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EPUB Export Format Request with Sound/Video


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1) Serif is on their way to "brilliance" as they say in UK!

2) AP is  desktop publishing orientated, I get that, but let's face it, sadly, hard copy is on the way out, basically for everything, books, magazines, newspapers, etc. In USA, as soon as Barnes and Noble closes, hard copy will take an unsustainable hit. IMO.

3) Most Affinity users have dropped Adobe due to subscriptions (awful idea), so we would like to get away from proprietary Adobe PDF format also. (of course, should keep it as secondary format).

4) Please institute the open source EPUB format for export of digital documents. It has multimedia capability, sound, video( or animation) as well as fixed or fluid format.  IMO the fluid "style" is only viable for novels with minimal graphics ("fluid" EPUB graphics don't scale or zoom well on devices). The "fixed" EPUB format is brilliant for textbooks (looks beautiful on iPad Pro 10.5, portrait style )  with lots of graphics and diagrams TOC, Index, and small sound and video animations etc. I am trying to move from Mac Pages to AP, but I use the fixed EPUB in Pages with a lot of sound and HOPEFULLY I won't have to wait to long for SERIF to roll out EPUB, hint hint LOL.

5) This EPUB digital format addition will really get the suite of Affinity products some "press", so to speak, and put them on their way to fame and fortune for years in the future, when the "printing press" disappears.

6) Thanks

PS: I included an attached unfinished project, titled "Attitude Instrument Flying Workbook" in EPUB format (from Mac Pages) for everyone to view. It has sound in the introduction. The images are done in AD and AP. Maybe in the future everything can be done in Affinity. File size 31mb. There are plenty of free EPUB readers for MAc, Windows, Linux,  as well as the usual culprits iBooks, Adobe digital editions, etc. Please view this document on an Android or preferably iPad Pro 10.5. I used a slightly larger 14pt font and small margins so a single page looks nice in portrait without zooming in fixed EPUB. I feel a minimum size device for reading digitally, comfortably  is 10-11", although any size (iPhone etc) can be zoomed or scrolled in EPUB "fixed".

Attitude_Instrument_Flying_Workbook_V2.8.epub

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20 hours ago, mccluredave1 said:

The "fixed" EPUB format is brilliant for textbooks

Flowable epub format is though more flexible and can adjust for different readers and user preferences. Fixed layout epub is about the same as PDF.

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Thanks for the reply. Yes fluid works better on many different devices and the text can be resized etc. The problem with fluid EPUB is when they are used for textbooks with lots of diagrams, the diagrams, pictures, etc sometimes  end up on different pages and they don't scale /zoom well, if at all. I have tried it for what I want to do in MAC Pages and fluid format looks pretty bad. Textbooks need stationary page numbers for reference (homework) and images that can be, text wrapped,  zoomed in without jaggies, text over semi-transparent image layout style, etc. Vector based images zoom nicely altho they are not necessary. Static TOC is also important in textbooks.  EPUB is open source and avoids the proprietary pitfalls of Adobe PDF. The only way to put sound, video, into PDF is Adobe Acrobat subscription (as far as I know). No Thanks bloated "Jabba the Hutt" Adobe. EPUB also does sound, video, anim flawlessly. IMO EPUB will soon dominate the digital "Format Wars" while big tech tries to trap everyone into their own proprietary format with their own book readers, book sales. Serif should offer both EPUB formats just like Mac Pages does.Hope they do, but for now I will have to stick with "free" Pages. Most people that have lots of books, students, have tablets of 10-13"(11" is ideal weight/size combo). This size works perfectly for fixed EPUB with 14pt font size. The above attachment has a sound file in the intro and it is fixed EPUB highlighting the benefits of sound files in books (think the value of bird textbook with actual sound bird calls, not a birdwatcher tho LOL). Overall IMO, aesthetically, the fixed EPUB is much nicer than fluid and can utilize the "page layout" features in AP similar to beautifully designed magazine layouts. Fluid or Fixed EPUB is available for whatever style you want. Take your pick, I prefer Fixed.  Good Luck

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi

I agree with mccluredave1.

ePub fixed format would be very helpful. Embedding audio or video in pdf requires a flash player to play and does not work on tablets (and desktop without FlashPlayer). Free iBooks Author generates publications only for Apple (iBooks), and what about PC? ePub floable can be done by converted from many formats using Clalibre .

It is harder with a fixed layout, I am voting for fixed layout!

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7 hours ago, Poziomka said:

Hi

I agree with mccluredave1.

ePub fixed format would be very helpful. Embedding audio or video in pdf requires a flash player to play and does not work on tablets (and desktop without FlashPlayer). Free iBooks Author generates publications only for Apple (iBooks), and what about PC? ePub floable can be done by converted from many formats using Clalibre .

It is harder with a fixed layout, I am voting for fixed layout!

Thanks Poziomka! Nice to see someone "Get's It"!

Anyone that has used ePUB format knows that it has a flowable format and a fixed format, built in. Take your pick for your application. The fixed format (fixed page numbers) is the ONLY viable format for textbooks with lots of diagrams, sound, animation.video capabilities (with manageable small file size). It is also "open Source" and uses HTML5 for video instead of Flash player.  PDF and Flash are proprietary Abobe. ePUB can be used in most Browsers as a reader as well because it uses HTML5. PLEASE STOP USING PROPRIETARY ADOBE PRODUCTS and other proprietary formats for electronic books. Use cross platform "open source" ePUB as the choice eReader format! No doubt, electronic books should be open source so the author can sell anywhere! Stop giving your intellectual property "rights" away to these huge companies, unless of course you choose to do that. ePUB gives you a choice!

No college student is going to read their textbook on a phone or small device (altho it is possible with zooming).. They will use an iPad or Android device min 11" probably or desktop/laptop. The fixed, 2 column "landscape" is perfect and my choice format for textbooks as it allows reading a 11-13" device in "landscape' orientation instead of portrait. Fixed Portrait is possible with ePUB but landscape is less cumbersome as most people use device in landscape mode.

Thanks... Authors... please comment! Hopefully Serif will use ePUB and make it "better", but still leave it "open source".

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Support for interactive fixed layout epub books is still incredibly spotty on Windows, Linux, and Android. These type of epubs only work fine on iBooks for the most part. At this point in time I hesitate to call interactive FXL epub files "cross platform compatible". Animated books also won't work properly on Kindles either.

Readium was pretty much the only good alternative on Windows, but Chrome put a stop to that when it deprecated Chrome apps. It is still being developed, but nothing yet.

Sad state of affairs. Avoid interactive FXL epub unless your market is limited to iPads.

Ref:

https://www.boblevine.us/the-fixed-layout-epub-missing-piece-reliable-readers-for-windows-and-android/

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