FreeOffice: Export as EPUB is not included in SoftMaker FreeOffice.
This feature is only available in SoftMaker Office Professional and NX Universal. The command is not freely available in the Android and iOS version. For more information, see the beginning of this chapter.
As an alternative to the PDF format, you can also export documents in the EPUB format.
EPUB is an open standard for e-books (electronic books) and other electronic publications. The EPUB format can be read by most e-book readers. In addition, there are numerous viewer applications for PCs and mobile devices.
In contrast to the PDF format, where the text formatting is retained exactly as in the original document, the formatting of an EPUB file may differ significantly from the original document. This is also the intention: In the case of e-books, the e-book reader regulates the text flow themselves and ensures that it is optimally adapted to the display size of the device used.
To export a document to an EPUB file, proceed as follows:
| 1. | Choose the ribbon command File | group Document | EPUB export  . |
| 2. | A dialog box appears. Make the desired settings there (see below) and confirm with OK. |
| 3. | Now another dialog box appears. In the dialog box, specify the file name under which you want to save the EPUB file and confirm the entry. |
The EPUB file will then be created. To view it, start a suitable viewer application and open the file in it.
Tip: If no viewer application for EPUB documents is installed on your device, simply search for "EPUB reader" using your web browser. You will find many suitable applications, many of which are free.
The dialog box of the above command allows you to make the following settings for the EPUB export:
General tab
On this tab, you can enter the document's summary information and some additional information and make further settings.
Available options:
▪Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Description
| Here, you can change the document info for the document, thus enter the title, author and so on. If you plan on publishing the generated EPUB file, you should also fill in these fields. |
| Note: Alternatively, you can change these fields via the Summary tab in the dialog box of the ribbon command File | Properties. |
▪Language, ISBN, UUID, Publishing date, Publisher, Copyright notice
| Here, you can enter additional information about the document. If you plan on publishing the generated EPUB file, you should also fill in these fields. |
| The UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) is a unique number that can be used to identify an individual document. If you click on the New button, you generate a new random UUID. (Technically, UUIDs are not actually unique but, due to their sheer length, the probability of inadvertently generating an already assigned UUID is close to zero.) |
| Note that the UUID of a document should not be changed once it is published – unless you want to release a new revision of the document. |
| The ISBN (optional) is in turn an actually unique identification number for a publication. ISBNs are primarily required by the book trade. You usually obtain an ISBN from your publisher. |
▪Cover
| Enable the option Create cover page if you want to add a cover page to the EPUB file in the form of a picture file. Most EPUB readers will then not only display this picture as a cover page in the document itself, but they will also use it as a preview image for the document (for example, in the user's "library"). |
| To select the desired picture for the cover page, click on the three dots next to the input field below this option. This will open a corresponding file dialog box. |
| You can also change the background color of the cover page if desired. |
▪Table of contents
| If the option Create table of contents is enabled, TextMaker will automatically save a bookmark in the EPUB file for each heading that your document contains. |
| Some EPUB readers can display these bookmarks, for example, in a bar to the left of the document. You can then use this bar as an interactive table of contents: simply click on one of the headings in it to jump to the corresponding section in the document. |
| Tip: If your reader does not display a bookmark bar, search for a command to display bookmarks or the table of contents and enable it. |
Note: Of course, this feature only works if you have previously outlined the document (by adding headings). For a description of this process, see Outlines.
Preferences tab
On the second tab, you can make settings for the output of the EPUB file:
▪Picture options
| Here, you can specify whether to save images with lossless compression or with lossy JPEG compression. If you opt for JPEG compression, you can set the quality level of the compression. |
Tip: Normally, you should choose lossless compression here because it ensures perfect image quality. If your document contains a large number of images (especially photographs), however, the resulting EPUB file may be very large. In this case, we recommend that you use JPEG compression, which provides a much higher compression ratio for photographs.
▪Split EPUB text
| When exporting documents with a lot of text, it is advisable to have TextMaker split this text into several small "pieces". Otherwise, some low-end EPUB readers might be unable to process the document. |
| Normally, this option should always be enabled. TextMaker will split the text into segments of about 100 KB in the resulting EPUB file. All EPUB readers should be able to cope with these segments. |
| The display is not changed – EPUB readers also display such files as a single continuous document. |
▪Font options
| The option Font embedding enables you to specify whether the fonts used in the document should be embedded in the EPUB file. |
| This is usually not required, as most EPUB readers only display the document in their own fonts anyway. |
| However, some readers have an option for displaying the document in its original fonts. Of course, this only works with documents that have this option enabled. TextMaker then automatically determines which fonts were used in the document and embeds them in the EPUB file. |
| Note: This can make the resulting EPUB file much larger. |
Note: Please respect the license terms of the fonts' vendors. For most commercial font packages, embedding in EPUB files is not allowed (or requires the payment of additional charges).
▪CSS options
| EPUB files usually also contain a CSS file. It stores all the styles that you use in your document. This CSS file is generated automatically by TextMaker, so you don't have to worry about it. |
| If you have manually created your own CSS file, you also have the option of using it instead of the automatically generated file. Enable the option Append custom CSS. Then click on the three dots next to the input field below this option. This will open a file dialog box in which you can select the desired file. |
| Note: Not all readers support the use of a custom CSS file. |
▪Other options
| Open the file in an EPUB viewer after exporting: This option launches your PDF viewer automatically and displays the PDF file after it has been created (provided that you have a PDF viewer installed on your computer). |