LaTeX and OpenOffice -> EPUB ? (Professional solution)

[frabjous]

If the interest in LaTeX is motivated by the better looking output it produces, then conversion to HTML isn't really the way to go; it'll just destroy the improvements, and go back to something more mundane looking. That's fine, if you just want the document in that format...

If you want to preserve the advantages of LaTeX's superior looking output, I would go ahead and edit it to make it the right size for your reader, using the geometry package to set the page size to your reader's screen size with minimal margins -- and depending how low you go, add a line like \emergencystretch=11pt which will mean fewer words intruding into the margins if you make the line size shorter than LaTeX is used to. \usepackage{microtype} might also be wortwhile addition. Then process it with pdflatex.

If your reader can read PDFs, you're all set. If not, and can spare the extra file size, I'd go ahead and convert the PDF into a series of images, which could be used in an ePub. Tools like PDFLRF, PDFRead, etc., which you can find here at MobileRead should help. (Use calibre to change an LRF to ePub at the end if need be.)

[hermanader]

Being an intensive LaTeX user, I found that in an Windows environment,
TeX4ht is easier to use than Latex2HTML which was originally developed
as an Unix application.
In fact I generate all my webpages using TeX4ht.
(It takes time to sort out how to do it, I must admit, but so does Latex2html).

The package allows to generate not only html but also xhtml and xml.

So to obtain ePub format my preferred sequence would be to convert the
LaTeX text to xhtml and than to ePub.

However, with this last step I have no experience.
Suggestions?

Herman

PS.
For all these packages, see:
LaTeX: http://www.tex.ac.uk/
TeX4ht: http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~gurari/TeX4ht/mn.html

[DaleDe]

Try Calibre or Sigil, both can import xhtml and both have their own forums here at Mobileread.

dale

[Randy11]

Hello,

Sorry for my silent, but I want to say a big "Thanks" to all and your replies.

A goog way seems to be :
- TeX4ht: LaTeX to HTML in a Windows environment
- Calibre or Sigil

Really, thanks to all.

Randy11

[frostschutz]

Sorry for reviving this old thread; I was looking for a way to convert a LaTeX document to EPUB and when googling for "latex epub", this thread actually comes out on the top.

Just wanted to add another tool to the list.

- plasTeX: written in Python, produces very clean XHTML output, which can then easily be converted to EPUB. The current developer snapshot even contains an EPUB renderer, so it may be able to produce EPUB files directly in the future.

http://plastex.sourceforge.net/

I just used it to convert a novel length book that had all sorts of LaTeXy shmonck in it for printing (source files split by chapter, fancy headers and the like), worked without a hitch, without any changes to the original LaTeX source.

[Randy11]

Hi Frostschutz,

Don't be "sorry". It's a good news

Now you have a big problem. We're are waiting for the conversion to Epub !

Don't waste your time to read all news in the forum : work on the conversion to EPUB

Thank a lot Frostschutz.

Originally Posted by frostschutz

Sorry for reviving this old thread; I was looking for a way to convert a LaTeX document to EPUB and when googling for "latex epub", this thread actually comes out on the top.

[....]

http://plastex.sourceforge.net/

I just used it to convert a novel length book that had all sorts of LaTeXy shmonck in it for printing (source files split by chapter, fancy headers and the like), worked without a hitch, without any changes to the original LaTeX source.

[awp]

Atlantis Word Processor can convert ODT to EPUB too.

[eBookLuke]

Originally Posted by Randy11

Hi,

I'm looking for a solution to convert LaTeX and OpenOffice files to EPUB.

Hi,

there is no "automatic" tool to convert documents to ePub in a professional way.
There are some good tools to convert almost anything in ePub (Calibre) and to edit the ePub (Sigil) but professionals write the ePub by hand…
I'm writing an extension, writer2epub, that doesn't converts the OOo document, but creates an epub with professional look.
The difference between Calibre and W2E is that Calibre retains all the original formatting, while W2E use a "professional" formatting by superimpose a particular CSS. Moreover, the W2E code is easily readable and editable.

Anyway, the best solution is always to write epub by hand, in particular if you want a well formatted ebook and "special effects"

Luke