Long after the introduction of the EPUB 3 specification, EPUB 2 remains the commonest format for ebook conversion because of its broad support across retailers, distributors, and devices. But not all EPUB files are created equal. We pay attention to the details that ensure the best reading experience.

    >> Our conversion tools prevent the errors that ebook buyers frequently flag in their online reviews, such as two words joined together, or one word still divided by an end-of-line hyphen; broken paragraphs; question marks and boxes in place of accented letters and symbol characters; lost text formatting, and no table formatting

    >> Our reflowable conversions are device optimised to ensure a consistent reading experience across ebook readers and apps

     >> We also optimise images for legibility, and file size for speedy downloads

    >> We keep format and styling separate from content to allow global changes to the design of the ebook, independent of the original print design

     >> We hyperlink internal and external cross-references, including indexes (to physical page or a specific point in the text), notes (bidirectionally, so that readers can follow the cue and still come back to the text), figure and table citations, and URLs that point to a valid Web page

    >> And if you need EPUB 3, we can produce EPUB 3 files that fall back to EPUB 2 on devices and reading systems that don’t yet fully support the updated version of the EPUB specification

Fixed-layout conversion is typically used for children’s stories, cookery books, travel guides, comics, corporate materials, and other highly illustrated content where the physical relationships between different elements on the printed page is critical to the reader’s understanding. Each of the major reading systems and devices has its own fixed-layout specification, and each supports different types of enhancement. Our clients most often ask for:

    >> Apple iBooks: EPUB 3 with synchronised audio narration and word-by-word highlighting, integrated video and audio files, HTML5/CSS3 animation, and JavaScript interactivity

    >> Amazon Kindle: KF8 with region magnification (Kindle Panel View for comics and Text/Image Pop-Up for illustrated books)

    >> Barnes & Noble NOOK: ePib for NOOK Kids, with text magnification and an audio track synchronised to page turns; PagePerfect for other titles

    >> Kobo: EPUB 3 with audio synchronisation, or simply page images

    >> Google Play Books: EPUB 3 with audio synchronisation and integrated video and audio files

    >> Other devices and reading systems: for a regularly updated review of support across devices and reading systems for the EPUB 3 specification (not limited to fixed layout), see the EPUB3 Support Grid at http://epubtest.org/

When design and meaning are closely linked but a fixed-layout facsimile of the printed page would not deliver an optimal reading experience, we offer conversion to the iBooks Author format as an alternative. This conversion can carry over design elements of the printed book or can be completely reimagined for the iPad screen by our instructional and interactive designers. The format also makes media embedding more seamless than in an EPUB 3 file and extends the potential for interactivity, using ‘widgets’ built into the software or designed specifically for each book.

In some environments, including the classroom, PDFs remain a viable alternative to the EPUB ebook, and their utility to readers can be increased in a number of ways. We regularly enhance PDFs with bookmarks, internal and external hyperlinks, and audio/video content for distribution via the Web. We can further improve the accessibility of PDFs to screen-reading and text-to-speech systems by tagging the structure and reading order of content and providing alternative descriptive text for images.

Related services

    >> Print-on-demand PDF generation from printed books: if you give us a printed book to convert because you don’t have electronic files, we can return a PDF suitable for printing along with your ebook

    >> Conversion from EPUB to print PDF: if you have only an ebook, we can also convert that to a print PDF

    >> Conversion of legacy Flash files to HTML5

The rise of the digital landscape has led to a dramatic rise in e-book readership. More and more publishers are gravitating towards online publishing and also converting their existing pieces of content into digital versions. In line with the evolving trend, one of the leading aggregators approached Newgen to manage the conversion of nearly 4000+ books in Latin European and Russian languages.

For Newgen, this was only the first in a long line of successful projects involving multiple languages, leading us to enhance our conversion technology solutions to handle a variety of tongues. Our conversion engine utilises multiple dictionaries and decodes text across languages with minimal human intervention. It captures text as well as tags automatically. This helps in preserving the original print content and improves the fidelity of the e-books. Over and above, we have dedicated language specialists to ensure accurate and error-free rendition.

Today, nearly 60% of our e-book conversion is in languages other than English, yielding results that are quick and precise.

Newgen has vast experience in ePub conversion services. We were initially approached by one of our clients to migrate their old ePubs to the latest standard ePubs for distribution. Our clients expressed great satisfaction with the quality outputs and cost-effectiveness of our conversion engine. Newgen has since built on this experience to convert 25,000 titles from different publishers/authors every week using its online conversion portal. This system provides a one-stop solution for publishers to get their ePubs converted and distributed across reputed eBook platforms.