Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertDDL
I consider EPUB to be a rather crappy format, with way too much unnecessary complexity. You cannot simply create an EPUB file from scratch with a text editor unless you are an expert, while this is easily done with HTML. Chapters have to be separate files, which makes no sense at all and is a major nuisance with editing. I suppose some of EPUB's annoying complexity is owed to its DRM capabilities, but, well, you know what I think about that  |
I think ePub is a rather versatile format and not crappy. There is no reason to make one from scratch. If you want to do it automatically you can use a program like Atlantis Word Processor to make a ePub directly from RTF, DOC, etc. No knowledge of anything other than simple word processor required. Or if you want to use a more nuts and bolts approach you have Sigil at your disposal or the Calibre editor.
You do not have to make separate files although this can make it easier to process. None of the annoying (to you) complexity is based on DRM. The file format is HTML with some decent consistency closing tags along with images, an optional but useful CSS and a separate TOC along with some metadata in a file. How much simpler can it be? Free form perhaps that is not parseable by a computer? You can even use a simple text markup language if you prefer and convert it. You can read about ePub in our wiki.
Dale