I wonder if anyone has seen the Theravada Tipitaka Press epub Pali texts
(http://books.nibbanam.com/epubs.htm) on a reading device that supports
the diacritics. When I look at them in ADE (Adobe Digital Editions) on a
desktop (the underlying platform for many e-pub reading devices), they
don't appear correctly. Just ??? marks for the letters with diacritics.
When the files are converted to mobi they look great on a Kindle.

BKh

On 12/15/2011 12:39 AM, palitechguy wrote:
>
> Hi!
>
> I spent the last couple of days getting Pali Texts from VRI plus
> Access to Insight web pages formatted into ePub format and onto an
> eReader I have for testing.
>
> The bottom line :
>
> 1) There is at least one inexpensive eReader that allows you to
> install Pali fonts and use them without any problem.
>
> 1.a If you know how to copy files onto a USB key then you can install
> the Pali fonts onto the eReader.
>
> 1.b If you can choose a font from the list in your word processor then
> you have the skills needed to activate the font and use it.
>
> The eReader I tested with is the Kobo eReader Touch Edition.
>
> (My Sony eReader PRS-650 does not allow me install and activate fonts
> in a way that any normal human being can understand. It is such a
> complicated fuss that I won't bother detailing it).
>
> 2. The Pali Tipitaka as PDF files - bug?
>
> I downloaded the PDF files from tipitaka.org a few times over the last
> year but they didn't unzip properly on my Windows XP computer and I
> didn't have time to fuss with it.
>
> I think I found the problem. You cannot "Extract All..." files on
> Windows XP if there are Pali special characters in the file name?
>
> In any case, I renamed the zip files that I downloaded and they
> unzipped fine.
>
> BTW : the computer I used is installed in French so this might have
> affected the unzip?
>
> Conclusion : If you have not been able to unzip the PDF files from
> tipitaka.org then try renaming them.
>
> If you have the font installed on the eReader then these PDF files
> show all pali characters. This is nice but...
>
> 3. It turns out that it is very fast and easy to create ePub books for
> Pali (and the Access to Insight web site or other web sites).
>
> There is a program called "SIGIL The ePub Editor" (under the GNU GPL
> v3) that makes it very easy to create ePub format books for yourself
> or others.
>
> 3.1 If you just want to create a fast ePub book then
>
> - Open Windows Notepad
> - Copy and Paste some Pali or a web page into Notepad
> - "Save As..." - After Filename and File Type there is a little
> pull-down list Code (Encodage in French). Change it from ANSI to UTF-8
>
> almost done!
>
> - Open Sigil
> - Open your file
> - Save As... - There is a pulldown box for the file type. The default
> is EPUB file (*.epub)
>
> and you have just created your first Pali ePub book.If a pali font is
> installed on your eReader then all Pali characters will show properly.
>
> Optional : If you are going to be sharing the book then you will
> probably want to add a cover, create section headings, generate a
> table of contents and much more but it is not necessary.
>
> 4. Links
>
> I blogged about the Pali Tipitaka pdf file bug and about adding fonts
> to the eReader at :
>
> http://emsjuwel.com/pali.dictionary/buddhist-pali-tipitaka-pdf-files-an-unzip-problem-solved/
>
> You can download Sigil and see the Basic Tutorial (on the left side
> under "Wiki Pages") at :
>
> http://code.google.com/p/sigil/
>
> Hopefully we will soon be able to offer pali materials in the very
> handy ePub format.
>
> peace from
>
> Andy
>
> _



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