Possible header content?

ghmerrill · 12-05-2020, 04:33 PM

While there are no "standards" for what page headers should contain in printed books, there are some common practices. One is that, particularly in books of a technical nature, left-hand pages display the Chapter Title (left-aligned) and the Chapter Number (right-aligned). Right-hand pages then similarly display the Section Number (left-alighed) and the Section Title (right-aligned).

What would be required to accomplish this in converting an Epub to PDF in Calibre?

kovidgoyal · 12-05-2020, 09:49 PM

The variables to do it are all there, you would need to write the javascript function that outputs the appropriate markup based on whether the page number is even or odd.

ghmerrill · 12-06-2020, 09:57 AM

At this point I'm afraid I'm going to bail on the Calibre-conversion approach.

Even if I write the JS necessary for it, it will be painful to achieve the level and granularity of control over the outcome that I believe I need. And your previous comments that "All available variables are documented" leaves me uneasy about achieving the level of quality and control I can exert even via JS. The converter goes a long way towards providing an acceptable finished result, but not quite far enough to have confidence in extra effort being rewarded with the desired results and absent quality compromises I don't want to make. Another sign of this is the lack of other forum members leaping into the discussion with testimonials of success and any suggestions of how to proceed. So while I regard the attempt as a noble effort, I don't want to devote any more time and effort to it. I think the converter is a great tool for producing PDFs for certain purposes, but not for fully polished results for publishing. This isn't a knock on what Calibre does in this respect -- just a recognition of limitations and ease of use. So with reluctance I've decided to move my Epub version into Word and produce the PDF from that environment -- navigating the minefield that is Word with care, but with a feeling of better control.

It's taken me about five minutes to have Sigil merge all the XHTML files, suck that single file into (yikes!) Internet Explorer, and save the result as a .docx. It looks surprisingly good and without obvious distortions or errors (though who knows what trash Word has created under the covers). Now it's a matter of creating the appropriate styles and templates, but even under the worst case that shouldn't take me more than a week and I'll be able to fine-tune the result. A major added advantage is that I'll be able to generate and edit an index within that environment -- which, even with a successful Epub conversion would be challenging and painful (or expensive).

I do appreciate your rapid responses to questions and all your efforts to help. But at this point I think discretion is the better part of valor.

retiredbiker · 12-06-2020, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Now it's a matter of creating the appropriate styles and templates

I think this is the best if you want professional output, for publication for example. I've done several of these for Amazon upload (I use Writer, not Word, but I'm sure the similar tools are there). Paragraph Styles, of course for the text formatting, and Page Styles to control size, headers, footers, and page numbering. The first one was a bear of a learning curve, especially the page styles with gutter margins, differential numbering and all that. But with the first one saved as a template, it gets pretty easy.

One interesting thing I found. If you have a nice tightly styled epub, with named styles you know and understand, Jutoh (a not free but cheap epub editor) can take the epub and compile an excellent odt (or docx) that is completely faithful to the original styling, including the style names. I've found that a great leg-up in getting from the epub to a publishable pdf.

ghmerrill · 12-06-2020, 02:18 PM

Yeah, this is not going badly at all -- partly because all the formatting in my book is very vanilla. And partly because it's so easy in the WYSIWYG to accomplish things with cut and paste instead of bothering to take all the time defining templates, styles, and so on. Not cool or sophisticated, but it gets to the result in a way suitable for a one-off approach. Really, for my book the most complicated thing is doing the headings, text boxes, and page numbering.

I'm also being aided by my wife who (as a technical writer for years, and then a UI designer) has vast experience wrestling with various versions of WORD. Over the past 25 years, I've maybe done two or three publications with Word (the last in 2010), and all the rest were in LaTeX->PDF. Word, and its clones, suck; but for some applications it's the most rational choice. But I definitely don't regret using Sigil/Epub for the primary work.

12-05-2020, 04:33 PM	#1
ghmerrill Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Central NC Device: Various	Possible header content? While there are no "standards" for what page headers should contain in printed books, there are some common practices. One is that, particularly in books of a technical nature, left-hand pages display the Chapter Title (left-aligned) and the Chapter Number (right-aligned). Right-hand pages then similarly display the Section Number (left-alighed) and the Section Title (right-aligned). What would be required to accomplish this in converting an Epub to PDF in Calibre? Last edited by ghmerrill; 12-05-2020 at 04:46 PM.

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12-05-2020, 09:49 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,066 Karma: 22669822 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The variables to do it are all there, you would need to write the javascript function that outputs the appropriate markup based on whether the page number is even or odd.

12-06-2020, 09:57 AM	#3
ghmerrill Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Central NC Device: Various	At this point I'm afraid I'm going to bail on the Calibre-conversion approach. Even if I write the JS necessary for it, it will be painful to achieve the level and granularity of control over the outcome that I believe I need. And your previous comments that "All available variables are documented" leaves me uneasy about achieving the level of quality and control I can exert even via JS. The converter goes a long way towards providing an acceptable finished result, but not quite far enough to have confidence in extra effort being rewarded with the desired results and absent quality compromises I don't want to make. Another sign of this is the lack of other forum members leaping into the discussion with testimonials of success and any suggestions of how to proceed. So while I regard the attempt as a noble effort, I don't want to devote any more time and effort to it. I think the converter is a great tool for producing PDFs for certain purposes, but not for fully polished results for publishing. This isn't a knock on what Calibre does in this respect -- just a recognition of limitations and ease of use. So with reluctance I've decided to move my Epub version into Word and produce the PDF from that environment -- navigating the minefield that is Word with care, but with a feeling of better control. It's taken me about five minutes to have Sigil merge all the XHTML files, suck that single file into (yikes!) Internet Explorer, and save the result as a .docx. It looks surprisingly good and without obvious distortions or errors (though who knows what trash Word has created under the covers). Now it's a matter of creating the appropriate styles and templates, but even under the worst case that shouldn't take me more than a week and I'll be able to fine-tune the result. A major added advantage is that I'll be able to generate and edit an index within that environment -- which, even with a successful Epub conversion would be challenging and painful (or expensive). I do appreciate your rapid responses to questions and all your efforts to help. But at this point I think discretion is the better part of valor.

12-06-2020, 02:18 PM	#5
ghmerrill Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Central NC Device: Various	Yeah, this is not going badly at all -- partly because all the formatting in my book is very vanilla. And partly because it's so easy in the WYSIWYG to accomplish things with cut and paste instead of bothering to take all the time defining templates, styles, and so on. Not cool or sophisticated, but it gets to the result in a way suitable for a one-off approach. Really, for my book the most complicated thing is doing the headings, text boxes, and page numbering. I'm also being aided by my wife who (as a technical writer for years, and then a UI designer) has vast experience wrestling with various versions of WORD. Over the past 25 years, I've maybe done two or three publications with Word (the last in 2010), and all the rest were in LaTeX->PDF. Word, and its clones, suck; but for some applications it's the most rational choice. But I definitely don't regret using Sigil/Epub for the primary work.

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