Reviewing your e-book files

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If you select PDF Design & E-book Creation for your book, then you will have the opportunity to review both page proofs (the PDF file) and the e-book files. An e-book file can be viewed in a number of ways:

  • If you have an ebook reader device, you can download it to that device and view it.
  • If you have a smartphone, it might have a built-in app for e-books, or you could download one.
  • You could view it on your computer using special software. Some are simple browser plugins (like EPUBReader and Lucifox, which can often be installed without an special permissions), and others are standalone programs (such as calibre).

For (b) and (c), see a list of options from Wikipedia.

Traditionally, e-book files contain reflowable text, where the location of line breaks and page breaks varies from one device to another depending on what font size (and even font) the user has chosen to use. Newer e-book standards and devices allow for the display of fixed-layout e-book files that should have less variation, but these generally cost more to produce and aren’t worth the effort for most scholarly works. We’ll only create this type of e-book if it is necessary for your work.

While e-book formats allow you to define certain features, some e-book readers will override certain settings. For example, some Kindle devices make all text justified, even if the e-book file specifies not to display it this way.