When Is A Page Suspension Non A Page Break? Epub 3, Page-List Too Pagebreak

Returning to the creation of ebooks later a pause tin flame survive tricky; getting your caput dorsum to a greater extent than or less the concepts too the hard to navigate IDPF documentation tin flame get moments of confusion. At 1 of these points, as I was styling some prelims, I reached out this calendar week on twitter to clarify a betoken close page breaks, which I intend mightiness also confuse others because of misleading type names.

@ It shouldn't pause pages. It's precisely to position where pages broke inwards a related impress edition. #eprdctn

— Dave Cramer (@dauwhe) January 27, 2017

Explaining the confusion

It's touchstone do to accept a split XHTML file for each chapter inwards an EPUB too it is most mutual for apps to pause pages betwixt these, but on occasion yous mightiness similar to strength a page pause within a unmarried XHTML file. Perhaps because yous desire a unmarried file for the prelims but desire the half-title page, championship page too copyright page, etc. to survive on split pages as they would survive inwards a impress book.

So it mightiness appear logical to plough at this betoken to epub:type="pagebreak" but this is non an educational activity for in that place to truly survive a page pause inwards the EPUB, instead it is a agency of identifying page numbers from the impress majority within the electronic 1 inwards the promise that reading apps volition utilise these page numbers for the do goodness of readers.

The argue that the pagebreak type does non truly insert a page pause is because an electronic page tin flame vary inwards length depending on shroud too text size, too breaking at every impress page would do a lot of unnecessary white infinite interfering with the menstruation of "reflowable" EPUBs. But the inquiry that follows is: why non telephone phone the type page-number instead of pagebreak? I accept no idea, possibly they precisely wanted to add together some confusion.

Identifying page numbers within an EPUB

If yous want to role the pagebreak type inwards guild to position page numbers within the XHTML of your EPUB, role the next code (at the start of the numbered page):

<span epub:type="pagebreak" title="When is a page pause non a page break? EPUB 3, page-list too pagebreak" id="p3"></span>

In addition, yous must too thus add together a page-list to your EPUB Navigation Document (which is most usually saved with the filename toc.xhtml):

"If an EPUB publication includes page pause markers it also requires a page listing — a special navigation cistron inwards the EPUB navigation document that provides links to all the page pause locations."

You tin flame come across the practical role of a pagebreak in this IDPF sample file and likewise in that place is also a page-list sample.

The page-list is 1 of the optional types contained inwards the EPUB Navigation Document, amongst a list of tables, identified with epub:type="lot", and landmarks. Note: the solely type that the navigation document must contain is a toc (table of contents) type.

So how do I truly insert a page pause within an EPUB?

I'm glad yous asked. Page breaks tin flame survive inserted into EPUBs with regular CSS like:

p.pagebreak { page-break-after:always; }

The CSS is included inwards the IDPF properties that are expected to locomote inwards all EPUB readers and the accompanying XHTML is as simple.

<p class="pagebreak"></p>

Or yous could add together page-break-after or page-break-before within the CSS for a specific manner that volition e'er come upwardly at the kickoff or halt of a page, for event the majority title.

While it would survive tempting to only add together the pagebreak cast to the impress pagebreaks (epub:type="pagebreak") where electronic page breaks are truly required, yoy must take in the divergence betwixt block-level HTML tags too inline tags. To explain, a page may survive begun inwards a impress majority within the middle of a paragraph (and thus also inwards the automatic menstruation of an EPUB) but it would survive unlikely that you'd desire to insert a page pause inwards the middle of a paragraph of HTML. So you'd probable survive placing pagebreaks earlier paragraphs too other block-level elements, thus the  electronic page pause itself should truly survive a block-level element.

Closing remarks

The alternative on whether to role pagebreak too page-list is upwardly to you. It is also upwardly to yous on whether to compass every page pause or solely a few pregnant ones with "page-breaks", but the take in is to growth accessibility, too overall utility, too it is specially useful for academic books, too other texts that volition survive referenced and/or read inwards grouping situations across impress too electronic formats to accept impress page references available.

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