SVG wrapper not read by iBooks and Sony

[eggheadbooks1]

oops, sorry, forgot to delete out the style part.

<div class="Image"><img alt="0425" class="image1" src="../Images/0425.jpg" /></div>

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by eggheadbooks1

The device in question is an older Sony Reader. And one cannot code for everything; it's become impossible. It's the nature of the technological beast: the speed of change and the vagaries of device programming mean that even what is considered "standard" code is not read equally across devices. In this case, the code works on everything we tested except someone with an old Sony Reader sees the text overlaying the image. There's nothing I can do about it: if I fix that problem for a minority user set, I create a new one for the majority of users. And once someone decides to go digital, they have to accept that, as with all things digital, obsolescence is their problem; they cannot get angry at content creators because the content doesn't display on an older device.

Hmm, I would definitely get angry in that case. If you are selling an ePUB2, than the ePUB2 reader should be able to read it. If it were an ePUB3, that is another case. If you deliberately create code that is not supported on older readers, you should either specify that or, and that is better, come up with a way where it fails gracefully.
My experience with a SVG containing a viewbox is that is only really works full screen as a separate HTML file. If I want to enter a real SVG file into the book itself, I just add it as an image and reference to it like an image (e.g. <img src="../Images/picture.svg" />).

[odedta]

eggheadbooks1, I uploaded an ePub I made for the purpose of font testing on the iPad. The cover dimensions are: 1024x1339(WxH)
I used an SVG wrapper for the cover and it looks good on ADE, Calibre, iPad, Readium, Android... unfortunately I don't have other epub-readers at the moment.

If this doesn't work than I suggest you stick with Toxaris's advice :/

[mrmikel]

You can download the Sony Reader Library that will show pretty closely how the epub will look in the actual reader at:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-...d#/downloadTab

or the equivalent location for your country.

The later versions will not accurately show the lack of support for justification, but it will show the doubling up of images when they are too large, etc.

Even if Toxaris's add in may produce a fairly plain epub, it will be a working one which only needs touching up instead of major surgery just to get the TOC to work.

[odedta]

Originally Posted by mrmikel

You can download the Sony Reader Library that will show pretty closely how the epub will look in the actual reader at:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-...d#/downloadTab

or the equivalent location for your country.

The later versions will not accurately show the lack of support for justification, but it will show the doubling up of images when they are too large, etc.

Even if Toxaris's add in may produce a fairly plain epub, it will be a working one which only needs touching up instead of major surgery just to get the TOC to work.

I think you mixed this for the other thread still, thanks for the info about the Sony reader for PC, didn't know that one.

EDIT: After installing the Sony reader for PC the cover image looks okay.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by mrmikel

You can download the Sony Reader Library that will show pretty closely how the epub will look in the actual reader at:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-...d#/downloadTab

or the equivalent location for your country.

The later versions will not accurately show the lack of support for justification, but it will show the doubling up of images when they are too large, etc.

Even if Toxaris's add in may produce a fairly plain epub, it will be a working one which only needs touching up instead of major surgery just to get the TOC to work.

The created ePUB will have a fully working TOC. I personally still finetune, but I am a perfectionist... The created ePUB is fully working and compliant.

[eggheadbooks1]

Toxaris: it is ePub2, but contrary to what you suggest, not all ePub2 readers behave the same way. In fact, it was precisely a problem with the Sony and Nook reading apps that created the need for the SVG wrapper: if you do not code in a screen percentage, then these apps cut images off (they are not shrunk to fit); but if you code in a screen percentage without max-height/width values, then higher-res devices upsize, often horribly (there are many posts about iPad image destruction).

Originally, ADE was programmed to shrink all images to fit, but then it changed and now also cuts off images that do not have a screen percentage coded in.

Mrmikel: unfortunately, the Sony Reader app does not replicate how a book will look in an actual Sony Reader any more than the Kindle for PC app replicates how a book looks in my Kindle Fire. It's close but it is not the same (even Kindle Previewer does not accurately replicate device functionality). I have the Sony Reader for PC and the SVG wrapper works fine in it. It works fine in a new Sony Reader device but not a really old one.

Odedta: in the ePub you sent (thank you) the cover is distorted when ADE is set to full screen (and the cover isn't centered, though you may not want it to be). See attached comparisons.

Thanks everyone for weighing in.

[eggheadbooks1]

P.S. It has also occurred to me that Sony may have put out a firmware upgrade for this guy's older device but he never updated or he doesn't know how. How can we code for that?

[odedta]

I attached screenshots to show you how it looks on my monitor, the aspect ratio is preserved, centering the image is easy via CSS rules.

What happens if you remove the width? (part in red)

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="100%" preserveAspectRatio="xMaxYMid" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 720 960" width="100%"  xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
	<image height="100%" width="100%" xlink:href="../Images/cover.jpg"></image>
</svg>

[eggheadbooks1]

Hi Odedta:

Removing the width value does stop the distortion, but this is still an SVG wrapper and that seems to be the problem with iBooks and the old Sony reader.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by eggheadbooks1

P.S. It has also occurred to me that Sony may have put out a firmware upgrade for this guy's older device but he never updated or he doesn't know how. How can we code for that?

Standard reply from any Tech company; please apply all available updates to your system and then replicate the issue.