How to spice up an EPUB?

clemens14 · 09-07-2011, 04:06 AM

Hello,

I am a beginner of epub creation in general, but I was wondering if there were ways to "spice up" epubs a bit.
The only things I could think of are dropcaps and images here and there, wrapped by text and not, and some hyperlinks but I was wondering if more could be done, not to the level of things like the bakerframework, but at least a bit more interactive.
I hope that my question doesn't sound too silly, but although a newbie I am curious to know to what extremes the standard has been stretched.
Cheers,

Clemens

Toxaris · 09-07-2011, 06:29 AM

You could look in the sticky at the top for how to use other fonts, dropcaps, columns and other things.
I am not quite sure what you are thinking about with regards to 'spice up'. A book is usually not that interactive, unless you mean those old adventure books.
You can add audio and video, which will only run on very few applications and is not according to specifications.

Pablo · 09-07-2011, 08:48 AM

Have a look at my tutorial (see my signature), you may find it useful.

DiapDealer · 09-07-2011, 09:46 AM

Quote:

How to spice up an EPUB?

I would start by filling the ePub up with really cool words. Then arrange those words into interesting combinations that make me want to click the "next" button over and over again for hours on end.

amarie0 · 09-07-2011, 10:04 PM

Quote:

I would start by filling the ePub up with really cool words. Then arrange those words into interesting combinations

ROFL. What a concept! I might try it myself.

JSWolf · 09-07-2011, 10:09 PM

Use blockquotes were appropriate. Wrap images if they are not too large remember, your going for many different sizes of screen here. Also, don't put in an internal ToC. Use the toc.nxc for your ToC. Use some nice embedded fonts. No large left/right margins and no top/bottom margins. No main font size. Use the default. When you start a new chapter, the first paragraph does not get an indent. And on a section break, the first paragraph in the new section does not get an indent. Also, no extra pagragraph spaced between the paragraphs. That's just ugly. Oh and no space between the first line in a paragraph and the rest of a paragraph when you use a drop cap. No interactivity if possible. We don't want it. So go to it and make a nice looking ePub. One that cannot be duplicated in Mobipocket without sacrificing formatting.

pholy · 09-08-2011, 12:32 AM

Quote:

One that cannot be duplicated in Mobipocket without sacrificing formatting.

This last is especially important!

To some people...

Jellby · 09-08-2011, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When you start a new chapter, the first paragraph does not get an indent.

That depends on the typesetting tradition. It's so in English, but other languages the first paragraph does get the usual indent (at least, it used to, until people started to copy English typesetting...)

user_none · 09-09-2011, 09:08 AM

Use curly quotes (“ and ”) instead of straight (") ones. " the designation for inches “ is a left quote.

clemens14 · 09-11-2011, 04:13 AM

Thank you all for the many nice suggestions and tutorials!
I'll definitely be experimenting these days.
Cheers

JSWolf · 09-15-2011, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pholy

This last is especially important!

To some people...

Well, if we are going to do fancy things in ePub, may as well do things that don't translate well to Mobipocket. Floats and blockquotes are good for not translating.

wannabee · 09-15-2011, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

<- - - - - may as well do things that don't translate well to Mobipocket - - - - >

Ouch! So far half of all our book sales have been from Amazon.

09-07-2011, 04:06 AM	#1
clemens14 Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	How to spice up an EPUB? Hello, I am a beginner of epub creation in general, but I was wondering if there were ways to "spice up" epubs a bit. The only things I could think of are dropcaps and images here and there, wrapped by text and not, and some hyperlinks but I was wondering if more could be done, not to the level of things like the bakerframework, but at least a bit more interactive. I hope that my question doesn't sound too silly, but although a newbie I am curious to know to what extremes the standard has been stretched. Cheers, Clemens

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09-07-2011, 06:29 AM	#2
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	You could look in the sticky at the top for how to use other fonts, dropcaps, columns and other things. I am not quite sure what you are thinking about with regards to 'spice up'. A book is usually not that interactive, unless you mean those old adventure books. You can add audio and video, which will only run on very few applications and is not according to specifications.

09-07-2011, 08:48 AM	#3
Pablo Guru Posts: 974 Karma: 4999999 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Rosario, Argentina Device: SONY PRS-T2, Kindle Paperwhite 11th gen	Have a look at my tutorial (see my signature), you may find it useful.

09-07-2011, 10:09 PM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,782 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Use blockquotes were appropriate. Wrap images if they are not too large remember, your going for many different sizes of screen here. Also, don't put in an internal ToC. Use the toc.nxc for your ToC. Use some nice embedded fonts. No large left/right margins and no top/bottom margins. No main font size. Use the default. When you start a new chapter, the first paragraph does not get an indent. And on a section break, the first paragraph in the new section does not get an indent. Also, no extra pagragraph spaced between the paragraphs. That's just ugly. Oh and no space between the first line in a paragraph and the rest of a paragraph when you use a drop cap. No interactivity if possible. We don't want it. So go to it and make a nice looking ePub. One that cannot be duplicated in Mobipocket without sacrificing formatting.

09-09-2011, 09:08 AM	#9
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	Use curly quotes (“ and ”) instead of straight (") ones. " the designation for inches “ is a left quote.

09-11-2011, 04:13 AM	#10
clemens14 Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	Thank you all for the many nice suggestions and tutorials! I'll definitely be experimenting these days. Cheers