ePub format

Post by **Robert** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:19 am

Hi André,
What about the hyperlinks? Are they clickable?
Note that I tried changing the DPI value. The resulting PDF looked awful in the Acrobat Reader. I did not go any further.
Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:59 am

Sorry, I was wrong about that resolution setting, that was not why the text was correct. What I did was this: in stanza the corrupt file was showing. I went to a place in the text and made a bookmark. I opend that bookmark in the menu. Stanza opened a new window and all the text was correct for some reason I don't understand. No missing oo etc anymore. This version I synced with my iphone and it looks perfect. The bookmarks don't show up though.

Post by **Robert** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:26 pm

Hi André,
I have experimented with the latest free versions of PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com) and MagicPDF (http://www.magicpdf.com). None of these free versions allow to create PDFs that contain clickable hyperlinks or TOCs. The MagicPDF Web site clearly states that only the paying version of their software has such a feature.
So it is impossible to produce ePub files with clickable hyperlinks or TOCs if the ePub files are produced from such restricted PDFs.
You would have to create PDFs using more elaborate (hence pricey) software.
You’ll probably be wise to wait till Atlantis has support for the ePub format.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:54 am

Hi Robert,
I used the Atlantis rtf file to make a pdf on my mac by printing to a pdf and all the double missing aa, ee,oo etc are gone, the text is normal. This could mean that it's Cutepdf writer that gives that problem. The two chapter headers I made are not showing up still but maybe I didn't do it correctly in Atlantis.

The way I should do this is:

Select the chapter line in the text; Goto menu format/paragraph/ choose outline level 1.

Right?

Post by **Robert** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:03 am

Hi André,
There are plenty of free PDF virtual printers out there. It seems that PrimoPDF is the one giving the best results. However, note that it won't save clickable hyperlinks or URLs. That feature seems to be reserved for the paying versions.

Now about creating chapter headings.

In word processors, chapter headings are paragraphs to which you have applied Heading 1, Heading 2, or Heading 3 styles. Of course, the Heading 2 style is used for sub-chapters. And Heading 3 for sub-sub-chapters. If your books have only one level of heading, use the Heading 1 style exclusively. Heading 1 styles have outline level 1 by default, Heading 2 styles have outline level 2, Heading 3 styles have outline level 3, etc. You don’t have to worry about assigning outline levels yourself manually.

When Atlantis builds a TOC, it uses the Heading style paragraphs present in the document.

In short, to create a chapter (main) heading, simply select any relevant paragraph, and apply a Heading 1 style to it. Of course, these Heading styles can be customized in any way you like.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:50 am

I did some more experimenting... I made headings, bookmarks and hyperlinks in the rtf file in Atlantis. I printed to pdf with Acrobat pro and made a epub file which I synced with my iPhone. The text is still normal, missing characters, but no click able links for the chapters are showing. I don't understand where Stanza is looking for them or how to create them. Maybe publishers for ebooks do the chapter creating in their program language that is created for the ebook app?

Post by **Robert** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:26 am

Hi André,
Were the links clickable in the PDF created by Adobe Pro?

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:58 am

Ah, now I get it. I made one link now and it shows up in the book on my iphone and it works. Thanks! I am going to do the whole book now.

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:55 am

Hi Robert, a last note on my epub attempt.
I was able to make all the chapter links. On my iphone the book now has a chapter index that is click able and goes to the correct chapter in the book. All the text is the way it should be, no missing characters. I even have a nice cover image of my original book cover. Only ugly thing is that after clicking on a chapter, the chapter in the book itself starts in the middle of a page, not on top of the page. And the chapter index, TOC, is also showing in the book itself and not in a very organized way. I don't know how to fix these things and will let it rest for now. I can read my own book on the phone and that's nice enough for now. Maybe Atlantis will come up in the future with a more elegant way.

Thanks for all the help!

André

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:51 am

I uploaded the epub book here, maybe nice to have a look at the result:

http://bookworm.oreilly.com/view/Raouls ... _page.html

André

Post by **Robert** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:45 am

Hi André,
The above link is either dead or not available to the general public. I got a “page not found” message:

You may have followed a bad link, or tried to access an ebook that you don't own. If you believe this was an error, please contact bookworm@threepress.org.

Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:00 pm

Sorry for that, I see you can only access with an account. I searched for another ebook reader page but can't find one. If you like I can send the file so you can see what I did. Or maybe you have examples yourself enough in case you want to work on the epub format for Atlantis in a future version.

André

Post by **Robert** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:55 pm

Hi André,
You can attach any file to your posts here on the Atlantis Forum. Please have a look at “Attaching images and files” on this page:

http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en ... php?t=1064

Or you could upload your file to any of the free online storage sites (you’d only have to create a free account first). Here are 2 of them:

http://www.freedrive.com
http://www.4shared.com

Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:34 am

Here it is. This is my first novel and it was published for some years in Holland, but I have the full copyrights again since this year, so no laws are being broken by posting it here! Maybe you have some suggestions how to improve the epub file. Like I said, when I read it on my iphone, the links work but the chapters are starting randomly in the middle of pages.

http://www.box.net/shared/uxya5lr0pt

André

(ps. this book was completely written in Atlantis!)

Post by **Robert** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:50 am

Hi André,
I tried to download http://www.box.net/shared/uxya5lr0pt to no avail. I only got this message:

This user is not allowed to use direct links.
Please email support@box.net for support

It seems you haven’t got permission to give direct download links from that site.
Maybe you should try one of the storage sites I suggested. I believe they are not so fussy.
Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:05 am

That's strange, because I use box.net for all my music sharing on many composers sites. i tried it just now without being logged in and I can download the file without problems.

Here is another location of the file:

http://www.freedrive.com/file/770255

hope it works,
André

Post by **Robert** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:42 am

Hi André,
The download went fine from freedrive.com.
I opened it under Windows XP in the Calibre “eBook Viewer” (http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net).
Your novel displays very well in that viewer.
Also the TOC links are working as intended. They link to the chapter headings at the top of the corresponding pages.
Only one thing might be wrong. Inter-paragraph spacing is bigger between some paragraphs than it is between others. But maybe this is how you meant things?
Note that I cannot not give any appreciation of your work as such. I don’t understand a word of Dutch myself. It’s all “double-Dutch” to me!

Cheers,
Robert

Andremusic · Post by **Andremusic** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:50 am

I will have a look at that paragraph spacing, maybe that is what makes the new chapers start in the middle of a page. I know that epub don't understand a page break but then how are epub book makers doing a clean chaperstart?
I am writing this from my phone so I cannot attach a picture but I post one layer of what I try to male.

Andre

andygrunt · Post by **andygrunt** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:06 am

Excuse my ignorance on this but I'm curious...

What's the advantage of the epub format over, say, a PDF?

Post by **Robert** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:35 pm

Hi Andy,
As I understand things, the ePub format is specifically meant for devices like iPhones or iPods. PDFs cannot be opened in eBook viewers. And ePub files cannot be opened in Acrobat Reader.
Here is a description found on the Web (http://www.web-books.com):

The EPUB format is a standard eBook format recommended by The International Digital Publishing Forum. It is essentially a ZIP format. If you change its extension ".epub" to ".zip", the EPUB file becomes a true ZIP file which can be unzipped.
The unzipped EPUB files may be divided into three categories: XHTML documents, packaging files and container files.

Note that PDFs are supposed to be “device-independent”. It seems the ePub format is not so “device-independent”. ePub documents seem to display differently on different readers.
Cheers,
Robert