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M
Mike24743490uli6
Participant
June 10, 2022
Answered

EPUB: What would cause this difference?

  • June 10, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 1577 views

Attaching screenshots of a given chapter of a book; one in the Kindle app and one in the Apple Books app. In the Kindle, it shows both "Twenty-Two" above the title and then the number 22 prior to the chapter title. In Apple books, the numerical 22 isn't shown. Why would this be?

 

I'm trying to have the chapter numbers spelled out above the chapter title, but then in the TOC have the chapters numbered like:

 

1. [Chapter 1 title]

2. [Chapter 2 title]

 

This is a reflowable epub.

Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

Can I control the "space after" the chapter number if it needs to be different than the space after the chapter name that way (with just a soft return), though?

 

(Also: I'd thought I'd had that pull quote after the chapter number [as I'd mentioned in my first message here], but it's actually after the chapter name.)

 

 


All four iterations need to be styled and managed separately, and then in concert. No small trick.

 

If you want a lot of control over the printed page, the two paragraph approach might be best. It gives you unlimited control on the print page but limits you to the two-line TOC display.

 

The single-Para Style, soft-return plus Char Style method means you have to juggle line spacing and then spacing below on the print page, which should be do-able. Leading is controlled, more or less, by the following paragraph, so if you have 36pt leading to separate the number and title, then 14pt Body text following will be as close as any bottom/top spacing allows.

 

This is 24/48 for the auto-numbered heading, with a following em space and 1pc space below, and 12/14 with 6pt bottom spacing for the Body:

 

Seems like that should get you where you want... or did I miss something?

1 reply

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
June 10, 2022

Are these from the same EPUB, or separate exports?

 

Don't auto-number the chapter headings in any way. Use auto-numbered TOC styles.

 

—

    M
    Mike24743490uli6Author
    Participant
    June 10, 2022

    Same epub file, different reading apps.

     

    I've tried setting the TOC style to auto-number, but the TOC on the readers seems to ignore it. 

      A
      aliciap22522224
      Participating Frequently
      February 15, 2025

      Well, my first six tricks didn't work. I am tempted to say it can't be done, at least not as a straightforward setup.

       

      The only solution I see is (1) use no autonumbering at all and then (2) edit toc.xhtml in the exported EPUB. I try to avoid that kind of file surgery for many reasons but see no other easy solution.

       

      —


      Just coming to ask if this answer (can't be done without editing the html) still holds. I've been desperately searching for a way to add a chapter number to a chapter title in my EPUB TOC as above without having to edit the code.

       

      The last book I did had 51 chapters. The chapter numbers used their own paragraph style, and the chapter names used their own paragraph style. (Between the number and the name there was a pull quote -- all three elements were styled differently. The author did NOT want to lose this formatting order in the ebook. So the number and the name could not on the same line/be the same paragraph style.)

       

      Exporting the EPUB TOC resulted in having the chapter number (level 1) on its own tab, and then the chapter name (level 2) hidden until the number was clicked on -- and obviously, they're both really level 1s. But that results in just have separate little tabs for number and name. . . . 

      Re-adding allllllll of those numerals to the exported EPUB file by hand, every time I re-exported it and thought it was "final," (oh, if only!) was soooo tedious.

       

      I'm working on another book now. Very similar layout. Client likes having the chapter numbers and chapter names styled differently. This does not seem unreasonable and looks GREAT. But again -- there are FORTY chapters. I'm dreading the EPUB export, and having to number all of those names by hand, every single time I think I've got everything finalized, but don't. . . . 

      Is there any hope?

       

       

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