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Bob Doyle · 10-06-2016, 05:32 PM

Hi All,

Thanks very much for all the references to other posts which I will read carefully.

First, may I explain why do I need page numbers in the text of my reflowable eBooks?

It's because, as Tex2002ans explained, my multilevel index (topic entries and subentries) was curated carefully, by me as the author and by Heather Hedden, a board member of the American Society of Indexers, as editor. It cost over $1000 to prepare the index for my472-page textbook.

Now Hitch is rightly concerned about her "many-to-one problem," but an entry with multiple page numbers works beautifully in my two books, at least on some Kindles, notably the Paperwhite (which has a great back button)..

Consider the entry
Einstein, Albert
light quantum hypothesis of 361–364, 377

When I click on 377, it jumps to a "location" two pseudo-pages past the location with the in-text page number 377, as Hitch criticizes. But it goes precisely to the text with the Einstein marker I embedded in InDesign - just where it should go.

And, when I hit the back button in PPW, it jumps back to the "location" in the index with the Einstein entry, so I can now go to page 361 to learn more about Einstein's amazing hypothesis.

Once again, it goes precisely to the end of page 361 (we see page number 362 just below) and once again it is the right position in the text where I embedded the index marker.

And still once again, if I hit the back button, I am back with the subentries under Einstein, which is where I want to be to continue researching this topic.

Despite Tex2002ans other comments, I se nothing "distracting" about my page numbers (I agree the gif images were clunky in my 2011 book). With page numbers, students can be sure they read the assigned pages.

If students made up their own search terms, they would be most unlikely to find the right information, nor could I assign search terms that would zero in as perfectly as page numbers do from my carefully crafted index.

I think a hyperlinked index with page numbers in the text (this isn't a novel or comic book where numbers would be a nuisance) is an excellent thing in digital publishing.

Digital search is of course a terrific edition. My students say they use search when in a preliminary research mode, but they always read print material for deep study.

As the developer of the first desktop publishing software, MacPublisher, for the original 128K Mac in 1984, I am very happy with the Adobe InDesign CC that I use today. It produces very fine ePubs for iBooks and other standard eReaders that put Amazon Kindle to shame. But Amazons sells a lot of my print books and even more Kindle versions, so I am stuck with them.

I should note that Kovid Goyal's Calibre chokes on the EPUB3 FXL exported from InDesign. But a young EPUB developer from India (Pratibha Saini) has succeeded in producing a beautiful KF8/mobi fixed layout version of my latest book, Great Problems in Philosophy and Physics Solved?

Unfortunately, the page numbers in the index are not working as hyperlinks in Kindle Previewer 3, or when I sideload the file into my Fire HD8.

When I mouseover a number, the cursor changes in Previewer so the link is under there somewhere. But it just doesn't work. In the HD8, it doesn't even change the pointer to the hand as Previewer does.

Ken Jones' Circular FLO generates a somewhat similar file. it's fixed
layout looks good (though it's over twice the size of Pratibha's), but the links don't show a hand as I mouseover. The whole page always shows a hand cursor that goes nowhere in Previewer.

I am not recommending fixed layout for the smallest Kindles (as Hitch might think?), but my Fire HD8 screen looks to be about 95% of the page size in my 6"x9" textbook. The HD8 screen in 1/2" taller and 1/2" narrower that the iPad Mini, and my fixed layout book is quite readable in both without pinch and expand.

The FXL eBook is a precise replica of my textbook, which not only has page numbers, but also informative chapter titles and even chapter thumb tabs in the margins for easy physical navigation. Here is the Einstein reference page...

It seems clear that InDesign is putting something in their EPUB3 export that conflicts with Kindle's guidelines. My Indian developer claims it is in the CSS.

KDP recommends that a KF8 book start with an EPUB.

Do any of you know of an EPUB template whose OEBPF files could be unzipped and inspected for the right CSS, metadata, and any xhtml file headers that would satisfy the KDP conversion process?

I can see everything in my BBEdit and <oXygen/> editors. I just need to know what is required for KF8/AZW3 or whatever format KDP wants.

Thanks again for your help to textbook authors who want them to be as similar to our print works as possible.

Cheers,

Bob

10-06-2016, 05:32 PM	#22
Bob Doyle Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Cambridge, MA Device: All	Hi All, Thanks very much for all the references to other posts which I will read carefully. First, may I explain why do I need page numbers in the text of my reflowable eBooks? It's because, as Tex2002ans explained, my multilevel index (topic entries and subentries) was curated carefully, by me as the author and by Heather Hedden, a board member of the American Society of Indexers, as editor. It cost over $1000 to prepare the index for my472-page textbook. Now Hitch is rightly concerned about her "many-to-one problem," but an entry with multiple page numbers works beautifully in my two books, at least on some Kindles, notably the Paperwhite (which has a great back button).. Consider the entry Einstein, Albert light quantum hypothesis of 361–364, 377 When I click on 377, it jumps to a "location" two pseudo-pages past the location with the in-text page number 377, as Hitch criticizes. But it goes precisely to the text with the Einstein marker I embedded in InDesign - just where it should go. And, when I hit the back button in PPW, it jumps back to the "location" in the index with the Einstein entry, so I can now go to page 361 to learn more about Einstein's amazing hypothesis. Once again, it goes precisely to the end of page 361 (we see page number 362 just below) and once again it is the right position in the text where I embedded the index marker. And still once again, if I hit the back button, I am back with the subentries under Einstein, which is where I want to be to continue researching this topic. Despite Tex2002ans other comments, I se nothing "distracting" about my page numbers (I agree the gif images were clunky in my 2011 book). With page numbers, students can be sure they read the assigned pages. If students made up their own search terms, they would be most unlikely to find the right information, nor could I assign search terms that would zero in as perfectly as page numbers do from my carefully crafted index. I think a hyperlinked index with page numbers in the text (this isn't a novel or comic book where numbers would be a nuisance) is an excellent thing in digital publishing. Digital search is of course a terrific edition. My students say they use search when in a preliminary research mode, but they always read print material for deep study. As the developer of the first desktop publishing software, MacPublisher, for the original 128K Mac in 1984, I am very happy with the Adobe InDesign CC that I use today. It produces very fine ePubs for iBooks and other standard eReaders that put Amazon Kindle to shame. But Amazons sells a lot of my print books and even more Kindle versions, so I am stuck with them. I should note that Kovid Goyal's Calibre chokes on the EPUB3 FXL exported from InDesign. But a young EPUB developer from India (Pratibha Saini) has succeeded in producing a beautiful KF8/mobi fixed layout version of my latest book, Great Problems in Philosophy and Physics Solved? Unfortunately, the page numbers in the index are not working as hyperlinks in Kindle Previewer 3, or when I sideload the file into my Fire HD8. When I mouseover a number, the cursor changes in Previewer so the link is under there somewhere. But it just doesn't work. In the HD8, it doesn't even change the pointer to the hand as Previewer does. Ken Jones' Circular FLO generates a somewhat similar file. it's fixed layout looks good (though it's over twice the size of Pratibha's), but the links don't show a hand as I mouseover. The whole page always shows a hand cursor that goes nowhere in Previewer. I am not recommending fixed layout for the smallest Kindles (as Hitch might think?), but my Fire HD8 screen looks to be about 95% of the page size in my 6"x9" textbook. The HD8 screen in 1/2" taller and 1/2" narrower that the iPad Mini, and my fixed layout book is quite readable in both without pinch and expand. The FXL eBook is a precise replica of my textbook, which not only has page numbers, but also informative chapter titles and even chapter thumb tabs in the margins for easy physical navigation. Here is the Einstein reference page... It seems clear that InDesign is putting something in their EPUB3 export that conflicts with Kindle's guidelines. My Indian developer claims it is in the CSS. KDP recommends that a KF8 book start with an EPUB. Do any of you know of an EPUB template whose OEBPF files could be unzipped and inspected for the right CSS, metadata, and any xhtml file headers that would satisfy the KDP conversion process? I can see everything in my BBEdit and <oXygen/> editors. I just need to know what is required for KF8/AZW3 or whatever format KDP wants. Thanks again for your help to textbook authors who want them to be as similar to our print works as possible. Cheers, Bob