Kobo ePUB Guidelines

mohad · 07-13-2015, 06:44 AM

Hi All,
I'm planning to launch eBooks in Kobo site. I'm going to create ePUB formats for these books.
Is there any KOBO guidelines available to create an ePUB file specifying the DO's and DON't's?
Because AMAZON provides a Kindle Publishing Guidelines for the same purpose.
Can you please share any guidelines released by KOBO that are to be used in the ePUB which is supported on Kobo?

davidfor · 07-13-2015, 08:33 AM

Have a look at https://github.com/kobolabs/epub-spec. But, any well constructed epub will do. The only restriction I can think of that they add is that all files in the book must have a ToC entry.

PeterT · 07-13-2015, 09:19 AM

Also https://www.kobo.com/writinglife

filmo · 07-13-2015, 09:51 AM

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=75

GeoffR · 07-14-2015, 06:36 AM

These would be my suggestions for publishers, based on what I have learned from fixing problems in the ebooks I have bought:

Most important, test the book on a Kobo device after you have uploaded it:

* Check that the Font Face, Font Size, Line Spacing, Margins, and Justification can all be adjusted, at least for the main body of text.

* Check that objects which are supposed to be right- or centre-aligned (such as headings, scene break asterisms, images, etc.) remain so when the Justification button is set to Left or Full justification.

* Check that the progress indicators (TOC chapter mark, page number, chapter graph and stats) work correctly as you advance through the book.

* Check that images are displayed at the appropriate size relative to the screen size, and that images which are supposed to change size as the font size changes do so.

To create a book where all of the above work correctly:

* Don't set the font-family, line-height, or text-align styles at paragraph level for the main body of text. Instead set the defaults at body level and let the paragraph styles for the main body of text inherit from there.

* Don't add any left/right margins or padding styles to <body>.

* Don't use <p> or <div> for titles, headings or other text objects which are supposed to be centre-aligned or retain a fixed alignment. Use <h1>, <h2>, etc. or <blockquote> etc. instead.

* Don't use units of px, pt, in, cm, etc. for anything unless you are certain that it is really necessary (it almost never is). Use em or % instead.

* Make sure the items in the NCX toc are in exactly the same order as they appear in the OPF spine.

* Don't use bitmaps as a substitute for glyphs which might be missing from some fonts (such as Hebrew or Cyrillic glyphs in an otherwise Latin text.) Use an embedded font which contains the appropriate glyphs instead.

In addition, to improve the reading experience:

* Make sure line drawings or other images that are supposed to be in one colour, such as those created by scanning a black-and-white drawing from a book, really are black-and-white rather than greyscale.

* Make sure that every chapter is in a separate file. Keep the files as short as possible. Consider breaking files larger than about 100KB into seperate files even if it means splitting a large chapter between files.

* Don't create scene breaks simply by adding a margin-top style to the opening paragraph of the scene. If you really must indicate scene breaks just with whitespace, then either use a padding-top style, or add a blank paragraph <p> </p>to the text instead.

* Don't use breakable elipses like ". . .", use "..." or ". . ." instead.

* Think about what your book will look like in a few years time when ereaders are 600dpi or higher. Better to make bitmap images too big and have to scale down rather than too small and have to scale up, and best to use SVG instead of bitmaps if at all possible.

* Use EPUB2 format, unless EPUB3 is really necessary. (It almost never is.)

Metadata:

* Don't include the series name in the title or subtitle fields. Put it in the series field.

* Don't list the book under inappropriate genre subcategories. Listing Sherlock Holmes in the Space Opera subcategory is just a form of spam.

jackie_w · 07-14-2015, 10:07 AM

Hi Geoff,
I do a huge amount of 'epub tidying' and think the above is very sound advice - not just for Kobos but for anyone planning to use their epubs on multiple devices/reading apps. The only query I have is on the following point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

* Don't create scene breaks simply by adding a margin-top style to the opening paragraph of the scene. If you really must indicate scene breaks just with whitespace, then either use a padding-top style, or add a blank paragraph <p> </p>to the text instead.

I'm not arguing with it but am interested in why you've reached this conclusion as it's never caused me any problems ... so far.

GeoffR · 07-15-2015, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I'm not arguing with it but am interested in why you've reached this conclusion as it's never caused me any problems ... so far.

The problem is what happens when the scene break occurs at the bottom of a page.

If the last line of the previous scene falls at the very bottom of the page then any margin-top on the first line of the next scene will be absorbed into the page margin-top of the next page (depending on how wide the page margin is), and so it can be impossible to see that there was a scene break at all.

Edit: Attached are screenshots from my Glo (3.16.0) reading this book synced from Kobo in full-screen mode (but the effect is the same in normal mode, and it is not Kobo-specific as it happens in Calibre's ebook viewer too.) This book has a lot of scene breaks.

These two shots show a scene break made with a 1em margin split across two pages. The new scene begins Once she arrived home ... at the top of the second page:

Click image for larger version

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Click image for larger version

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This shot has the margin slider adjusted to show that the 1em margin really is there before Once she arrived home ...:

Click image for larger version

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In this case it is easy to see that there is a scene break because the last paragraph of the scene ends with a very short line, but it is not always so obvious. It would be worse for those who read ragged-right, or if the opening pararaph is not flush-left.

murg · 07-15-2015, 05:56 AM

Scene breaks should be something like:

<p class="centre">* * *</p>
or
<p class="centre">———</p>

jackie_w · 07-15-2015, 10:39 AM

@GeoffR,
Thanks for the detailed reply. I can see your point, especially when opening paragraphs have indents. As this is one of my pet hates, I have a compulsive need to fix epubs styled this way, so this could be why it hasn't bothered me so much so far. The act of turning the page and seeing a non-indented paragraph may also be enough of a subtle mental break to register that the scene has changed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by murg

Scene breaks should be something like:

<p class="centre">* * *</p>
or
<p class="centre">———</p>

The problem with this approach, if designing a book to be good for Kobo users, is that many choose to read their epubs as kepubs and if they also like to use the Kobo's Justification button to force left- or full-justification then the carefully prepared centred asterisks will also be forced to the left (which looks really ugly IMO). If you want them to remain centred you'd need to leave the Justification button set to Off.

An alternative is to use the Kobo Patcher to stop the default forced justification (kepub only) of <p> and <div> tags, but most Kobo users probably won't. Not to mention that unless you've styled your epub/kepub well it may create as many problems as it fixes.

I suppose a pragmatic (but dubious) workaround may be to code the asterisks (or whatever) with a header tag, e.g.

Code:

<h6>* * *</h6> 

h6 {font-size: 1em; margin:1em 0; text-align:center; text-indent:0}

rather than <p> or <div> but I'm pretty sure that would be considered Very Bad Practice by HTML purists

At least if you use a 'whitespace method' such as big margin-top/padding-top or <p> </p> then you don't have to worry about your centring going AWOL. I'm not really a fan of the 'non-breaking space method' as I've had them silently stripped by both Sigil and calibre at various times in the past. Although, to be fair, I think both programs have fixed this problem in their current incarnations. Only my paranoia remains.

In conclusion, I think I'm relieved I'm cleaning up epubs/kepubs for personal consumption rather than trying to design them for the world at large

07-13-2015, 06:44 AM	#1
mohad Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2015 Device: none	Kobo ePUB Guidelines Hi All, I'm planning to launch eBooks in Kobo site. I'm going to create ePUB formats for these books. Is there any KOBO guidelines available to create an ePUB file specifying the DO's and DON't's? Because AMAZON provides a Kindle Publishing Guidelines for the same purpose. Can you please share any guidelines released by KOBO that are to be used in the ePUB which is supported on Kobo?

07-14-2015, 06:36 AM	#5
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	These would be my suggestions for publishers, based on what I have learned from fixing problems in the ebooks I have bought: Most important, test the book on a Kobo device after you have uploaded it: * Check that the Font Face, Font Size, Line Spacing, Margins, and Justification can all be adjusted, at least for the main body of text. * Check that objects which are supposed to be right- or centre-aligned (such as headings, scene break asterisms, images, etc.) remain so when the Justification button is set to Left or Full justification. * Check that the progress indicators (TOC chapter mark, page number, chapter graph and stats) work correctly as you advance through the book. * Check that images are displayed at the appropriate size relative to the screen size, and that images which are supposed to change size as the font size changes do so. To create a book where all of the above work correctly: * Don't set the font-family, line-height, or text-align styles at paragraph level for the main body of text. Instead set the defaults at body level and let the paragraph styles for the main body of text inherit from there. * Don't add any left/right margins or padding styles to <body>. * Don't use <p> or <div> for titles, headings or other text objects which are supposed to be centre-aligned or retain a fixed alignment. Use <h1>, <h2>, etc. or <blockquote> etc. instead. * Don't use units of px, pt, in, cm, etc. for anything unless you are certain that it is really necessary (it almost never is). Use em or % instead. * Make sure the items in the NCX toc are in exactly the same order as they appear in the OPF spine. * Don't use bitmaps as a substitute for glyphs which might be missing from some fonts (such as Hebrew or Cyrillic glyphs in an otherwise Latin text.) Use an embedded font which contains the appropriate glyphs instead. In addition, to improve the reading experience: * Make sure line drawings or other images that are supposed to be in one colour, such as those created by scanning a black-and-white drawing from a book, really are black-and-white rather than greyscale. * Make sure that every chapter is in a separate file. Keep the files as short as possible. Consider breaking files larger than about 100KB into seperate files even if it means splitting a large chapter between files. * Don't create scene breaks simply by adding a margin-top style to the opening paragraph of the scene. If you really must indicate scene breaks just with whitespace, then either use a padding-top style, or add a blank paragraph <p> </p>to the text instead. * Don't use breakable elipses like ". . .", use "..." or ". . ." instead. * Think about what your book will look like in a few years time when ereaders are 600dpi or higher. Better to make bitmap images too big and have to scale down rather than too small and have to scale up, and best to use SVG instead of bitmaps if at all possible. * Use EPUB2 format, unless EPUB3 is really necessary. (It almost never is.) Metadata: * Don't include the series name in the title or subtitle fields. Put it in the series field. * Don't list the book under inappropriate genre subcategories. Listing Sherlock Holmes in the Space Opera subcategory is just a form of spam. Last edited by GeoffR; 07-15-2015 at 03:30 AM. Reason: Added link to Sherlock Holmes example of bad metadata

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07-13-2015, 08:33 AM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Have a look at https://github.com/kobolabs/epub-spec. But, any well constructed epub will do. The only restriction I can think of that they add is that all files in the book must have a ToC entry.

07-13-2015, 09:19 AM	#3
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,296 Karma: 78876004 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Also https://www.kobo.com/writinglife

07-13-2015, 09:51 AM	#4
filmo Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 1077205 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony T1, Kobo Mini	https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=75

07-15-2015, 05:56 AM	#8
murg No Comment Posts: 3,240 Karma: 23878043 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo: Not just an eReader, it's an adventure!	Scene breaks should be something like: <p class="centre">* * *</p> or <p class="centre">———</p>

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