alignment of bullets for epub doc

Question

alignment of bullets for epub doc

Hello there,

I'm trying to format my document for ebook publishing. I use Pages and specifically the digital book ebook template provided in Pages. I have formatted and re-formatted in the past days to try and get my bullet points to align correctly when I export the Pages doc into an epub format.

When I open the document in ibooks, the bullets are not aligned correctly. Also, when I upload the epub doc to kindle and check how the epub looks on various e-readers, the bullets look fine on the android devices but not on the apple/mac devices (so strange!).

I have tried everything (stripped the formating and re-formatted over 45 times). I would appreciate any assistance.

Thank you,

Sunni

Posted on May 9, 2016 5:22 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,608 points

May 9, 2016 7:55 AM in response to sunnytraveller

Pages v5.6.1 in OS X El Capitan.

The default level 1 bullet indent is 0 in and text indent is 0.2 in. A level 2 indent below the level 1 using the Format panel indent symbols is 0.17 in. and its text indent remains unchanged at 0.2 in. Looks like the following in Pages, and gives one hope prior to ePub export. Times Regular at 12 pt. But there is a slight out-dent in iBooks for the level 2 indent. Arrgggh.

Pages iBooks 1.5

Now, we tweak that level 2 indent to be 0.25 in with same text indent. It isn't aligned properly in Pages, but is very close in iBooks:

Just another example of the true cost of using Pages v5.

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Answer 2

May 9, 2016 7:55 AM in response to VikingOSX

Viking, thanks so much for your response and trying it out too! Thank you!

My problem is actually just simply with Level 1 bullet points (when they go over a few lines they do not align with the top line when they convert to epub and viewing in ibooks). They look great in Pages, but not in ibooks or half of the ereaders I viewed the bullet points in!

Do you have any suggestions for this? Thanks so much for your help!

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Answer 3

May 9, 2016 7:57 AM in response to sunnytraveller

Also, is there anyway to go back to Pages v4 if that works better? Thanks so much!

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Answer 4

May 9, 2016 9:10 AM in response to sunnytraveller

So these are the screenshots of before and after. The first is how it looks in Pages (nicely aligned) and the second is how it looks in ibooks and other apple e-reader devices. Any tips to adjust would be most gratefully received. Thank you! Sunni

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,608 points

May 9, 2016 12:09 PM in response to sunnytraveller

Again, one has to make adjustments to the Pages document that shouldn't be necessary to achieve the visual result in the ePub. In the following, I show the default Pages Indents for First (0 in), Left (0. in):

And the Layout tab adjustments necessary to achieve first and subsequent indent alignment: First (0 in) Left (0.1 in) in the exported ePub.

If you had previously purchased Pages 09 from the OS X App Store, it would have been installed in your Applications folder. The initial Pages v5 installation would have moved Pages '09 into the Applications : iWork '09 folder. Once you updated OS X past Mountain Lion, updates for the OS X App Store purchased Pages '09 were no longer available.

If you had originally installed from the iWork '09 DVD, it created an Applications : iWork '09 folder as part of the install, and Pages v5 simply ignores Pages '09 in that location. Only if you installed from the iWork '09 DVD, can the Apple iWork 9.3 updater be used to obtain the latest iWork '09 application updates (e.g. Pages '09 v4.3, Numbers '09 v2.3, and Keynote '09 v5.3), which are recommended for Mavericks forward.

The iWork '09 DVD is available from Amazon and Ebay resellers. Verify that you are getting the retail version. Apple iWork '09 license servers have been offline since early Fall 2013.

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Answer 6

May 9, 2016 12:13 PM in response to VikingOSX

Viking, thank you so much once again. You have been so helpful! I really really appreciate your time.

I have just now had a play (I get what I need to do now - thank you!), and I found for my doc that the Left (0.2in) worked better in terms of alignment when exported into epub.

Thank you so much for your comprehensive information. I really appreciate it. Sunni

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Answer 7

May 11, 2016 4:48 AM in response to sunnytraveller

Hi Viking & everyone else on the forum,

Just wanted to let anyone else know who may be trying to get epub doc formatted correctly that making the adjustments outlined above work for ibooks, but if you are then converting them for use on Kindle devices, android or other apple devices, on conversion they don't work! Incredibly frustrating!

So whilst they work for ibooks, the bullet points align for some kindle devices, but not all, not an andriod phone and not other apple devices!

I have never been so frustrated with a program that is designed to create epub docs!

Thanks,

Sunni

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Answer 8

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,608 points

May 11, 2016 5:22 AM in response to sunnytraveller

Have you tried using Pages v5.6.2 (May 10), to see if the results are any better using normal indentation. I was concerned that fudging indentation in Pages v5.6.1 to make it look right in the exported ePub would have an opportunity cost with Kindle.

Instead of ePub format, what happens if you export to Word .docx with normal indentation values, and then feed that content into the Kindle Gen software.

Have you looked closely at Vellum? Import a Word document, and automatically generate eBooks for Kindle, iBooks, and other formats with two clicks. The software is free. One eBook is $30, with no time or revision limit. You have already spent large multiples of that price in lost time and frustration.

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Answer 9

May 12, 2016 1:51 AM in response to VikingOSX

Hi Viking,

Yes, I've just downloaded the new Pages update and it hasn't fixed this issue I'm afraid. And I've tried exporting to Word and then to Kindle Gen software and it doesn't work (also tried to do this again this morning just to check, but again didn't work).

I've never heard of Vellum before. I will check it out.

Thanks so much once again for all your help!

Sunni

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