Fixed Layout Epub Reader

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Fixed layout ePub is a mess.

The code can be overly complicated but I would not call it a mess. After all, the average person does not look at the code internal to the ebook, they just look at what is displayed on screen by the renderer.

[Mich06]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The code can be overly complicated but I would not call it a mess. After all, the average person does not look at the code internal to the ebook, they just look at what is displayed on screen by the renderer.

That's true, but with “normal” ePub files, I have been able to fix a lot of internal issues just by making a few small changes...!
That's the advantage of interpreted languages like HTML. If you make the code unreadable, it goes against the nature of the language in question—you might as well just compile it.

[DNSB]

Trying to make changes in a FLO ePub can be a total headache. I have painful memories of helping one author convert his ebooks intended for children into FLO ePubs for those he was distributing through Kobo. PubCoder back in 2020 was not the most user friendly/intuitive/whatever piece of software and it's annual subscription (€99) makes it hard for some people to justify. OTOH, that it could create a FLO ePub, KF8, iOS and Android apps was handy.

[Mich06]

That's why I'd like to convert all these FLO EPub files to PDF. PDF is a universally compatible format, and although the PostScript code in the files is compiled, it's easily editable, not only with Adobe's expensive tools, but also with free, high-performance apps.

Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to convert a FLO EPub file to PDF.