Hello all,
Thank you so much for your guidance, I'm processing all your indications.
To clarify, this is how the book was formed:
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• We've bought a professional template from an online provider, for use with InDesign and Word.
• The InDesign template, for the paper book, works well and the paper book looks good.
• However, I wasn't able to generate a proper .epub from the InDesign template.
• So
I've used the Word template to generate the .epub with Calibre. (Like you guessed @azimuth!)
• In other words, I haven't used Smashwords or Draft2Digital's templates.
• The book is generated from a third party .docx template, making heavy use of Word's "Styles", converted to .epub with Calibre.
• I've been using EPUB-Checker and other readers to validate before uploading.
• So I'm only using the aggregator Draft2Digital for distribution, not for formatting.
• Now, to solve the issue with the Kobo preview, I've pulled the book from Kobo (through D2D) and will try to publish directly through Kobo with a Kobo account. That way, I'll (hopefully) be able to test and troubleshoot the preview in private!
• But you're showing me that there are deeper issues with the .epub's formatting, so I'll try to address those first.
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@Turtle91
Ah yes, not using standard <h> tags is bad for accessibility... I've read this before for websites... That's not good, accessibility matters to us. Thank you for pointing this out!
Quote:
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Don’t use <body class=“calibre">, define a 'minimal' body style (only things you absolutely MUST have - I don’t use anything) in your css like this: body {blah blah blah}
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... Could you clarify what <body class=“calibre"> is supposed to do then? It seems to be there by default...
What are some of those "things" you're referring to that I would want in a <body class>?
Is it a way to apply modifications in bulk? Can I just have <p class> instead? Or does it replace <p class>?
I've googled <body class> a bit, but remain confused for now...
Quote:
I wouldn’t define line-height at all, and certainly never use a fixed size (points - pt) to define margins. Use a relative size, like em so that it scales appropriately with the font size the user chooses.
Likewise I’d be very careful when you use letter spacing. Just use a good font and rely on the font’s properties. If you do use it, again use em instead of pt otherwise it is useless when the user changes font size.
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I'm taking note!
@azimuth
Right! I'll take option 3!
@Quoth
OK, that works. I've heard of other programs, like Sigil and Jutoh, but I've never used them. Would they do anything Calibre can't do?
As I've exposed above, it's a Word file converted into .epub with Calibre. I hoped (still hope) this would allow me to generate a professional ebook.
@everyone
1° I probably need to take a comprehensive course in CSS formatting specifically for ebooks. Would you have recommendations? Or should I just read the Wiki?
2° I'll list all the ebook's <blocks> (_blocks? .blocks?). Then I will convert them into... <h> and <p>?
3° ... Then I'll use Calibre's search and replace function to convert each <block> and </block> into the proper tags.
4° Then the book will be broken, and I'll come back here to panic about it.
Calibre's Editor seems both straightforward and powerful. My issue is the CSS code itself (i.e. how to edit it properly). I'll take some time to examine this more closely, then I think I'd need to get back to this thread this weekend with more specific questions...
AS7