As a publisher, I can understand the frustration people have with the unattractive formatting of most eBooks. Yes, there are: inflexible typefaces, awkward end-of-line breaks in justified text, nonexistent hyphenation, misplaced graphics, cumbersome table of contents and index implementations, confusion about "locations rather than pages, simplistic designs that limit the creative use of graphics and other design elements a complete list would be quite lengthy.
There is an easy solution to all of this:
the PDF. "But," you say, "PDFs look horrible on my Kindle/Sony/Nook! How am I supposed to read that
tiny type? PDFs suck!" The refrain grates on me because it places the blame on the PDF format rather than on the true culprit lazy publishers.
There is nothing wrong with PDFs as a wonderful publishing platform for eReaders. I know, I've done it. The problem is not one of format (PDF), but rather one of
size, i.e., the wrong size originating document that creates the PDF. When people complain about PDFs on their eReader, almost without exception they are trying to read a letter-sized or A4 sized PDF on a screen that is not. Of course the type is too small!
The solution to solve all the problems in my first paragraph is to simply create the PDF for the 6 screen size of the typical eReader. I've found that an InDesign document size of 3.47" wide by 4.82 tall is just right for my Kindle 3 and Sony PRS-600. By designing a book to that physical dimension, I can create a PDF that fits these eReaders perfectly with type that appears the size one would expect. My InDesign original solves every problem:
I can use any typeface I want in my design. Because the typeface is embedded in the PDF, it looks as it should in the eReader.
I have all of InDesign's typographic controls at my disposal including hyphenation and no-break controls
I can insert graphics anywhere I want and they look as good as e-ink can make them
I know my graphics will appear on the page in the correct locations, including text wraps and even layered graphics
I can easily create a table of contents and index
Footnotes, end notes, page headers, page numbers no problem. Even master page elements can be used.
The resulting book is page-based, not "location" based
Anything I can design in InDesign shows up in the final layout, including photos, graphs, graphics, special font treatments, etc. Even drop shadows render well.
What is missing in a properly designed-for-eReaders PDF?
Font sizes cannot be changed on the fly (by the way, nor can they in a physical paper book)
Leading (space between lines) cannot be changed on the fly (ditto, nor can it in a physical paper book)
File sizes for PDFs are much larger than for the equivalent ePub or prc/mobi versions. Fewer books can be loaded into the same memory space. For example, I can only fit 1,000 books on my Kindle 3 rather than 3,000. Is this a crisis?
That's about it.
So why aren't all eBooks simply done as PDFs formatted for eReaders?
Perhaps publishers are just too lazy to redesign their print layouts for eReader-sized PDFs.
There would need to be various "sizes for various readers e.g., Kindle DX versus Sony Pocket. Marketing laziness.
People want to be able to change the font size to better fit their vision or fatigue. I think this is a big issue and one lots of consumers would be loathe to sacrifice although we do so every time we purchase a paper book.
So, we can either put up with lousy eBook formats but have their advantages, or we can have beautiful eBooks with the less flexible, memory intensive PDF format. Apparently having cake and eating it are not yet simultaneous options.
By the way, if you want to see one for yourself, I've uploaded a rendition of
Our Mutual Friend. I created this using Warnock Pro typeface, 13 point basic size on a 14.7-point leading grid a size comfortable for reading with my aging eyes. It uses a bit of styling for chapter titles and a master page header for every page. I started with the Gutenberg text and replaced all the single quotes (British) to double quotes (American). I also converted to typographer's curly quotes and apostrophes. This was just an proof-of-concept experiment, but you can see the potential. All that's needed is a publisher who's willing to put in the time and effort! I flirted with the idea myself, but it's better left to someone with more time than I can devote to it. Too bad this couldn't be a group effort like Librivox or even MobileRead. We could have beautifully formatted eBooks rather than the visually jarring efforts we've seen so frequently so far.
I've also attached my InDesign template for those of you adventurous spirits.
(Originally posted on
my technology blog.)