A proper table of contents can get more complex, but this is enough to get you started: A one-line mimetype file placed at the head of a zip container, identifying the container as an EPUB document, along with a directory containing all HTML assets and files, renders a working EPUB file. In a pinch, you can even generate an EPUB with standard system tools. epub-cover-image=./images/cover-front.svg \ $ pandoc -f markdown -t epub3 book.md colophon.md \ This is the command I use to convert conference notes to EPUB:Ī more complex command, used for a book recently published online: It might sound fancy and technical, but making an EPUB can be as easy as one line command with Pandoc, or exporting from Libre Office. An EPUB file is basically a collection of HTML files with some metadata in a zip file. It is the very model of the open source ideal of building new technology by combining perfectly functional existing technology. It's simple, it's lightweight, cross-platform, and versatile. No beating around the bush: the EPUB format is the best thing to happen to eBooks since eBooks. With that preamble out of the way, let's look at what formats are out there. That doesn't work for me, especially as a PowerPC Linux user where x86 binaries to create a "sort of open" eBook are not of any use. Pen and paper are pretty universal, so if the format for eBooks is closed, then I may as well just learn shorthand.Īnd finally, I am only interested in fully open formats there are those that are "open enough" to convert from, but not so open that any OS can create them, or vice versa. Open formats also ensure that anyone can create an eBook. This does not happen with a base level of an open format. Technology defeats itself when you get a book in one format and have a device or operating system (OS) that only reads any other format but that. The most obvious advantage to an open format for eBooks is that an open format can be converted to any other format, meaning that your book can be read on any device. Why open?įirst of all, let's establish that we'll look only at open file formats in this article, and why. I appreciate that I can take notes at a conference in Restructured Text and convert my notes with Pandoc to a fully hyperlinked ebook to review on my plane ride home. I also appreciate the ability they give me to find my favorite quotes or passages, and the fact that readers who have limited sight can enlarge the text so they can read it, or that fully blind readers can have their computer read the text to them. Sure, I might not actually read the entire works of Jules Verne whilst waiting in line at the grocer's, but it comforts me to know that I have them just in case. I appreciate that eBooks enable me to take several volumes of text with me everywhere I go without actually having to bear the weight of several reams of paper. I have been a user of them for far longer than there have been dedicated readers. That's great for leveling up on how much you read, but it begs the question of what open file formats are out there for eBooks, and which ones are best. Between mobile phones, tablets, and dedicated eBook readers, chances are you have some device in your life that you can use to read an electronic book upon. Welcome to the communityĮlectronic books, or eBooks, have been around for a long time, but convenient devices upon which to read them are a relatively recent development.
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