[Hitch]

Originally Posted by kfachuh

Hi.

1) WHERE iPAD OPENS THE BOOK

I have seen a lot of topics concerning iPad kindle reader opening the book on the next page after the TOC. Conclusion is that it is decided by Amazon and cannot be tricked. Is that still the current case?
I was wondering if it opens after the TOC html file or on the first thing in the TOC (it was the Introduction[.html] in my case and it opens there) - but I assume it is the first, and there seems to be no way to force the reader to open it by placing any magic trick at the top of the TOC. Am I right?
I noticed that placing the TOC html file after the cover and making another Contents page after the first pages (this one is a simple page and reader doesn't know it is a TOC)

Well, if I read you correctly: it opens to the first page of text AFTER the Table of Contents. Yes, this is by design. This is controlled by Amazon. It's been this way since late Fall of 2011, according to my record of the emails I had with them (Amazon) at the time. The overwhelming problem was that so many "authors" are uploading Word files and html files, etc., without a SRL that Amazon decided to take matters into their own hands, and set the SRL themselves. Their internal usage data indicates that nobody reads the front-matter, anyway (sorry, writers!), so they decided on the first page of text AFTER the TOC.html.

2) THE COVER IS TOO SMALL WITH HUGE MARGINS ON IPAD
(And it doesn't open with the cover in kindle reader app)

Sorry, what does that last sentence inside the parentheses mean? None of the devices/readers are intended to open on the Cover. As mentioned above, truth be told, only the author/publisher (by and large) goes and looks at the cover, AFTER the book is purchased. At that point, the cover's done its job.

I made it just how KindlePublishingGuidelines2013.5 said:

* the suggested dimentions (2560 pixels x 1600 pixels, 350 dpi, jpeg, smaller than 5MB)

* And that: "Internal Cover Must Not Appear Twice. Do not add cover images to the content in any way other than those described in section 3.2.2
Which is placing one line in <metadata> and one in <manifest> of the OPF file in Sigil.
I know some people add the actual Cover.xhtml (~.html??) page with the cover but the guidelines state it is prohibited.
In KindleGen I use -c0 option (no image conversions), it says the MOBI file generates succesfully (with no warnings).

On the Kindle e-ink, on kindle Prevewer and in my Android device with kindle reader (albeit with small screen, so hard to take it into account) the cover is streched enough to look correct (with that small margin). I know iPad sucks as MOBI reader, yeah... But I should cater for iPad too

What can be done here or what am I doing wrong?

Thanks
Kfac

Are you previewing the MOBI or the AZK file? not that this ought to affect the Cover, mind you, but the view of the two will be different, inside the file.

There's no point in using the -c0 option as that won't affect the cover image. The cover image is supplanted, in the actual for-sale book, by what you upload as the product image at Step 6. That's not a premise; it is done that way. Therefore, the -c0 option is irrelevant to your cover image.

The cover should be full-size on an iPad (k4ipad) reader, with about a 1/2" of white margin all around. Is that what you're seeing, or do you think you're seeing something smaller than that? The cover will NOT stretch edge-to-edge on the reader. It's even more noticeable if you rotate the device to landscape, particularly if you have 1-page view selected.

If you can take a screenshot of how the cover looks (you could blur out the image, if you're worried about your privacy), the rest of us could tell you if it looks odd. Did you look at other commercial books that you've bought, on the device, to see how the cover compares?

Hitch