Ebooks formatted as two columns

ShellShock · 01-20-2014, 02:46 PM

I have just got my latest Asimov's Science Fiction epub, and the publisher has now decided to format it into two columns, a skeuomorphic attempt to emulate the print magazine. It looks horrible, and that is on a Kobo Aura HD; I hate to think what it looks like on a smaller 6" screen.

To add insult to injury, they achieved this dubious technical feat by using the epub-standard breaking Adobe extensions (ade:template), and compounded this by the worst sin of all: rather than creating a single xpgt file to define the page layout, instead the publisher has inserted a huge ade:template element inline into each xml file in the epub. This makes it time consuming to strip out.

I have worked around the two column problem by replacing column-count="2" with column-count="1", which makes the necessary changes to all the inline ade:templates.

Anyway, how do you like your emagazines/enewpapers: one or two columns?

susan_cassidy · 01-20-2014, 03:44 PM

Definitely one column. A 6-inch screen is too small for 2 columns.

Purple Lady · 01-20-2014, 04:43 PM

Definitely one column only.

Have you tried Calibre's E-book Editor? It can search and replace thru all files.

ShellShock · 01-20-2014, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Have you tried Calibre's E-book Editor? It can search and replace thru all files.

Yes thanks. That's what I used to convert them to one column.

I did email the magazine when they first changed to two columns last year, but I never got a response back.

This is what is looks like:

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But I much prefer this:

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Ntsimp · 01-21-2014, 04:07 PM

This should be a no-brainer. These multi-column formats were historically a natural adjustment to the media in use. There's no reason at all to preserve them in new and different media.

teh603 · 01-22-2014, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ntsimp

This should be a no-brainer. These multi-column formats were historically a natural adjustment to the media in use. There's no reason at all to preserve them in new and different media.

Nobody uses a 7" or bigger tablet in landscape mode? You can display multiple columns perfectly well in landscape, and it looks pretty good.

theducks · 01-22-2014, 11:44 AM

2, 3 on n column display c/should be a Device (display) option.

IMHO
The content must always display properly in a single column without sideways scrolling being required (

what a way to destroy 'readers trance')

All other display (column) formats are optional

BWinmill · 01-22-2014, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teh603

Nobody uses a 7" or bigger tablet in landscape mode? You can display multiple columns perfectly well in landscape, and it looks pretty good.

The ereader software that I use on my tablet has a two page mode, which effectively gives you two columns. That sort of arrangement sounds much better since it facilitates different devices.

faltradl · 01-22-2014, 01:15 PM

Only one column isn't the whole truth. Using tables instead of columns is a way. Not for a whole book, but for short parts in the book. (OK, not every reader can handle tables.)

For the general dicussion 2 oder 1 columns look to real books. You will not find so many books in the size of an ereader with 2 columns. You mustn't compare normal sized books with ebooks. Ebookreader are pocket books.

Purple Lady · 01-22-2014, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teh603

Nobody uses a 7" or bigger tablet in landscape mode? You can display multiple columns perfectly well in landscape, and it looks pretty good.

I use my Nexus 7 in portrait mode normally. I was looking at the Press Reader app to get my newspaper and it gives you two columns in both portrait and landscape in their "SmartFlow" mode. SmartFlow is pretty stupid though - it is hyphenated very poorly. Dema-nd, rest-rictions, agreem-ent, sanctio-ns, and even t-hat all on one page.

Katsunami · 01-22-2014, 08:35 PM

"Just put the hyphen wherever it happens to fall."

Yeah bro, nice one

If one can't do it properly, then don't do it at all.

theducks · 01-22-2014, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

"Just put the hyphen wherever it happens to fall."

Yeah bro, nice one

If one can't do it properly, then don't do it at all.

Hey!
No need for fancy justification or kerning algorithms

ST-One · 01-23-2014, 04:38 AM

For my 8" Icarus8 I adjust all my books for 2 columns; this gives my more words per screen-page than in a single column text.

01-20-2014, 02:46 PM	#1
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,178 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	Ebooks formatted as two columns I have just got my latest Asimov's Science Fiction epub, and the publisher has now decided to format it into two columns, a skeuomorphic attempt to emulate the print magazine. It looks horrible, and that is on a Kobo Aura HD; I hate to think what it looks like on a smaller 6" screen. To add insult to injury, they achieved this dubious technical feat by using the epub-standard breaking Adobe extensions (ade:template), and compounded this by the worst sin of all: rather than creating a single xpgt file to define the page layout, instead the publisher has inserted a huge ade:template element inline into each xml file in the epub. This makes it time consuming to strip out. I have worked around the two column problem by replacing column-count="2" with column-count="1", which makes the necessary changes to all the inline ade:templates. Anyway, how do you like your emagazines/enewpapers: one or two columns?

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01-20-2014, 03:44 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	Definitely one column. A 6-inch screen is too small for 2 columns.

01-20-2014, 04:43 PM	#3
Purple Lady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,698 Karma: 16542228 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pennsylvania Device: Huawei MediaPad M5, LG V30, Boyue T80S, Nexus 7 LTE, K3 3G, Fire HD8	Definitely one column only. Have you tried Calibre's E-book Editor? It can search and replace thru all files.

01-21-2014, 04:07 PM	#5
Ntsimp Groupie Posts: 150 Karma: 1215642 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Utah Device: iriver Story HD, Android	This should be a no-brainer. These multi-column formats were historically a natural adjustment to the media in use. There's no reason at all to preserve them in new and different media.

01-22-2014, 11:44 AM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	2, 3 on n column display c/should be a Device (display) option. IMHO The content must always display properly in a single column without sideways scrolling being required ( what a way to destroy 'readers trance') All other display (column) formats are optional

01-22-2014, 01:15 PM	#9
faltradl Guru Posts: 602 Karma: 1712372 Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: germany Device: PocketBook Touch	Only one column isn't the whole truth. Using tables instead of columns is a way. Not for a whole book, but for short parts in the book. (OK, not every reader can handle tables.) For the general dicussion 2 oder 1 columns look to real books. You will not find so many books in the size of an ereader with 2 columns. You mustn't compare normal sized books with ebooks. Ebookreader are pocket books.

01-22-2014, 08:35 PM	#11
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	"Just put the hyphen wherever it happens to fall." Yeah bro, nice one If one can't do it properly, then don't do it at all.

01-23-2014, 04:38 AM	#13
ST-One Addict Posts: 283 Karma: 182106 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Icarus8, Kindle DXG	For my 8" Icarus8 I adjust all my books for 2 columns; this gives my more words per screen-page than in a single column text.

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