epubcheck service updated to epubcheck 1.0.3
This is actually a significant update to the threepress.org epubcheck validation service as flaws in the previous versions of Adobe’s epubcheck were causing several critical file types to be completely...
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Introducing epubjs
To celebrate TOC I’m announcing an early prototype of epubjs: a pure Javascript ePub reader. The entire application is only 11K (plus 53K for jQuery 1.3). This is a pretty rough release, still very...
View Articledocbook2epub 1.0.1 released
Two updates to the docbook2epub tool that converts DocBook into ePub: docbook2epub is now installable with setuptools. HTML entities in DocBook source are supported Direct download of version 1.0.1.
View ArticleEPUBGen from Adobe now a part of epub-tools
Want to convert from Word to ePub? These tools aren’t a magic bullet, but they should be helpful to digital publishing developers. Paul Norton from Adobe has contributed a new software suite to the...
View ArticleOpen Feedback Publishing System launched
O’Reilly is announcing today that the in-progress book, Programming Scala, has been released using the Open Feedback Publishing System, a platform I built for them that allows public commenting on...
View ArticleFive ebook conversion tips
In the last few years many technology blogs have been participating in “National Blog Posting Month,” a play off the more famous National Novel Writing Month. Threepress is participating: we’ll be...
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Web-based ePub validator adds Preflight and API
Our web tool for using the open-source epubcheck validator got a quick refresh: Now includes epubpreflight results EpubCheck’s lesser-known companion checks for additional issues like content...
View Article3 tiny bash scripts for ePub creation
I wrote these to automate a really common task: zip up an ePub (properly) and validate it. It expects a local install of epubcheck. Install these functions in your .bash_profile. This should work on...
View ArticleCommand-line epubcheck results without epubcheck.jar
Most of the time, command-line users will be able to run the epubcheck Java binary without issues. But sometimes mysterious problems occur — this happened to me on OS X before upgrading to Snow...
View ArticleHow to get your bug fixed
Some of the most useful tools in ebook development are open source. Calibre and epubcheck especially come to mind. If you find a bug or want to request a feature, what are the best ways to ensure your...
View ArticleWhat’s in an identifier?
ePub books are supposed to have a unique identifier: the Dublin Core identifier found in the OPF file. Unfortunately, the ePub spec doesn’t have any mechanism to enforce the uniqueness of the ID, so we...
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Tutorial on building ePubs now freely available
My tutorial Build a digital book with EPUB, posted on IBM DeveloperWorks, has been out for some time (November 2008!) but it has recently been updated with some minor corrections. It also no longer...
View Articledocbook2epub updated to version 1.0.2
Our Python script to convert from DocBook to ePub using the DocBook XSL has been updated to version 1.0.2. I’ve added some command-line options to override the location of the DocBook XSL (previously...
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Test-driving Apple Pages with ePub export
Finally there’s a commercial word processor that can export ePub. Today Apple released an update to iWork 9.0.4 that provides ePub as one of the output formats in the Export menu, alongside PDF and...
View ArticleWhen to use Chef wrapper cookbooks (and when not to)
If you’ve used Chef, you’ve probably used a community cookbook. Community cookbooks are helpful because someone else has figured out how to solve your problem, be it installing nginx or configuring...
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You should write clearer tickets to make your team happier
First, write this ticket: Develop a best practices “ticket model” for maximum happiness Type: Improvement Priority: P0 Status: Open Assigned to: Everyone Description We want to collaborate effectively...
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Making Computers Sing
What does it mean to make a computer sing? Computers don’t have vocal cords; they can’t really “sing” like a human can, but they do have DACs (digital to analogue converters), which are the devices...
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The Close.io Sales Follow-Up Guide: What Every Salesperson Needs to Read in 2016
By Close.io “Follow-up is the key to sales success.” If you’re in sales, you’ve probably heard those words so many times they’ve lost their meaning. Let’s change that: it’s time to put power back in...
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