Quote:
Originally Posted by FrustratedReader
Use ordinary FIXED PDF if you really really need a fixed layout. You then MUST decide on a physical page size. Likely any device less than a 8" or 10" screen is then useless.
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PDFs on larger phones might be "okay" once margins are cropped. For example, the textbox of a 6"x9" Fiction book—with cropped margins—would fit without the need to do pinch-zooming. But the issue then becomes readable font-size.
Overall, PDFs on phone still suck atrociously.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrustratedReader
What everyone says. Real ebooks that work on any size screen reader, app or dedicated hardware MUST be reflowable. Otherwise it's not an ebook.
Fixed layout is for paper.
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I agree.
I don't consider FXL EPUBs "real ebooks", they nullify every advantage of EPUBs, and do fixed-format even worse than PDF.
Just as "Reflowable PDFs" do reflowable even worse than EPUBs.
Use each format for what they're best at, and it's best not to cross the streams!
Side Note: If you want even more information on why Fixed-Format EPUBs are awful, watch the talk
"Building Ebooks that Last" from ebookcraft 2019.
It was given by an editor at Houghton Mifflin, and included many stats on why books get returned.
Hint: Fixed Format ecosystem is pure hell... so along with being a pain, expensive to produce, etc... it's also the most complained about+returned format there is (one stat she gave at 16:00 is "Fixed Layout = 50% of errors, <2% of sales").
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrustratedReader
If you don't have any eink based ereaders, then install both kindle/mobi apps and epub apps on a phone. [...]
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Yep, always best to test on actual physical devices. If not, then at least use a standards-compliant reader like
Adobe Digital Editions on PC/Mac.
Not many handle Fixed Format at all though. And like I mentioned, each ecosystem is going to have their own insane quirks (InDesign "FXL EPUB" exports code that works for iBooks only).