Notes on ebooks, formats, and beautiful typesetting
Practical guides for authors and readers — how formats work, how to fix broken files, and how to make every book a pleasure to read.
Mofid AnsariReflowable or fixed? Open or locked to one store? A plain-language tour of the three formats every author runs into — and a simple rule for choosing.
EPUB margins too big and the app's slider does nothing? We measured why: four stacked CSS layers, and the setting controls only one. The real fix.
Tables in EPUB break because a grid cannot reflow. Measured on a 360 px screen: where the columns go, what conversion keeps, and shapes that survive.
Your EPUB font won't change no matter what the app's menu says? The book's own CSS is allowed to win. The rule behind it, measured — and the fix.
EPUB text cut off at the edge of the screen? The book's own stylesheet is demanding a width the display cannot give. The mechanism, shown on a real file.
EPUB blank pages between chapters are not stored in the book — an app makes them at display time. The mechanism, shown on a real file, and the fix.
EPUB links not working after a conversion or merge? A link is only a string in the file. Here is where it breaks — traced on a real book, layer by layer.
EPUB dark mode not working — invisible text or a glaring white page? The book's own stylesheet is overriding the app. The mechanism, shown on a real file.
EPUB footnotes pop up in one app and dump you at the back of the book in another. What the markup controls — tested on a real file, with sources.
Those ’ marks and � diamonds are one text read with two alphabets. How to decode weird characters in an EPUB, fix the source and convert it clean.
Sigil is the free EPUB editor this blog keeps pointing text edits at. What it is, the job class it exists for, and when a browser tool already does it.
An EPUB downloaded as a ZIP is usually the book wearing the wrong label. How to check what the archive holds, rename safely, and rescue the rest.
Kepub vs EPUB is one renamed extension plus a layer of invisible spans. We hand-built a kepub from a real EPUB to measure exactly what Kobo changes.
An FB2 file is a FictionBook ebook: one XML document carrying the text, metadata and images. What it is, how to open it, and what conversion keeps.
To convert a PDF to an ebook, check it has selectable text, then rebuild it as EPUB in your browser. Tested here on real files, losses included.
An ebook is not one format. To convert an ebook to PDF, first tell EPUB, MOBI, AZW3 and CBZ apart, then use the matching tool — tested here on real files.
To convert EPUB to HTML you do not need a converter — the chapters already are HTML. Copy the book, rename it to .zip, extract, and open them anywhere.
A book converted from text has no cover at all. How to add a cover to an EPUB — the artwork, the one manifest line that makes it count, shown on a real file.
Apple Pages can't open an EPUB directly. The reliable way to convert an EPUB to Pages is through Word format — here's the workflow and what survives the trip.
Is EPUB safe to open? An EPUB is a zip of web pages, so it can carry a script and a tracking pixel — tested here on a real file, with what that means.
Four jobs hide inside "edit an EPUB file" — metadata, cover, styling, text. Which tool does each one, and what actually changes inside the archive.
EPUB 2 vs EPUB 3 compared on real files: what changed in the package, what a validator makes of each version, and when an old EPUB 2 book needs upgrading.
How to create an EPUB from the manuscript you already have: structure the source, convert in the browser, validate — one real run, with real numbers.
Fixed-layout EPUB problems rarely mean a broken file. Three clauses — the layout declaration, the viewport, app support — decide how the book renders.
A reader found a typo in your published ebook. How to fix it in the EPUB — or its metadata — keep the file valid, and re-upload without breaking it.
A CBR file is a comic packed as a RAR archive of page images — CBZ is the same idea in a ZIP. How the format works, how to open one, how to convert it.
To print an EPUB, convert it to a PDF sized for your paper and print that — and split out the chapter you actually need first, not all 300 pages.
Every Kindle file format decoded: MOBI, AZW, AZW3, KFX and now EPUB — what each one actually is, how to tell them apart, and which ones still convert.
An EPUB file is an ebook in an open, reflowable format. What that means, how to open one on any device, and how it differs from PDF and Kindle files.
Ebook DRM explained: what the lock on a purchased ebook actually is, why the book only opens in one app, and what you can legitimately do about it.
EPUB images not showing after conversion almost always means a broken manifest link, not a lost picture. Here's the mechanism, and how to find the break.
EPUB table of contents problems — stray bullets, a wrong order, missing chapters — happen when the navigation file drifts from the spine. Here's the fix.
EPUB compatibility problems usually mean one reader enforces rules another ignores. Here's why the same file breaks in one app, and how to find the fault.
The best format to convert to EPUB is whichever carries structure most cleanly. How Word, HTML and Markdown each map to an ebook, and which to pick.
EPUB validation errors explained: what epubcheck codes like RSC-005, OPF-014 and PKG-006 actually mean, and the fix each one is pointing you toward.
EPUB embedded fonts not working after you send it to Kindle? Amazon's converter and the reader's own font setting both override them — here is what to check.
An EPUB cover not showing after sideloading usually means the image is in the file but not marked in the manifest. Here's why Calibre hides it, and the fix.
Calibre EPUB conversion problems — stray italics, underlines and odd spacing after a Word import — come from the source file, not the converter.
PDF to EPUB formatting problems — broken paragraphs, headers stranded in the text, one long chapter — come from how PDFs store words. Here is the fix.
Page size, margins, and the two settings that decide whether your PDF looks typeset or broken.
Send-to-Kindle, USB, or AZW3 conversion — the three routes, and when each one is the right call.
The 60–75 character rule, and how to fix a wall-of-text book in Style Studio in two minutes.
Heading styles in, chapters out. How DOCX structure maps to an ebook — and the mistakes to avoid.
Reflowable text has no fixed pages. Here's how locations, percentages and CFIs actually work.
The five validation errors behind most rejections, and how to repair each one with the Validator.
Literata, Garamond, or Hyperlegible? What actually matters when readers can override your font.
Where the megabytes hide, and the compression settings that are invisible on e-ink screens.
Amazon dropped MOBI support for docs. Converting your library to EPUB takes minutes.
Chapter openings are where a converted file gives itself away. Four fixes that take a minute each.
Rename it to .zip and look. Understanding the five pieces makes every other ebook problem easier.
Not all free editions are equal. How to tell a carefully produced text from a bad scan.