I'm considering switching from .MOBI to .EPUB, need advice

[Bobosmite]

I only have experience with editing for .mobi format. I edit .html using Word, always keeping in mind that .mobi has some limitations...specifically how it handles left & right indents. The result is nice, but not very dynamic. I'd like to use embedded fonts and have some control over the right side of the page. As I understand it, that's an .epub feature...not .mobi. Which means I'll need a new device if I want to go all-in.

What reader are you using for .epub? I don't want to get carried away so, maybe this a grass-is-always-greener thing?

[HarryT]

This question appears to have absolutely nothing to do with Calibre. Moved to the "which one should I buy" forum.

[Bobosmite]

Thanks, but I was trying to focus my question on how Calibre converts to .EPUB files versus to .MOBI files. I use Calibre to convert every book to .RTF, clean it up in Word, and re-convert to .MOBI format for my Kindle. From what I understand, .EPUB is more dynamic and is better for formatting text to look like a book. For example, I read that Nook and iPad support embedded fonts in .EPUB. So I wanted to hear from the Calibre group--people who use it in a similar way--if there is a preferred device.

[HarryT]

Pretty much every ePub device - with the exception of the iBooks App for the iDevices - uses the same firmware to display ePub files: Adobe Reader Mobile. So from the viewpoint of displaying ePub files, it really doesn't matter what device you get. However, there are obviously many other considerations when purchasing a reading device, and this forum is the best place to get that advice. One very important piece of information which you haven't told us, for example, is where you live. That very much influences what devices are available to you.

I would note, by the way, that converting Mobi to RTF is a truly awful way to edit Mobi files. You'd be a lot better off converting from Mobi to ePub, and then using an ePub editor such as Sigil to edit your books.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Bobosmite

Thanks, but I was trying to focus my question on how Calibre converts to .EPUB files versus to .MOBI files. ...

EPUB is based on a more modern version of HTML than the classic MOBI format (the new KF8 MOBI format is a much more modern beast). As a result, anything that converts well to MOBI is almost certain to convert as well to EPUB.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by dwig

EPUB is based on a more modern version of HTML than the classic MOBI format (the new KF8 MOBI format is a much more modern beast). As a result, anything that converts well to MOBI is almost certain to convert as well to EPUB.

Not so. I've seen a number of ePub that look like they could have been Mobi. The problem is the publishers are doing crap coding in ePub so they can get it to convert to Mobi using Amazon's rather broken Kindlegen. For example, they use fake blockquotes that don't look right. They don't wrap images when they work/look better that way. They put in a ToC that adds nothing to toc.ncx. So really, this is part of the reason Mobi should go away forever. It's keeping things backwards instead of going forwards.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

They put in a ToC that adds nothing to toc.ncx.

Do all ePub readers support the toc.ncx now? IIRC there used to be some apps that didn't, making an inline TOC useful.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Do all ePub readers support the toc.ncx now? IIRC there used to be some apps that didn't, making an inline TOC useful.

The ones that use ADE do and that means most do. Also, there are apps for iOS & Android that do as well. And internal ToC is not useful in an ePub because there's no way to get to it easily without knowing what page to go to. The external ToC (toc.ncx) has menu options to get to it easily.

Originally Posted by Bobosmite

I only have experience with editing for .mobi format. I edit .html using Word, always keeping in mind that .mobi has some limitations...specifically how it handles left & right indents. The result is nice, but not very dynamic. I'd like to use embedded fonts and have some control over the right side of the page. As I understand it, that's an .epub feature...not .mobi. Which means I'll need a new device if I want to go all-in.

What reader are you using for .epub? I don't want to get carried away so, maybe this a grass-is-always-greener thing?

ePub does support the use of right margins so a blockquote (for example) will display the proper 40px right margin.

[Bobosmite]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would note, by the way, that converting Mobi to RTF is a truly awful way to edit Mobi files. You'd be a lot better off converting from Mobi to ePub, and then using an ePub editor such as Sigil to edit your books.

I hear that a lot, so I installed and gave it a try. Because I'm using a Kindle that only does .MOBI and one font, MSWord works great for editing. I'm familiar how to set the correct Styles and it creates a clean .HTML that then gets converted to .MOBI. But, yes, it does create a crappy .RTF that's for sure.

Mostly the reason why I want to get away from .MOBI is because I want to have a choice of multiple fonts within the book and possibly something more than in-line graphics. Does .EPUB support a word-wrap around graphics?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Bobosmite

Mostly the reason why I want to get away from .MOBI is because I want to have a choice of multiple fonts within the book and possibly something more than in-line graphics. Does .EPUB support a word-wrap around graphics?

Yes, it does. And so does the "KF8" standard that more recent Kindle models support.