[LINK] RFI: Cross-Media Publishing under Linux/OO

[Kim Holburn]

On 2011/Aug/05, at 9:11 AM, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:

> Ben McGinnes wrote:
>> On 4/08/11 12:24 PM, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
>>> Preparing MS powerpoint presentations, required by conference
>>> organisers, could be a problem...
>> 
>> I switched from OpenOffice.org to LibreOffice a few months ago and it
>> (actually both of them) handles this fine.  Simply create the
>> presentation in the native OpenDocument Format and then save as or
>> export to whichever other formats are required (e.g. .ppt, .pptx,
>> .pdf, .swf, etc.).
>> 
>>> On the topic, of cross media publishing... I have just published my
>>> first e-book, for which you need XHTML. I am working on a paperback,
>>> using Open Office>PDF, from the XHTML source of the ebook. My Notes
>>> are here:
>>> <http://ramin.com.au/linux/formatting-e-books-and-paperbacks.shtml>
>> 
>> Again, OpenOffice.org or LibreOffice are your friends here.  There's
>> an extension called writer2epub which will convert a file to an ePub
>> file.  Make any adjustments to the chapters and index in Sigil, then
>> convert to alternate ebook formats (e.g. .mobi, .lit and so on) in
>> Calibre.
>> 
> 
> Did the output of this process validate, sufficiently, to meet Lulu's EPUB
> requirements?

I seriously doubt it.  I have tried the writer2epub add-on.  As far as I'm concerned a complete waste of time.  I had to remove it as it made writer unstable when used and the results were useless.

The only way I've been successful is to save the book as html, edit the html, convert using calibre, edit with sigil.  If you want your epub on lulu to go to the ibookstore it is a very painful process.  It really helps to try them out on an ipad.  Speaking as someone who has had 3 books accepted through the whole process and 6 still pending.  

Maybe it's better if you have the apple epub handbook.

> The problem with the open office approach, is that you are still thinking
> in printed book format - which is not ideal for creating an EBook (or
> webpage).
> 
> I hear calibre is good for converting between ebook formats, haven't heard
> any reports about its role in creating ebooks.
> 
>> I think there might've been a thread on this on LINK a few months ago,
>> maybe late last year.
>> 
>> http://www.libreoffice.org/
>> http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/en/project/Writer2ePub
>> https://code.google.com/p/sigil/
>> http://calibre-ebook.com/

-- 
Kim Holburn
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