Glo Question regarding kepub format

[user2178319]

Originally Posted by GERGE

Actually, Adobe's RMSDK is much better then ACCESS engine Kobo uses. I wonder where did you get that idea?

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=256757

Good question. The books we're making are typically academic/technical books that are image and footnote heavy and thus benefit from the added functionally of the kepub format. That said, I take your point that the Adobe RMSDK is, in many cases, preferable.

Thanks also for directing me to that thread, I should have found it myself.

[murg]

Originally Posted by user2178319

Got it. I have a Kobo for QAing, but I've never purchased a book directly through the Kobo store.

Do people shopping in the Kobo store know that if they download directly through they're device they're getting a kepub, which is better suited for the Kobo since it uses Webkit, and if they download off the website they're getting an epub (in most cases) that uses Adobe's inferior engine when loaded onto a Kobo?

That's a mostly rhetorical question, no need to guess at what other people know or don't know.

Most people don't notice any difference. And there really isn't that much noticeable difference, unless you're trying to notice the differences.

As far as 'better suited' both renderers have their good points and their issues.

Originally Posted by user2178319

One last thing, can anyone point me to where Kobo explains its relationship to books that it sells off its website? In other words, if a valid epub that was downloaded off Kobo's website and loaded onto a Kobo by the customer contains formatting/rendering issues does Kobo bear the same responsibility for handling those issues as it does if the book was a kepub and downloaded directly onto a user's device?

Again, thank you so much!

Kobo has the same relationship with the ebook, regardless of which avenue you get it through. As long as you're reading it on a Kobo device or app. If you have gone outside the Kobo universe...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by user2178319

However, the Kobo guidelines say that epubs use the Adobe DRM and kepubs use the Kobo DRM. If you go to the Kobo store and look at the publication info on most/all of the books for sale, they all say they "Download options:EPUB2 (Adobe DRM)" or "Download options:EPUB3 (Adobe DRM)", which leads me to assume that Kobo doesn't automatically convert epubs to kepubs when they're uploaded.

One item is that Kobo will only apply DRM at the publisher or author's request. Quite a few of the epubs and kepubs I've purchased from Kobo have not had DRM applied.

If you want to sell an ebook through Kobo with DRM, Kobo will use the more or less industry standard Adobe ADEPT DRM for epub format ebooks. ACCESS who produce the epub3 renderer used for kepubs does not support Adobe's DRM, Kobo came up with their own DRM wrapper for those ebooks.

For fun, if you look at the downloaded Kobo epub on your Mac or Windows computer or in the .kobo\kepub directory on a Kobo ereader, you will notice the file has a file name that looks strangely like a GUID with no filetype. On an Android device, it seems as the if the .zip container for an epub or kepub is opened up and the files stored individually.

[user2178319]

Originally Posted by DNSB

One item is that Kobo will only apply DRM at the publisher or author's request. Quite a few of the epubs and kepubs I've purchased from Kobo have not had DRM applied.

If you want to sell an ebook through Kobo with DRM, Kobo will use the more or less industry standard Adobe ADEPT DRM for epub format ebooks. ACCESS who produce the epub3 renderer used for kepubs does not support Adobe's DRM, Kobo came up with their own DRM wrapper for those ebooks.

For fun, if you look at the downloaded Kobo epub on your Mac or Windows computer or in the .kobo\kepub directory on a Kobo ereader, you will notice the file has a file name that looks strangely like a GUID with no filetype. On an Android device, it seems as the if the .zip container for an epub or kepub is opened up and the files stored individually.

This is interesting and certainly helps clear up a few questions I have about Kobo's process. Thanks!