ePub file not showing pictures and squishes text, on my Kobo eReader, how come?

Question

Level 1

8 points

ePub file not showing pictures and squishes text, on my Kobo eReader, how come?

Hello there, every1, I am working on publishing my 1st ever series of SciFi novellas & after exporting the ebook seems to be perfectly readable on both GoogleBooks & Apple's "Books" application.. for whatever reason, the other night, I tried uploading it to my daily e-reader (kobo clara HD) and the cover + other illustrations don't show up & all the text gets overlapped at the top of the screen. I've tried troubleshooting a bit, any advice would be fantastic :) I may also want to give Apple a call since I'm still relatively new to MacOS, my M1 Mac Mini is my 1st ever Apple computer & I've been greatly enjoying it <3

(Picture below shows how the text displays on my e-reader)

(This next photo shows a good display of features from my novella: Page #s, an illustration I made on my iPad & footer notes)

(The next photo showcases the setting I used, through Pages, to export the .epub file)

Cheers,

-LG

Mac mini, macOS 12.0

Posted on Jan 8, 2022 2:49 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

126,330 points

Jan 8, 2022 4:14 PM in response to LgHammer123

Just as Amazon has their own Kindle book creator software, this may also be true with Kobo, or they depend on some other third-party conversion software. Pages is designed to export EPUBs that are compatible with Apple Books, and Apple makes no compatibility claim for other EPUB reader software.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

126,330 points

Jan 9, 2022 5:07 AM in response to LgHammer123

Despite the EPUB standard, not all EPUBs are created and formatted equally, and neither are the respective readers. Contact Kobo and ask them what source EPUB formats are supported by their reader. Although the PDF standard exists, not every PDF reader can process them all without some issues.

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Answer 3

LgHammer123 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 9, 2022 8:17 PM in response to VikingOSX

I just used Apple's "Support" app, through my iPhone and selected Mac Mini software issues w/ pages.. got a call started within seconds & the expert on the line was incredibly knowledgeable + helpful :)

We got the file uploaded waay better, to my kobo, and had a nice chat about e-reader. Was a fantastic non-stressful way of solving the problem, they had some awesome insights to share :D

The Pages app mentioned that the footnotes would be deleted, but actually in the fully functioning table of contents they are all there.. woohoo! There's still some minor formatting that I can work on, but this is honestly such a relief to see it appear on my daily e-reader with clarity :)

Thank you Apple, & the rep (John), for yet again astounding best-in-class customer service! It really means a lot to know that as an Apple customer your support really is there to help solve these sorts of random problems with ease & plenty of know-how.

Cheers,

-LG

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

251,171 points

Jan 10, 2022 10:54 AM in response to LgHammer123

If it's converting ePub to PDF...

calibre - Download for macOS (calibre-ebook.com)

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Answer 5

LgHammer123 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 8, 2022 6:02 PM in response to VikingOSX

Hm, okay. I was really hoping to be able to use pages for all my eBook publishing needs. If I decide to publish to Apple Books (I'd like to, so long as:) would I be able to also publish elsewhere? (IE. GoogleBooks, Amazon, Kobo, My Website, etc..)

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Answer 6

LgHammer123 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 8, 2022 8:07 PM in response to LgHammer123

It would be really great if any1 had insight as to seeing a similar issue.. instead of just saying "Pages is meant to only be guaranteed to work with Apple Books." I'm about 100% sure that others have tried using Pages to export epub for other devices & have come across similar difficulties. It would be great to be able to continue using pages, I quite like the software

I'll probably have to use up my freetime work windows to call Apple support after the weekend, stressing over this :/ I just wanna write my books and make them viewable for all

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Answer 7

LgHammer123 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 8, 2022 9:15 PM in response to VikingOSX

& I just thought about something, when I export a purchase from GoogleBooks the epubs always work on my Kobo.. so why would my epubs from Pages, that I've written, not be working properly... some1 must have experience with this, and that's the help I'm looking for :)

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