LaTeX to ePub, MOBI, iBook: Free Open Source Conversion (English Edition)

The objective of this eBook is to show you how to convert LaTeX to ePub, then to MOBI and iBook, using free software, while maintaining all the beautiful features of LaTeX.

ePub is a wonderful format to distribute books, user manuals, reports, and all sorts of documentation that in the past would have been distributed on paper. Compared to hard copy books, ePub does not consume paper, it is not heavy to carry, it can be distributed electronically, and it has all the advantages of a Website, such as instantaneous links throughout the document and to the World Wide Web. Compared to a Website, it does not require an Internet connection and reading it feels like reading a paper book. It is yours to carry anywhere once it is loaded into your device (eReader, tablet, phone, laptop, you name it). You can make annotations on it, and with sporadic synchronization through the Web, you can share your reading progress and annotations among devices, friends, and colleagues.

ePub does not have fixed pages as a printed book. This is a serious advantage. ePub content (text, figures, everything) is reflowable, meaning that the "page" that you are reading is laid out by the eReader on real time when you advance to that "page", rotate the device, or adjust the font size, typeface, or margins. Reflowable text allows for displaying the same content on vastly different devices, from a smart phone to a laptop.

Making a text-only document reflowable is extremely easy. Doing it for technical documents loaded with math, images, graphics, tables, and so on is not an easy task. In the print world, many authors typeset their documents using MSWord or LaTeX. This eBook is meant for LaTeX users.

In summary, we propose to use LaTeX to produce the content as you would normally do for a paper book, but following a few rules to make for an easy transition to ePub. Then, we will use plasTeX to convert LaTeX to XHTML. Finally, we use Sigil to quickly assemble a single ePub file that contains your book.

Furthermore, I will show you how to customize plasTeX to automatically get the results wanted. plasTeX is free open source code that can be customized, but doing so is not trivial. The customizations described here will allow you to produce eBooks with the features that you see in this eBook and in http://www.amazon.com/Multifunctional-Composites-Ever-Barbero-ebook/dp/B017Z2BLOY without any programming whatsoever. You just have to install some software and move some files around. That's all. However, if you are interested in further customizing the conversion process, you will find here an introduction on how to do it and some examples that work.

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