03-25-2014, 07:08 PM | #1 |
Gregg Bell
Posts: 2,264
Karma: 3917588
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Itasca, Illinois
Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet
|
Does it matter to Sigil what type of file I start out with?
My process used to be: Word .doc--> html ("web page filtered" done in Word). Then I open the html in Sigil. It's worked great. But now I'm using LibreOffice to compose. But will my .odt (still not sure how I will convert it to .html or perhaps I'll go straight to epub via Writer2Epub--open to suggestions) work as well as my .doc as a starting point? Are there any technical glitches that come along with using .odt as a starting point?
And on a similar vein of thought. I've like editing in Calibre's Edit Epub program. If I edit there, are there any complications (code-wise or otherwise) when I open that epub in Sigil? Thanks. Last edited by Gregg Bell; 03-25-2014 at 07:12 PM. Reason: adding something |
03-25-2014, 07:37 PM | #2 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,549
Karma: 193191846
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Yes. There could very well be complications. To be perfectly honest, you're not going to want to go back to Sigil once you've been editing in calibre. Sigil to calibre will be fairly safe, but calibre to Sigil will be fraught with peril.
|
03-25-2014, 08:27 PM | #3 |
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
Posts: 19,422
Karma: 85397180
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity
Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)
|
To be specific, Sigil has a long-standing issue with handling (non-breaking space). calibre handles the problem by converting to unicode characters, Sigil does different things depending which version you use -- and none of them are compatible with each other, though calibre will fix what's left afterward.
|
03-25-2014, 11:26 PM | #4 |
Gregg Bell
Posts: 2,264
Karma: 3917588
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Itasca, Illinois
Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet
|
|
03-25-2014, 11:34 PM | #5 | |
Gregg Bell
Posts: 2,264
Karma: 3917588
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Itasca, Illinois
Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet
|
Quote:
|
|
03-25-2014, 11:51 PM | #6 |
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
Posts: 19,422
Karma: 85397180
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity
Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)
|
The difference will basically be down to how well written the converter is. Kovid's DOCX conversion with calibre is very well written and produces beautiful output, but uses unique style names which do not make it easier to edit after the fact.
Toxaris' addon for Word and writer2epub both produce EPUBs that many people find useful, but I don't know which one is *better*. |
03-26-2014, 02:29 PM | #7 | |
Gregg Bell
Posts: 2,264
Karma: 3917588
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Itasca, Illinois
Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet
|
Quote:
|
|
03-26-2014, 03:04 PM | #8 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,549
Karma: 193191846
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Calibre's editor has no more influence on how/where hyphenation occurs than any other editor does. If you're not inserting soft hyphens in the text, or hyphen properties in the CSS (neither of which calibre's editor does automagically BTW), then hyphenation is entirely controlled by the device/app the ebook is being read on.
|
03-26-2014, 07:30 PM | #9 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
Posts: 11,462
Karma: 158448243
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Device: K2, iPad, KFire, PPW, Voyage, NookColor. 2 Droid, Oasis, Boox Note2
|
Quote:
P.S., Gregg? Well, it matters if you're tying to use a Tiff file, sure. Otherwise, stop thinking about the GUI, and think only about what's underneath: the HTML. What you are asking here is essentially: Does the color of the car affect the quality of the engine inside it? And the answer is, no; the color of the car doesn't affect the quality of the engine inside it; in your particular case, the care you take in putting the engine in, in the FIRST place, affects the final quality of the engine when it's output from OO or LO or Word or Pages or Bob's Big-Boy Word Processor. Right? Styles = CSS. CSS = "how stuff looks." Styles being mapped to ELEMENTS, like paragraphs versus headings versus blockquotes, will affect how the input works. Don't use paragraph styles, designed to "look big" as chapter heads; use HEADER styles. Don't use paragraph styles with double-indents as blockquotes; use blockquotes (if that's available as a style). Use LISTS, not typed stuff, for lists. Numero Uno Big Bookmaker Rule: first think about what it IS; then worry about what it looks like later. THAT, far more than OO versus LO versus Word, etc., will "matter" to Sigil. IMHO. Hitch |
|
03-26-2014, 08:01 PM | #10 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,549
Karma: 193191846
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Oh, you'll get no arguments from me.
I was just trying to point out the only ways to affect hyphenation from within the epub itself--and why calibre's editor (or any editor for that matter) simply CAN'T affect hyphenation without employing either of those things. Unless the language is being set wrong. Doesn't some reading software use the language setting to use the proper hyphenation dictionaries for that language? Last edited by DiapDealer; 03-26-2014 at 08:04 PM. |
03-26-2014, 08:53 PM | #11 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 12,167
Karma: 73448616
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Toronto
Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS
|
So Hitch, i suppose what you are saying is just WRITE in a strict NOTEPAD type program; NO markup on the text AT ALL, then, when the basic work IS finished, copy the text into the eBook editor of your choice, and do the markups, assigning of styles etc there?
|
03-26-2014, 08:55 PM | #12 | |
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
Posts: 19,422
Karma: 85397180
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity
Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)
|
Quote:
In all seriousness, though, that is exactly the idea behind markdown. |
|
03-26-2014, 09:50 PM | #13 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 12,167
Karma: 73448616
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Toronto
Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS
|
Exactly! (And yes I have used Markdown when coding content for a website a few years back; the site had been coded in a CMS that included markdown as an option for document entry, and when I joined it they were already using markdown.)
|
03-26-2014, 11:42 PM | #14 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
Posts: 11,462
Karma: 158448243
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Device: K2, iPad, KFire, PPW, Voyage, NookColor. 2 Droid, Oasis, Boox Note2
|
Quote:
is it fine for a few paragraphs? Yes, albeit annoying. Is it a giant paint in the tuchus to use for 100K words? ABSOLUTELY. Would I ever write a book in it? NOT IN THIS OR ANY OTHER LIFETIME. If one is OCD, and needs that level of visually-reinforced structure, great. I don't. {shrug}. I can create perfectly clean styles in Word, (or RTF and about 10 other formats), output them and get clean content. I don't have to see paragraph tags wrapped around everything. I mean, seriously, folks, think about what you're saying: if you're going to write in markdown, why not just write the damn HTML in the first place? I'm sure that there's some logical reason for that distinction, but I don't see it. it's like...baby-step HTML. Mini-ML. Sheesh, why bother? P.S.: Yes, guys, I get the humor. You mean well, even if you are completely and utterly wrong. I'll love ya anyway. Hitch |
|
03-27-2014, 02:26 AM | #15 | |
Gregg Bell
Posts: 2,264
Karma: 3917588
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Itasca, Illinois
Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet
|
Quote:
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
cannot start sigil | weedfreak | Sigil | 3 | 10-16-2012 05:19 AM |
Calibre won't start - KeyError: <type 'tuple'> | anthonyliu | Calibre | 2 | 10-08-2012 03:26 AM |
Sigil will not start | menders | Sigil | 16 | 04-17-2012 12:14 AM |
Sigil type program for mobi | mr ploppy | Kindle Formats | 7 | 10-22-2010 12:45 PM |
Display File Type and Sort by Type | pragmortal | Calibre | 7 | 09-21-2009 08:07 PM |