docbook-apps

I am curious about other people's approach to using SVG in Epub2.

We rely heavily on SVG for our Docbook to pdf flow and Fop is rendering SVG
(mostly exported from Visio) without major problems.

However, all the epub readers we have tried do a horrible job of rendering
SVG. We have tried Nook for Android, Aldiko, Mantano, EZpdf, and Readium.
Azardi is the only one that produces usable rendering.

Is the best option to convert to png and use that? That would be a shame.

Another downside I noticed is that all epub readers are much, much slower
than pdf readers.

MT
--

On 04/04/13 20:28, Marcel Tromp wrote:
> I am curious about other people's approach to using SVG in Epub2.


IIRC Epub2, the spec, doesn't mention SVG? Perhaps that is why
most readers don't render well?


regards

--
Dave Pawson
XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
http://www.dpawson.co.uk

SVG is part of epub 2.0:
http://www.idpf.org/epub/20/spec/OPS_2.0.1_draft.htm#Section2.5.1

MT
--


On Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 11:36 PM, davep <davep@dpawson.co.uk> wrote:

> On 04/04/13 20:28, Marcel Tromp wrote:
>
>> I am curious about other people's approach to using SVG in Epub2.
>>
>
>
> IIRC Epub2, the spec, doesn't mention SVG? Perhaps that is why
> most readers don't render well?
>
>
> regards
>
> --
> Dave Pawson
> XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
> http://www.dpawson.co.uk
>
> ------------------------------**------------------------------**---------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: docbook-apps-unsubscribe@**lists.oasis-open.org<docbook-apps-unsubscribe@lists.oasis-open.org>
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>
>

It actually turns out most problems are caused by the quality of the Visio
SVG output.

Biggest problem is the unit-less definition of font-size in the text/css
section, which results in extremely small text. Visio svg also omits xlink
namespace definition and has problems with arrow heads.

After rudimentary cleanup, resulting epub with SVG renders OK in a number
of readers.

MT
--



On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 12:34 PM, Marcel Tromp <mtromp.docbook@gmail.com>wrote:

> SVG is part of epub 2.0:
> http://www.idpf.org/epub/20/spec/OPS_2.0.1_draft.htm#Section2.5.1
>
> MT
> --
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 11:36 PM, davep <davep@dpawson.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> On 04/04/13 20:28, Marcel Tromp wrote:
>>
>>> I am curious about other people's approach to using SVG in Epub2.
>>>
>>
>>
>> IIRC Epub2, the spec, doesn't mention SVG? Perhaps that is why
>> most readers don't render well?
>>
>>
>> regards
>>
>> --
>> Dave Pawson
>> XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
>> http://www.dpawson.co.uk
>>
>> ------------------------------**------------------------------**---------
>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: docbook-apps-unsubscribe@**lists.oasis-open.org<docbook-apps-unsubscribe@lists.oasis-open.org>
>> For additional commands, e-mail: docbook-apps-help@lists.oasis-**open.org<docbook-apps-help@lists.oasis-open.org>
>>
>>
>

On 04/04/2013 20:28, Marcel Tromp wrote:
> I am curious about other people's approach to using SVG in Epub2.
> However, all the epub readers we have tried do a horrible job of
> rendering SVG. We have tried Nook for Android, Aldiko, Mantano, EZpdf,
> and Readium. Azardi is the only one that produces usable rendering.
> Is the best option to convert to png and use that? That would be a shame.

From the EPUB 3 Best Practices book[1]; "EPUB 3 maintains compatibility
with EPUB 2 through its continued use of SVG 1.1..."

Can you implement a fallback?



"Using an object tag also allows you to embed a fallback image for those
reading systems that don’t support SVG"

I've only just started looking into the DocBook XSL this last week but
apparently O'Reilly made some useful additions to the EPUB3
stylesheets[2], making them fully EPUB2 compatible. You should also read
EPUB Best Practices as you'll find a lot of useful information in it.

Mike


[1] http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920024897.do
[2] http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/02/oreillys-journey-to-epub-3.html

I've not read Epub3 best practices yet: I was planning to stick with Epub2
for the time being because of a lack of 3.0 readers.

I will try Epub3, but I expect similar results: when I use Streamium (an
Epub3 capable reader) to render my Epub2, the svg is rendered incorrectly
as well.

Fall back will not work because the readers render the SVG, they just doo a
very poor job of it.

MT
--


On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 6:16 AM, Mike Cook <m@mikecook.co.uk> wrote:

>
> On 04/04/2013 20:28, Marcel Tromp wrote:
>
>> I am curious about other people's approach to using SVG in Epub2.
>> However, all the epub readers we have tried do a horrible job of
>> rendering SVG. We have tried Nook for Android, Aldiko, Mantano, EZpdf, and
>> Readium. Azardi is the only one that produces usable rendering.
>> Is the best option to convert to png and use that? That would be a shame.
>>
>
> From the EPUB 3 Best Practices book[1]; "EPUB 3 maintains compatibility
> with EPUB 2 through its continued use of SVG 1.1..."
>
> Can you implement a fallback?
>
>
>
> "Using an object tag also allows you to embed a fallback image for those
> reading systems that don’t support SVG"
>
> I've only just started looking into the DocBook XSL this last week but
> apparently O'Reilly made some useful additions to the EPUB3 stylesheets[2],
> making them fully EPUB2 compatible. You should also read EPUB Best
> Practices as you'll find a lot of useful information in it.
>
> Mike
>
>
> [1] http://shop.oreilly.com/**product/0636920024897.do<http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920024897.do>
> [2] http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/**02/oreillys-journey-to-epub-3.**html<http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/02/oreillys-journey-to-epub-3.html>
>
>
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> To unsubscribe, e-mail: docbook-apps-unsubscribe@**lists.oasis-open.org<docbook-apps-unsubscribe@lists.oasis-open.org>
> For additional commands, e-mail: docbook-apps-help@lists.oasis-**open.org<docbook-apps-help@lists.oasis-open.org>
>
>