Taking Advantage of ALL formats

[jerryflattum]

Originally Posted by Anke Wehner

Calibre doesn't include a "What you see is what you got" editor. In Sigil you can add images, but...

You do realise that ebooks will be read on devices ranging from smartphone to PC screens, and that the dedicated ebook readers like Kindle generally have a greyscale display (which can be used either in landscape or portrait orientation), and that one of the really popular features is the ability to change font sizes? So as a result there isn't really a set layout for a page, the way any illustrated paper book has.

Thanx Anke. So, to really cover the variety of formats, the book needs to be rewritten to fit each proprietary format, right? In other words, I need to create several versions of the same book. For instance, one version might not be able to accommodate photos/graphics at all, so the book needs to be strictly text.

I just started reading ebooks on my computer so I'm not acquainted yet with what is available, particularly in non-fiction. Fiction obviously requires no photos/graphics (even though allegedly there are visual presentations like Vook).

I find what you're saying disconcerting, in that certainly there are many ebooks that, in fact, must include graphics/photos, such as web design books, business books with charts and graphs, books on photography, etc.

This needs to be clarified.

I'm not going to scrap my strategies just because a book can't be read on a smartphone. I can't imagine reading a book on such a small screen anyway. But then, people are watching movies and TV shows and playing games.

Anyway, smartphone formats are not a top priority here.

What about PDF? I've seen 100s of beautifully designed PDF "books" filled with photos, graphics and all kinds of formatting.

You can sell PDF's right? So, maybe the Kindle and other formats are limited in terms of the kinds of books you can read on them.

Does Kindle read only Kindle format? Or can Kindle read other formats, like PDF, for instance?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Judge for yourself:

Epub:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...16#post1259516

Mobi:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...10#post1259510

Both versions look pretty much identical on both my Kindles and my PRS-600. The Kindle version is easier to navigate simply because it's easier to follow links on a Kindle than it is on a Sony Touch.

While yes the ePub can look OK in ADE, look under the hood and you'll see that it's atrocious. And that is being kind. The mess left behind by ADE is awful. Run it through FlightCrew and see how much work you have to do to make it compliant.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

JS Wolf: The information you provided is incredibly useful. You provided it in a way that it's like a roadmap.

I bookmarked FlightCrew and ADE having never heard of either before. And Calibre was one of the first solutions offered after I entered the MobileRead forums.

Just to make sure, ADE is Adobe Digital Editions, right?

There's a high learning curve to following your roadmap, but that does not deter me. Knowing the process and what solutions are available is getting 1/2 way there.

The eBook world has exposed MSWord as a clumsy and not-Internet-friendly program. It simply is the only program I knew in terms of creating a legible and formatted document.

I would suspect instead of trying to clean up a Word doc, to save it as a text file and start from there. What do you think?

Otherwise, thank you so much. You are truly helping me get where I want to go. -- Jerry

PS: If you think I'm struggling with how to create eBooks, you should see the website design proposal I'm working on for my website. No one knows better than me the mess I've created.

In fact, I'm hoping, in part, that the software and web applications solutions I seek for my website will integrate what I'm trying to do in terms of book presentation. I realize certain formats have proprietary requirements. But I'm also looking for innovative ways to present text in conjunction with my other ventures and adventures. It's highly experimental and exploratory. I'm prepared to stumble and fall many times before I'm finally up and running.

Innovative mindsets will understand much more what I'm trying to do than black and white mindsets that have a tendency to criticize before asking questions.

The Internet is an innovation and promotes innovation and that is the leadership I follow in terms of exploring my own quest for creative solutions.

Thanx again.

ADE is Adobe Digital Editions. If you know HTML/XML & CSS, then you can easily edit the ePub. I use Notepad++. You have multiple options what to do with your eBook. What I would probably do is save it as (I think filtered) HTML from Word and then use Calibre to convert to ePub and work on cleaning up the mess. Then you can proceed to clean up any formatting from there.

If you don't have too much special formatting, you can save a test and using Calibre convert to ePub and put back in any bolds and italics and whatnot and fix up any formatting. I've never gone text to ePub via Calibre. So you can go to the the Calibre site and have a look at the manual on how to mark up text to put in say chapter marks and whatnot.

As for the site, you'll have to think about what it is you are trying to do and then try to figure out how to do it so it's not so busy.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

What about PDF? I've seen 100s of beautifully designed PDF "books" filled with photos, graphics and all kinds of formatting.

You can sell PDF's right? So, maybe the Kindle and other formats are limited in terms of the kinds of books you can read on them.

Does Kindle read only Kindle format? Or can Kindle read other formats, like PDF, for instance?

If you don't need PDF, pretend PDF doesn't exist. PDF is a fixed format. It's not good to have a PDF formatted for a 6" screen if you also want to use it on your computer. And the one that works best for your computer won't work well for a 6" screen. So basically, just forget PDF if you can.

[AndrewH]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

So, to really cover the variety of formats, the book needs to be rewritten to fit each proprietary format, right?

If you're aiming at publishing an ebook, to be read on the average ereader, you only need to worry about two formats: EPUB and MOBI (which has already been said in this thread). All ereaders currently on the market, except the Kindle, read EPUBs.

What about PDF? I've seen 100s of beautifully designed PDF "books" filled with photos, graphics and all kinds of formatting.

For the love of all that is holy, do not even think about PDF for an ebook. EPUB is designed for reflowable content and can adjust properly to fit whatever size screen an ereader has, with whatever font size the user chooses to read at. Unless you can think of an extremely good reason to have a fixed layout, PDF is a terrible format for an ebook.

You can sell PDF's right?

You can sell, or try to sell, pretty much anything on the internet.

So, maybe the Kindle and other formats are limited in terms of the kinds of books you can read on them.

Again, EPUB and MOBI formats will cover 99% of all ereaders.

Does Kindle read only Kindle format? Or can Kindle read other formats, like PDF, for instance?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle#File_formats

[Anke Wehner]

The size of the device has nothing to do with the proprietary formats.

Look at the Kindle reading apps page - those are a number of programs for the sole purpose of reading the same book (same format, copy of the same file) on a variety of devices. That page has a nice photo illustrating that.

If you click through "Buy a Kindle", you can find specs, like what filetypes the Kindle supports.

You can create pdfs, but as JSWolf explained, they are really not that great for ebook readers.

And a general note: I really think you should try to do research before jumping in with questions. This is the internet, so looking up things like "which filetypes does the Kindle support" is easy. Don't expect everything being spoonfed to you. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but, well, you went "I never knew that!" at so many things that you would have known if you had sat down and looked for basic information on ebooks on yourself, or even just looked at the forum descriptions here on mobileread...

[jerryflattum]

Originally Posted by Anke Wehner

The size of the device has nothing to do with the proprietary formats.

Look at the Kindle reading apps page - those are a number of programs for the sole purpose of reading the same book (same format, copy of the same file) on a variety of devices. That page has a nice photo illustrating that.

If you click through "Buy a Kindle", you can find specs, like what filetypes the Kindle supports.

You can create pdfs, but as JSWolf explained, they are really not that great for ebook readers.

And a general note: I really think you should try to do research before jumping in with questions. This is the internet, so looking up things like "which filetypes does the Kindle support" is easy. Don't expect everything being spoonfed to you. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but, well, you went "I never knew that!" at so many things that you would have known if you had sat down and looked for basic information on ebooks on yourself, or even just looked at the forum descriptions here on mobileread...

I was advised to ignore you. That's good advice.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

I was advised to ignore you. That's good advice.

Wow, you're incredibly rude. Glad we all chipped in to do your research for you and offer free business feasibility critiques.

Here, let me help with one more bit, since you've asked several times.

[jerryflattum]

I was told the same thing about you. Everyone else has been very helpful. I don't think you can speak for everyone else. If you don't like this posting then don't respond.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

smartphone. I can't imagine reading a book on such a small screen anyway. But then, people are watching movies and TV shows and playing games.

uncluttered by graphics, I've found myself comfortably reading quite a lot of classic books in my smartphone alone, in portrait mode and 20 whatevertheunit font size. Holding it like a pocket book, it reads just about as fine.

[jerryflattum]

I'll give it a try. What app do you download?

[Namekuseijin]

any epub reader will do, I guess, but I've been using FBReader.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

I was told the same thing about you. Everyone else has been very helpful. I don't think you can speak for everyone else. If you don't like this posting then don't respond.

How scandalous! DO TELL! Who told you to ignore me since I wasn't being helpful?
You also liked what Anke said, then quickly changed your mind when he said something you didn't want to hear.

I surrender. Best of luck getting a co-signer for that loan based upon your winning personality and cohesive business plan. You may want to think twice about what you put out there on the internet, especially under your real name.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

I was told the same thing about you. Everyone else has been very helpful. I don't think you can speak for everyone else. If you don't like this posting then don't respond.

"...don't respond"? Who died and made you mod?

People here have gone out of their way to give you advice, help, and even the basic understanding you so clearly lack. You have responded with indifference, arrogance, and now insults.

Let me tell you something, Jerry: You are not smarter than everyone here. I question whether you are smarter than anyone here. You are not more creative than everyone here. You are not more discerning than everyone here. You are, in fact, a very ordinary person with the personality of a Ginsu Knife salesman. This is great if you want to sell Ginsu Knives for someone else, but it's not going to get you anywhere in the business world. And when you start ignoring, sneering at, or directly insulting the people who have tried to help you, even the people you haven't directed it at are increasingly likely to wash their hands of you and say "oh, let him figure it out for himself."

Did "they" tell you to ignore me, too? I hope they did. That would prove that someone who claims to be your friend is really trying to sabotage you by keeping you from the people telling you what you need to hear. Not that I care. I've given you enough free advice, which is my professional stock in trade, and gotten nothing back but childish behavior. You can solve your problems without any help from me after this point.

I should have said this back when you insulted me for the first time, but I cut you a break. I thought maybe you were just monumentally clueless. I was wrong. You're monumentally arrogant, and you have no reason to be. You've done the equivalent of walking into a conference of, say, petroleum geologists, and saying "hey, I like oil too" while knowing nothing of geology or petroleum, and then wondering why nobodytakes you seriously.

The mere fact that you have to ask "what app do you download?" shows that you don't even have a rudimentary understanding of what you're trying to do. You don't know what you don't know. And you don't want to find out. You want people to do things for you. You not only don't want them to teach you to fish, you don't even want them to give you a fish; you want them to serve you a fish dinner. You are going to fail. You are going to fail because you don't know what you need to know and you turn to rudeness when people try to explain it to you. Winners have an uncompromising view of themselves and seek to correct their own flaws; losers claim they're winners but deny their flaws and refuse advice. I think it's clear which one you're acting like. You are, without question, going to fail because of that. And it's your own fault.

[Alexander Turcic]

What part of the earlier play nice notice was not understood?

Originally Posted by jerryflattum

If you don't like this posting then don't respond.

Moderator Notice
Anyone is invited to participate. You may disagree with someone, but these personal attacks need to stop, now.