Force chapters to start on left page?

[Springtide]

I’ve created my e-book with Caliber and successfully imported it into both iBooks and Kindle to check how they look. Everything’s great except that when in a left/right page view and a chapter ends on a left hand page, the next chapter starts on the right hand page opposite it. How can I force new chapters to always start on the next left hand page?

In case it’s relevant, I formatted the book by creating a separate text file for each chapter. The titles of each chapter are in an <H1> tag. The TOC generates correctly, which suggests to me there’s no problem doing it that way.

[Quoth]

EBooks don't have left and right pages, though PDFs do.

[Springtide]

If you open the book in the Kindle or iOS Books app and the device is in landscape orientation, you have the choice to display it like a book, with left and right pages, rather than a single page full screen, like this:

This is how I prefer to read e-books. Notice how the chapter begins on the left page. If the chapter ends on a left-hand page, the right-hand page opposite it should be empty, like this:

Here, you can see the L/R page view on the left, in which the chapter ends part way down the left-hand page, and you can see the next chapter (Prologue) beginning on the left side of the next 2-page L/R view:
https://www.reneyoung.ca/wp-content/...4/IMG_0315.PNG
Again, notice that the right-hand page before the Prologue is blank. This is what I am trying to achieve, but in my e-book, if a chapter ends on a left-hand page, the next chapter begins on the right-hand page opposite it. I need to generate that empty RH page where applicable.

[Springtide]

If you open the book in the Kindle or iOS Books app and the device is in landscape orientation, you have the choice to display it like a book, with left and right pages, rather than a single page full screen, like this:

This is how I prefer to read e-books. Notice how the chapter begins on the left page. If the chapter ends on a left-hand page, the right-hand page opposite it should be empty, like this:

Here, you can see the L/R page view on the left, in which the chapter ends part way down the left-hand page, and you can see the next chapter (Prologue) beginning on the left side of the next 2-page L/R view:

Again, notice that the right-hand page before the Prologue is blank. This is what I am trying to achieve, but in my e-book, if a chapter ends on a left-hand page, the next chapter begins on the right-hand page opposite it. I need to generate that empty RH page where applicable.

[theducks]

XYZ brand ereader IS NOT the standard we design to.
EPUB designs are for 1 up devices, not 2 or 3 up. Not multi column.
ONE UP
Why, because whatever you do will not 100% work for any user front or any zoom level.


If you want to fudge.
1)chapter per file. That at least gives the viewer (app) a chance to start left
Or if you also put a (non printing) line in, then Pagebreak: always; if you want on right.
BUT
Not every viewer even honors all CSS commands (xyz developers know better what you want.

[jhowell]

Fixed layout ebooks support page spreads where you can dictate whether a particular page will be shown on the left or right. That does not work for reflowable books.

It seems strange to me that you want new chapters to start on the left side of a page spread. That is the opposite of what is typically done in printed books.

[kovidgoyal]

Put your chapters in separate html files in your book. Then they will always start on theleft hand page.

[Springtide]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Put your chapters in separate html files in your book. Then they will always start on theleft hand page.

They ARE separate HTML files. They start on the next page, no matter if it's right or left.

[Springtide]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Fixed layout ebooks support page spreads where you can dictate whether a particular page will be shown on the left or right. That does not work for reflowable books.

It seems strange to me that you want new chapters to start on the left side of a page spread. That is the opposite of what is typically done in printed books.

All the books I've downloaded from Amazon Kindle have chapters starting on the left, and if the previous chapter ends on a left page, there will be a blank right page before the next chapter.

[kovidgoyal]

Use a better reader in that case, like the calibre viewer. Although I have to say, I've never come across a reader that does not start new HTML files on the left.