[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by AlexHoang

I know and already installed the software Calibre which helps convert Epub to PDF for printing as it looks like the only solution.

PrincePDF is also a solution for generating EPUB->PDF. It's one of the most advanced tools for generating high-quality PDFs from HTML+CSS+Javascript.

Jellby released a Calibre Plugin called "Prince PDF". (More information can be found in the topic.)

Originally Posted by AlexHoang

But the thing is that the Index part in my original epub book is already doesn't fit with the correct page the term I want to look up.

I think the index part is legitimate as correctly as the physical book but on epub it doesn't fit at all. For example, "nutrition 45," I can click on 45 and it takes me to the page it has the first word "nutrition" but that page is not 45th one.

There isn't a way to dynamically renumber EPUB "pages"/links in an Index to newly-generated PDF pages.

Depending on your EPUB's code, a compromise may be to visibly display the original page numbers, and float them into the margin of the PDF, similar to this:



I'm not familiar at all with Calibre's PDF output, but you should be able to finagle something using HTML+CSS and negative margins:

HTML:

Spoiler:

<p>It does not make any difference in this regard whether the new <span class="pagenumber">508</span> invention is or is not protected by a patent. A firm that has acquired a license has already expended money for the new invention. [...]</p>

[...]

<p>If an invention is so superior to the old processes that it makes the old equipment obsolete and peremptorily demands its immediate replacement by new machines, the transformation will be effected no matter whether the privilege conferred by the patent is in the hands of the owners of the old equipment or of an independent firm. The assertions to the contrary are based on the assumption that not only the inventor and his attorneys but also all people already active in <span class="pagenumber">509</span> [...]</p>

CSS:

Spoiler:

span.pagenumber {
	float: right;
	font-weight: bold;
	padding: .5em;
	margin-left: -1em;
	margin-right: -2em;
}

Here is how the EPUB appears in Sigil:



Of course, your book's exact code + PDF settings will be different, so you'll have to experiment with what negative margins work well for your book.

Originally Posted by Hitch

If you want an index to work, you have to buy the print book. Using a reproduced print index, that's been copied into an ebook, when you're THEN printing it out to PDF--that's just bloody hopeless. It's too many iterations of changes with which you're not familiar.

I agree.

Too many variables change (page size, font size, margins), and the littlest tweak to even ONE variable (footnotes being indented 1mm to the left) can throw all subsequent PDF pages off.

There's a reason why layouts of physical books are completely locked down when books are passed to Indexers. Trying to reverse engineer all that work is... extremely tedious.