I've been using Calibre for a few years now to produce an ePubs for release on iPad/Nook/Kindle. I generally know my way around Calibre, at least enough to get the job done, but ran into a few problems this year that I can't sort out.
I produce the books in InDesign, export them as ePub files, then clean them up/convert them in Calibre.
I test everything on iPad (it's what I have) and once that's ready I convert them for the other two readers and use online tools to make sure they look OK. It has been about a year since I did this last, and I can't get past the first step.
1) Cover image
I cannot get my cover image to show up when the file is imported into iBooks. It is attached in the metadata and there is a designated titlepage.xhtml file. It looks fine in Calibre, but when I load it into iBooks, I just get the generic book cover.
I have tried unzipping the epub file and adding an itunesartwork file there (a suggestion I found online), but that doesn't do anything.
2) CSS lost on conversion
I always have to tweak my CSS after importing from InDesign and everything looks good in Calibre. If I export that file to iBooks, the pages look good. But if I use Calibre to convert the file to iPad3, it strips all CSS from the ePub. (The stylesheets still exist, but the file does not recognize them.) Obviously, I have a file that works. But I am concerned that I will run into the same problem when I optimize the file for Nook/Kindle.
3) Missing text
This is a first for me. I noticed that the end of my last chapter is cut off in iBooks. The text is there if you shrink the type size down enough, but you have to get pretty small. This is not a problem in any other chapter. I added a blank chapter after the book, and that seems to have fixed the problem, but I'm curious if anyone else has other solutions?
Thanks for any help you've got ...
I produce the books in InDesign, export them as ePub files, then clean them up/convert them in Calibre.
I test everything on iPad (it's what I have) and once that's ready I convert them for the other two readers and use online tools to make sure they look OK. It has been about a year since I did this last, and I can't get past the first step.
1) Cover image
I cannot get my cover image to show up when the file is imported into iBooks. It is attached in the metadata and there is a designated titlepage.xhtml file. It looks fine in Calibre, but when I load it into iBooks, I just get the generic book cover.
I have tried unzipping the epub file and adding an itunesartwork file there (a suggestion I found online), but that doesn't do anything.
2) CSS lost on conversion
I always have to tweak my CSS after importing from InDesign and everything looks good in Calibre. If I export that file to iBooks, the pages look good. But if I use Calibre to convert the file to iPad3, it strips all CSS from the ePub. (The stylesheets still exist, but the file does not recognize them.) Obviously, I have a file that works. But I am concerned that I will run into the same problem when I optimize the file for Nook/Kindle.
3) Missing text
This is a first for me. I noticed that the end of my last chapter is cut off in iBooks. The text is there if you shrink the type size down enough, but you have to get pretty small. This is not a problem in any other chapter. I added a blank chapter after the book, and that seems to have fixed the problem, but I'm curious if anyone else has other solutions?
Thanks for any help you've got ...