Back to basics?

[weberr]

Long-time Sigil user and familiar with its idiosyncrasies, shortcuts, and expected results. Am now trying to move to the calibre Book Editor for all my eBook editing. It is already an outstanding piece of work implementing many of the Sigil functions but in an enhanced, wholly different approach. Can't hardly wait to see what it will mature into.

Have learned and become familiar with and use often many of its more esoteric functions -- like merging, splitting, creating blank files, importing/modifying images, modifying the CSS, applying headings, creating TOCs, find and replace, troubleshooting and fixing HTML errors, etc.

But I need help with some of the very basic elements of the editing process.

Although I've learned how to create new text files and edit existing files (including applying headings, bold, italics, etc.) by operating in the code panel using shortcut keys and letting calibre generate the appropriate code, I can't figure out how to put any text or image or even a blank line in the body without manually generating the appropriate codes.

Are there ways to create new text, insert images, change alignment by menu selection or keyboard shortcut -- or do I have to get much more familiar with html coding and do it manually?

BTW --anybody know if I can create a keyboard shortcut in calibre that will take me directly to the Editor?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by weberr

BTW --anybody know if I can create a keyboard shortcut in calibre that will take me directly to the Editor?

@weberr - try pressing 'T'

see preferences->keyboard->edit book

BR

[weberr]

Once again you come through to embarrass me -- all these years I didn't even know that 'keyboard' was down there. Thanx.

Since you didn't choose to address the basic question I assume the answer is what I wanted not to hear, i.e., I have to do what I want to do by learning how to generate HTML code.

[arspr]

Originally Posted by weberr

Are there ways to create new text, insert images, change alignment by menu selection or keyboard shortcut -- or do I have to get much more familiar with html coding and do it manually?

For images you've got a button in the editor toolbar.

The other features you are asking for are probably never going to be implemented. They are WYSIWYG features and Calibre editor is "just" a code editor. Nevertheless once you become familiar with a bit of HTML/CSS coding you'll probably abandon WYSIWYG approach as it usually generates a lot of redundant, dirty code.

[weberr]

Thanks for the help -- I don't know why I couldn't find it -- looked at every item on that toolbar several times and couldn't see it.
RW

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by weberr

Since you didn't choose to address the basic question I assume the answer is what I wanted not to hear, i.e., I have to do what I want to do by learning how to generate HTML code.

@weberr - No, I chose not to answer the basic question because I don't think I can adequately answer it; html, css and all that, are matters in which I have a great deal of ineptitude

cheers BR

[theducks]

@weberr
The HTML, CSS you will normally use in an EPUB2 is a tiny subset of what a WEB developer might use.