Help with Epub formatting - Smashwords Epub Checklist

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Because of PM's I sometimes get, I know the reason some don't come back to a thread they start is because the proffered help is delivered in derogatory or belittling terms. Or so full of jargon and vernacular it's incomprehensible

BR

Red:

The world is a big and not-always-nice place, and so too goes the Net. There aren't a whole lotta places out here for would-be formatters to learn how to fix their books, so if they're going to bail out just because someone might sound a bit harsh...well. This forum and many of the subforums are fairly well moderated. While on occasion someone might be a bit enthusiastic in saying "why the hades did you do THAT," compared to most forums on the Net, I mean...come on. This is like comparing Kiddygarten to college, in terms of "derogatory or belittling" terms.

Sure, there are terms of art. That's why we have the wiki and the REST of the Internet. When I first started here, I too was intimidated but I didn't expect everyone else to lose their brain cells to explain things to me. If I didn't understand an answer, GASP!, I search-engined for info until I did.

You're saying that you're getting PMs, out of the blue, uninvited and unsolicited by you, from people that are seeking YOU out, because other posters are too mean??? Is that what I understand here?

Hitch

[theducks]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Most people know when they're being put-down, some would rather walk away rather than ask why - call them snowflakes if you must. BTW I am not thinking of you, you may be many things but scornful or contemptuous you're not

BR

Some of the 'Jargon' is part of the tools of the Publishing trade (or any other trade). Sometimes you can dumb it down, but other times a Jargon Word replaces paragraphs.

Kerning

eg. Kerning

In typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning adjusts the space between individual letter forms, while tracking adjusts spacing uniformly over a range of characters. In a well-kerned font, the two-dimensional blank spaces between each pair of characters all have a visually similar area.

(I used to set type in High School)
I could describe inserting type thins or using space bands(Oops, more Jargon ) between type to archive this effect.

The OP needs to have some of the basics down, before they tackle a technical operation. 'That's too hard' is wasting all out (helping) time . Asking where to find (a good) site for more info (understanding that Google searches can return an overwhelming number of places and that some are just WRONG) is a great way to learn about this craft. (When I first joined MR, I only knew a small bit of HTMT3. No REGEX. No EPUB. But Google and the folk here, pointed me in the correct direction. No, I will never have the skills of flok like Hitch. But then again, I do this for Personal use Only

[JSWolf]

In this case, the OP came back the next day and has not been back since. So in this case, there is nothing too harsh or too technical here to cause the OP to run away. My guess is the OP came back the next day looking for an answer and did not see such and left.

A lot of cases is the OP doesn't come back or doesn't stick around so when other do post in the thread, the OP doesn't see any of the posts.

As for te jargon, if the OP doesn't understand something, there's always a web search to find out what it is and if the OP cannot find a good enough result to understand, just ask about it.

I don't see all that many threads where someone is being too harsh up front when replaying to someones request for help. Overall, this forum is not all that harsh trying to help someone. Most of the time, it's the OP that is somewhat harsh.

So if we scare off the OP, then the OP should get off the net.

[JSWolf]

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=324017

IN that thread in the ePub forum is someone asking for validation help on an ePub that originally came from Word. But I think the eBook is downloaded. The OP is not answering the question. It's cases like this where I won't help until the OP proves the eBook is legal. I won't help any longer and I hope nobody else will help.

[Galimah]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, nobody can help you with what you've described. Nobody. You'll need to explain:

• HOW you created the ePUB; (What software you used, how you used it);
• What the error messages were, when the ePUB failed intake at Smashwords.

Once you fill us in on that, we'll probably have more questions and ask to see code, but...we have to have a place to start.

Hitch

Hi Hitch, as well as everyone else who took the time out of their busy schedules to respond, much appreciated, thank you! 😊

Apologies for the late reply, it’s been a hectic week juggling between meeting deadlines as well as moving office.

As a newbie, I’m merely assisting a dear friend of mine publishing his books and trying to learn new things everyday as I go along to make this a success. I have also tried doing an extensive search on this site to resolve my problem, but with no luck, unfortunately.

So.... as I mentioned in my initial post what my issue is, I received a link from Smashword’s support team to check the error of the epub file I downloaded (https://epubcheck.mebooks.co.nz/). I will post this separately as it is quite lengthy and I don’t have a clue where to start with this.
The original format is in PDF and not Word hence the comic contains graphic illustrations.

I do find it a bit difficult to explain myself and hope my explanation makes sense. I have the world of patience to learn more and appreciate the knowledge being shared on this platform.

Thanks again to all for your valued input, I’ve read each one of them...😊

[Galimah]

Below is the error message I received:-


Internal Server Error
org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadBase$IOFil eUploadException: Processing of multipart/form-data request failed. No space left on device
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadBase.parse Request(FileUploadBase.java:359)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.servlet.ServletFileU pload.parseRequest(ServletFileUpload.java:126)
at com.adobe.epubcheck.web.EpubCheckServlet.doPost(Ep ubCheckServlet.java:61)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet .java:661)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet .java:742)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.in ternalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:231)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.do Filter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilt er(WsFilter.java:52)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.in ternalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.do Filter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invo ke(StandardWrapperValve.java:199)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invo ke(StandardContextValve.java:96)
at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBas e.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:478)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke( StandardHostValve.java:140)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke (ErrorReportValve.java:81)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.AbstractAccessLogValve. invoke(AbstractAccessLogValve.java:650)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invok e(StandardEngineValve.java:87)
at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.servic e(CoyoteAdapter.java:342)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(H ttp11Processor.java:799)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(A bstractProcessorLight.java:66)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandl er.process(AbstractProtocol.java:868)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProce ssor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1459)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run (SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker( ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run (ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$Wrapping Runnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Caused by: java.io.IOException: No space left on device
at java.io.FileOutputStream.writeBytes(Native Method)
at java.io.FileOutputStream.write(FileOutputStream.ja va:326)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.ByteArrayOutputStream .writeTo(ByteArrayOutputStream.java:217)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.DeferredFileOutputStr eam.thresholdReached(DeferredFileOutputStream.java :124)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.ThresholdingOutputStr eam.checkThreshold(ThresholdingOutputStream.java:2 20)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.ThresholdingOutputStr eam.write(ThresholdingOutputStream.java:127)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.util.Streams.copy(St reams.java:101)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.util.Streams.copy(St reams.java:64)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadBase.parse Request(FileUploadBase.java:354)
... 26 more

[Galimah]

Below is the error message I received:-


Internal Server Error
org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadBase$IOFil eUploadException: Processing of multipart/form-data request failed. No space left on device
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadBase.parse Request(FileUploadBase.java:359)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.servlet.ServletFileU pload.parseRequest(ServletFileUpload.java:126)
at com.adobe.epubcheck.web.EpubCheckServlet.doPost(Ep ubCheckServlet.java:61)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet .java:661)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet .java:742)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.in ternalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:231)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.do Filter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilt er(WsFilter.java:52)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.in ternalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.do Filter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invo ke(StandardWrapperValve.java:199)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invo ke(StandardContextValve.java:96)
at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBas e.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:478)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke( StandardHostValve.java:140)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke (ErrorReportValve.java:81)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.AbstractAccessLogValve. invoke(AbstractAccessLogValve.java:650)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invok e(StandardEngineValve.java:87)
at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.servic e(CoyoteAdapter.java:342)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(H ttp11Processor.java:799)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(A bstractProcessorLight.java:66)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandl er.process(AbstractProtocol.java:868)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProce ssor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1459)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run (SocketProcessorBase.java:49)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker( ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run (ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$Wrapping Runnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Caused by: java.io.IOException: No space left on device
at java.io.FileOutputStream.writeBytes(Native Method)
at java.io.FileOutputStream.write(FileOutputStream.ja va:326)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.ByteArrayOutputStream .writeTo(ByteArrayOutputStream.java:217)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.DeferredFileOutputStr eam.thresholdReached(DeferredFileOutputStream.java :124)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.ThresholdingOutputStr eam.checkThreshold(ThresholdingOutputStream.java:2 20)
at org.apache.commons.io.output.ThresholdingOutputStr eam.write(ThresholdingOutputStream.java:127)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.util.Streams.copy(St reams.java:101)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.util.Streams.copy(St reams.java:64)
at org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadBase.parse Request(FileUploadBase.java:354)
... 26 more

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Galimah

Below is the error message I received:-

That appears to be Smashwords bug.

However, you also might want to validate your book with the IDPF validator. If it reports any errors, post them here.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

That appears to be Smashwords bug.

However, you also might want to validate your book with the IDPF validator. If it reports any errors, post them here.

Caused by: java.io.IOException: No space left on device

The disk is full is the problem in this case.

As for validating, use the Calibre Editor with the epubcheck plugin to validate.

[Galimah]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

That appears to be Smashwords bug.

However, you also might want to validate your book with the IDPF validator. If it reports any errors, post them here.

Thanks Doitsu, I've tried that link but the size of the docs exceeds the 10mbs limit. One book is 26mb and the other 11mb. After attempting to reduce the size further it distorted the images. It became inverted.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Galimah

Thanks Doitsu, I've tried that link but the size of the docs exceeds the 10mbs limit. One book is 26mb and the other 11mb. After attempting to reduce the size further it distorted the images. It became inverted.

Fine, then download and install one of the other ePUB validators, for crying out loud. There isn't only one in the known universe.

Hitch

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Galimah

Thanks Doitsu, I've tried that link but the size of the docs exceeds the 10mbs limit. One book is 26mb and the other 11mb. After attempting to reduce the size further it distorted the images. It became inverted.

A few suggestions. The easiest for most people would be download/install either Sigil or calibre and add the epubcheck plugin (for calibre, it adds to the editor, Sigil is an editor).

If you are comfortable with installing or already have Java installed, you can install epubcheck and run it directly. Check on GitHub for epucheck for the download and readme.