First effort converting on a Mac

Martin Cloake · 07-07-2011, 08:42 AM

I've read the various threads advising on conversion and particularly the TOC and chapter break issues.

I've got a Word document, which has page breaks and a TOC set up. I've saved it as .htm (no option for unfiltered HTML in Word for Mac 2008) and then imported to Calibre and converted to Mobi. The chapter breaks weren't detected and the TOC did not work. So I converted again after enabling Heuristics. This resolved the chapter breaks issue, but knocked out all the paragraph indents and still does not make the TOC work. In fact, it makes the TOC a single line of text.

The code I have when I check using search and replace does not resemble the coding examples in the stickies on this thread. Can anyone help?

I've got to say that I'm a sub and production journalist with over 20 years experience of dealing with editorial software systems, and I have never come across anything as complicated as publishing an ebook from a Mac seems to be. It doesn't help that Amazon's own information is hopelessly inadequate for Mac users - it just assumes everyone can use MobiPocket. So the info I have gained has been through searching the web. I know it's very possible there's something really basic I have missed, or that i am simply not thinking in the right way, but I just cannot fathom this out. And it is incredibly frustrating.

tlrowley · 07-07-2011, 10:11 AM

Martin, I'm by no means an expert, or even proficient, but I've had pretty good luck using Calibre on the Mac. I usually convert to epub, and then use Sigil to tweak the book and TOC the way I like them. Once that is done, the conversion from epub to mobi is usually perfect (at least to my eyes)

I'm sure more experienced people will be along in a bit, but if you'd like me to have a look at your Word doc/html, I'd be willing to try to help.

Tracey

Martin Cloake · 07-07-2011, 10:14 AM

Thanks Tracey. I'm trying something via Scrivener at the moment, as I'm a bit conscious of downloading umpteen programmes. If that doesn't work, maybe I could mail you something?

tlrowley · 07-07-2011, 11:45 AM

Absolutely - I'll pm you my email.

Tracey

Martin Cloake · 07-07-2011, 03:44 PM

I think I've cracked a fair bit of this using Scrivener. But I can't see how to make the first paragraph of each chapter flush while keeping other paragraphs indented. Any ideas?

tlrowley · 07-07-2011, 04:06 PM

From what I've seen (and please bear in mind that I'm not creating books from scratch but massaging books I've bought), that's accomplished in epub by a different class for the initial paragraphs. I'm not familiar with Scrivener, sorry.

ldolse · 07-08-2011, 04:09 AM

If you used heuristics and it successfully found your chapter headings you can put this in the extra CSS under look and feel during the conversion:

Code:

h2+p,h3+p{text-indent:0}
p{text-indent:3%}

theducks · 07-08-2011, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldolse

If you used heuristics and it successfully found your chapter headings you can put this in the extra CSS under look and feel during the conversion:

Code:

h2+p,h3+p{text-indent:0}
P{text-indent:3%}

Shouldn't the P be a p as Calibre uses lower case and they must also match the closing tag ?

ldolse · 07-08-2011, 11:09 AM

Not sure if the case matters, I think it may not. But the uppercase P was a typo, meant to type lowercase. Not sure what you mean about the closing tag.

theducks · 07-08-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldolse

Not sure if the case matters, I think it may not. But the uppercase P was a typo, meant to type lowercase. Not sure what you mean about the closing tag.

Closing tags Must Match the case of opening tags
<P>...</P>

07-07-2011, 08:42 AM	#1
Martin Cloake Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: iPhone	First effort converting on a Mac I've read the various threads advising on conversion and particularly the TOC and chapter break issues. I've got a Word document, which has page breaks and a TOC set up. I've saved it as .htm (no option for unfiltered HTML in Word for Mac 2008) and then imported to Calibre and converted to Mobi. The chapter breaks weren't detected and the TOC did not work. So I converted again after enabling Heuristics. This resolved the chapter breaks issue, but knocked out all the paragraph indents and still does not make the TOC work. In fact, it makes the TOC a single line of text. The code I have when I check using search and replace does not resemble the coding examples in the stickies on this thread. Can anyone help? I've got to say that I'm a sub and production journalist with over 20 years experience of dealing with editorial software systems, and I have never come across anything as complicated as publishing an ebook from a Mac seems to be. It doesn't help that Amazon's own information is hopelessly inadequate for Mac users - it just assumes everyone can use MobiPocket. So the info I have gained has been through searching the web. I know it's very possible there's something really basic I have missed, or that i am simply not thinking in the right way, but I just cannot fathom this out. And it is incredibly frustrating.

07-08-2011, 04:09 AM	#7
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	If you used heuristics and it successfully found your chapter headings you can put this in the extra CSS under look and feel during the conversion: Code: h2+p,h3+p{text-indent:0} p{text-indent:3%} Last edited by ldolse; 07-08-2011 at 11:09 AM.

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07-07-2011, 10:11 AM	#2
tlrowley Quilt Geek Posts: 472 Karma: 91775 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lancaster, PA Device: Kindle	Martin, I'm by no means an expert, or even proficient, but I've had pretty good luck using Calibre on the Mac. I usually convert to epub, and then use Sigil to tweak the book and TOC the way I like them. Once that is done, the conversion from epub to mobi is usually perfect (at least to my eyes) I'm sure more experienced people will be along in a bit, but if you'd like me to have a look at your Word doc/html, I'd be willing to try to help. Tracey

07-07-2011, 10:14 AM	#3
Martin Cloake Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: iPhone	Thanks Tracey. I'm trying something via Scrivener at the moment, as I'm a bit conscious of downloading umpteen programmes. If that doesn't work, maybe I could mail you something?

07-07-2011, 11:45 AM	#4
tlrowley Quilt Geek Posts: 472 Karma: 91775 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lancaster, PA Device: Kindle	Absolutely - I'll pm you my email. Tracey

07-07-2011, 03:44 PM	#5
Martin Cloake Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: iPhone	I think I've cracked a fair bit of this using Scrivener. But I can't see how to make the first paragraph of each chapter flush while keeping other paragraphs indented. Any ideas?

07-07-2011, 04:06 PM	#6
tlrowley Quilt Geek Posts: 472 Karma: 91775 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lancaster, PA Device: Kindle	From what I've seen (and please bear in mind that I'm not creating books from scratch but massaging books I've bought), that's accomplished in epub by a different class for the initial paragraphs. I'm not familiar with Scrivener, sorry.

07-08-2011, 11:09 AM	#9
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	Not sure if the case matters, I think it may not. But the uppercase P was a typo, meant to type lowercase. Not sure what you mean about the closing tag.