Master page in epub ?

yeuquaido · 06-26-2012, 12:47 AM

Hi everyone,

I have a problem with my epub file. I want to set a color bar at the left side for every page in epub file when we read it on ipad. I wonder if we can have a master page or something can solve this problem?

Please tell me your idea if you know about this.

Thank you so much.

Toxaris · 06-26-2012, 01:59 AM

You might be able to set a border style in the html class of your stylesheet. If you make all the borders, except the left one, to thickness 0, you must be able to see a left bar on all pages.

yeuquaido · 06-26-2012, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

You might be able to set a border style in the html class of your stylesheet. If you make all the borders, except the left one, to thickness 0, you must be able to see a left bar on all pages.

It works perfectly this way. Thank you so much.
One more question, is there any way to add some texts along with the color bar or a link to the beginning of chapter when we click to the color bar. It would be great if we have text and link too

Toxaris · 06-26-2012, 01:43 PM

Not with normal XHTML and CSS, which is the core of ePUB2. It is possible in ePUB3 with Javascript but the majority of readers do not support that.

StoryEnthusiast · 06-26-2012, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

It is possible in ePUB3 with Javascript but the majority of readers do not support that.

Does it mean I should stick with ePub2 when publishing? When do you think ePub3 will be widely supported?

Toxaris · 06-27-2012, 02:49 AM

Personally? I hope never. I hope that ePUB4 will really solve the outstanding issues and kick out javascript and audio/video. Oh well, one can only hope. I think in about a years time there will be more. But, don't forget that all older readers will still not support it. Most people will not replace their reader is it is not broken, so it will be quite some years before it is common.

The issue is, that the current generation of readers are using the engine from Adobe (the mobile version of ADE) and that engine is currently the best ePUB engine there is with respect to the standards. Also, the e-ink screens don't really are fit for video and animation in general.

There are a few ePUB3 reading devices. One of them is iBooks, although that is Apple's flavor of ePUB3 of course, not the real ePUB3. There are some more.

StoryEnthusiast · 06-27-2012, 03:38 AM

I want to target ebooks for mobile phones only. As I'm starting out fresh in the ebook area, I thought I would just study ePub3 and start from there, but now it looks like it's gonna be a tough direction.

JSWolf · 06-27-2012, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoryEnthusiast

I want to target ebooks for mobile phones only. As I'm starting out fresh in the ebook area, I thought I would just study ePub3 and start from there, but now it looks like it's gonna be a tough direction.

Don't target iPhones using iBooks. iBooks is awful on an iPhone. The screen is really small and the margins iBooks forces on the user are too big. That makes iBooks a poor choice for reading on an iPhone.

DiapDealer · 06-28-2012, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoryEnthusiast

I want to target ebooks for mobile phones only. As I'm starting out fresh in the ebook area, I thought I would just study ePub3 and start from there, but now it looks like it's gonna be a tough direction.

I think it's a bad idea to "target" any kind of hardware/app with an ebook. Target a format if you must target anything, but even then ... I'd still recommend trying to make sure it at least works on any device that supports that format. Besides, unless you're starting your own ebook store, I don't think there's going to be an easy way to inform people that your ebook is intended for app X on hardware Y.

There's nothing wrong with testing/experimenting and otherwise getting ready for the "Beyond ePub2 Market" but if your content doesn't specifically require any of the features ePub3 (or its proprietary variants) brings to the table ... why limit your exposure to a tiny portion of the market—the tiny portion that your specialty ebook is going to work for—by including it?

StoryEnthusiast · 06-29-2012, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

why limit your exposure to a tiny portion of the market—the tiny portion that your specialty ebook is going to work for—by including it?

I just want to produce ebooks that can work on most smart phones and tablets. I already have many stories formatted in HTML5-ish style and picture sizes with width of 240 pixels. I'm a newbie when it comes to ebook. So the question is: what is the most popular format of ebooks for mobile phones and tablets?

DiapDealer · 06-29-2012, 07:10 AM

Quote:

So the question is: what is the most popular format of ebooks for mobile phones and tablets?

The same formats that are most popular for all eReading devices/apps... ePub and MOBI (Amazon). If they're not specialty books (pdf-like fixed-format containing math/scientific formulas, comic books/graphic novels, childrens' picture books, video/audio, etc...) there's usually no reason why an ebook can't be pretty much platform agnostic: meaning it can be used with similar results on almost any platform.

EDIT: If it's your desire to only sell/publish books using the iBooks platform, then I believe Apple's iBook Author app is capable of certain HTML5 stuff.

Freeshadow · 07-02-2012, 07:08 AM

Well he said smartphone not iPhone so I d say better respect epub limits since the Android reading apps do epub and not "what apple thinks of epub"

DiapDealer · 07-02-2012, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

Well he said smartphone not iPhone so I d say better respect epub limits since the Android reading apps do epub and not "what apple thinks of epub"

I agree. But I didn't want to sound too bossy. If someone wants to create ebooks for smartphones capable of reading ePubs built from HTML5 sources... I'm not going to stand in their way.

StoryEnthusiast · 07-10-2012, 11:48 PM

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. Currently I have close to 300 stories released on my portal site, all designed in the iPhone-like style CSS and HTML5 code. I recently watched an interview with Eric Schmidt talking about few billions of people probably not being to connect to the Internet for quite a while. However, smartphones will be dirt cheap in just a few years and communities may develop mesh networks where information can be passed around from phone to phone (via BlueTooth or direct WiFi). This inspires me to develop a program to automatically convert stories (they are mainly texts and pictures -- simple structure) into a form that can be passed around from phone to phone. After all, 40% of visitors to my site are from India so I imagine if my Indian visitors download the stories they can share with the less fortunate ones who have no Internet access.

As a story enthusiast not chasing after money, I want a format that can be used widely and easily. That's why I look at ePub. As ePub3 is essentially HTML5, I thought ePub3 would be the best place to start my study. How does it sound?

Toxaris · 07-11-2012, 02:45 AM

Well, ePUB3 is based on HTML5. On smartphones it should work alright I guess. I personally will never read anything on my phone. The screen is much too small to read comfortably for me. I have a Galaxy Nexus, so the screen is already on the big size compared to most smartphones.
If you don't really need the functionality of ePUB3, I would go for ePUB2. That is much more generally accepted at this point.

06-26-2012, 12:47 AM	#1
yeuquaido Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: iPad, Kindle	Master page in epub ? Hi everyone, I have a problem with my epub file. I want to set a color bar at the left side for every page in epub file when we read it on ipad. I wonder if we can have a master page or something can solve this problem? Please tell me your idea if you know about this. Thank you so much.

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06-26-2012, 01:59 AM	#2
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	You might be able to set a border style in the html class of your stylesheet. If you make all the borders, except the left one, to thickness 0, you must be able to see a left bar on all pages.

06-26-2012, 01:43 PM	#4
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Not with normal XHTML and CSS, which is the core of ePUB2. It is possible in ePUB3 with Javascript but the majority of readers do not support that.

06-27-2012, 02:49 AM	#6
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Personally? I hope never. I hope that ePUB4 will really solve the outstanding issues and kick out javascript and audio/video. Oh well, one can only hope. I think in about a years time there will be more. But, don't forget that all older readers will still not support it. Most people will not replace their reader is it is not broken, so it will be quite some years before it is common. The issue is, that the current generation of readers are using the engine from Adobe (the mobile version of ADE) and that engine is currently the best ePUB engine there is with respect to the standards. Also, the e-ink screens don't really are fit for video and animation in general. There are a few ePUB3 reading devices. One of them is iBooks, although that is Apple's flavor of ePUB3 of course, not the real ePUB3. There are some more.

06-27-2012, 03:38 AM	#7
StoryEnthusiast K. C. Lee Posts: 584 Karma: 3652522 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: New Zealand Device: Android phone	I want to target ebooks for mobile phones only. As I'm starting out fresh in the ebook area, I thought I would just study ePub3 and start from there, but now it looks like it's gonna be a tough direction.

07-02-2012, 07:08 AM	#12
Freeshadow temp. out of service Posts: 2,815 Karma: 24285242 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Duisburg (DE) Device: PB 623	Well he said smartphone not iPhone so I d say better respect epub limits since the Android reading apps do epub and not "what apple thinks of epub"

07-10-2012, 11:48 PM	#14
StoryEnthusiast K. C. Lee Posts: 584 Karma: 3652522 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: New Zealand Device: Android phone	Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. Currently I have close to 300 stories released on my portal site, all designed in the iPhone-like style CSS and HTML5 code. I recently watched an interview with Eric Schmidt talking about few billions of people probably not being to connect to the Internet for quite a while. However, smartphones will be dirt cheap in just a few years and communities may develop mesh networks where information can be passed around from phone to phone (via BlueTooth or direct WiFi). This inspires me to develop a program to automatically convert stories (they are mainly texts and pictures -- simple structure) into a form that can be passed around from phone to phone. After all, 40% of visitors to my site are from India so I imagine if my Indian visitors download the stories they can share with the less fortunate ones who have no Internet access. As a story enthusiast not chasing after money, I want a format that can be used widely and easily. That's why I look at ePub. As ePub3 is essentially HTML5, I thought ePub3 would be the best place to start my study. How does it sound?

07-11-2012, 02:45 AM	#15
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Well, ePUB3 is based on HTML5. On smartphones it should work alright I guess. I personally will never read anything on my phone. The screen is much too small to read comfortably for me. I have a Galaxy Nexus, so the screen is already on the big size compared to most smartphones. If you don't really need the functionality of ePUB3, I would go for ePUB2. That is much more generally accepted at this point.

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