PubIt!

ePub Formatting Guide

Contents: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. Introduction What is ePub? ePub requirements OPF specifications NCX listing Image optimization Files CSS/Fonts Special Characters General eBook Conventions Appendix A

I.

Introduction

ePub is an open source, industry standard format for eBooks. Barnes & Noble sells digital content that is in the ePub format. Because ePub is reflowable, customers can read files that are formatted in ePub on the NOOK dedicated eReading device and on iPad, iPhone/iPod touch, Android, and PC via Barnes & Nobles free NOOK eReading software. Publishers looking to sell highly formatted eBooks should convert their eBooks to ePub before uploading them via PubIt! to ensure optimum formatting. In this document, we provide background information on the ePub format and guidelines for optimizing your ePub to render well across the NOOK line of eReading products. II. What is ePub? ".epub" is the file extension of an XML format for reflowable digital books and publications. ".epub" is composed of three open standards, the Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF) and Open Container Format (OCF), produced by the IDPF. More information on the ePub standard is available at the following websites: http://www.openebook.org/2007/ops/OPS_2.0_final_spec.html http://www.openebook.org/2007/opf/OPF_2.0_final_spec.html http://www.idpf.org/ocf/ocf1.0/download/ocf10.htm

As defined by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF),

Publishers not familiar with the ePub specification should follow the above links to learn more about the file format and container requirements.

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III.

ePub Requirements

ePubs are essentially zip files with a different extension. By renaming the file name of an ePub from xyz.epub to xyz.zip, it can be zipped, unzipped, etc. There are three fixed elements to every ePub file: 1. MIMETYPE file 2. META-INF folder 3. OEBPS folder The MIMETYPE file occurs at the root level; both the META-INF and OEBPS folders occur below that. All other files can be organized as works best for the publisher. Two required files are CONTENT.OPF and TOC.NCX. ePubs should be validated using EPUBCHECK (the latest version as of this writing is 1.0.5), available at http://code.google.com/p/epubcheck/. Documentation is forthcoming, but you can either open the ReadMe file or visit here for instruction on how to use it: http://code.google.com/p/epubcheck/wiki/Running. IV. OPF specifications

The basic OPF file contains metadata statements, a manifest of included files, and a list of the playing order of the files. While additional information can be supplied in the OPF that controls the behavior of other ebook readers, this is not a requirement for nook. Metadata The metadata starts with these three required lines of code. Note the unique-identifier declared in the second statement -- this should represent a unique identifier scheme in use in your organization. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> <package version="2.0" unique-identifier="PrimaryID" xmlns="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf"> <metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:opf="http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf">

Barnes & Noble requires these statements: TITLE <dc:title>title</dc:title> AUTHOR <dc:creator>author name</dc:creator> PUBLISHER <dc:publisher>publisher name</dc:publisher> PUB DATE <dc:date>date</dc:date> ID <dc:identifier id="PrimaryID">identification code</dc:identifier> LANGUAGE <dc:language>en</dc:language> Barnes & Noble does not currently require a unique metadata statement defining a cover. Manifest The manifest identifies every file contained in the epub if a file is not identified, it will not be accessible. Example of different file statements:

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<item id="pt" href="my_page.xpgt" media-type="application/vnd.adobe-pagetemplate+xml"/> <item id="style" href="mystyle.css" media-type="text/css" /> <item id="image001" href="image001.jpg" media-type="image/jpeg" /> <item id="image002" href="image002.png" media-type="image/png" /> <item id="cover" href="cover_page.xhtml" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="toc" href="content_page.xhtml" media-type="application/xhtml+xml" /> <item id="ncx" href="toc.ncx" media-type="application/x-dtbncx+xml" /> Note that item id "toc" refers to the physical contents page while item id "ncx" refers to the file that controls ebook navigation. Spine the spine controls the playing order of the ebook and determines which file precedes/follows another. Guide the guide is a list of references defining structural elements of the ebook (TOC, List of Illustrations, Index, Copyright, etc). Use of guide elements is optional for nook. V. NCX specifications

The NCX file contains the hierarchical table of contents and is represented by the Navigation Panel in Adobe Digital Editions. The listings in the NCX file are visible under the Go To Chapters feature on nook. While ADE displays a multilevel TOC, nook will display only one level. Consequently, an NCX set to display in multiple levels in ADE PART ONE Section One Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Section Two Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Will display as a single levels on the nook PART ONE Section One Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Section Two Chapter 1 Chapter 2 VI. Image optimization

The maximum viewing size of the nook screen is 600 x 730 pixels.

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Images should be optimized for web delivery and can either be PNG, JPG or GIF. The choice of format is optional and should be based on a compromise of image quality and file size. Typically, GIF supports a maximum of 256 colors while JPG supports 16.7 million. PNGs support 24 bit color. Cover images supplied for marketing purposes typically range between 500x600 to 600x730 pixels.

VII.

Files

Content should be organized into separate HTML or XHTML files. For example, Title_page.xhtml, Contents.xhtml, Copyright.xhtml, Dedicatio.xhtml, Chapter_One.xhtml, Chapter_Two.xhtml, etc. Each file should be less than 300kb and listed in the <manifest> of the OPF file. Files contained in the ePub but not listed in the <manifest> and files listed in the <manifest> but not contained in the ePub will interfere with nook performance. VIII. CSS/Fonts

When defining styles in the CSS, margins should be set as pixels, not ems, or % of ems. This will optimize the viewing area regardless of selected font or type size. The page margins should be set at 30 pixels on the top and sides, with 20 pixels on the bottom. Embedded fonts are allowed: we discourage their inclusion due to licensing issues and the added filesize. Note that if you use Adobe InDesign to export an ePub and choose to encrypt embedded fonts, the resulting ePub will produce numerous errors in epubcheck. IX. Special Characters

Nook supports Basic Latin UTF characters see Appendix A for examples. X. General eBook Conventions Covers are not mandatory in the eBook, but a Title Page is. The page order does not need to follow the print book. Blank pages are to be avoided. It is helpful to have a Contents Page in the eBook, even if there is not one present in the print version. The ebook Contents Page is linked to the individual chapters and helps with ebook navigation. Ideally, footnotes are linked. A linked Index is not necessary, but there is usually a disclaimer indicating that the page references are from the print version. The Copyright page should show the ebook ISBN Html tabular layout should only be used for tables, and not page formatting. The text in tables rendered as images cannot be searched.

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XI.

Appendix A

Basic Latin Unicode Characters Unicode code point U+0000 U+0001 U+0002 U+0003 U+0004 U+0005 U+0006 U+0007 U+0008 U+0009 U+000A U+000B U+000C U+000D U+000E U+000F U+0010 U+0011 U+0012 U+0013 U+0014 U+0015 U+0016 U+0017 U+0018 U+0019 U+001A U+001B U+001C U+001D U+001E U+001F U+0020 U+0021 U+0022 U+0023 character UTF-8 (hex.) 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 20 21 22 23 name <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> SPACE EXCLAMATION MARK QUOTATION MARK NUMBER SIGN
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! " #

U+0024 U+0025 U+0026 U+0027 U+0028 U+0029 U+002A U+002B U+002C U+002D U+002E U+002F U+0030 U+0031 U+0032 U+0033 U+0034 U+0035 U+0036 U+0037 U+0038 U+0039 U+003A U+003B U+003C U+003D U+003E U+003F U+0040 U+0041 U+0042 U+0043 U+0044 U+0045 U+0046 U+0047 U+0048 U+0049 U+004A U+004B U+004C

$ % & ' ( ) * + , . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L

24 25 26 27 28 29 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e 3f 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4a 4b 4c

DOLLAR SIGN PERCENT SIGN AMPERSAND APOSTROPHE LEFT PARENTHESIS RIGHT PARENTHESIS ASTERISK PLUS SIGN COMMA HYPHEN-MINUS FULL STOP SOLIDUS DIGIT ZERO DIGIT ONE DIGIT TWO DIGIT THREE DIGIT FOUR DIGIT FIVE DIGIT SIX DIGIT SEVEN DIGIT EIGHT DIGIT NINE COLON SEMICOLON LESS-THAN SIGN EQUALS SIGN GREATER-THAN SIGN QUESTION MARK COMMERCIAL AT LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E LATIN CAPITAL LETTER F LATIN CAPITAL LETTER G LATIN CAPITAL LETTER H LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I LATIN CAPITAL LETTER J LATIN CAPITAL LETTER K LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L
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U+004D U+004E U+004F U+0050 U+0051 U+0052 U+0053 U+0054 U+0055 U+0056 U+0057 U+0058 U+0059 U+005A U+005B U+005C U+005D U+005E U+005F U+0060 U+0061 U+0062 U+0063 U+0064 U+0065 U+0066 U+0067 U+0068 U+0069 U+006A U+006B U+006C U+006D U+006E U+006F U+0070 U+0071 U+0072 U+0073 U+0074 U+0075

M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u

4d 4e 4f 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 5a 5b 5c 5d 5e 5f 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6a 6b 6c 6d 6e 6f 70 71 72 73 74 75

LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O LATIN CAPITAL LETTER P LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Q LATIN CAPITAL LETTER R LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S LATIN CAPITAL LETTER T LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V LATIN CAPITAL LETTER W LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z LEFT SQUARE BRACKET REVERSE SOLIDUS RIGHT SQUARE BRACKET CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT LOW LINE GRAVE ACCENT LATIN SMALL LETTER A LATIN SMALL LETTER B LATIN SMALL LETTER C LATIN SMALL LETTER D LATIN SMALL LETTER E LATIN SMALL LETTER F LATIN SMALL LETTER G LATIN SMALL LETTER H LATIN SMALL LETTER I LATIN SMALL LETTER J LATIN SMALL LETTER K LATIN SMALL LETTER L LATIN SMALL LETTER M LATIN SMALL LETTER N LATIN SMALL LETTER O LATIN SMALL LETTER P LATIN SMALL LETTER Q LATIN SMALL LETTER R LATIN SMALL LETTER S LATIN SMALL LETTER T LATIN SMALL LETTER U
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U+0076 U+0077 U+0078 U+0079 U+007A U+007B U+007C U+007D U+007E U+007F U+0080 U+0081 U+0082 U+0083 U+0084 U+0085 U+0086 U+0087 U+0088 U+0089 U+008A U+008B U+008C U+008D U+008E U+008F U+0090 U+0091 U+0092 U+0093 U+0094 U+0095 U+0096 U+0097 U+0098 U+0099 U+009A U+009B U+009C U+009D U+009E

v w x y z { | } ~

76 77 78 79 7a 7b 7c 7d 7e 7f c2 80 c2 81 c2 82 c2 83 c2 84 c2 85 c2 86 c2 87 c2 88 c2 89 c2 8a c2 8b c2 8c c2 8d c2 8e c2 8f c2 90 c2 91 c2 92 c2 93 c2 94 c2 95 c2 96 c2 97 c2 98 c2 99 c2 9a c2 9b c2 9c c2 9d c2 9e

LATIN SMALL LETTER V LATIN SMALL LETTER W LATIN SMALL LETTER X LATIN SMALL LETTER Y LATIN SMALL LETTER Z LEFT CURLY BRACKET VERTICAL LINE RIGHT CURLY BRACKET TILDE <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control> <control>
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U+009F U+00A0 U+00A1 U+00A2 U+00A3 U+00A4 U+00A5 U+00A6 U+00A7 U+00A8 U+00A9 U+00AA U+00AB U+00AC U+00AD U+00AE U+00AF U+00B0 U+00B1 U+00B2 U+00B3 U+00B4 U+00B5 U+00B6 U+00B7 U+00B8 U+00B9 U+00BA U+00BB U+00BC U+00BD U+00BE U+00BF U+00C0 U+00C1 U+00C2 U+00C3 U+00C4 U+00C5 U+00C6 U+00C7

c2 9f c2 a0 c2 a1 c2 a2 c2 a3 c2 a4 c2 a5 c2 a6 c2 a7 c2 a8 c2 a9 c2 aa c2 ab c2 ac c2 ad c2 ae c2 af c2 b0 c2 b1 c2 b2 c2 b3 c2 b4 c2 b5 c2 b6 c2 b7 c2 b8 c2 b9 c2 ba c2 bb c2 bc c2 bd c2 be c2 bf c3 80 c3 81 c3 82 c3 83 c3 84 c3 85 c3 86 c3 87

<control> NO-BREAK SPACE INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK CENT SIGN POUND SIGN CURRENCY SIGN YEN SIGN BROKEN BAR SECTION SIGN DIAERESIS COPYRIGHT SIGN FEMININE ORDINAL INDICATOR LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK NOT SIGN SOFT HYPHEN REGISTERED SIGN MACRON DEGREE SIGN PLUS-MINUS SIGN SUPERSCRIPT TWO SUPERSCRIPT THREE ACUTE ACCENT MICRO SIGN PILCROW SIGN MIDDLE DOT CEDILLA SUPERSCRIPT ONE MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR RIGHT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK VULGAR FRACTION ONE QUARTER VULGAR FRACTION ONE HALF VULGAR FRACTION THREE QUARTERS INVERTED QUESTION MARK LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH GRAVE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH TILDE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER AE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA
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U+00C8 U+00C9 U+00CA U+00CB U+00CC U+00CD U+00CE U+00CF U+00D0 U+00D1 U+00D2 U+00D3 U+00D4 U+00D5 U+00D6 U+00D7 U+00D8 U+00D9 U+00DA U+00DB U+00DC U+00DD U+00DE U+00DF U+00E0 U+00E1 U+00E2 U+00E3 U+00E4 U+00E5 U+00E6 U+00E7 U+00E8 U+00E9 U+00EA U+00EB U+00EC U+00ED U+00EE U+00EF U+00F0

c3 88 c3 89 c3 8a c3 8b c3 8c c3 8d c3 8e c3 8f c3 90 c3 91 c3 92 c3 93 c3 94 c3 95 c3 96 c3 97 c3 98 c3 99 c3 9a c3 9b c3 9c c3 9d c3 9e c3 9f c3 a0 c3 a1 c3 a2 c3 a3 c3 a4 c3 a5 c3 a6 c3 a7 c3 a8 c3 a9 c3 aa c3 ab c3 ac c3 ad c3 ae c3 af c3 b0

LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH GRAVE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH ACUTE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH GRAVE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH ACUTE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS LATIN CAPITAL LETTER ETH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N WITH TILDE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH GRAVE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH ACUTE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH TILDE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH DIAERESIS MULTIPLICATION SIGN LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH STROKE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH GRAVE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH ACUTE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y WITH ACUTE LATIN CAPITAL LETTER THORN LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH GRAVE LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH TILDE LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE LATIN SMALL LETTER AE LATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH GRAVE LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH ACUTE LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS LATIN SMALL LETTER ETH
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U+00F1 U+00F2 U+00F3 U+00F4 U+00F5 U+00F6 U+00F7 U+00F8 U+00F9 U+00FA U+00FB U+00FC U+00FD U+00FE U+00FF

c3 b1 c3 b2 c3 b3 c3 b4 c3 b5 c3 b6 c3 b7 c3 b8 c3 b9 c3 ba c3 bb c3 bc c3 bd c3 be c3 bf

LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH TILDE LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH GRAVE LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH ACUTE LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH TILDE LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH DIAERESIS DIVISION SIGN LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH STROKE LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH GRAVE LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH ACUTE LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTE LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS

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