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04-14-2023, 10:10 AM | #16 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
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I just don't see how that would expedite editing the e-books. Sure, it would mean that our customers would not have to download an EPUB reader; but then again, that would also mean that they wouldn't have any idea what their e-books look like. At best, this is a mixed result. What I was seeking, is some functionality that would work more or less like what we already have for PDFs. We have a variety of options, for our customers, vis-à-vis PDFs. For example, our customers can use the commenting function in Adobe acrobat reader, to leave us edits and comments in their PDFs. Depending upon how clean those comments are, we can also import those same comments into InDesign. We have other ways, other methods, of importing edits made by customers, into InDesign as well. This newest functionality that I was discussing in this thread, enables our customers to do nothing more but click the filename; open up a browser window; and leave us edits and comments, in that browser. They don't need software or anything else other than a computer. That's a boon for our tech-challenged (more than usual) customers. That's pretty much what I was looking for. I don't see a real possibility that we would export the kind of EPUB that we make into word — don't forget to use number of the EPUB that we make are fairly complex. I do not see them exporting to word readily, easily or usable. But, I'll contemplate it!!! Hitch (Dictated to DNS, but not read.) |
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04-14-2023, 10:44 AM | #17 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
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Hitch |
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Advert | |
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04-14-2023, 03:31 PM | #18 | |
Wizard
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I would NOT advise anyone to give them any money at this point! Last edited by graycyn; 04-14-2023 at 03:39 PM. Reason: Edit: added information and reworded |
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04-14-2023, 04:29 PM | #19 | |
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(Thanks for the heads' up!) Hitch |
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04-14-2023, 07:52 PM | #20 | |
null operator (he/him)
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We used LN to manage the workflow, the manuals themselves were wrangled into WordPerfect documents (with the help of IBM) and published as PDF. BR |
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Advert | |
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04-15-2023, 12:39 AM | #21 | ||||
Wizard
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This is how I'm imagining the workflows: Method A
Method B
Method A is what most publishers do. Method B is what I mostly do. It's just shifting where the editing stage ultimately slots in. With Method A, you have:
With Method B, you have:
From what I gathered, at the Proofing/Editing stage, you'd want Author+Editing team working together, being able to see the "finalized" text in the browser. THIS is where the browser-based word processors would slot in—then, you'd get all the mature advantages of word processors NOW:
And while the EPUB->DOCX wouldn't be an exact replica of how the final ebook would look, it could be a "rough approximation". - - - With EPUB Annotations, all it would do is create a Method C:
I don't see how it would help merge those author-comments + author-changes back into the finalized EPUB that much better over Method B. - - - Side Note: Of course, I welcome all Web Annotation tools/enhancements! Like I wrote in that 2022 thread, the current landscape is a mess! We definitely need more interoperability between all Annotation tools! - - - Quote:
So you're telling me a PDF Highlight + PDF Comment can be merged back into the text somehow? (And... the stuff I explained would be a browser-based DOCX Highlight + DOCX Comment + you'd get Tracked Changes.) Quote:
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Conversion between formats and merging back changes becomes much harder+unstable once you start drifting away from that ideal. - - - Side Note: And, as we discussed in those previous threads, every single input->output format/conversion brings its own unique challenges. - - - Not too sure what that means, but okay. Last edited by Tex2002ans; 04-15-2023 at 12:44 AM. |
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04-15-2023, 03:58 AM | #22 |
null operator (he/him)
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At a guess Dragon something, from Nuance.
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04-15-2023, 09:04 AM | #23 |
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Red?
Whut? Firstly, this would cost our customers a small fortune, they'd have to learn to use it and they'd never make it work right. Not following? (FYI, I use Dragon every week. I cannot see MY customers surviving it, TBH.) Hitch |
04-15-2023, 11:06 AM | #24 | ||||||||||||
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We take the docx file, OR the PDF, or this or that (powepoint, Canva, you name it) and we clean it. If it's DOCX, we clean it largely using HTML. I'm the only one that really cleans in Word and that's only because I got spoiled by Toxaris' ePUBtools, which sadly, no longer work. Nonetheless, it's:
IF the book is being edited or proofed by one of our editors, that's done before step 1. We don't give Word files to our customers, for ebooks. It's just too much brain-damage to have to reclean, style, etc. a DOCX file that comes back to make it BACK into HTML and BACK into ePUB. I can't think of a single eBookmaker here that wouldn't quit on me if I suggested it. None of them are being paid to make the book twice. Not ONE of our customers, seriously, uses styles and headings. And for those that send us other file types, NOT word files, but everything else, now we're in even deeper kimchee. And let's not forget our Pages users, etc. I would end up with clean, styled Docx files, from the ePUBs, then interspersed with "normal" and god-only-knows-what-else jammed in there. It would take longer to find all the cruft and fix it than it is to do what we're doing. Quote:
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On top of that, this "They're more efficient, because the document is already clean + consistently Styled" only lasts UNTIL the author gets their hands on it. We deal with this same issue, in a Word file, over and over, in our print process, which is somewhat like you've described. SAME PROBLEM. Some of the Word files we get back--which are meant to slide into INDD, seamlessly, and integrate the changes, are SO EFFED UP that it's safer and better to, yes, do the edits by hand, instead of risking corrupting the entire INDD file. Seriously--this happens every week. Quote:
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I know this BECAUSE we use a DOCX (ish) to INDD, to print layout, to Word file BACK to the customer, get customer's edits, BACK to INDD methodology now. I stupidly thought that would be easier, but as described above, it's a constant hassle. For those customers with 200-2,000 revisions (which is not uncommon, mind you) yes, it typically saves us some time--but when they've changed margins, changed fonts, changed letter-spacing, changed line-heights and on and on and on...I really cannot explain it to you. Quote:
Hitch |
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04-15-2023, 11:27 AM | #25 | |
A Hairy Wizard
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I knew a guy that made this mistake ALL the time… what an idiot! I wonder if Page Edit might work… or be easily made to work? An executable that doesn’t need to be installed… perhaps pre-loaded with the customer’s ePub so there is no chance they get the wrong file. It could log any changes they made… Edit: Might even be able to encrypt the ePub to discourage customers from taking the product without paying. And while I’m brainstorming… a drop-down selector on the preview to select the target device(s)…with all the appropriate notices saying ‘this is an approximation - not a guarantee that it will be displayed this way…’ Last edited by Turtle91; 04-15-2023 at 11:45 AM. |
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04-15-2023, 12:05 PM | #26 | |||
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Oooh, i didn't think of that. I wonder if we could export the html files, from the ePUB...hmmm....I mean, say, one chapter at a time. Alternatively, we could merge them all, export that as an HTML file..hmmm...(thinking hard) Quote:
About being ripped off: Spoiler:
I'll look into this Page Edit idea, Red. That may just work. One never knows! Hitch |
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04-15-2023, 12:38 PM | #27 |
the rook, bossing Never.
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Well, Hitch, I'm glad I laughed at my son and said NO! when he suggested I do what you do.
You and your merry band are certainly earning every cent. Probably cheap. |
04-15-2023, 01:16 PM | #28 | |
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Hitch |
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04-15-2023, 10:50 PM | #29 | ||
null operator (he/him)
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04-16-2023, 09:39 AM | #30 |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
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Yes, I knew that. Now I'm really confused.
Hitch |
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