New user, need clarif. on several format issues.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by argomax

@ hitch:

hmmm. too dangerous. I dabbled in html before correcting some bugs in my website and it worked but i really work like a butcher there, i am not a real programmer.

Unless you do have a portion of code to provide me that i can try out...

Argomax:

I think you've already said that you'll never be comfortable with Sigil's Code View, so...not sure I'd be helping you. Perhaps you ought to see if Atlantis can help you with that, so you don't have the disability or mindset you mentioned.

Good luck!

Hitch

[argomax]

Well Hitch, the thing is, I tried Sigil and it's pretty simple, the code view I'm familiar with; altough i couldn't myself write code, I can surely copy and modify some; The thing with Sigil is that it outputs a lesser format than Calibre does: the page breaks are not taken care of, it kills some formatting, therefore, if I'm just modifying code into it, I could do as well doing that in other platforms, as at this point Sigil isn't doing anything special for me. I also tried KompoZer that did, instead, pretty much all that I wanted, but then, opening the epub back into a viewer, Kompozer broke some portion of other markers (as per error message) and it couldn't be viewed.
Atlantis does little more than OO.
If only I could access code view in Open office, I'd be all set.

But just as a curiosity, what do yourself use? InDesign perhaps?

[argomax]

And If i was going to ask you to quickly review and correct the image placement of my 4 ebooks (about 25 images each, all of them pre-sized), what would you charge me?

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by argomax

The thing with Sigil is that it outputs a lesser format than Calibre does: the page breaks are not taken care of, it kills some formatting,

A lesser format? The format is the same. Calibre and Sigil can not be compared. The one is an editor and the other a library management system with some conversion capabilities.
It does not kill formatting, only if you remove it. Page breaks are not an issue, they work fine. Don't mistake your inexperience with a program error or missing functionally.

Again, due to the reflow character, images are hard to do and often not possible they way you want. The float as you describe is not possible.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by argomax

Well Hitch, the thing is, I tried Sigil and it's pretty simple, the code view I'm familiar with; altough i couldn't myself write code, I can surely copy and modify some; The thing with Sigil is that it outputs a lesser format than Calibre does: the page breaks are not taken care of, it kills some formatting, therefore, if I'm just modifying code into it, I could do as well doing that in other platforms, as at this point Sigil isn't doing anything special for me. I also tried KompoZer that did, instead, pretty much all that I wanted, but then, opening the epub back into a viewer, Kompozer broke some portion of other markers (as per error message) and it couldn't be viewed.
Atlantis does little more than OO.
If only I could access code view in Open office, I'd be all set.

But just as a curiosity, what do yourself use? InDesign perhaps?

Argomax:

You don't understand what you're looking at, if that's what you think (that somehow, Sigil outputs a "lesser format" than Calibre). That's wrong. Calibre is a library-management tool that allows people to convert their own personal books to use on other devices; it's absolutely not a production tool for commercial ebooks. (And, in fact, you might want to pay attention to the fact that Amazon is still rejecting Calibre-made MOBIs that are not simply K6 mobis). Sigil, on the other hand, is an XHTML/CSS editor, with which people create ePUBs. They are not intended to be nor remotely are the same thing.

I'm sure you can copy and paste someone else's code, but thus far in this thread, you've already said that you won't be able to use Sigil, because you won't try, for as it wasn't "instantly" intuitive to you, you'll never be comfortable with it. Quite honestly, what it sounds like to me is that you just don't like to bother to read tutorials or instructions, as Sigil works pretty damned well for its purpose. You can't learn to make ePUBs and MOBI's "at a glance," not if you want to actually make them correctly--by which I mean a book that works properly across devices, not some tweaky nerdy standard that nobody cares about.

If you don't like Sigil, try Blue Griffon, perhaps. Or stick with Kompozer. Or try Jutoh. AWP will output an ePUB for you to then edit. However, if you want to do more-advanced books--like wrapping an image with text--you're going to have to learn how, by using at least a little bit of HTML and CSS. The only program out there, I think, that might be able to create an ePUB with floating images, without the user knowing any coding, MIGHT be Jutoh. (Honestly, not sure. I have a license for it, as I try everything that comes along, but I haven't upgraded it in dog's years.)

If you want samples on how to wrap images in text, there are numerous free ePUBs (try almost anything Jellby has done) here in the Mobile Read library. Or you can ask over in the ePUB forum, as this is the Sigil forum, about using Sigil, the tool/software, rather than learning basic coding. Or try the Workshop forum.

By the way: 5 spaces won't ever work as a paragraph indent. I don't know how you used it, but spaces don't translate to HTML; they're ignored. It's possible, since you used Calibre, that Calibre interpreted your intent and created a CSS class for you, but 5 spaces absolutely won't work in a real ePUB or Kindle book. "Page breaks" are actually file breaks--they're separate files. If you're still stuck on the "grey line" thing, please re-read the response to you on that topic, earlier in the thread.

And If i was going to ask you to quickly review and correct the image placement of my 4 ebooks (about 25 images each, all of them pre-sized), what would you charge me?

I don't believe I'm actually allowed to discuss my business here. If you want to PM me, I'll reply, or I believe my email address is in my profile.

We have InDesign in-house for print books. I would never use it for a set of ebooks only; it's a huge encumbrance, to my way of thinking, solely for ebooks. Using InDesign causes more clean-up in the code post-export than simply coding the thing by hand in the first place. I personally use NoteTabPro and Sigil. Most of my Crew use the same. Some of our coders use a different HTML editor, but at the pointy end, we all use Sigil. I have not found any better product, at any price, for making ePUBS. Period.

Hitch

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Hitch

...we all use Sigil. I have not found any better product, at any price, for making ePUBS. Period.

+100