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ePub Finishing

Touches

Fixing Errors, Adding Metadata, and

Tweaking Formatting

Copyright © 2011 eBook Architects LLC. All rights Reserved.

Introduction


Our Goal:


Our Path:


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ebookarchitects.com/resources.php


Top 5 Misconceptions

Publishers have about

eBooks


1.eBook conversions are easy,

because I can use tools like

calibre.


2.eBook conversions should be

cheap.


3.I can keep the same page layout

and formatting in my eBook as I

have in print.


4.ePub files can be easily converted

into the Mobipocket/Kindle format.


5.I have to get my content into XML

and create an in-house eBook

creation system.


The

Rules of eBook

Development


1.Learn eBook Design, not eBook

Conversion


2.Automation tools make us lazy.

Use your hands.


3.Clean, semantic mark-up always

makes designing easier


4.Test, Test, Test, Test


ePub Boot Camp

(an overview)


Tools


Error-checking

ePubCheck and ePubPreflight

- code.google.com/p/epubcheck

- threepress.org/document/epub-validate

FlightCrew

- tinyurl.com/ePubFlightCrew


Editing Oxygen

- oxygenxml.com

TextPad

- textpad.com

Komodo Edit

- activestate.com/komodo-edit

Text Wrangler

- barebones.com/products/textwrangler


ePub Building Apple Scripts for Zipping and Unzipping

- tinyurl.com/ePubZipUnzip

Use with Caution!

Sigil

- code.google.com/p/sigil

Do Not Use!

calibre

- calibre-ebook.com


ePub Building Windows:

- zip -Xr9D path/filename.epub mimetype *

Mac:- zip -X filename.epub mimetype

- zip -rg filename.epub META-INF -x \*.DS_Store

- zip -rg filename.epub OEBPS -x \*.DS_Store


ePubCheck Errors


Check finished with

warnings or errors!

Most Common Errors

mimetype entry missing or not the first in archive

image file OPS/images/image1.jpg is missing

I/O error reading OPS/toc.ncx


Most Common Errors

unique-identifier attribute in package element must reference an existing identifier element id

hyperlink to non-standard resource '…'

hyperlink to resource outside spine '…'


Most Common Errors

'…' is not valid. The date must be in the form YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., "1993", "1993-05", or "1993-05-01"). See http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime."

NCX file OPS/toc.ncx is missing


Most Common Errors

Entity 'apos' is undeclared

fragment identifier is not defined in 'OEBPS/chap01.xhtml‘

unique-identifier attribute in package element must be present and have a value


Most Common Errors

item (OEBPS/images/0163_001.jpg) exists in the zip file, but is not declared in the OPF file

item (OEBPS/images/0163_001.jpg) missing in the package


ePubPreflight Errors

Content files that are empty

Content files that are over 300KB

Image files that are empty

Image files that are over 10MB


Apple iBookstore Errors

Your EPUB contains characters that are

not UTF-8 or UTF-16. This is typically

caused by including accented or other

special characters in the EPUB. If they

are not properly encoded, they will not

appear as expected when the customer

reads your book. iTunes Producer lists

the exact files that have these issues in

the delivery error report.



XHTML namespace is not properly

declared in all HTML in your EPUB.

This is a strict requirement for the EPUB

standard. Check to ensure the proper

namespace is declared in each HTML

document.



All date formats are not full and

complete. There are strict requirements

for dates listed in the EPUB OPF and

NCX files. Check to see that they are

complete and properly formatted.


Your filenames have spaces or encoded

characters. If your EPUB has any

spaces in filenames, be sure the spaces

are properly encoded in the EPUB

manifest by using "%20" in their place.

Filenames may not contain periods (".")

other than to separate the filename from

its extension.


Stanza Desktop Error

Your OPF file is saved as a Unicode file, Stanza Desktop

requires ASCII encoding


No errors or warnings

detected

Retailer Requirements


Kobo Each chapter/section within the ePub is

separated into its own html/xml file

The ISBN for the book is labeled in various areas:

- ePub Filename (eg. 9781234567890.epub)

- OPF, in the <metadata> section within <dc:identifier> (<dc:identifier>9781234567890</dc:identifier>)

- Cover image filename (eg. 9781234567890.jpg)


AppleSee the Apple iBookstore Asset Guide

Cannot have references to Kindle, Nook, etc.

Cover page cannot have backgound color specified, don’t use <svg>

Guide section in the OPF is recommended

Book will open to the first of:

- Text, acknowledgements, dedication, epigraph, foreword, preface, other.intro

- Override with other.reader-start-page


Barnes and Noble NCX will only display one level

margins should be set as pixels, not ems

Page margins should be 30 pixels on the top and sides, 20 pixels on the bottom

Title Page is mandatory

Typical Adobe limitations (300kb file size, available characters)


ePub Best Practices

&

Formatting Tips


Best Practices — File Structure Place all content files in an OPS or OEBPS

folder

Do not put media in a folder on the same level as the HTML

- Bug in iBooks will make videos not play

- Watch out for Sigil’s standard file breakdown

Give HTML files and images understandable names for easier editing


Best Practices — OPF Metadata section

- Fill in as much as you can

- Unique dc:creator tags for each author (despite the lack of support)

- Use a unique ISBN for the ePub

- <meta name="cover" content="coverimage" />

Spine

- Do not use linear="no" for cover HTML

Guide

- Toss-up…


Best Practices — NCX Fill in the header, include the ISBN/UUID

Include PageList

Include NavLists

- Illustrations

- Tables

- Graphs

- Charts

- Photos

- etc.


Best Practices — CSS Clean code, easy for someone else to edit

Comment your sections

Minimize the number of styles (don’t give one for each paragraph)

Minimize the declared styles

- Only add formatting that is not added elsewhere in the cascade

- Watch out for color and background-color

Include body/@page margins


Best Practices — XHTML Make your code semantic

- DO NOT use the straight ID output

- blockquotes

- Lists

- Use <div> tags to separate content

Make your code human-readable

- Understandable class names

- No weird line breaks


Best Practices — Overall Pros and Cons of single-file ePubs

Using Regular Expressions/GREP

Creating your own Scripts (Perl, Python, etc.)


Embedding Fonts

for Adobe and iBooks


Getting to the Kindle

Format


Kindle Format Basics Very Simple

HTML 3ish

No borders

No floating images

Large tables are useless


10 CSS commands supported font-size

font-style

font-weight

color

vertical-align (sub/super)

text-align

text-decoration

text-indent

margin-top

margin-bottom


ePub through KindleGen Because of these limitations in the Kindle

format’s capabilities, KindleGen’s automated conversion of ePub files has big problems

Lots of little differences in formatting, places where KindleGen misinterprets/ignores complex CSS

For example, left and/or right margins set on paragraphs will override top margins


Forcing Amazon to accept an

ePub will not convince them

to switch to ePub.

It only hurts your customers

and gives you a reputation

for badly designed eBooks.


Good Kindle Workflow Create a good ePub file, one that has all the

design elements you want


Good Kindle Workflow Copy the source code to a new folder


Good Kindle WorkflowMake the necessary changes to convert the ePub Source to Kindle Source

OPF

- Guide should be added (TOC and start)

- Remove images from manifest

Minimize CSS

Remove borders from divs, use images or <hr/> tags


Good Kindle Workflow Poetry and other hanging indents

- width="-nn" attribute instead of CSS

Hacked list outlines

Insert tables as screenshots

Images

- Size of images might need to be reduced

- width/height attributes should be added

<img width="520" height="620" alt="large image" />


If you must convert an ePub…

Recognize your limitations in formatting, and plan for them

First-level hanging indents, use:Padding-left: 1em;

text-indent: -1em;

Further hanging indents are not supported

Ems are based on font size.

- Use at least 1em top margin on P tags

- Watch out for 2em margins on headings

Kindle drops one font size at font-size: 0.85em;

Kindle does not allow left-align on list items.

Joshua Tallent

[email protected]

512-939-3466


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