Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Formats > ePub

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 04-22-2012, 06:20 AM   #1
stayinwonderland
Junior Member
stayinwonderland began at the beginning.
 
stayinwonderland's Avatar
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: none
Total epub newbie - few preliminary questions

Hi guys,

So the situation is that I'd like to create my own ebooks and I stumbled across the epub3 format which would allow me to put some audio/video into the pages. Cool.

I then dug around to find out how one does this and basically I'm trying to figure out if I'm cut out for epub3 stuff.

What I can do:
- html
- css
- flash/video/audio etc
- illustration
- book formatting/desktop publication/typesetting

What I can't or won't do (probably):
- xhtml
- html5
- any tricky code that will have me tearing my hair out

So could someone brief me on the level of difficulty in making a book in epub3 format where I'd want to embed the odd video or flash. Nothing too fancy??

Thanks!
stayinwonderland is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2012, 08:03 AM   #2
Toxaris
Wizard
Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Toxaris's Avatar
 
Posts: 4,520
Karma: 121692313
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Heemskerk, NL
Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura
You are almost there. The differences between html and xhtml are slim, but essential. However, if you know html, that will not be an issue.

The main difficulty is that there is hardly any reader which supports ePUB v3. The readers that do support this, have different ways of implementing audio/video although there are some commonalities. Apple has adapted the ePUB v3 to support certain stuff, but it is not real ePUB anymore.

Embedding is not that difficult I believe, but you have to test it on all v3 readers to see if it works. The format is still too new.

Personally I don't see added value in audio/video for the bigger part. I can see some limited benefit in special case books, but even there I never missed it. If you need audio/video, it might be better to create an app for it.
Toxaris is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 04-22-2012, 09:53 AM   #3
stayinwonderland
Junior Member
stayinwonderland began at the beginning.
 
stayinwonderland's Avatar
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: none
Hmm, interesting. Well thanks for clearing that up.

So would you recommend sticking to standard epub and/or PDF for now and wait for the technology to catch up for things like video/audio?

Thanks again.
stayinwonderland is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2012, 10:26 AM   #4
mmat1
Berti
mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mmat1's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,196
Karma: 4985964
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Zischebattem
Device: Acer Lumiread
Quote:
Originally Posted by stayinwonderland View Post
So would you recommend sticking to standard epub and/or PDF for now and wait for the technology to catch up for things like video/audio?
Yes, he's right. Most of the readers used to display epub have a monochrome, slow eink display, which can't be used for Video. Embedding some Audio should be possible (but is not supported in most cases).

Apple goes it's own way as usual (they have the hardware to do that). Maybe there will be or there already is s a solution for Android. And there is a small number of devices (i. e.Trekstore) which use a fast color display (but don't support epub3). Which System will you prefer to diplay your epub3's?

I think, it will not be a difficult job to embed some multimedia-sources into an epub for someone who has already mastered the epub-basics. So if you want a recommondation, then I would suggest to start with epub2 (which ist not on your list of "i can do...")

Last edited by mmat1; 04-22-2012 at 10:30 AM.
mmat1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2012, 11:06 AM   #5
stayinwonderland
Junior Member
stayinwonderland began at the beginning.
 
stayinwonderland's Avatar
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: none
Ok, so is audio maybe available in epub2? I'm not even sure what the current platforms can do i.e. do new kindles etc. have speakers?

So I guess I should stick to the basics for now and implement multimedia when the hardware/platforms can unify a bit.

Quick question. If I wanted to make a picture book for younger children, is that a real pain because of the text reflow issue? In such books you might have one large illustration spanning a spread with a block of text placed in a particular and specific place. The text reflowing might mess up the page design Vs a static PDF?

My guess is that most epub books are basic pages full of text and maybe an isolated illustration occupying just a page by itself? I haven't come across anything more sophisticated than that.
stayinwonderland is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 04-22-2012, 01:40 PM   #6
Toxaris
Wizard
Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Toxaris's Avatar
 
Posts: 4,520
Karma: 121692313
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Heemskerk, NL
Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura
Audio isn't available in epub2 and the same restrictions are valid. However, since there are less possible ways to incorporate sound, you stand a better chance it is supported in a v3 reader. Reader programs on tables might be able to do audio, standalone certainly not.

You are correct concerning image heavy books. Due to the reflow, you cannot exactly position the images in the texts.

If you are looking for more sophisticated ePUB, take a look in the book section. You will be surprised what can be done. Take a look of 'Alice in Wonderland' or 'Three man in a boat'.
Toxaris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2012, 01:04 PM   #7
mmat1
Berti
mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mmat1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mmat1's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,196
Karma: 4985964
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Zischebattem
Device: Acer Lumiread
Quote:
Originally Posted by stayinwonderland View Post
Ok, so is audio maybe available in epub2? I'm not even sure what the current platforms can do i.e. do new kindles etc. have speakers?
To get me right: Audio (mp3) is supported by most readers hardware and OS, but not as embedded files within epub2.1, separate, independent files only.
mmat1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2012, 05:06 PM   #8
susan_cassidy
Wizard
susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.susan_cassidy ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 2,251
Karma: 3720310
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: USA
Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)
And, Kindles don't support ePub, anyway.
susan_cassidy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2012, 05:24 PM   #9
Doitsu
Grand Sorcerer
Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Doitsu ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Doitsu's Avatar
 
Posts: 5,582
Karma: 22735033
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: Kindle PW2
Quote:
Originally Posted by stayinwonderland View Post
Quick question. If I wanted to make a picture book for younger children, is that a real pain because of the text reflow issue? In such books you might have one large illustration spanning a spread with a block of text placed in a particular and specific place. The text reflowing might mess up the page design Vs a static PDF?
This can be best done with fixed layout ePubs or Kindle KF8 books. You can find a Kindle example with source files on the Kindle KF8 page. (You'll also need to download the Kindle Previewer.) For fixed layout ePubs see this web site.
Doitsu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2012, 05:26 PM   #10
stayinwonderland
Junior Member
stayinwonderland began at the beginning.
 
stayinwonderland's Avatar
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: none
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doitsu View Post
This can be best done with fixed layout ePubs or Kindle KF8 books. You can find a Kindle example with source files on the Kindle KF8 page. (You'll also need to download the Kindle Previewer.) For fixed layout ePubs see this web site.
Cool, that sounds good. Thanks
stayinwonderland is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2012, 08:17 PM   #11
DaleDe
Grand Sorcerer
DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DaleDe's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by susan_cassidy View Post
And, Kindles don't support ePub, anyway.
They certainly do not support it as a reader but they do support ePub as a source format and KF8 is nothing more that a compiled ePub with different DRM.
DaleDe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2012, 02:08 AM   #12
Toxaris
Wizard
Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Toxaris ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Toxaris's Avatar
 
Posts: 4,520
Karma: 121692313
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Heemskerk, NL
Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura
Be aware that fixed layout ePUB only works in iBooks. It is something created/changed/adapted by Apple.
Toxaris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2012, 11:05 AM   #13
DaleDe
Grand Sorcerer
DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DaleDe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DaleDe's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,470
Karma: 13095790
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toxaris View Post
Be aware that fixed layout ePUB only works in iBooks. It is something created/changed/adapted by Apple.
Actually there are several fixed layout ePub formats. They are all covered in our wiki. Kobo supports the same format as Apple uses. There is an emerging part of ePub 3 that supports this as well. I would expect some conformance at some point although the format used by KF8 is widely different.

Dale
DaleDe is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Total Newbie here; but Questions? SteveBaslow Amazon Kindle 4 03-11-2012 03:13 PM
Total Newbie ljfoley Introduce Yourself 8 03-24-2010 08:44 PM
Total newbie Violetteskye Astak EZReader 4 10-21-2009 03:07 AM
Ubook is beginning preliminary Epub Support. brewt ePub 4 04-08-2009 12:45 AM
Total newbie questions MrAngus iRex 11 08-17-2008 10:10 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:43 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.