Viewing animated graphics in epub files!

sakasaheed · Post by **sakasaheed** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 1:24 pm

Hello house,
I am currently been faced with the issue of displaying animated graphics within my epub generated files. And because Atlantis WordProcessor converts to epub directly, I would like someone to help me on how to go about solving it.
Please urgent attention is required.
Thanks.
Saka

Post by **admin** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 4:56 pm

I am sorry, but you cannot have animated pictures in Atlantis documents.

You might need to put your animated graphics to the EPUB package manually.

sakasaheed · Post by **sakasaheed** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:49 am

Thank you very much admin. OK, I understand that I can't achieve that with Atlantis Docs, but I've also looked around for resources/tools that can help put me through on how to achieve it. I came across a material that tried to explain it, but the points there were quite elusive. I could't comprehend.
Or better still, can you share with me how to manually put the animated graphics in epub files.
Any further help/guide, I would realy appreciate.
Thanks.
Saka

Post by **Robert** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:08 am

Hi Saka,
First, you must be aware that not all ePub readers can display animated GIFs. ADE (Adobe Digital Editions), —for example—, will only display the first picture of an embedded animated GIF as a static image. However, the Calibre Viewer, and Firefox through its “ePub Reader” Add-On, can display ePub files with animated GIF pictures.

So keep in mind that not all your intended audience will be able to view your animations correctly.

Now if you still want to insert animated GIFs in ePub files, here is how you can do it:

1. To be on the safe side, create a fallback copy of your original ePub file, and store it in a safe place.
2. Rename your ePub file so that its extension is no longer “.epub” but “.zip”.
3. Open this newly created “.zip” archive with a dedicated application such as 7-Zip.
4. Extract all of the archive files with folder structure to an empty folder.
5. The extracted archive will include an “OPS” subfolder.
6. Open this “OPS” subfolder, and place your animated GIF in it.
7. Still within the “OPS” subfolder, choose which file with the “.html” extension will host your animated GIF picture. If you mean to include the animation as a cover picture, choose “001.html”, or “title.html”. Otherwise, choose any appropriate “.html” file within that ePub file.
8. Open that “.html” file in a pure text editor like the Windows Notepad.
9. Insert the following code at the appropriate place within that file:

Code: Select all

<p><a><img src="My_animated_GIF_picture.gif" /></a></p>

Of course, replace "My_animated_GIF_picture.gif" in this code with the name of your own GIF animation.

10. Save your changes, and close the “.html” file.
11. In your file manager, press the “Backspace” key to go one level up in the folder hierarchy.
12. The whole archive structure should now visible in the folder. Select all files and subfolders within the folder and use your zipping application to rezip all of them. Name this new archive anything appropriate (“My_epub.zip”, for example).
13. Rename “My_epub.zip” as “My_epub.epub”.
14. Open this “My_epub.epub” file in the Calibre Viewer. It should display the GIF picture as an animated picture.

HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

sakasaheed · Post by **sakasaheed** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:15 am

Oh my God! Robert, you don't know how appreciative i am getting this info from you. I had thought of this exactly, because i fstumbled on a material that said somethings like that. what was missing was just the last part of it; re-zipping and renaming to .epub

I am going to try that immediately and get back to you asap.
Thanks, for all the time.

Please, your HTH always at the bottom of you message; I guess it means Hear To Help? because that's what am seeing each time.

Regards.
Saka

Post by **Robert** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:00 pm

In the context of a support forum, “HTH” is a traditional acronym for “Hope This Helps”.

In other contexts, it can mean different things. Please have a look at http://www.acronymfinder.com/HTH.html

sakasaheed · Post by **sakasaheed** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:37 am

Hi Robert,
Thanks very much for the support thus far. Realy helpful. I tried it and it worked fine in calibre viewer. But is there any other reader that is capable of playing animated gif in epub considering particularly, that my target device is android tablet.

Thanks so much for all the time.
Saka

Post by **Robert** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:23 am

I haven’t got any Android tablet myself, so I could not say which eReader might support animated GIFs. All I can say is that animated GIFs are currently unsupported in the following Windows eReaders:

Adobe Digital Editions
Barnes and Noble Nook For PC
MobiPocket Rreader
Sigil
Sony eBook Library
Stanza

The only Windows eReaders I know that will render embedded GIF animations correctly are the Calibre Viewer and the “ePub Reader” Firefox Add-On.

Sorry, Saka, but I cannot be of more help on this. You’ll have to ask people who do own Android tablets.

Cheers,
Robert

sakasaheed · Post by **sakasaheed** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:20 am

Ok, thanks. I feel I owe you everything.
Saka

Steve MB · Post by **Steve MB** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:52 am

Also, you may want to use a dedicated ePub editing program such as Sigil (http://code.google.com/p/sigil/) -- it lets you find and tweak ePub elements through a more intuitive interface.