[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by deback

I never have to change indents manually, since they are all changed during the conversion (which takes a few seconds per file).

I also change the space above and below the chapter names. 3em above and 2em below. I often have to do this manually, but I have a styling entry for the class "chapter" that does this during the conversion.

Most ePub does not use "chapter" for the class name for chapter headers.

I don't use Kobo, and I don't want the lines scrunched together (too close to each other), so making sure the line-height is set to 1.2 is very important.

In most cases, you don't need to use a line-height of any kind. just find a program that supports setting the line height and the margins.

[quote]I also make sure the base font size is the same--and usually a little smaller for the offset texts.[quote]

Again classes for this can be very different.

I add space to the left and right margins (30px each) because I can't stand to read text that touches each side of the reader. I want my ePub files to look the way physical books look (when reading).

If you find a program that lets you set the margins, then you can keep the margins at 0. ADE (for example) does not let the text hit the sides of the window when the margins are 0.

The conversion automatically deletes any unused CSS, so there's no need to do that manually.

It's just one menu item and done.

I always use a class for <p>. It makes no sense to use just <p>.

It makes very good sense to use just <p>. It means less code. The idea is to keep it simple and that's not as simple as it can be.

In many cases, I make many various changes, so that's why I decided to automate most of it. And it has saved me tons of time. When I open a book in the editor, most everything that needs to be fixed was fixed during the conversion (which takes a few seconds for each book normally).

I make other manual changes to the cover image when the size is too big or it's not centered. I use a macro to add the class name and height and width of 100% each to the CSS file. I make other manual changes to the TOC, when needed, and I'll fix any other page that needs fixing that didn't get fixed during the conversion. The conversion fixes many of the basic things, which saves a ton of time, when you're fixing many books.

I use ADE to read ePub files, because my laptop sits on my lap, and I only have to hit one key to go to the next page. I can switch to my browser or email or anything at any time, so it's much more convenient than using a little gadget. I use my network and a batch file to copy finished ePubs to my laptop, so it's quick to open any book in ADE, with no need to hook up a little gadget to a USB port or charge the little gadget's battery or have to hold the little gadget while reading.

When I fix books, I drag them into Calibre, and when done fixing, I copy them back to the original folders on my hard drive. Fixing books is the only reason I use Calibre, since my library is all categorized on my hard drive on my desktop computer (and then certain books are copied to my laptop when I'm ready to read them).

As for fixes, I prefer to do them myself so I know they are done correctly. It doesn't take long in most cases. I also get rid of excess code such as ePub 3 code that I don't need. This way, in ADE/RMSDK, the page numbers are more accurate as there's less unused code to bloat the page numbering. Ilike to know that the code is clean. A conversion does not leave the code as clean as when I do it by hand.