42 How to Test Your Ebooks
Hugh McGuire
Pressbooks helps you create high quality ebooks that meet the industry standards set by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and submission requirements of all mainstream ebook retail platforms. Supported ebook formats on Pressbooks include EPUB 2 and MOBI. EPUB 3 files are also available in beta format.
Before you submit your ebook files for publication, we highly recommend testing your files on a few common ebook platforms. Read on for a list of recommended ebook testing tools.
Free Ebook Testing Tools
The ugly non-secret of ebooks is that they look different on just about every platform. No matter whether its Kindle or iBooks or Nook or Kobo or some other reading platform, you should expect some variation in the reading experience. Pressbooks works hard to standardize the design of your ebooks, but if you want to know exactly how your book will look after it’s available for purchase, we suggest downloading your ebook files and viewing them on a few of the free ebook reading tools listed below.
- Adobe Digital Editions
ADE is Adobe’s free desktop EPUB reader. Since ADE was one of the first widely accepted ebook-reading technologies available, it’s used to power a lot of different services’ ebook platforms. How your book looks on ADE is a good indicator of how it will look elsewhere. - Kindle Previewer
Amazon Kindle requires that ebooks are created in their own proprietary format: MOBI. Likewise, the MOBI format is only compatible with one testing tool: Kindle Previewer. If you’re testing your MOBI files, Kindle Previewer can show you what your ebook will look like in tablet, phone, or ereader format. It also allows you to modify the display with the same settings available on the Kindle ereader software. NOTE: We do not recommend uploading your MOBI files from your desktop directly to your Kindle or Kindle mobile app. See more information below. - Apple Books
Apple Books is an ebook reading application available on all iPhones by default. It can also be used to read ebooks on MacBook computers, on iPads, and on the iPod Touch. This software is free, but can only be downloaded if you have an Apple device. - Rakuten Kobo
Kobo is another common ebook reader. You can download the Kobo application on your phone to view your EPUB files. It’s also possible to transfer your EPUB files directly from your desktop to your Kobo device. - Dropbox
Dropbox is a great tool to let you access files from multiple devices — drop your EPUB file into a folder in dropbox, and then you can access it from any device. - IDPF Validator
The International Digital Publishing Forum maintains a tool that allows you to “validate” your EPUB, or make sure that the file conforms to globally accepted standards and specifications required by all ebook platforms. EPUB files with validation errors may be rejected from ebook retailers, which is why we recommend either testing your files with IDPF or enabling Pressbooks error reports