to 9. After that is messes it up and no pages appear at all. I think it has something to do with pushing back the binary encoded stuff that comes later in the file which causes it to not work. But as long as you want a offset of only up to nine pages, this works since you're not pushing back the binary stuff by changing only one digit.

If you're creating your page count with Count Pages plugin in Calibre, you'll want to add the offset to the total pages because the offset lowers the total page count. For example if the plugin defines 250 pages and you want an offset of 5 at the beginning of the book (for the table of contents or a foreword or whatever), then manually change the page count to 255. Otherwise the last page of the book would be 245.

03-15-2012, 05:08 AM	#1
FredLx Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kindle	Kindle .apnx set first "page" offset I have been making .mobi ebooks for my kindle and have figured out how to use Calibre to create mobi ebooks that show pages in the kindle by using the Count Pages plugin and also enabling "send page information" in the Kindle 2/3/4 interface plugin which exports the page info/count in an .apnx file. This works great. The thing is that the first page is always at the immediate beginning of the ebook. I would like the first page to be after the cover, table of contents, etc., and for it to be at the start of the first chapter while keeping the page count the same. This is something I have seen in ebooks downloaded from amazon so I know it possible. I am certain it is something in the .apnx file but am not sure what.

03-15-2012, 12:51 PM	#2
Skydog Wizard Posts: 2,243 Karma: 7400001 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Circling Earth @ Mach .83 Device: Elipsa 2E, Sage, Forma, Libra 2, Clara 2E, Kindle Oasis3, Voyage	The Calibre sub-forum is a better place for this question. Last edited by Skydog; 03-15-2012 at 12:53 PM.

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03-16-2012, 10:44 PM	#3
FredLx Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kindle	So I've done a little fiddling around and figured a bit of it out. The offset is defined in the apnx file where it says "pageMap":"(1,a,1)" . The first digit in the parenthesis is the start offset from what little experimenting I did. This can be changed in a text editor but only up to 9. After that is messes it up and no pages appear at all. I think it has something to do with pushing back the binary encoded stuff that comes later in the file which causes it to not work. But as long as you want a offset of only up to nine pages, this works since you're not pushing back the binary stuff by changing only one digit. If you're creating your page count with Count Pages plugin in Calibre, you'll want to add the offset to the total pages because the offset lowers the total page count. For example if the plugin defines 250 pages and you want an offset of 5 at the beginning of the book (for the table of contents or a foreword or whatever), then manually change the page count to 255. Otherwise the last page of the book would be 245.

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