ePub - Changing Font size doesn't change page numbers

[astra]

Hadrien

A bit

Do I need any special software on my PC for epub? Right now I can readin epub books only in eBook Library.
Is there a software that creates epub books similar to Book Designer?

[llasram]

Originally Posted by astra

a. It takes ages to load TOC if the book is long.

This one isn't an EPUB-in-general issue either -- it looks the Feedbooks EPUB books have fragment identifiers in their top-level NCX TOC elements, forcing ADE to read through the entire book when showing the TOC.

Hey Hadrien, how does one file a bug against Feedbooks?

[astra]

Originally Posted by llasram

This one isn't an EPUB-in-general issue either -- it looks the Feedbooks EPUB books have fragment identifiers in their top-level NCX TOC elements, forcing ADE to read through the entire book when showing the TOC.

Hey Hadrien, how does one file a bug against Feedbooks?

Is there any way I can create epub book on my own, just as I create LRFs in BD?

[llasram]

Originally Posted by astra

Is there any way I can create epub book on my own, just as I create LRFs in BD?

EPUB books are just XHTML with XML metadata in a ZIP file with a particular directory structure, so you can create an EPUB book with just a text editor and a ZIP archiver. Harrison Ainsworth has written an excellent guide to constructing EPUBs in such fashion. For such hand-crafted EPUBs the tool epubcheck comes in handy for making sure that you've done everything correctly.

If that's not your style and you don't mind waiting a bit, Kovid's started work on giving calibre support to properly wrap raw HTML/OEBPS content into an EPUB book. It's not available yet, but will be eventually.

I also know Adobe InDesign can output EPUB, but I'm not sure what else yet.

[astra]

Originally Posted by llasram

EPUB books are just XHTML with XML metadata in a ZIP file with a particular directory structure, so you can create an EPUB book with just a text editor and a ZIP archiver. Harrison Ainsworth has written an excellent guide to constructing EPUBs in such fashion. For such hand-crafted EPUBs the tool epubcheck comes in handy for making sure that you've done everything correctly.

If that's not your style and you don't mind waiting a bit, Kovid's started work on giving calibre support to properly wrap raw HTML/OEBPS content into an EPUB book. It's not available yet, but will be eventually.

I also know Adobe InDesign can output EPUB, but I'm not sure what else yet.

My knowledge of XML, HTML and such is next to zero. I know nothing about coding.
I know how to use GUI in Book Designer
Whatever Kovid is going to create, will be pretty much as automated process as the rest of calibre. I am not saying it is bad. But I wish there was a tool similar to BD where I can edit/tweak book up to my standards.

I will check the links you have provided. Thanks.

[llasram]

Originally Posted by astra

Whatever Kovid is going to create, will be pretty much as automated process as the rest of calibre. I am not saying it is bad. But I wish there was a tool similar to BD where I can edit/tweak book up to my standards.

Can BD save as OEBPS 1.0? If so, an OEPBS->EPUB wrapper should also be part of the upcoming calibre EPUB tools. (If Kovid isn't planning on it, I'll write it .)

[Bossman]

Originally Posted by astra

My knowledge of XML, HTML and such is next to zero. I know nothing about coding.
I know how to use GUI in Book Designer
Whatever Kovid is going to create, will be pretty much as automated process as the rest of calibre. I am not saying it is bad. But I wish there was a tool similar to BD where I can edit/tweak book up to my standards.

I will check the links you have provided. Thanks.

What you could do until calibre epub is finished is:
get yourself an wysiwyg html editor like
http://www.w3.org/Amaya/
and then use the Bookglutton Website to create an Epub from that
http://www.bookglutton.com/api/getepub.html
No need to know any xml/html.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by llasram

This one isn't an EPUB-in-general issue either -- it looks the Feedbooks EPUB books have fragment identifiers in their top-level NCX TOC elements, forcing ADE to read through the entire book when showing the TOC.

Hey Hadrien, how does one file a bug against Feedbooks?

Mail or PM me. Could you precisely point out the problem with the NCX ?

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by Hadrien

Both have absolutely nothing to do with ePub as a format, they're choices that DE made.
I don't like having page numbers in the right margin either, but it seems that Sony specifically asked Adobe to keep them, since a page can begin in the middle of the screen.

I can't believe they asked for that! It's one of the most annoying features in epub. Maybe they did it on purpose so that people would stick with LRF? Really, in print books the page numbers don't happen in the middle of the page, I don't expect page numbers in the middle of my screen either. Sony had it right hte first time to have the page numbers at the bottom of the screen in the bar and it shows screen turns which makes a hell of a lot more sense than the epub page numbering system.

[LoganK]

I think the DE "page numbers" are brilliant and, I am looking into support for them in the popular open source applications. However, this thread changes my perception on how well such a change would be received.

Advantages of virtual page numbers:

• It would allow me to switch from reading on my iTouch to my Reader by simply typing in the number
• I can refer other people to what I'm looking at
• Shorter delay when changing font sizes (that delay you see is the reader re-rendering every page in order to give you accurate page numbers)
• No crashes in large documents while pre-rendering (only happens on the largest books and can be fixed by using the Sony desktop client to transfer, but it still stinks)

Disadvantages of virtual page numbers:

• Flipping to the next page doesn't increase the number at the bottom by 1
• Numbers are slightly less accurate (very heavily styled text takes up more "page" than plain text)

Note that virtual page numbers still give the reader a really good idea of progress within a book so it isn't clear why that is a complaint.

Is the problem that they are called "page numbers"? Is it the style issue of page numbers hanging off the right-hand side? If you include only percent (and we assume that you can "jump to %" in reader programs), would people be happier with "13.428%" instead of virtual page "190"? (I know Americans generally prefer whole numbers to percentages; I'm not sure about the rest of the world.)

What would you do better?

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by LoganK

Advantages of virtual page numbers:

• It would allow me to switch from reading on my iTouch to my Reader by simply typing in the number
• I can refer other people to what I'm looking at

Page numbers are too broad a classification, paragraph numbers are better. Paragraph number based referencing is implemented in the calibre epub viewer.

• Shorter delay when changing font sizes (that delay you see is the reader re-rendering every page in order to give you accurate page numbers)
• No crashes in large documents while pre-rendering (only happens on the largest books and can be fixed by using the Sony desktop client to transfer, but it still stinks)

Neither of these having anything to do with page numbers.

[LoganK]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Page numbers are too broad a classification, paragraph numbers are better. Paragraph number based referencing is implemented in the calibre epub viewer.

Paragraph numbers can avoid dreaded rendering, but it still requires scanning the contents of the file. Plus, there is the issue of what constitutes a paragraph? A <p> element? A top-level box?

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Neither of these having anything to do with page numbers.

You would know better than me, but why aren't page numbers related to page rendering? To put it more concretely, how do you figure out what page number a given chapter starts on without rendering all of the previous chapters? What reason, other than calculating page numbers, would you have to pre-render the entire document?

I can open an ePub document much faster than a BBeB file presumably because it isn't processing the entire file up front? Or am I wrong about what's going on behind the scenes?

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by LoganK

Is the problem that they are called "page numbers"? Is it the style issue of page numbers hanging off the right-hand side? If you include only percent (and we assume that you can "jump to %" in reader programs), would people be happier with "13.428%" instead of virtual page "190"? (I know Americans generally prefer whole numbers to percentages; I'm not sure about the rest of the world.)

What would you do better?

I like the way Sony handles page numbers with the LRF, RTF format already. I didn't see any need to add the page number on the story body itself. And if they were going to add it the bottom or top corner would have been a much better place, no matter where the page break happens within the story. The numbers really need to be away from the text. I prefer to know I'm page 400 out of 600....the percentages don't mean much to me at all.

Plus if I share the file I created with a friend I know if they are on size small I can tell them go to page...and it works. And if that doesn't work you can always tell them go to chapter...

[LoganK]

Originally Posted by Amalthia

I like the way Sony handles page numbers with the LRF, RTF format already.

So you like the concept of the virtual page numbers, but you don't like the idea of embedding the page information within the text. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by LoganK

So you like the concept of the virtual page numbers, but you don't like the idea of embedding the page information within the text. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

yep that's pretty much it. Though if I were using my reader to read e-journals and periodicals I can see why the page numbers may be important...however I'm reading fiction on my ebook device and do not need to cite anything from my device.

Basically, what they need to do is give the readers options. Someday people will be using these devices to read journal articles and etc...and they will need an accurate way to cite. There has to be a way to let the user choose the method that works best for them.

and also, the page numbers should never be in the middle of hte page...