This is the second in a series of articles about Electronic Publishing (EPUB).
What is EPUB? In her book EPUB Straight to the Point: Creating ebooks for the Apple iPad and other ereaders, Elizabeth Castro talks about the EPUB format.
It is the most widely accepted format for ebooks today and is developed and maintained by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) http://idpf.org/.
- EPUB defined: An EPUB document is a specially constructed zip file with the .epub extension. An ereader can then reflow any EPUB content into any size display screen – either a phone or a desktop monitor. EPUB also allows for a navigational table of contents.
- EPUB Content: EPUB content is contained in XHTML and CSS files that can reference images and embedded fonts, and be encrypted with Digital Rights Management (DRM). This makes the content proprietary to certain readers. XHTML is the same language web pages are written in. The EPUB file also contains XML files that provide formatting so the ebook can be properly read by the ereader.
- EPUB Tools: In her book EPUB Straight to the Point: Creating ebooks for the Apple iPad and other ereaders, Elizabeth Castro discusses using MS Word and Adobe InDesign to generate EPUB files. Other programs that do this include RoboHelp and Madcap Flare. Castro goes on to say that these tools are less than perfect so it’s a good idea to know what’s going on with the actual code so you can make adjustments. For example, MS Word does not export drop caps, but you can edit the XHTML files to allow them. Another example is Indesign, which doesn’t export text wrap; but you can edit the XHTML so it does.
- EPUB Ereaders: There are several ereaders that support EPUB including the iPad, the Nook, the Sony reader, Adobe Digital Editions, Ibis Reader (web based) and Alkido on Android. Amazon’s Kindle however, does not support EPUB though that may change as more ereaders join forces behind EPUB. Not all ereaders interpret EPUB the same way. Frequently they will override the EPUB specs to the point of disallowing the font you choose. There are ways to get around these annoying restrictions, but that is a subject for future articles.
