paragraph formatting help

toddredd · 05-01-2016, 03:58 PM

I apologize if this issue is dealt with elsewhere in the forum, but I couldn't find anything and hoped others might point me in the right direction.

I've been formatting ebooks ever since palm prcs were the only way to go. I know Sigil isn't designed to be a fully functional text editor, yet it would be nice to have the ability to 'paragraph format' text which is otherwise page formatted, so that wraparound lines don't create blank spaces on the devices tiny screen. I had written a vb application to do exactly that, stripping CR/LF from each line except the end of paragraph, with flag inserts to block text you wanted preserved (ie- poems, lists, etc.), but long ago lost the app with some Windows upgrade.

Other issues occur often when dropping text into Sigil, like multiple blank lines inserted between paragraphs, no blank lines between paragraphs (which makes reading difficult if the first line is not indented), etc. It would also be nice to have the ability to adjust fonts used in the final publication. Some simple page formatting controls would make Sigil amazingly more useful for converting much of the available text into fine epubs.

How does one propose such an add-on to the developers, or, does anyone know of the most useful and easiest app for formatting text before Sigil is used for epub development? Any info would receive grateful thanks.

DiapDealer · 05-01-2016, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddredd

or, does anyone know of the most useful and easiest app for formatting text before Sigil is used for epub development? Any info would receive grateful thanks.

Getting the text formatted as xhtml/css is pretty-much the entire battle.

st_albert · 05-01-2016, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Getting the text formatted as xhtml/css is pretty-much the entire battle.

Basically, DiapDealer is right. To accomplish this, I suggest you start with a word-processor such a s MS Word, LlibreOffice, or Atlantis Word Processor (which can directly output epubs); enter your document there, and impose formatting using styles, rather than direct formatting (a.k.a. ad-hoc formatting, etc.)

Then use the appropriate plug-in or add-on to the WP program to export your document as a basic epub. Then use Sigil to polish and tweak it.

Check out the MoblileRead Workshop and e-book software forums for more details and suggestions.

Albert

BetterRed · 05-01-2016, 06:51 PM

@toddredd - FWIW I've used the old mobicreator program to convert prc's to html, then Notepad++ to edit the html before adding it to an empty EPUB in Sigil. There are Notepad++ plugins that will validate html, but given it came from a PRC it's usually pretty basic.

And

st_albert

BR

theducks · 05-01-2016, 08:27 PM

Calibre

I imported a huge batch of PRC from Baen's Free Library and CD's (not all had EPUB at the time)
Then I fine tuned them to my way of layout.
All the major work was done.

BTW right-click: reformat HTML cleans out the extra CR/LF inside tags

05-01-2016, 03:58 PM	#1
toddredd Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2016 Device: iphone 5	paragraph formatting help I apologize if this issue is dealt with elsewhere in the forum, but I couldn't find anything and hoped others might point me in the right direction. I've been formatting ebooks ever since palm prcs were the only way to go. I know Sigil isn't designed to be a fully functional text editor, yet it would be nice to have the ability to 'paragraph format' text which is otherwise page formatted, so that wraparound lines don't create blank spaces on the devices tiny screen. I had written a vb application to do exactly that, stripping CR/LF from each line except the end of paragraph, with flag inserts to block text you wanted preserved (ie- poems, lists, etc.), but long ago lost the app with some Windows upgrade. Other issues occur often when dropping text into Sigil, like multiple blank lines inserted between paragraphs, no blank lines between paragraphs (which makes reading difficult if the first line is not indented), etc. It would also be nice to have the ability to adjust fonts used in the final publication. Some simple page formatting controls would make Sigil amazingly more useful for converting much of the available text into fine epubs. How does one propose such an add-on to the developers, or, does anyone know of the most useful and easiest app for formatting text before Sigil is used for epub development? Any info would receive grateful thanks.

05-01-2016, 06:51 PM	#4
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,633 Karma: 29710510 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@toddredd - FWIW I've used the old mobicreator program to convert prc's to html, then Notepad++ to edit the html before adding it to an empty EPUB in Sigil. There are Notepad++ plugins that will validate html, but given it came from a PRC it's usually pretty basic. And st_albert BR Last edited by BetterRed; 05-01-2016 at 06:54 PM.

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05-01-2016, 08:27 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,912 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Calibre I imported a huge batch of PRC from Baen's Free Library and CD's (not all had EPUB at the time) Then I fine tuned them to my way of layout. All the major work was done. BTW right-click: reformat HTML cleans out the extra CR/LF inside tags

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