The Different Ebook Formats Explained: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, IBA, and More
Ebooks account for 30% of all book sales in the United States, and unlike MP3s, which can be thrown into any music player and expect to work, ebooks are a maze of proprietary and open standard formats that not all e-readers and readers support.
1. EPUB
EPUB, which replaced the old Open ebook format (OEB) in 2007, is the most widely used ebook file format. It is supported by almost all mainstream e-readers and computer operating systems, and publishers can wrap it in any DRM system they want.
2. MOBI
MOBI is the successor to EPUB and evolved from the old OEB format; it is supported by all major e-readers except the Barnes and Noble Nook. MOBI is not an open standard, so it is not publicly available.
3. AZW and AZW3
Amazon’s two proprietary ebook formats are AZW and AZW3, which debuted alongside the first Kindle in 2007 and AZW2 in 2011 with the Kindle Fire e-book reader. Both formats are similar to MOBI but support video and sound.
4. IBA
IBA is the format used for books created in Apple’s iBooks Author app, and it supports video, sound, images, and interactive elements. If you buy regular best-selling ebooks from the iTunes store, they will be delivered in the EPUB format.
5. PDF
The last major ebook format in use is PDF, which has one major drawback: it lacks native reflowing. The PDF format can get around this by using tags to define a document’s underlying structure, but tagged PDFs are still not well supported by ebook readers.
6. LRS, LRF, and LRX
The file extensions for the Broad Band ebook format were LRS, LRF, and LRX, which were proprietary formats created by Sony for use on its own line of ebook readers. Sony has since abandoned all three formats in favor of EPUB for its ebooks.
8. DJVU
DJVU can store more than 100 black-and-white scans in less than a megabyte, which is roughly 10 times better than PDF compression. Note: You can shrink the size of a PDF with a few compression tricks.
9. LIT
Microsoft has retired the LIT format for digital books, which was Microsoft’s proprietary ebook format that could only be read with the Microsoft Reader app when it was DRM-enabled.
EPUB vs. MOBI vs. AZW: Which One Is Best?
The only formats you need to worry about are EPUB, MOBI, and AZW. Choose MOBI if you’re building a library that’s primarily Kindle-specific; it doesn’t have as many features as AZW, but it can be read on a wider range of devices.
Is Kindle good for science books?
A kindle is designed for reading novels; it has a long battery life and doesn’t cause as much eye strain when reading for long periods of time, but it’s optimized for text; it can read other formats, but if you’re buying it primarily for diagram-heavy pdfs, a cheap android tablet would be a better choice.
Which format is better for eBook?
EPUB, or electronic publication, is the most widely supported eBook format, and it can be read on a wide range of devices, including computers, smartphones, tablets, and most eReaders (except Kindles).
Is EPUB or PDF better for textbooks?
Pagination: With reflowable text, the pages are rendered differently because the number of pages changes each time the text or window changes.
Can I read scientific papers on a Kindle?
It can, but it won’t be a pleasant experience because all of the formatting is preserved (no text reflow), so you’ll have to zoom in and drag to read the text properly, and zooming and dragging on the kindle is extremely slow and unresponsive (in comparison to tablet computers).
Is Kindle good for reading PDF?
As a result, Kindle can read any type of PDF document natively, that is, without having to convert it, and you can read PDF on Kindle quickly, smoothly, and without much effort.
How do I optimize a PDF for Kindle?
Improve Your Kindle PDF Experience
- Add a single file or batch process multiple files or a selected folder.
- Set the Screen Size of your target device.
- Click Convert All Files or press Enter to convert the file with the default settings.
What type of ebooks sell the most?
As a writer, it’s critical to gain any advantage you can in a world where over 1 million books have already been self-published. The top five selling categories for ebooks on Amazon are:
- Biographies and Memoirs. Biographies and Memoirs. Business and Money. Self Help. Cookbooks, Food, and Wine.
What format does Amazon use for ebooks?
We support books in EPUB format that meet the specifications outlined in the Kindle Publishing Guidelines. Create your EPUB file using any third-party tool available on the internet, and validate it with Kindle Previewer before uploading it.
What is the version of an ebook?
An eBook is a digital (or electronic) version of a book that can be borrowed and read on an eBook reader (like a Kindle or Nook), other portable devices (like an iPad or smartphone), or your computer.
Is PDF or EPUB better for Kindle?
If you’re using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, use Kindle Create to convert your eBook to a KPF so it looks exactly how you want it on a Kindle device. Is EPUB or PDF better for eBooks? EPUB is better than PDF for eBooks because PDFs aren’t designed to be read as eBooks.
Are eBooks in PDF format?
PDFs are not true ebooks; while they are electronic and are often referred to as such, they are designed to display a print-type document with a fixed layout. This means that PDFs will look the same no matter what device you use to view them, from a small phone to a tablet or computer screen.
How do I convert a PDF to eBook?
What is the best way to convert a PDF to an EPUB file?
- Choose the PDF file you want to convert.
- Select EPUB as the format you want to convert it to.
- Click “Convert” to start the conversion process.
Is Kindle Paperwhite good for PDF?
The Kindle Paperwhite can read PDF documents natively, which means that the text and graphics are displayed exactly as they were in the original PDF document; you can’t change the layout, font size, typeface, line spacing, or words per line.
How do I read an article on my Kindle?
Here’s how to send web articles to your Kindle and read them on it.
- Send to Kindle. For adding online stories to your Kindle library, Amazon offers an official browser extension.
- Push to Kindle.
- Send to Reader.
- Connect Read-for-Later Services With Your Kindle.
- Send Articles From Your Android or iOS Phone to Kindle.
Can I use mendeley on Kindle?
Look at this, Kindle users: your Mendeley library is now available on the Kindle. http://www.kinsync.com/ Another great use of our open API!