Editio Self-Publishing discussion

Can anyone tell me what (free or inexpensive) software one would need to swap out the cover image in an .epub file?

Hi Karen. Adobe inDesign will do it, but it's not cheap to buy. You can, however, get a month's free trial from Adobe at no cost and with no obligation to buy it. If you have a one off cover to do, that a way to go. Just visit Adobe.com and search for free trials
Hope this helps,
POW

Hi Karen, you can try with Sigil, it's free and open source :)

Thanks, Letizia!

I've tried to do this in Calibre, but I'm not sure it worked. Do you know whether Calibre is up to the job?

Karen wrote: "Thanks, Letizia!

I've tried to do this in Calibre, but I'm not sure it worked. Do you know whether Calibre is up to the job?"

Calibre works for me. Load the ePub into Calibre, select tweak the ePub from the menu, and replace the "cover.jpg" file. It's best if you replace with a file that is the same size and resolution.

It's even easier if you have source zip file the ebpub was generated from, then you just edit the metadata and replace the cover.

I keep getting a stretched-looking cover in the Nook .epub, which is the problem that made me want to replace the cover in the first place. I've been told that the dimensions for a Nook book cover are different from others. True?? If so, what should the dimensions be?

BookieWormie, I had the same problem originally. I resized it using Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Then I realized that Microsoft PowerPoint could be used to easily create ebook covers as JPG files in the correct size automatically. That's what I've been using since.

Are all ebook covers the same size? I thought Nook had its own requirements. I don't have the stretching problem on Kindle (I don't think).

According to the PubIt guide, there is no special specification for Nook. Do you have a copy of the Smashwords Style Guide? It recommends a w:h ratio of 500:800. I couldn't say for sure, though because even though I can load a test file into the PC versions of Kindle, Kobo, iBooks (iPad) and SONY Reader, I'm not able to load anything into the Nook reader for PC.

Not going to buy yet another device for testing. My acquaintances using Smashwords for Nook don't seem to be having any formatting problems.

Ron wrote: "According to the PubIt guide, there is no special specification for Nook. Do you have a copy of the Smashwords Style Guide? It recommends a w:h ratio of 500:800. I couldn't say for sure, though bec..."
Karen / Ron. I used Smashwords to push my book to B&N for NOOK as well. There were no problems. If you follow the Smashwords guide you should be fine. Getting a cover for a paper version may be different. I haven't tried that yet.

Karen wrote: "Are all ebook covers the same size? I thought Nook had its own requirements. I don't have the stretching problem on Kindle (I don't think)."

I have had some problems with my epub cover on Nook that I did not have on Kindle. I have yet to totally sort it out, so my Nook edition's cover is a little different.

Inside content was not an issue.

Ward

D.L. wrote: "Ron wrote: "According to the PubIt guide, there is no special specification for Nook. Do you have a copy of the Smashwords Style Guide? It recommends a w:h ratio of 500:800. I couldn't say for sure..."

I have read that, to publish on Nook, your book must have an ISBN number that's a cost of $150. Is that true?

I'm sorry I get back only today on this discussion. If you have a problem on cover image size, try to stay a bit lower of 500:800, maybe x:780 where x is proportional according the other number. Usually this works on any software and device, even in small screens (like smartphone, for instance).

Ask for anything you may need, I'm kind of professional ebook maker ;)

This is a very persistent meme, but it is false. At least, when I did my PubIt! publication, the program asked if I had an ISBN while specifically stating I didn't need one. I don't have one for the Nook (didn't want to use my Smashbook or CreateSpace ISBN's, given differences in formatting), and my book is in the Nook Store.

Ken wrote: "D.L. wrote: "Ron wrote: "According to the PubIt guide, there is no special specification for Nook. Do you have a copy of the Smashwords Style Guide? It recommends a w:h ratio of 500:800. I couldn't..."

Ken wrote: "D.L. wrote: "Ron wrote: "According to the PubIt guide, there is no special specification for Nook. Do you have a copy of the Smashwords Style Guide? It recommends a w:h ratio of 500:800. I couldn't..."

Smashwords will provide a free ISBN so it's not an issue if it's your Smashwords edition going to B&N. You do have to specifically ask for one from Smashwords by going to the ISBN manager (left hand side of the screen). It's not automatic.

Ward wrote: "Karen wrote: "Are all ebook covers the same size? I thought Nook had its own requirements. I don't have the stretching problem on Kindle (I don't think)."

Different ePub devices handle interpret the epub code differently. Your Nook is trying to stretch the image to be full-screen and is not respecting the aspect ratio. It's not the only device to do this. I recently created a book with full page internal illustrations and faced a similar problem with the epub version (Hooray for the Kindle... despite some limitations at least it obeys its own format consistently).

Amazingly, in ePUB2 (which is what current devices read) there is no way to specify that you want a full page illustration with aspect ratio preserved. It's listed as a desired feature for the ePub3 format.

There's a lot of advice about this on the web, but it smacks of voodoo, which doesn't surprise me as different devices handle this in different ways and may change with new firmware versions.

My approach was to put the 600x800 pixel image at 150dpi in its own xhtml , remove references to viewboxes, remove specification of size. Simply set margin to 0 and center and leave the rest to the device. This works well on Adobe Digital Editions, iPhones, iPads that I've tested it on. I'd like to try on a Nook, but I can't buy one from my country (UK).

If you're interested, I guess I could send you the file and if it doesn't stretch on the Nook, then that's an approach worth taking.

I forgot to mention that one technique I find useful is to run something through the Smashwords Meatgrinder and open up the result in Sigil to inspect the code. Doesn't have to be your book, of course.

In the case of my full-page illustrations, the Meatgrinder was defining a css class
height: 738;
width: 554

I didn't like the results on an iPad, as this looked too small.

Hi Karen.
I know many people use Calibre to add cover. And if you have an iPad or iPhone, you can use iTunes, too.

I use the Ultimate Converter to add cover to ePub.
http://www.epubor.com/how-to-add-cover-to-epub.html