[gescom]

Ecub is free to download for multiple platforms, ok its not perfect (yet) but close enough I would say. A big thank you to its author Julian Smart for releasing such a handy little program. Cheers!

When clicking 'compile' make sure you have saved your project first. For any errors (user feedback) check the 'Log' tab next to the 'Files' tab.

The Launch book button doesn't work for me either... EDIT... the 'Launch' button executes whatever external program you have assigned to use *.epub files on your system. If you have not registered the filetype with a program when clicking the 'Launch' button nothing will happen. Usually you know if a filetype is registered as it will have its own logo.

Using eCub

To use eCub:
1. If you have existing HTML or text content, prepare a project folder with the HTML or plain text files you wish to import, one per chapter. If you already have a cover image (must be 600x800 pixels), place it in this folder also. Export text files from your word processor in UTF-8 encoding if possible, with the chapter title as the first line, and one line per paragraph (i.e. not preformatted).

2. Run the eCub New Project Wizard. It will prompt you for some basic information such as title and author, and then for the ebook file name and project folder. Next choose whether you'd like to import existing text or HTML files, or create an empty project (add chapters manually), or import from an existing book. If importing files, the next wizard page will prompt you for the kind of files you would like to import from the project folder, if anything (HTML and/or text files) and the imported files will be shown in the next page. Finally, choose a front cover image or design your own from a template or from scratch using the simple cover design tool. You can skip this step for now and come back to it later.

3. When you press Finish, your imported content files will be shown under the Files tab. From here, you can edit files either in the simple built-in text editor or by clicking on the Edit button (under Files) and using an external editor.

3a. Click the green plus button to add more html or txt files as chapters. Click the up and down arrows to change the order of your chapters. Clicking the red cross removes the selected chapter. You can name each individual chapter by typing in the 'Title:' box. The 'Level:' button changes the level of the chapter in the table of contents (the amount of indentation)... for example:

Chapter 1
....mobigen
....epub
.......help!

'Chapter 1' is set to level 1, 'mobigen' and 'epub' are both set to level 2 and the section 'help!' is set to level 3.

4. You can edit project details such as title and author using the Project Properties dialog (Edit on the toolbar, or Edit | Project Properties from the menubar). You can also choose what parts of the book will be generated by eCub, such as cover page, title page and contents page.

5. When you're happy with your settings and content, press the Compile toolbar button (or choose File | Compile from the menubar). This will compile a .epub file (or .mobi file) in your project folder. Errors that occur during compilation will be shown in the Log window.

6. Use another program (calibre) to open your mobi or epub file to view it.

Setting up Mobigen for MobiPocket (.mobi) output

In ecub go to the 'view' menu and select 'preferences' and then the 'helpers' tab. Click Get mobigen. This will open the Mobipocket Developer Center page in your web browser. Download the 'Mobigen 6.2 build 43' command line tool on the right side of the page. When you have downloaded the file unzip it and place the mobigen.exe file in C:\Program Files\eCub\ .

Go back to the preferences/helpers tab in ecub and copy and paste (hehe ) this path C:\Program Files\eCub\mobigen.exe in the Mobipocket compiler box.

When starting a new project when asked for the name and location you would like to save your epub file just use that box but name it myfile.mobi. Under ebook types tick MobiPocket only.

This can also be selected by going to the edit-project preferences menu (ctrl+k) and selecting the 'options' tab. Make sure 'Generate MobiPocket' is ticked.

Simple way of Importing Cover Designs

Prepare a cover image using a paint/design program that is 600x800 pixels in size. Save it to your ecub project directory. The New project wizard should detect it automatically (Use an existing file).

If not you can go to the cover design section (ctrl+d), click the 'background' tab, under style: choose 'image'. Click anywhere within the Texture: box/rectangle to bring up a 'select image' section.

Alternatively use the add text, image or box buttons to design your own. If you click the add image button please note that it is only asking for an object name, not the path of the file. You give any name you like then a image selection chooser comes up.

Another option in the cover design section is to click the 'Templates' button (bottom left) and edit the pre-existing templates. Its a good way to learn how to use the designer as you can see finished designs.

Any cover design that you make in ecub will be rendered to an 600x800 jpg file named CoverDesign.jpg in your project folder. That's why its probably better just to design your cover in a seperate paint/design program first as you will have more control over the way it looks.

Btw if anyone is creating epub files for use in the Stanza ebook reader for iphone/ipod touch then please note that any spaces in file and chapter names will cause problems with page/chapter linking. See this thread for info: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47508