EPUB 3 best practices and guidelines for publishing through Bokbasen. This document is a work in progress and will be periodically revised. Publishers and Suppliers are encouraged to contact Bokbasen if clarification is needed.
There may be cases where the guidelines are not covering every aspect or may be lacking in detail. In such cases Publisher and Suppliers should contact Bokbasen.
At the very basic level Bokbasen requires any EPUB to validate to the format standard. The Publisheris required to refer to the specifications provided in the current release of the EPUB standard maintained by W3C.This document does not comment on or suggest best practices for all parts of the format standard. Where nothing is noted, the format standard is the requirement.
Most chapters in this document references the format standard and a link to the published specification by W3C. This is indicated by quotations and a link to the source.
In addition to this, Bokbasen has specific requirements regarding the metadata and naming of the publication.
Minimum and mandatory requirements for Bokbasen’s systems are marked are defined and summarized in section 1. Any other requirements in this document are optional, although highly recommenced and encouraged. This is especially the case in sections 5 and 6.
Bokbasen require any EPUB to validate to the format standard. The Publisheris required to refer to the specifications provided in the current release of the EPUB standard maintaned by W3C.
The page-list element is required by Bokbasen for all publications where there is a printed equivalent to the Publication. It is especially encouraged for digital textbooks where there is a printed version still in use.
EPUB is a format for representing documents in electronic form. The Publisher are required to refer to the specifications provided in the current release of the EPUB standard maintaned by W3C.
Recommended production steps
The first step in making an EPUB is to create your content document(s). These must be either XHTML5 documents, SVG images, or a mixture of the two.
Once you’ve crafted your content, the next step is to create the package document, a special document used by reading systems to glean information about your publication(for ordering in your bookshelf, to render the content, and the like).
The last step is to zip up your content documents, associated resources, and the package document into a single file for distribution. The container archive is required to have the .epubextension. The file extension must be lowercase. Note that the mimetype file must be archived as the first file in the Container.
About the Format
“EPUB has been widely adopted as the format for digital books(ebooks), and EPUB 3.1 continues to increase the format's capabilities in order to better support a wider range of publication requirements, including complex layouts, rich media and interactivity, and global typography features. The expectation is that the EPUB 3.1 format will be utilized for a broad range of content, including books, magazines and educational, professional and scientific publications.
EPUB 3.1 is modular in nature: it consists of a family of specifications that define the core features and functionality of the standard. This specification represents the primary entry point to standard, but the specifications listed in Specifications are all a part of EPUB 3.1. An index to key concepts and definitions defined across these specifications is provided at the end of this specification.” - W3C
About the guidelines
1. Summary of Mandatory Requirements
2. Format Requirements