EPUB
Encyclopedia
EPUB is a free and open
e-book
standard by the International Digital Publishing Forum
(IDPF). Files have the extension .epub.
EPUB is designed for reflowable content
, meaning that the text display can be optimized for the particular display device used by the reader of the EPUB-formatted book, although EPUB now also supports fixed-layout content. The format is meant to function as a single format that publishers and conversion houses can use in-house, as well as for distribution and sale. It supersedes the Open eBook
standard.
In August 2009, the IDPF announced that they would begin work on maintenance tasks of the EPUB standard. Two broad objectives were defined by this working group: "One set of activities governs maintenance of the current EPUB Standards (i.e. OCF, OPF, and OPS), while another set of activities addresses the need to keep the Standards current and up-to-date." The working group was expected to be active through 2010, publishing updated standards throughout its lifetime. On April 6, 2010, it was announced that this working group would complete their update in April 2010. The result was to be a minor revision to EPUB 2.0.1 which "corrects errors and inconsistencies and does not change functionality". On July 2, 2010, drafts of the version 2.0.1 standards appeared on the IDPF website.
On April 6, 2010, it was announced that a working group would be formed to revise the EPUB specification. In the working group's charter draft, 14 main problems with EPUB are identified which the group will address. The group was chartered through May 2011, and was scheduled to submit a final draft on May 15, 2011. An initial Editors Draft for EPUB3 was published on November 12, 2010, and the first public draft was published on February 15, 2011. On May 23, 2011, the IDPF released its proposed specification for final review. On October 10, 2011, the IDPF announced that its membership had approved EPUB 3 as a final Recommended Specification.
A detailed descriptions of the differences between 3.0 and 2.0.1 can be found on the IDPF website.
EPUB internally uses XHTML
or DTBook
(an XML standard provided by the DAISY
Consortium) to represent the text and structure of the content document, and a subset of CSS
to provide layout and formatting. XML
is used to create the document manifest, table of contents
, and EPUB metadata
. Finally, the files are bundled in a zip
file as a packaging format.
for XHTML documents in EPUB is
Styling and layout are performed using a subset of CSS 2.0, referred to as OPS Style Sheets. This specialized syntax requires only a portion of CSS properties to be supported by reading systems and adds a few custom ones. Custom properties include
for CSS documents in EPUB is
EPUB also requires that PNG, JPEG
, GIF
, and SVG images be supported using the mimetype
s
Unicode
is required, and content producers must use either UTF-8
or UTF-16 encoding. This is to support international and multilingual books. However, reading systems are not required to provide the fonts necessary to display every unicode character, though they are required to display at least a placeholder for characters that cannot be displayed fully.
An example skeleton of an XHTML file for EPUB looks like this:
Pride and Prejudice
...
.opf file
The OPF file, traditionally named
, file manifest, and linear reading order. This file has a root element
The
The
The
The
An example OPF file:
Pride and Prejudice
en
123456789X
Jane Austen
.ncx file
The NCX file (Navigation Control file for XML), traditionally named
for the EPUB file. The specification for NCX was developed for Digital Talking Book
(DTB), is maintained by the DAISY Consortium, and is not a part of the EPUB specification. The NCX file has a mimetype of
Of note here is that the values for the
A description of certain exceptions to the NCX specification as used in EPUB can be found in Section 2.4.1 of the specification. The complete specification for NCX can be found in Section 8 of the Specifications for the Digital Talking Book.
An example .ncx file:
"http://www.daisy.org/z3986/2005/ncx-2005-1.dtd">
Pride and Prejudice
Austen, Jane
Chapter 1
The
Also, there must be a folder named
Appart from
An example file structure:
An example container.xml, given the above file structure:
as an additional layer, but it is not required by the specifications. In addition, the specification does not name any particular DRM system to use, so publishers can choose a DRM scheme to their liking. However, future versions of EPUB (specifically OCF) may specify a format for DRM.
When present, DRMed EPUB files must contain a file called
tool called epubcheck exists for validating and detecting errors in the structural markup (OPS, OPF, OCF) as well as the XHTML and image files. The tool can be run from the command line, or used in webapp
s and applications as a library. A large part of the original work on the tool was done at Adobe Systems
.
scheme. This could affect the level of support for various DRM systems on devices
and the portability of purchased e-books. Consequently, such DRM incompatibility may segment the EPUB format along the lines of DRM systems, negating the advantages of a single standard format and confusing the consumer.
The following criticisms are supposedly addressed by EPUB 3.0:
Open standard
An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was designed . There is no single definition and interpretations vary with usage....
e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
standard by the International Digital Publishing Forum
International Digital Publishing Forum
The International Digital Publishing Forum is a trade and standards association for the digital publishing industry, that has been set up in order to establish a reliable and complete standard for ebook publishing....
(IDPF). Files have the extension .epub.
EPUB is designed for reflowable content
Reflowable document
A reflowable document is a type of electronic document that can adapt its presentation to the output device. Typical desktop publishing output formats like PostScript or PDF are page-oriented, so are not generally reflowable , whereas the world wide web standard, HTML is a reflowable format.The...
, meaning that the text display can be optimized for the particular display device used by the reader of the EPUB-formatted book, although EPUB now also supports fixed-layout content. The format is meant to function as a single format that publishers and conversion houses can use in-house, as well as for distribution and sale. It supersedes the Open eBook
Open eBook
Open eBook , or formally, the Open eBook Publication Structure , is a legacy e-book format "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press" and on XML; it has been superseded by the EPUB electronic publication standard.Open eBook is a ZIP file plus a Manifest file...
standard.
History
EPUB became an official standard of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) in September 2007, superseding the older Open eBook standard.In August 2009, the IDPF announced that they would begin work on maintenance tasks of the EPUB standard. Two broad objectives were defined by this working group: "One set of activities governs maintenance of the current EPUB Standards (i.e. OCF, OPF, and OPS), while another set of activities addresses the need to keep the Standards current and up-to-date." The working group was expected to be active through 2010, publishing updated standards throughout its lifetime. On April 6, 2010, it was announced that this working group would complete their update in April 2010. The result was to be a minor revision to EPUB 2.0.1 which "corrects errors and inconsistencies and does not change functionality". On July 2, 2010, drafts of the version 2.0.1 standards appeared on the IDPF website.
On April 6, 2010, it was announced that a working group would be formed to revise the EPUB specification. In the working group's charter draft, 14 main problems with EPUB are identified which the group will address. The group was chartered through May 2011, and was scheduled to submit a final draft on May 15, 2011. An initial Editors Draft for EPUB3 was published on November 12, 2010, and the first public draft was published on February 15, 2011. On May 23, 2011, the IDPF released its proposed specification for final review. On October 10, 2011, the IDPF announced that its membership had approved EPUB 3 as a final Recommended Specification.
Features
- Free and openOpen standardAn open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was designed . There is no single definition and interpretations vary with usage....
- Re-flowable (word wrap) and re-sizable text
- Inline rasterRaster graphicsIn computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
and vectorVector graphicsVector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
images - Embedded metadataMetadataThe term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
- DRMDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
support - CSSCSS-Computing:*Cascading Style Sheets, a language used to describe the style of document presentations in web development*Central Structure Store in the PHIGS 3D API*Closed source software, software that is not distributed with source code...
styling - Support for alternative renditions in the same file
- Use of out-of-line and inline XMLXMLExtensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
islands to extend the functionality of EPUB
Version 3.0 (current version)
EPUB 3 consists of a set of four specifications:- EPUB Publications 3.0, which defines publication-level semantics and overarching conformance requirements for EPUB Publications.
- EPUB Content Documents 3.0, which defines profiles of XHTML, SVG and CSS for use in the context of EPUB Publications.
- EPUB Open Container Format (OCF) 3.0, which defines a file format and processing model for encapsulating a set of related resources into a single-file (ZIP) EPUB Container.
- EPUB Media Overlays 3.0, which defines a format and a processing model for synchronization of text and audio.
A detailed descriptions of the differences between 3.0 and 2.0.1 can be found on the IDPF website.
Version 2.0.1
EPUB version 2.0.1 consists of three specifications:- Open Publication Structure (OPS) 2.0.1, contains the formatting of its content.
- Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0.1, describes the structure of the
.epubfile in XML. - Open Container Format (OCF) 2.0.1, collects all files as a ZIPZIP (file format)Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
archive.
EPUB internally uses XHTML
XHTML
XHTML is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely-used Hypertext Markup Language , the language in which web pages are written....
or DTBook
DTBook
DTBook or DAISY XML is a XML-based document file format. It is used in EPUB e-books and DAISY Digital Talking Book, as well as other places...
(an XML standard provided by the DAISY
DAISY Digital Talking Book
DAISY is a standard for digital talking books. DAISY books are typically used by people have "print disabilities," including blindness, impaired vision, dyslexia...
Consortium) to represent the text and structure of the content document, and a subset of CSS
CSS
-Computing:*Cascading Style Sheets, a language used to describe the style of document presentations in web development*Central Structure Store in the PHIGS 3D API*Closed source software, software that is not distributed with source code...
to provide layout and formatting. XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
is used to create the document manifest, table of contents
Table of contents
A table of contents, usually headed simply "Contents" and abbreviated informally as TOC, is a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order in which the parts appear...
, and EPUB metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
. Finally, the files are bundled in a zip
ZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
file as a packaging format.
Open Publication Structure 2.0.1
An EPUB file uses XHTML 1.1 (or DTBook) to construct the content of a book as of version 2.0.1. This is different from previous versions (OEBPS 1.2 and earlier) which used a subset drawn from XHTML. There are, however, a few restrictions on certain elements. The mimetypeInternet media type
An Internet media type, originally called a MIME type after MIME and sometimes a Content-type after the name of a header in several protocols whose value is such a type, is a two-part identifier for file formats on the Internet.The identifiers were originally defined in RFC 2046 for use in email...
for XHTML documents in EPUB is
application/xhtml+xml. For a table of the required XHTML modules and a description of the restrictions, please see Section 2.2 of the specification.Styling and layout are performed using a subset of CSS 2.0, referred to as OPS Style Sheets. This specialized syntax requires only a portion of CSS properties to be supported by reading systems and adds a few custom ones. Custom properties include
oeb-page-head, oeb-page-foot, and oeb-column-number. Font-embedding can be accomplished using the @font-face property, as well as including the font file in the OPF's manifest (see below). The mimetypeInternet media type
An Internet media type, originally called a MIME type after MIME and sometimes a Content-type after the name of a header in several protocols whose value is such a type, is a two-part identifier for file formats on the Internet.The identifiers were originally defined in RFC 2046 for use in email...
for CSS documents in EPUB is
text/css. For a table of supported properties and detailed information, please see Section 3.0 of the specification.EPUB also requires that PNG, JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
, GIF
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
, and SVG images be supported using the mimetype
Internet media type
An Internet media type, originally called a MIME type after MIME and sometimes a Content-type after the name of a header in several protocols whose value is such a type, is a two-part identifier for file formats on the Internet.The identifiers were originally defined in RFC 2046 for use in email...
s
image/png, image/jpeg, image/gif, image/svg+xml. Other media types are allowed, but creators must include alternative renditions using supported types. For a table of all required mimetypes, see Section 1.3.7 of the specification.Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
is required, and content producers must use either UTF-8
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a multibyte character encoding for Unicode. Like UTF-16 and UTF-32, UTF-8 can represent every character in the Unicode character set. Unlike them, it is backward-compatible with ASCII and avoids the complications of endianness and byte order marks...
or UTF-16 encoding. This is to support international and multilingual books. However, reading systems are not required to provide the fonts necessary to display every unicode character, though they are required to display at least a placeholder for characters that cannot be displayed fully.
An example skeleton of an XHTML file for EPUB looks like this:
...
Open Packaging Format 2.0.1
The OPF specification's purpose is to "[define] the mechanism by which the various components of an OPS publication are tied together and provides additional structure and semantics to the electronic publication." This is accomplished by two XML files with the extensions.opf and .ncx..opf file
The OPF file, traditionally named
content.opf houses the EPUB book's metadataMetadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
, file manifest, and linear reading order. This file has a root element
package and four child elements: metadata, manifest, spine, and guide. All of these except guide are required. Furthermore, the package node must have the unique-identifier attribute. The .opf file's mimetype is application/oebps-package+xml.The
metadata element contains all the metadata information for a particular EPUB file. Three metadata tags are required (though many more are available): title, language, and identifier. title contains the title of the book, language contains the language of the book's contents in RFC 3066 format or its successors, such as the newer RFC 4646 and identifier contains a unique identifier for the book, such as its ISBN or a URL. The identifier's id attribute should equal the unique-identifier attribute from the package element. For a full listing of EPUB metadata, please see Section 2.2 of the specification.The
manifest element lists all the files contained in the package. Each file is represented by an item element, and has the attributes id, href, media-type. All XHTML (content documents), stylesheets, images or other media, embedded fonts, and the NCX file should be listed here. Only the .opf file itself, the container.xml, and the mimetype files should not be included. Note that in the example below, an arbitrary media-type is given to the included font file, even though no mimetype exists for fonts.The
spine element lists all the XHTML content documents in their linear reading order. Also, any content document that can be reached through linking or the table of contents must be listed as well. The toc attribute of spine must contain the id of the NCX file listed in the manifest. Each itemref element's idref is set to the id of its respective content document.The
guide element is an optional element for the purpose of identifying fundamental structural components of the book. Each reference element has the attributes type, title, href. Files referenced in href must be listed in the manifest, and are allowed to have an element identifier (e.g. #figures in the example). A list of possible values for type can be found in Section 2.6 of the specification.An example OPF file:
.ncx file
The NCX file (Navigation Control file for XML), traditionally named
toc.ncx, contains the hierarchical table of contentsTable of contents
A table of contents, usually headed simply "Contents" and abbreviated informally as TOC, is a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order in which the parts appear...
for the EPUB file. The specification for NCX was developed for Digital Talking Book
DAISY Digital Talking Book
DAISY is a standard for digital talking books. DAISY books are typically used by people have "print disabilities," including blindness, impaired vision, dyslexia...
(DTB), is maintained by the DAISY Consortium, and is not a part of the EPUB specification. The NCX file has a mimetype of
application/x-dtbncx+xml.Of note here is that the values for the
docTitle, docAuthor, and meta name="dtb:uid" elements should match their analogs in the OPF file. Also, the meta name="dtb:depth" element is set equal to the depth of the navMap element. navPoint elements can be nested to create a hierarchical table of contents. navLabel's content is the text that will appear in the table of contents generated by reading systems that use the .ncx. navPoint's content element points to a content document listed in the manifest and can also include an element identifier (e.g. #section1).A description of certain exceptions to the NCX specification as used in EPUB can be found in Section 2.4.1 of the specification. The complete specification for NCX can be found in Section 8 of the Specifications for the Digital Talking Book.
An example .ncx file:
"http://www.daisy.org/z3986/2005/ncx-2005-1.dtd">
Open Container Format 2.0.1
An EPUB file is a group of files conforming to the OPS/OPF standards that is wrapped in a ZIP file. The OCF specifies how these files should be organized in the ZIP, and defines two additional files that must be included.The
mimetype file must be a text document in ASCII and must contain the string application/epub+zip. It must also be uncompressed, unencrypted, and the first file in the ZIP archive. The purpose of this file is to provide a more reliable way for applications to identify the mimetype of the file than just the .epub extension.Also, there must be a folder named
META-INF which contains the required file container.xml. This XML file points to the file defining the contents of the book. This will be the OPF file, though additional alternative rootfile elements are allowed.Appart from
mimetype and META-INF/container.xml, the other files (OPF, NCX, XHTML, CSS and images files) are traditionally put in a directory named OEBPS.An example file structure:
--ZIP Container--
mimetype
META-INF/
container.xml
OEBPS/
book.opf
chapter1.xhtml
ch1-pic.png
css/
style.css
myfont.otf
An example container.xml, given the above file structure:
Digital rights management
An EPUB file can optionally contain DRMDigital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
as an additional layer, but it is not required by the specifications. In addition, the specification does not name any particular DRM system to use, so publishers can choose a DRM scheme to their liking. However, future versions of EPUB (specifically OCF) may specify a format for DRM.
When present, DRMed EPUB files must contain a file called
rights.xml within the META-INF directory at the root level of the ZIP container.Validation
An open sourceOpen source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
tool called epubcheck exists for validating and detecting errors in the structural markup (OPS, OPF, OCF) as well as the XHTML and image files. The tool can be run from the command line, or used in webapp
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
s and applications as a library. A large part of the original work on the tool was done at Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
.
Criticism
The EPUB specification does not enforce or suggest a particular DRMDigital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
scheme. This could affect the level of support for various DRM systems on devices
E-book reader
An e-book reader, also called an e-book device or e-reader, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals....
and the portability of purchased e-books. Consequently, such DRM incompatibility may segment the EPUB format along the lines of DRM systems, negating the advantages of a single standard format and confusing the consumer.
The following criticisms are supposedly addressed by EPUB 3.0:
- One criticism of EPUB is that, while good for text-centric books, it may be unsuitable for publications which require precise layout or specialized formatting, such as a comic book.
- A major issue hindering its use for most technical publications is the lack of support for equations formatted as MathMLMathMLMathematical Markup Language is an application of XML for describing mathematical notations and capturing both its structure and content. It aims at integrating mathematical formulae into World Wide Web pages and other documents...
. They are currently included as bitmapBitmapIn computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits, a spatially mapped array of bits. Now, along with pixmap, it commonly refers to...
or SVGScalable Vector GraphicsScalable Vector Graphics is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic . The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999.SVG images and their...
images, precluding proper handling by screen readers and interaction with computer algebra systems. Support for MathML is included in the EPUB 3.0 specification.
- Another criticism of EPUB revolves around the specification's lack of detail on linking into, between, or within an EPUB book, as well as its lack of a specification for annotation. Such linking is hindered by the use of a ZIP file as the container for EPUB. Furthermore, it is unclear if it would be better to link by using EPUB's internal structural markup (the OPF specification mentioned above) or directly to files through the ZIP's file structure. The lack of a standardized way to annotate EPUB books could lead to difficulty sharing and transferring annotations and therefore limit the use scenarios of EPUB, particularly in educational settings, because it cannot provide a level of interactivity comparable to the web.
Software reading systems
Software that reads, and presumably displays, EPUB files is called a reading system. An EPUB reading system is defined as:
“A combination of hardware and/or software that accepts OPS Publications and makes them available to consumers of content. Great variety is possible in the architecture of Reading Systems. A Reading System may be implemented entirely on one device, or it may be split among several computers....”
| Software | Platform | DRM formats supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Digital Editions Adobe Digital Editions Adobe Digital Editions is ebook reader software from Adobe Systems built using Adobe Flash. It is used for acquiring, managing and reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. The software supports PDF, XHTML , and Flash-based content... |
Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Requires online activation. | |
| Aldiko Aldiko Aldiko is an e-book reader application for the Android operating system. It supports the EPUB format for digital publications and incorporates facilities for browsing online catalogs on thousands of books and downloading them directly into the user's personal library... |
Android | Supports ePub for Android phones. | |
| AZARDI | Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , GNU/Linux |
Built on the Mozilla Mozilla Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software.... framework |
|
| Bluefire Reader | Android, iOS | Supports ePub for Android phones and Apple iOS devices. | |
| BookGlutton Bookglutton BookGlutton is a "social reading" website launched in January 2008. Visitors to the website can create virtual book groups, read books online, chat inside chapters and attach notes on paragraphs.- References :* June, 2009, WIRED,... |
Web World Wide Web The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet... |
Free online ePub reader focussing on the social aspects of reading. | |
| calibre | Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , GNU/Linux |
Primarily for library management, conversion, and transferring to devices, it includes a reader. | |
| CoolReader | Windows, GNU/Linux, Android | XML/CSS based E-Book reader for desktops and handheld devices. Supported formats: FB2, TXT, RTF, TCR, HTML, EPUB, CHM. Has GUI implementation for E Ink E Ink E Ink is a specific proprietary type of electronic paper manufactured by E Ink Corporation, founded in 1997 based on research started at the MIT Media Lab... base devices. Most popular SourceForge SourceForge SourceForge Enterprise Edition is a collaborative revision control and software development management system. It provides a front-end to a range of software development lifecycle services and integrates with a number of free software / open source software applications .While originally itself... epub application. |
|
| Duokan | Kindle | ||
| Dorian Dorian The Dorians were one of the four major ethnē into which the Ancient Greeks, or Hellenes, of the Classical period considered themselves divided. Ethnos has the sense of ethnic group. Herodotus uses the word with regard to them... |
Symbian Symbian Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user... |
Free ePub reader. | |
| Bubue Books | Symbian Symbian Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user... |
Simple ePub reader | |
| Foliant | Java Java Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java... |
Java ePub reader for many mobile phone | |
| EPUBReader EPUBReader EPUBReader is a freeware Firefox add-on that lets you read the contents of any ePub book right inside Firefox without requiring any special software.... |
Firefox add-on | Enables reading ePub-files from within Firefox. | |
| FBReader FBReader FBReader is a free and open source e-book reader for GNU/Linux, Microsoft Windows, and other platforms.It was originally written for the Sharp Zaurus and currently runs on many other mobile devices, like the Nokia Internet Tablets, as well as desktop computers... |
Windows, GNU/Linux, PDA PDA A PDA is most commonly a Personal digital assistant, also known as a Personal data assistant, a mobile electronic device.PDA may also refer to:In science, medicine and technology:... s |
Incomplete ePub support. | |
| FBReaderJ | Android | Open source. | |
| Google Books | Web application Web application A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are... , Android |
Supports ePub and PDF. | |
| iBooks IBooks iBooks is an e-book application by Apple Inc. It was announced in conjunction with the iPad on January 27, 2010, and was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch in mid-2010, as part of the iOS 4 update. At that time, it was described by Apple as being available only in the United States... |
iOS | Books not readable directly on computers (Mac or PC) yet. | |
| http://vutienthinh.webs.com/bookreaderapps.htm#ebookmobi eBookMobi | iOS | support: prc, mobi, pdb, ePub, PDF, CHM, RTF, FB2, Comics, Manga files (.cbr, .cbz, .zip, .rar), Word(doc, docx), Excel(xls, xlsx), PowerPoint(ppt, pptx), Html, plain text. Support download, custom stardict dictionaries | |
| Lexcycle Stanza Lexcycle Stanza Lexcycle Stanza is a freeware program for reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. The software supports the eBook formats EPUB, eReader, MS LIT, Amazon Kindle, Mobipocket, and PalmDoc, as well as general document formats HTML, PDF, MS Word, and Rich Text Format... |
iOS, Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
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| Mobipocket Mobipocket Mobipocket SA is a French company incorporated in March 2000 which produces Mobipocket Reader software, an E-Book reader for some PDAs, phones and desktop operating systems.... eBook Reader |
Windows, BlackBerry BlackBerry BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more... , Symbian Symbian Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user... , Windows Mobile Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is... |
Converts EPUB into .PRC PRC (Palm OS) PRC is a container format for code databases in Palm OS, Garnet OS and Access Linux Platform. Its structure is similar to PDB databases. Usually, a PRC file is a flat representation of a Palm OS application that is stored as forked database on the PDA.... on import. |
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| Okular Okular Okular is the document viewer for KDE SC 4 . It is based on KPDF and it replaced KPDF, KGhostView, KFax, KFaxview and KDVI in KDE 4.Its functionality can be easily embedded in other applications.... |
KDE Platform KDE Platform KDE Platform is a set of frameworks by KDE that serve as technological foundation for all KDE applications. Ever since KDE’s brand repositioning the Platform is released as separate product in sync with KDE’s Plasma Workspaces as part of the KDE Software Compilation 4... |
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| pReader | webOS | EPUB, plain-text, HTML, PalmDOC, MobiPocket, eReader and Amazon AZW files | |
| readMe README A readme file contains information about other files in a directory or archive and is commonly distributed with computer software. Such a file is usually a text file called README.TXT, README.1ST, READ.ME, or simply README, although some Microsoft Windows software may occasionally include a... |
iOS | EPUB, FB2 and PDF Portable Document Format Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems.... support |
Editing systems
| Software | Platform | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABBYY FineReader | Windows | Commercial license. Version 11 exports to EPUB format. | |
| Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign is a software application produced by Adobe Systems. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers and books. In conjunction with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite InDesign can publish content suitable for tablet devices... |
Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Commercial license. Exports to EPUB format. | |
| Atlantis Word Processor Atlantis Word Processor Atlantis Word Processor is a stand-alone low-end word processor for Microsoft Windows developed by Rising Sun Solutions, Inc. It was previously known as "Atlantis Ocean Mind".... |
Windows, Portable app | Converts any document to EPUB; supports multilevel TOCs, font embedding, and batch conversion. Shareware. | |
| calibre Calibre (software) calibre is free and open source e-book computer software that organizes, saves and manages e-books, supporting a variety of formats. It also supports e-book syncing with a variety of popular e-book readers and will, within DRM restrictions, convert e-books between differing formats... |
Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , GNU/Linux |
Conversion software and e-book organizer. Free Software Free software Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do... under the GPL license. |
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| eCub | Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , GNU/Linux, FreeBSD FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant... , Solaris Solaris - Fiction :* Solaris , a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem** Solaris , directed by B. Nirenburg** Solaris , directed by Andrei Tarkovsky** Solaris , directed by Steven Soderbergh... |
Freeware | |
| eLML ELML The eLesson Markup Language is an open source XML framework for creating electronic lessons. It is a "spin-off" from the GITTA project , a Swiss GIS eLearning project, and was launched in spring 2004. The eLML project is hosted at Sourceforge and offers all the regular tools that you might... |
Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , GNU/Linux |
The eLesson Markup Language is a platform-independent XML-based open source framework to create eLearning content. It supports various output formats like SCORM, HTML, PDF and also eBooks based on the ePub format. | |
| eScape | Windows, GNU/Linux | Freeware | |
| Feedbooks Feedbooks Feedbooks is a digital library and cloud publishing service for both public domain and original books founded in June 2007 and based in Paris, France. The main focus of the web site is providing e-books with particularly high-quality typesetting in multiple formats, particularly EPUB, Kindle, and... |
Web World Wide Web The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet... |
Free cloud service for downloading public domain works and for self-publishing | |
| IGP:Digital Publisher | Web World Wide Web The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet... |
Commercial license. Exports to EPUB 2, EPUB3 and EPUB 2+3 Transitional formats. | |
| iStudio Publisher IStudio Publisher iStudio Publisher is a desktop publishing application developed by c:four.iStudio Publisher 1.0 was released on 6 January 2009 at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.... |
Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Desktop publishing Desktop publishing Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers... and page layout application. Commercial license. |
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| Lulu.com Lulu.com Lulu is a company offering publishing, printing, and distribution services with headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since their founding in 2002, Lulu has published over 1.1 million titles by creators in over 200 countries and territories and adds 20,000 new titles to their catalogue a month... |
Web World Wide Web The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet... |
Upload and convert .doc, .docx, or PDF manuscripts to an ePub. Then choose a title, create a cover, describe your ePub, and pick a price. It's free to publish and sell. | |
| Pages Pages Pages is a word processor and page layout application developed by Apple. It is part of the iWork productivity suite and runs on the Mac OS X & iOS operating systems. The first version of Pages was announced on January 11, 2005, and was released one month later. The most recent Macintosh version,... |
Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Word processor (part of the iWork IWork iWork is an office suite of desktop applications created by Apple for the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. The first version of iWork, iWork '05, was released in 2005. The suite originally bundled Keynote, a presentation program which had previously been sold as a standalone application, and... '09 suite) that can export to EPUB format (Pages '09 only, and only with the iWork 9.0.4 update). |
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| Rossinante | Web World Wide Web The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet... |
Converts PDF document to EPUB; Detects table of contents, footnotes, figures and captions. | |
| QuarkXPress QuarkXPress QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc... |
Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , Windows |
Desktop Publishing Tool, Page Layout Application. Exports also to the ePUB format. Commercial license. | |
| Sigil Sigil (application) Sigil is an open-source editor for EPUB e-books developed by Strahinja Marković in 2009 and maintained by John Schember since 2011.As a cross-platform application, it is distributed for the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms under the GNU GPL license... |
Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Free, Open source under GPLv3. Currently the only application that can also open and edit EPUB books, instead of just converting from other formats to EPUB. | |
| Scrivener Scrivener (software) Scrivener is a word-processing program designed for writers. Scrivener provides a management system for documents, notes and metadata. This allows the user to keep track of notes, concepts, research and whole documents for reference... |
Windows, Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
Commercial program for writers. Includes organization capabilities for fiction writers. Publishes to multiple formats. | |
| oXygen XML Editor | Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... , Windows, Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds... |
XML Editor is the first tool which offers support for creating, transforming and validating documents composing the EPUB package. |
Hardware reading systems
The boundary between hardware and software is not clear cut. Some of these devices are dedicated to e-book tasks while others are platforms that include e-book readers or can have them added. See Comparison of e-book readers for details of dedicated devices (not all support EPUB).- Android devices (using FBReaderFBReaderFBReader is a free and open source e-book reader for GNU/Linux, Microsoft Windows, and other platforms.It was originally written for the Sharp Zaurus and currently runs on many other mobile devices, like the Nokia Internet Tablets, as well as desktop computers...
, AldikoAldikoAldiko is an e-book reader application for the Android operating system. It supports the EPUB format for digital publications and incorporates facilities for browsing online catalogs on thousands of books and downloading them directly into the user's personal library...
) - Barnes & Noble Nook
- BeBook
- BookeenBookeenBookeen is French company dealing with eBooks and Consumer electronics.- History :In 2003 after the failure of Cytale two former engineers of Cytale, Laurent Picard and Michaël Dahan, bought the intellectual property of the Cytale reading device, the Cybook Gen1...
Cybook Gen3Cybook Gen3Cybook Gen3 is a 6 inch e-Reader, specially designed for reading e-Books and e-News, or listening to MP3 music or audio-books. It is produced by the French company Bookeen....
, Cybook OpusCybook OpusCybook Opus is a 5 inch e-Reader, specially designed for reading e-Books and e-News. It is produced by the French company Bookeen.-Description:The Cybook Opus is an ultra-light reading device based on E Ink screen technology....
, Cybook Orizon, Cybook Odyssey - BooxBooxBoox is a 6 inch e-Reader, specially designed for reading e-Books and e-News, or listening to MP3 music or audio-books. It is produced by Onyx.-External links:* *...
- COOL-ERCOOL-ERThe COOL-ER is an e-book reader from UK company Interead. The device is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, comes in a variety of colors, and supports e-books in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Dutch, Russian, Korean, Ukrainian, Mandarin and Japanese. The device is...
- Cruz Tablet
- eClictoEClictoeClicto - is a first Polish e-Reader, specially designed for reading e-Books, or listening to MP3 music or audio-books. It is produced by the Polish company Kolporter Info SA. eClicto was released December 10, 2009 for 899 PLN. It supports ePub, pdf and txt files.There are a few models of...
- ECTACO jetBookECTACO jetBookECTACO jetBook is an electronic-book reader developed by Ectaco, based on a Linux platform. The device was announced in the United States in October 2008...
and ECTACO jetBook LiteECTACO jetBook LiteThe ECTACO jetBook Lite is an e-book reader developed by Ectaco, based on a Linux platform. It was announced in the United States in January 2010... - eSlickESlickThe eSlick is an e-book reader, an electronic book reading device developed by Foxit Software. It has a 6 inch E Ink screen, 600x800 pixel resolution with 4-level gray scale and a mass of 180 g. The device supports text and PDF format for reading and includes Foxit's PDF Creator and Reader...
- Hanlin eReaderHanlin eReaderThe Hanlin is an e-Reader, an electronic book reading device. The device, Hanlin v3, features a 6" , 4-level grayscale electrophoretic display with a resolution of 600×800 pixels . The Hanlin v5 Mini, features a 5" , 8-level grayscale electrophoretic display with a resolution of 600×800 pixels...
- iPadIPadThe iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, and iPod TouchIPod TouchThe iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
(Lexcycle StanzaLexcycle StanzaLexcycle Stanza is a freeware program for reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. The software supports the eBook formats EPUB, eReader, MS LIT, Amazon Kindle, Mobipocket, and PalmDoc, as well as general document formats HTML, PDF, MS Word, and Rich Text Format...
or iBooksIBooksiBooks is an e-book application by Apple Inc. It was announced in conjunction with the iPad on January 27, 2010, and was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch in mid-2010, as part of the iOS 4 update. At that time, it was described by Apple as being available only in the United States...
on iOS 3.2+) - iRex Digital Reader 800Digital Reader DR800SGThe DR800SG is an electronic handheld device, or e-Reader, which can be used for document reading using an electronic paper display.-Description:Main specifications:* an electronic paper display, area for displaying content is 124x165mm...
, 1000Digital Reader 1000The Digital Reader 1000 was an e-Book reading device that was produced by iRex in the Netherlands. Production was ceased in 2010 when iRex filed for bankruptcy... - iRiver StoryIRiver StoryThe Story is an e-book reader made by iriver, which runs a Linux operating system. When it was originally released it used code licensed under the GPL but did not make the sources available; this issue has since been addressed. It got updated in July 2010, now it supports Wifi...
- Kobo eReaderKobo eReaderThe Kobo eReader is an e-book reader produced by Toronto-based company Kobo Inc. The original version was released in July 2010 and was marketed as a minimalist alternative to the more expensive e-book readers available at the time. , fifty-eight percent of Kobo Inc is owned by Indigo Books & Music...
- GNU/Linux tablets and PDAs such as Sharp ZaurusSharp ZaurusThe Sharp Zaurus is the name of a series of Personal Digital Assistant made by Sharp Corporation. The Zaurus was the most popular PDA during the 1990s in Japan and was based on a proprietary operating system. The first Sharp PDA to use the Linux operating system was the SL-5000D, running the...
and NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
770Nokia 770 Internet TabletThe Nokia 770 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York City on May 25, 2005...
, n800Nokia N800The Nokia N800 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the Las Vegas CES 2007 Summit in January 2007. N800 allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using Wi-Fi networks or with mobile phone via Bluetooth. The N800 was developed as the...
, n810Nokia N810The Nokia N810 Internet tablet is an Internet appliance from Nokia, announced on 17 October, 2007 at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Despite Nokia's strong association with cellular products, the N810 is not a phone, but instead allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using...
, and n900Nokia N900The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas Instruments OMAP3 microprocessor with the ARM Cortex-A8... - Plastic LogicPlastic LogicPlastic Logic is a spin-off company from Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory and specializes in polymer transistors and electronics.The firm was founded in 2000....
- PocketBook ReaderPocketBook ReaderPocketBook is a series of devices primarily for e-reading by PocketBook International, a Hong Kong based multinational company headquartered in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. USA headquarters are located in Overland Park, Kansas ....
- Sony ReaderSony ReaderThe Sony Reader is a line of e-book readers manufactured by Sony. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation, is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation.Sony sells e-books for the Reader...
See also
- Comparison of e-book formats
- Open eBookOpen eBookOpen eBook , or formally, the Open eBook Publication Structure , is a legacy e-book format "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press" and on XML; it has been superseded by the EPUB electronic publication standard.Open eBook is a ZIP file plus a Manifest file...
- Open Packaging ConventionOpen Packaging ConventionThe Open Packaging Conventions is a container-file technology initially created by Microsoft to store a combination of XML and non-XML files that together form a single entity such as an Open XML Paper Specification document...
- XML Paper SpecificationXML Paper SpecificationOpen XML Paper Specification , is an open specification for a page description language and a fixed-document format originally developed by Microsoft as XML Paper Specification that was later standardized by Ecma International as international standard ECMA-388...
External links
- Open Publication Structure (OPS) 2.0 specification
- Open Packaging Format (OPF) 2.0 specification
- OEBPS Container Format (OCF) 1.0 specification
- International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) Home Page
- EPUB Wiki/Home Page includes issue and bug tracking.
- Epub Format Construction Guide (also available in EPUB)
- Video: Format overview of the .epub file
- Publisher Tim O'Reilly explains the importance of EPub
- Build a digital book with EPUB by Liza Daly from IBM developerWorks