jhowell hit the nail on the head. This is Fixed Format (FXL) EPUBs.
These things are a readability/compatibility nightmare, and should only be used in extremely rare cases (Children's Books/Comics).
In the case of normal books full of text, they should be completely avoided.
FXL has been discussed extensively on MobileRead in other topics, and Hitch over at BookNook.biz has written a few blog posts about the advantages/disadvantages:
http://www.booknook.biz/ebook-conver...ooks-as-ebooks
http://www.booknook.biz/our-ebook-pr...-format-ebooks
Long story short:
- Extremely expensive to produce
- Each device/store is going to need their own unique variants
- File that works in iBooks doesn't work in Kobo/B&N/Amazon.
- Very poor reading experience
- Loses all the advantages of actual ebooks (reflowability + following user preferences).
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhowell
There is a tradeoff between having it look pretty or providing a good reading experience.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jhowell
The two are fundamentally incompatible. Fixed layout has each word placed at a specific spot on a specific page. That requires a fixed font and font size to work.
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Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by unkauth
I exported a reflowable format, but it just didn't look as nice as having it fixed.
[...]
Also, you mentioned the multiple problems. Could you please help me mend those? Or maybe help me at least get this formatted to work properly in iBooks.
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... have you actually tried reading Fixed Format on a cellphone? (Or even a large PDF?)
Trying to read a 6"x9" PDF and shrinking it down to a small screen, you have to pan-and-scan + pinch-zoom around. It's
extremely annoying. Imagine this, but even worse, with FXL EPUBs.
InDesign -> EPUBs is also no trivial matter. No matter how much Adobe tries to make it seem like InDesign is "a one-button push", it's not.
In order to create a proper ebook, that works across readers, you have to be able to understand the code and clean it up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhowell
I have heard of reflowable PDFs, but I have never seen one myself.
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Tagged PDFs are becoming a lot more common, especially with more Accessibility regulations going around.
Now, how well actual PDF readers support the reflowable side... (I don't use Adobe Reader, so I have no idea.)