Digital Book WorldMonday, January 24, 2011 | 2:00–5:00 p.m.

Matt LeBlancManager of Production and Prepress, Adams Media

Colleen CunninghamSenior Book Designer, Adams Media

• Compare and contrast two major eBook formats—PDF and ePub—and discuss key differences.

• Take in-depth look at the anatomy of ePub and PDF files.

• Consider workflow changes, further up stream, to optimize eBook production and design.

• Inject QA into your eBook workflow.

• Watch a demo exporting ePub from InDesign: set up an InDesign file for optimal ePub export and review export options.

• To truly polish and fine tune your ePub for distribution, you must crack it open and adjust code. Learn basic coding fixes to improve your files.

InDesign® to eBook: Optimizing Your Workflow

Download at http://www.slideshare.net/BookDesignGirl/dbw2011InDesign

Comparing

PDF vs. ePub

PDF and ePub are two of the most popular formats for eBooks

PDF is a good format for publications in which the design gives context to complex content and when the digital publication needs to mirror its printed counterpart.

ePub is a good format for publications in which the content is more important than the design. An ePub file is changing, flowable, and portable across many reading devices.

Comparison of Popular eBook FormatsPDF ePub AND KINDLE

> Choose for control over design and presentation of content

> Choose for content that is flowable and portable across many devices

Ideal for content that needs a complex layout, structure, and formatting

Ideal for straight text and content that does not require a lot of formatting

Retains text formatting of your print version no matter what reading device it’s on

ePub eBooks depend on software to be opened and read. People have control over font selection and type size.

Usually needs a larger screen on the reading device for viewing without having to scroll

Screen size on the reading device doesn’t matter

Publication can retain page references since text is static and not reflowable

Content cannot contain page references as text will reflow

Graphics can retain detail since PDFs are most likely read on large color screens

Graphics may lose detail on small, e-ink black and white screens

Popular Accounts and Accepted Formats

ACCOUNTS .pdf .ePub .mobi .azw

Amazon ✓

Google ✓ ✓

Apple ✓

Barnes & Noble ✓

Sony ✓

Kobo ✓

Overdrive ✓ ✓

Blio ✓

Print to eBook Workflow

Editorial and Content Development: Easy upstream fixes to include electronic formats

• Be conscious of crafting content specifically for one channel. Look at new ways of cross-referencing information that will create a more effective ePub product.

• Hyperlinks should be set up at the earliest point, preferably with the author or the content editor in the word processing software.

• Metadata must be as robust and as extensive as possible to make it easy for consumers to find your content.

QUALITY

COST

TIME

The Project Triangle and In-House eBook Workflows

slower turnaround on complex content higher cost

higher quality

Pro: Outsource to high-quality vendor and achieve quality

product

Con: Endure higher costs than producing

in-house, more vendor communication and

trafficking

higher quality up-front costs and training

long-term savings

Pro: Train or hire in-house eBook production team and achieve long-term

savings and in-house quality control

Con: Endure extensive learning curve and budget for additional resources at

start up

quick lower cost

lower quality

Pro: Outsource to low-cost vendor and forgo quality control for

quick turnaround

Con: Lower-quality product leads to unpredictable reading experience

Quality Assurance

❍ Validation Tools:

EPubCheck: Useful in adhering to the ePub standard, but it does not necessarily apply to every account accepting ePub.

No good validation tool for enhanced ePubs—must be created to account specs.

❍ Content and Design:

Digital design needs to be as important as print design—think of all the print design quality check points and see how they can apply to eBook design.

Involve editorial much as you would with print design and have your editor/author review to be sure the book translates to an eBook format. The more complex and styled an eBook gets, the greater the need to bring the eBook work in-house because there is a greater need for editorial decisions.

Remove copyrighted content specifically for print from eBook editions.

❍ Device and eReader Review:

Test on multiple devices/eReaders: Note the different renderings of your ePub and share results.

Pull in other stakeholders for review: Editorial, Marketing, Design, Production.

Inject QA into your eBook workflow!

e-ink color: LED/LCD

apps

audio and video*

.mobi .azw .ePub

.pdf—can be read on any eReader but not sold in all eBookstores

One eBook for all devices? One eBook for a targeted device? Multiple files for targeted devices? Factors include:

*Apple and Amazon (only read on the Kindle App for the iPad/iPhone) are currently the only accounts that accept ePub with audio/video. The Amazon files are .mobi format using HTML5 <audio> and <video> tags and are not uploaded through Amazon’s DTP.

Kindle Kobo Nook Sony Nook PCs Samsung iPad eReader Color Galaxy Tab

eBooks + eReaders = QA challenges

• Budget for extra ISBNs and how to track sales• Time for coding and design of multiple files• Trafficking different files to different accounts• What content is best suited for which device

• What eReader your consumer is most likely to access your content on

• How much linking and interactivity your markets expect/content needs

PDF and ePub Best Practices

Best Practices—PDF

InDesign file preparation:

❍ Make sure that cross references to the text and hyperlinks to the Web are implemented to create a fully-functioning digital publica-tion. Set up in InDesign and check in the PDF.

InDesign export options:

❍ Select export options to keep the file size as low as possible.

Adobe Acrobat editing:

❍ Merge front cover and interior together into a single PDF file.

❍ Create the TOC menu in addition to bookmarking with cross-references.

❍ Cross-reference the index.

❍ Experiment with the audio and video embedding features.

Test:

❍ Test on multiple eReading devices.

Best Practices—ePub:

1. Create or prepare file / export

2. Unzip (if necessary)

3. Edit

4. Zip (if necessary)

5. Validate

6. Test

7. Convert from ePub to Kindle format (if necessary)

Best Practices—ePub: Front End

InDesign file preparation:

❍ Tools for visual hierarchy of content: font weight, font size (in relation to other content), white space, and indents.

❍ Style text with paragraph and character styles to translate into HTML.

❍ Replace multiple returns with space attached to paragraph styles—they register as no space. Remove soft returns in running text—they register as hard returns.

❍ (CS4) Thread text in order. Anchor art—otherwise they are pushed to the end of the ePub.

❍ Convert tables to lists or art—tables are not supported in all reading devices at this time.

❍ Replace page references in the print file with cross references to chapters or sections.

❍ (CS4) Break up a single InDesign file for section starts and use the book palette to export the files.

❍ Include as much in the ePub TOC menu as possible—chapter numbers, titles, and subheads help the reader navigate quickly.

InDesign export options:

❍ Choose “Defined Styles” over “Local Formatting” to keep your ePub file size low.

❍ Consider resizing art in Photoshop for control over output quality:

❑ 600 pixels on longest side is a good size for detailed images

❑ keep images less than 10 MB

❍ Avoid embedding fonts. This increases the file size and there are rights issues.

❍ Unzip the ePub file (if necessary).

❍ Edit the ePub file:

❑ add date metadata to content.opf file<dc:date>2011</dc:date>

❑ add cover file to the content.opf filein metadata and manifest

❑ fix spacing of headers called out in TOC[in CSS] margin-top:

OPTIONAL:

❑ add additional metadata

❑ make images scalable in relation to width of eReader screen[in HTML] style = “max-width: 100%;”

❑ fix list formatting[in CSS] p.bullet to li.bullet, indent=0

❑ avoid page breaks after heads[in CSS] h1 {page-break-after: avoid;}

❑ add more space to the outside margins[in CSS] set body and @page margins to 30

❑ set font preferences (see iosfonts.com)[in CSS] font-family: sans-serif; serif; [etc];

❑ embed audio/video files and set long tables in non-linear files (see ebook architects.com for examples of how to do some ePub enhancements) use HTML5 <audio> and <video> tags

❑ add cross-referencing to the index[in HTML]

❑ add color

❍ Zip the ePub file (if necessary).

❍ Validate.

❍ Test on multiple devices—check:

❑ formatting (spacing, indents, character styling, capitalization, page breaks)

❑ TOC clickable menu works

❑ cross-references work

❑ hyperlinks work (“&” will break a link)

Best Practices—ePub: Back End

❍ InDesign does not export directly to the Kindle format, so use conversion software on an InDesign-generated ePub file such as Kindlegen (use on the content.opf file only for a cleaner conversion).

❍ However, according InDesign Secrets.com:

Amazonreleasedafreeplug-inthatallowsInDesignuserstoexporttoKindleformat.TheKindleforAdobeInDesign(Beta)workswithInDesignCS4andCS5inWindowsXP,Vista,Windows7,MacOS10.5(“experimental”)and10.6.MacusersareadvisedtorunSecurityUpdate2010-005beforeinstalling.”

http://indesignsecrets.com/amazon-releases-kindle-for-indesign-plug-in.php

Use with managed expectations.

❍ It’s recommended that the newer version of Kindlegen (v1.1) only be used for files with audio/video. Otherwise, the new version needlessly inflates eBook’s file size.

❍ Upload converted file to the Kindle Previewer to validate and check formatting.

❍ Common changes to formatting during conversion include: lost space between paragraphs, lost hanging indents, image resizing on the Kindle (small images are expanded to fit screen unless dimensions are set inside the image tag).

❍ Amazon Kindle Publishing Guidelines (v1.3) has specific instructions regarding how to code the cover in the content.opf file. Their preferred format for the cover is a JPEG image of 600 x 800 pixels.

Best Practices—ePub: Converting to Kindle

InDesign ePub Kindle (.mobi, .azw, .prc)

Format Assessment QuestionnaireContent that makes for a good ePub candidate for e-ink eReaders generally consist of straight running text and is not design heavy. If you answer YES to any of the below questions, there’s a very good chance that it will be a challenge to get your publication in the ePub format for an e-ink device.

However, tablet eReaders may support more of the following:

❍ Does your content have a high volume of floating design elements (sidebars, boxed text, recipes, tables, worksheets, checklists, call-outs, captions, footnotes, etc.)? Print to ePub conversion requires a close study of the book flow design.

❍ Is your content image-heavy, containing a high volume of content-critical images? Note: Puzzles and other fill-able content are not good ePub candidates on any eReader and may be more suited to apps.

❍ Does your content require decorative design elements (spot art, background images, and fancy custom fonts) in order communicate the context of the content?

❍ Does your content contain complicated tables?

❍ Is your content/art dependant on being displayed in color?

❍ Does your content have a high volume of referenced page numbers or hyperlinks? How much time can you spend on providing that? Note: Referenced page numbers should be changed to linked cross-references and a high volume of hyperlinks can slow down an e-ink reading device.

Action Plan and Resources

Action Plan

❍ Download and read digital content yourself.

❍ Customize your print to digital workflow for your own audience and start with the resources you already have.

❍ Test, test, and retest.

❍ Keep researching and learning.

Resources

http://www.slideshare.net/BookDesignGirl/dbw2011InDesign

www.digitalbookworld.com/2011/indesign-to-ebook-resources

Use the #ePrdctn hashtag for questions on Twitter

Colleen Cunningham is @BookDesignGirl on Twitter