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Drop Cap Alignment Issue

Explorer ,
Jun 23, 2024 Jun 23, 2024

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I have seen answers to the question that I have, but they seem to not be my proble,.  My problem is a drop cap that does not display on the first line but below that. I have it set in paragraph styles to be three lines tall but it covers four lines and the first line of text is higher than the Drop Cap.  The solutions offered on this site are to make sure that the point type of the Drop cap is the same as the text in the rest of the paragraph (check) and also to make sure that the Character style in the Drop Cap setting for the paragraph style is set to "empty." Mine is set to "[None]" which I presume is the same as "empty." If not, I do not know how to change "[None]" to "empty."  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Thanks!!

 

Rick Reiman

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Explorer , Jun 24, 2024 Jun 24, 2024

I checked it out with Adobe Digital Editions and it worked perfectly!  The problem was the Mac desktop ereader, "Books."   Thanks again-- I was at my with end.

Rick

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Explorer ,
Jun 23, 2024 Jun 23, 2024

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I would like to add one more explanation of my problem.  The problem I describe occurs when I export the epub to an ereader app.  The Drop Cap looks fine in InDesign but it does not export as an epub properly.  The Drop cap character is positioned beside but lower than the first line and although it is not very large, there are 4 lines indented even though I set it to be three lines indented. The Drop cap hovers between the first and the fourth line, inexplicably.

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Explorer ,
Jun 23, 2024 Jun 23, 2024

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...It is a reflowable epub that I am attempting to create, if that helps.

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Explorer ,
Jun 24, 2024 Jun 24, 2024

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Will anyone answer my question, please?  Thanks,


Rick

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Community Expert ,
Jun 24, 2024 Jun 24, 2024

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Sorry, this question went past me as I don't have any special expertise with drop caps in print and didn't realize the question was about EPUB export.

 

That it's a reflowable EPUB answers the first question. Second, though, is "What epub reader are you using to proof it?" EPUB readers are not all the same (far from it) and what one viewer shows might not be anything like what the next one does. I suggest Calibre as a good, fairly stndards-compliant reader for proofing. Does your DC appear correctly in it?

 

Drop caps should be easy to define in InDesign and export. Here's one from a test file, with nothing fancy except the def in the paragraph style and an associated character style making it red (InDesign, Kindle Previewer, Calibre, in order) —

 

JamesGiffordNitroPress_0-1719262833388.png

JamesGiffordNitroPress_1-1719262863723.png

JamesGiffordNitroPress_2-1719262893241.png

 

You can also tweak drop caps using CSS style code on export. But ID does it well and with many options... as long as the reader supports the layout properly.

 


┋┊ InDesign to Kindle (& EPUB): A Professional Guide, v3.1 ┊ (Amazon) ┊┋

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Explorer ,
Jun 24, 2024 Jun 24, 2024

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That's very interesting! I did not know that about the readers. I was using "Book."  I will try ADE, and let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help!

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Explorer ,
Jun 24, 2024 Jun 24, 2024

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I checked it out with Adobe Digital Editions and it worked perfectly!  The problem was the Mac desktop ereader, "Books."   Thanks again-- I was at my with end.

Rick

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Explorer ,
Jun 24, 2024 Jun 24, 2024

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My "wit's end," I mean.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 25, 2024 Jun 25, 2024

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Typos happen. 🙂

 

Just to follow up, though — while common, Apple's reader is mostly-standard but has its quirks, one of which you've discovered. It does not make a good general EPUB proofing/checking reader. Those who want to list books for sale via Apple/iTunes are advised to use it and tweak their documents to correct the quirks for better display and reading, but that version then becomes specific to the Apple market.

 

As for ADE.... it may have worked for you on this point but it's a terrible document reader, a sort of half-finished "all in one" e-doc reader that Adobe released and has never finished, fully debugged or updated. Don't use it. For anything. If you're going to be creating EPUBs, you want either the Calibre reader (which is about 99% standards-compliant and the best "vanilla" reader at present), or Thorisum Reader, which is 100% standards-compliant but has a longstanding font-sizing bug. (I have been assured the developers are working on it.)

 

But... "anything but ADE." 🙂 And don't lose sight of the real issue here, that EPUB readers vary greatly in their presentation, and you rarely have any control over what reader any given user might choose. Yes, it's a problem.


┋┊ InDesign to Kindle (& EPUB): A Professional Guide, v3.1 ┊ (Amazon) ┊┋

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