eBook Standards

The primary standards body for ebooks is IDPF - the International Digital Publishing Forum. They support the following standards for ebooks

EPUB, .epub, OPS/OCF

EPUB using the '.epub' - file extension of the XML format for reflowable digital books and publications.It is composed of three open standards:

1. Open Publication Structure (OPS)
2. Open Packaging Format (OPF)
3. Open Container Format (OCF)

EPUB allows publishers to publish a single digital publication file with interoperability between software/hardware for unencrypted reflowable digital books and other publications.

OEB

The Open eBook Publication Structure is the precursor to OPS.

The EPUB eBook Standard was presented to the international publishing industry at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2008.

Those supporting EPUB include:

• Feedbooks.com surpasses 2,000,000 EPUB downloads to reading devices.
• Sony Reader is introduced in the UK with the launch of an EPUB eBookstore Waterstones.com.
• The Association of American Publishers has announced its support for the EPUB Standard.

The International Digital Publishing Forum is a non-profit trade and standards organization for the digital publishing industry representing over 90 companies and organizations. For more on digital publication standards go to the IDPF

Back To Top

Ebooks Index | Planning | Ebook Formats | Copy Format | Publishing | Create Ebooks | Ebook Covers | Selling Your Ebook | Sales Channels | Ebook Marketing | Press Release | Ebook DRM | EPUB | Ebook Stats