A Single Page PDF Book!

[Blaineoreski]

Hi,

Need to use some markup tools in PDF that break across multiple pages.

That got me wondering: in the conversion process from let's say, an Epub file to PDF, would it be possible to designate the output as a single page?

The first thing that comes to mind, obviously, is a simple measurement calculation? So that, if there were 10 eight and a half by 11 pages, that would be one page of 8.5 by 110 inches?

Or, is there any other way you can see that this might be achieved?

And, would it even work?

Sincerely,

Blaine

[kovidgoyal]

If the epub file is a single html file internally and doesnt have page breaks in the css it would work.

[Blaineoreski]

Hello Kovid,

Ah! SUPER good. Thank you, kindly.

Sincerely,

Blaine

[Blaineoreski]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

If the epub file is a single html file internally and doesnt have page breaks in the css it would work.

What tool would we need to see that? And, to be able to get in there and make the changes?

[kovidgoyal]

calibre has the builtin edit book tool.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Blaineoreski

What tool would we need to see that? And, to be able to get in there and make the changes?

Do note: Many older devices choked on (section) files >260k, so monster sections are not advised for distribution (besides, device load/scroll performance sucks on large chunks)

[Quoth]

I'd export/convert the epub to docx.
Then in LO Writer (or years ago MS Word) clean it up a bit and set what ever page size I want. Then export as PDF.

Codex means leaves, like book pages. I know webpages stupidly are still like scrolls, which are 2000+ years out of date. Really a 110″ page is a scroll. Amazingly there are still faxes that can take a roll and can work as printers. Also plotters now use an inkjet head instead of pens and the big ones are a carriage fed from a roll.
So you can still print scrolls! Just not on laser printers or regular sheet fed inkjets.

Only desktop systems will definitely scroll giant page PDFs on screen. Not sure what iOS and Android will do. Many ereader would run out of RAM. That's why ebooks are typically one file per chapter (or near invisible scene break) though it's hidden by the "envelope" which is essentially a zip file. With epub you can rename it to zip and see the files and extract them!

[Blaineoreski]

Howdy, All!

Ah! BLESS you each and all for taking the time to reply!

Kovid! I should have KNOWN Calibre had the tools built it! What Does Calibre NOT do?!

Just took a brief glance now - 1am my time in Asia. Seems like...an Epub is a LOT like HTML!

The tool in Calibre is ONLY for Epub editing. Am I right?

theducks! Thanks for the heads up.

Quoth - LO Office back to a loooooong PDF sounds interesting! Have you ever tried it?

Thanks AGAIN! : ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Blaineoreski

Just took a brief glance now - 1am my time in Asia. Seems like...an Epub is a LOT like HTML!

A specialized limited edition HTML packed in a .zip container. The differences can bite you in the butt.

Originally Posted by Blaineoreski

The tool in Calibre is ONLY for Epub editing. Am I right?

calibre's editor will also edit azw3 (aka KF8) files. Basically, Amazon took epub, made a few changes and used it as a superior replacement for .mobi.

[Blaineoreski]

Hi DNSB!

Wow! The background there on the format is interesting.

Here's my goal: I'm reading some ancient classics. They are PRETTY abstract and, while one of Aristotle's works may be broken up into...

Book 1
Book 2

...those - having been just scrolls - are really rarely ever more than a page or two in length for the books I'm working with.

BUT! Since they are so doggone abstract, I'd rather just have them as one looooooong page each.

(Usually that'd be about two to two-and-a-half A4 length pages max.)

ALL of the books I have are PDF. SOME of them are EPUB, but not many.

Can you think of the easiest rout to a one-page "Book" such as I've described, working MOSTLY from PDF.

Sincerely,

Blaine

[Blaineoreski]

Hi Kovid,

You wrote:

IF THE EPUB FILE IS A SINGLE HTML FILE INTERNALLY AND DOESNT HAVE PAGE BREAKS IN THE CSS IT WOULD WORK.

Looking inside I can see multiple HTML files, but in each one there is no obvious page break code? Normally, what would that look like?

Sincerely,

Blaine

[Quoth]

A separate file causes a page break. It's the most reliable way to do page breaks. It's implicit, no command needed.

But I think a single file (implies no page breaks) or a single page long PDF is so stupid I won't even try my earlier suggestion.

The big advantage of real ebooks and regular printed paper books is pages. The Web using a single page per file is a broken concept, more than 2000 years out of date. Which is why I might paste one or more web sites into LO Writer (or previously MS Word) , fix formating, extra Save As in Docx and make an epub.

I'm 100% confident of two things:
1) I know multiple ways to achieve what you want. it's probably easy.
2) I never would even try it for research.

[Quoth]

Codex

The gradual replacement of the scroll by the codex has been called the most important advance in book making before the invention of the printing press. The codex transformed the shape of the book itself, and offered a form that has lasted ever since. The spread of the codex is often associated with the rise of Christianity, which early on adopted the format for the Bible. First described in the 1st century of the Common Era, when the Roman poet Martial praised its convenient use, the codex achieved numerical parity with the scroll around 300 CE, and had completely replaced it throughout what was by then a Christianized Greco-Roman world by the 6th century.
…
Julius Caesar may have been the first Roman to reduce scrolls to bound pages in the form of a note-book, possibly even as a papyrus codex

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex

It predates the Bible by about 300 years. They sometimes cut up scrolls and made them into books.

Web pages using scrolling rather than pagination was partly historical. Computer systems were still using continuous paper till 1990s, originally rolls on Teletype (invented in 1928 and used as computer I/O from 1940s to 1980s) then later fanfold.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Blaineoreski

Hi DNSB!

Wow! The background there on the format is interesting.

Here's my goal: I'm reading some ancient classics. They are PRETTY abstract and, while one of Aristotle's works may be broken up into...

Book 1
Book 2

...those - having been just scrolls

Long, long ago and in Greek. They have only been paginated versions for over a 1000 years, maybe 1800, in Latin. Not sure when English translations done.

Do you want also to read Latin in original format? No lower case and mostly zero punctuation.

[Blaineoreski]

Ho Quoth,

I'm working with all English translations.

I did this:

Exported/converted the epub to docx.

Then in LO Writer (or years ago MS Word) cleaned it up a bit and set the pages to 100 inches. Then exported as PDF.

Trouble is - there's LOTS of hyperlinked footnotes.

They came over all OK in the

Epub > Word

But, lost all their click BACKED-ness in the

Word > LO Writer

So that, I can click on the foot note number to GET to the footnote, but not on the corresponding link on the footnote to get back to the text.

Plus

Word > LO Writer, the footnotes got REALLY tiny.

Any other ways you can think of?

Sincerely,

Blaine