Problems with fixed layout epub 3 and iBooks version 2

[verydeepwater]

I am producing an epub 3 fixed layout ebook. My query is whether there is a known issue with epub 3 and the old version of iBooks - iBooks 2.

The epub has passed verification with epubcheck 3.0.1 and I have viewed the file on my iPad with iBooks 3.2 as well as on iBooks on my Mac, and also through the Chrome browser using Readium. In all cases the layout is fine. But when the file is downloaded onto an old iPad using iBooks 2, the layout is all mixed up. The iPad says that its operating system of OS.5 is up-to-date , and will not allow it to be updated, and thus it's impossible to update iBooks to versions 3.

So my question is whether this is a known issue with fixed layout epub 3 and versions 2 of iBooks, and if so whether there is a work around to allow fixed layout epub 3 to be read on iBooks2.

[odedta]

Not to my knowledge, I create a few fixed layout validated ePub 3 files and they all ran fine on my iPad with the older version of iBooks, as long as it's updated to the latest version you should be fine.

Might be better to go over the file again, maybe you missed a meta tag or something, apple requires "special treatment" when it comes to ePubs

[verydeepwater]

I tried adding the old (apple-ibooks-display-options) file to the META INF folder, as you used to for fixed layout epub 2, and the file displayed perfectly on the older version of iBooks, as well as on the latest iBooks. This leads me to ask whether you still need to add the 'apple-ibooks-display-options' file to epub 3, to make them readable on old versions of iBooks, or whether this indicates that some of the settings stating this is pre-paginated etc. are not entered correctly in the content.opf file, but I have checked this and I don't think so.

Any advice on this would be very welcome.

[odedta]

Yes, you need to include that file, for a fixed layout you need to do the following:

1. Update your content.opf as such:

• prefix="rendition: http://www.idpf.org/vocab/rendition/#" - add to <package>
• <meta property="rendition:layout">pre-paginated</meta> - add to <metadata>
• <meta property="rendition:layout">landscape</meta> - add to <metadata>
• <meta property="rendition:spread">landscape</meta> - add to <metadata>

Reference for these @ http://www.idpf.org/epub/fxl/#property-defs

2. Make use of the

linear="yes"

attribute in the spine elements

3. Add this:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=760, height=1000" />

to the head tag of each html file in your epub, note the height and width.

4. Add com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml file to your epub, you can use this template:

<display_options>
<platform name="*"> <!-- all devices -->
<option name="fixed-layout">true</option> <!-- fixes the layout -->
<option name="specified-fonts">false</option> <!-- set to "true" when embedding fonts -->
<option name="open-to-spread">true</option> <!-- single page or full spread on open -->
<!--<option name="orientation-lock">landscape-only</option> "landscape-only" or "portrait-only" or leave this line commented -->
<option name="interactive">false</option> <!-- set to "true" when using javascript or canvas -->
</platform>
</display_options>

[verydeepwater]

[QUOTE=odedta;2813578]Yes, you need to include that file, for a fixed layout you need to do the following:

Thank you very much for this detailed reply - extremely helpful. I was under the impression that the apple display file that was added to the META INF folder was superseded for epub 3 by the meta tags you mention that go in the opt file. It seemed to work for the most up-to-date version of iBooks without this file, but it seems you still do need it for earlier versions of iBooks.

[DaleDe]

Which OS versions still use iBooks 2?

[odedta]

iPad 1 will not support an OS higher than 5.1.1 and iBooks 3 requires iOS 7, so it's running iBooks 2 which is horrible compared to iBooks 3

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by odedta

iPad 1 will not support an OS higher than 5.1.1 and iBooks 3 requires iOS 7, so it's running iBooks 2 which is horrible compared to iBooks 3

Thanks, I will put this in the wiki so it is easy to find.

Dale

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Thanks, I will put this in the wiki so it is easy to find.

Dale

Dale:

That's great, because I can say, with no small amount of venom, that Apple's utter abandonment of iBooks2 is pretty damn infuriating. We have had endless issues with books (say, floating images, as one "wee" problem) that has no fix, because Apple can't be bothered to make sure that the books work for the millions who still have iPad1's. I don't know what is going to happen with the whole ePUB3 mess on iPad1's, I really don't.


Hitch

[odedta]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Dale:

That's great, because I can say, with no small amount of venom, that Apple's utter abandonment of iBooks2 is pretty damn infuriating. We have had endless issues with books (say, floating images, as one "wee" problem) that has no fix, because Apple can't be bothered to make sure that the books work for the millions who still have iPad1's. I don't know what is going to happen with the whole ePUB3 mess on iPad1's, I really don't.


Hitch

That's their way of saying: Get a new iPad

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by odedta

That's their way of saying: Get a new iPad

Yes, I know exactly what it means, and I have absolutely no time for a company that thinks that deliberately "breaking" their old products somehow is tantamount to a good marketing strategy. Maybe the millions out there that somehow thought that Jobs was a God-Guru, or that Apple can do no wrong will buy into that, but I won't. It's ridiculous.

I've spent the last few months now listening to how evil Microsoft is for "abandoning" XP, after nearly a decade and a half, and nary a word uttered about how Apple sucks for forcing people to get rid of perfectly-functioning devices by the simple expedient of deliberately making them unworkable. So I can run out and spend ANOTHER thou on a device I use solely for testing? Considering I find it a toy, rather than a productivity tool, I just think that's beyond absurd. Apple would have to come out with something utterly earth-shattering, work-and-productivity-wise, for me to EVER buy something else from them. I think the way that they treat their customers is positively abominable.

And their tech support? OMG, I cannot tell you how many clients I've had that have gone to Apple TS to help them (with installing a program like ADE on their Macs, or trying to read their MOBI files in KPreviewer), and those morons will tell (my clients) that the "file is corrupted," because they can't figure out that a client didn't DOWNLOAD the file from his browser correctly. Uh...get out much, in the real world, outside of the Apple ecosystem? How hard is it to know how file downloads work? Someone in TECH SUPPORT can't tell that a user didn't download a file from Gmail correctly? Wowza...and the Apple-users PAY for that. Un-frakking-believable. Truly. I know that a lot of people love their Macs, and all, but...while Jobs certainly understood the human brain's desire to "be cool," I have to say, to me, the hype and fanboi-stuff is completely incomprehensible.

</rant>


Hitch