If Brad or anyone knows a solution...I'm trying to upload the Nook epub to B&N but it keeps saying it's not a valid epub? So then I tried the generic one, and that one has the same message. I'm stumped.

 

If Brad or anyone knows a solution...I'm trying to upload the Nook epub to B&N but it keeps saying it's not a valid epub? So then I tried the generic one, and that one has the same message. I'm stumped.

Hi JumpingShip,

We occasionally hear reports of the Barnes & Noble website refusing to accept epubs, only to have them accept them later. So, we'd recommend trying again today.

If that doesn't help, we'd be happy to take a look at your epub files to see whether we can learn anything. The best way to send them to us is via our contact page. If you do that, please include the error message that you are receiving from B&N, as that might helps us too.

 

I'm putting a map in my next book and I'm looking for any advice regarding formatting. Is this a simple copy and paste thing or should I do anything special to ensure it satisfies Smashwords, Apple etc. I vaguely remember having difficulty with Apple publishing my ebook due to adding an image, so I got rid of it. This time I have to put the image in.

So, either from other Kboarders or Vellum, what do you guys advise? And what's the best way to keep it awesome but maintain a low memory load on the total file? This plus the cover adds up cost & data.

 

The sound of silence ...
(maybe not many of you do maps, though?)

The following is only half helpful because it hasn’t got much to do with vellum, but you might like to know that a) covers don’t factor into delivery cost AFAIK, and b) Apple mainly takes issue with images that contain over 4,000,000 pixels. Which sounds like a lot but it is quite easy to hit that for high-res lineart.

 

The sound of silence ...
(maybe not many of you do maps, though?)

 

So here's a question: I have an "uncategorized" page that refuses to carry the header. My header automatically switches to the chapter title once it reaches this page break. The rest of the book is the same. Everything before this page is formatted the same and correctly carries the header. HELP PLEASE!

 

Hi LDHogan,

An Uncategorized element at the end of your book will be treated as back matter. As a result, Vellum will follow common formatting guidelines and change the running head to display the title of the element on both the left and right hand pages. If your Uncategorized element isn't back matter, then we recommend converting it to a different element type. For instance, if you convert to a Chapter (or an Epilogue), then it will use the same headers as your other chapters. If you don't already know how, you can learn to convert element types on our Elements help page.

Simple question (hopefully). I'm setting up a trilogy collection and the header for my first book is the series title. After, each book shows Book II, then Book III. What am I doing wrong here? Is there a way to program a collection for the header to show the first book following the cover of the initial book (like book II & III)? If not, not. The book looks amazing with your software either way.

Hi alhawke,

If you've specified a title for your Volumes (e.g. "Book II" or "Book III"), then Vellum will use that in your running heads as the "title." So, it sounds like you haven't created a Volume element for your "Book I", or the Volume you've created wasn't given an explicit title.

If you haven't already, we'd recommend creating a Volume to hold the chapters in your first book. Then, you should remove the explicit titles from each Volume (using the gear menu's Clear Title menu item). If you'd rather Vellum use "Book" than "Volume," you can change that in Vellum's Terminology dialog, accessible via Chapter > Terminology from the main menu.

Hope this helps each of you. If not, please feel free to contact us directly via our contact page

 

Simple question (hopefully). I'm setting up a trilogy collection and the header for my first book is the series title. After, each book shows Book II, then Book III. What am I doing wrong here? Is there a way to program a collection for the header to show the first book following the cover of the initial book (like book II & III)? If not, not. The book looks amazing with your software either way.

 

Feature Request. It would be great if we had the ability to specify two different simultaneous trim sizes for print books. I'm working on a hardcover edition which requires a larger trim size than my paperback, it would be nice if I could save the new trim size as a separate edition without overwriting the old trim size in the files folder when I generate.

 

Hi SasgoraBooks. Thanks for the suggestion. We can see how this would be useful, and we do have a feature request logged for multiple print outputs. We don't have a timeframe for when this might be an option in Vellum, but we'll continue to keep it in mind. Thanks!

 

e-book formatting question:
I like the header design "Trace" but don't seem to be able to use it for custom chapter titles. When I remove the "Numbered" element of a chapter, the line disappears with it. Same when I format chapters to something uncategorized.
Example below of what it looks like right now, keeping the "numbered" checked off. I thought of imitating this look with an Ornamental Break, but I'll be adding a Heading Image which would sit in between.

Is it possible to remove the numbering element while keeping the Trace-design?

 

Hi. I have done this many times but this time is so different. I tried something new. I made the chapters say Mark-Toasted Marshmallows or something like that. I put the same heading #1 that I always use but at one point I had the Toasted Marshmallows on heading #2. After I uploaded the doc and found that Vellum did not like the new thing I tried I then made the chapters heading #1 then uploaded again but this time it added untitled chapters so I tried to delete the book. I tried deleting it every way you can with the delete key by not saving it by removing all the chapters. I tried everything and wasn't able to get rid of it because it would appear gone but then I would make a change to my doc then upload it to Vellum and now it is adding more untitled chapters. I went through trying to delete it so many times then starting over but it never stars over it just opens up the book I deleted and it adds even more untitled chapters. Then it started to add blank pages and now its a page with Chapter 1 Mark clearly spelled out but its uncategorized Untitled and it is splitting my chapters into several parts with these pages that might have one sentence on them. I went back to my doc and tried to delete any weird spaces or tried to find double spaces that weren't meant to be there. You can usually fix those very quickly on Vellum but this is something else. Any idea what is going on with this and how to fix it?

 

I just ran into a problem I haven't seen before and I couldn't find anyone who has experienced it through searching. I am running Vellum on two separate Macs, a Mac mini desktop and a MacBook. Both machines are updated to the latest version of Vellum. I use OneDrive to keep my files synced between the computers. On my MacBook everything is working perfectly, however on my Mac mini I can't open any of my Vellum files. I get the following popup message "If you are using cloud-based file storage, make sure your file is downloaded to your computer and try opening it again." I made sure all my files are actually downloaded to my SSD and I even moved a file out of the DropBox folder and onto my Desktop and still the same error message pops up. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling Vellum, still same error trying to open files. I'm out of ideas to try at this point.

 

I just ran into a problem I haven't seen before and I couldn't find anyone who has experienced it through searching. I am running Vellum on two separate Macs, a Mac mini desktop and a MacBook. Both machines are updated to the latest version of Vellum.
...
I get the following popup message "If you are using cloud-based file storage, make sure your file is downloaded to your computer and try opening it again."

You'll see this message when Vellum encounters placeholder content in your Vellum file. Placeholders are used by services like OneDrive and Dropbox when they move your files to an online state. Typically placeholder files are automatically replaced by the syncing service when you open your file. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen, especially with recent changes to macOS.

You mentioned both OneDrive and Dropbox, but Dropbox in particular can have issues on macOS 12.3 and newer. More about this issue can be found here: Dropbox support for macOS 12.3

To open your file, you'll need to make sure your file is completely downloaded ("Local") before opening it. To do that for a file in Dropbox:

1. Locate the file in Dropbox you wish to open in the Mac Finder
2. Hold down the Control key and click on the file to access a menu of commands for the file
3. This menu will include Dropbox commands. From the Smart Sync section of the menu, choose Local

After your file is Local to your computer, you should see its Dropbox indicator change to from a hollow circle to a solid green circle with a check in it.

After the file is local, you should be able to open the file by double-clicking. If you're still having trouble, it may be because your file has some other unexpected content. If that's the case, please reach out to us via our Contact Page and we can look at your file.

I'm trying to work out something. To example this I added a preface page to the sample on Vellum's website. Basically, I want to have the first paragraph have the same indentation as other paragraphs on a prefzce page. Is this possible?

Vellum follows the book design guideline that indentation is only necessary when it's necessary to indicate a new paragraph. So subsequent paragraphs are indented, but the first is not. Hope that clarifies things!


For others coming here: please note that, with the site overhaul, we no longer receive notifications about this thread, and with the site not as active as it once was, we no longer check this thread regularly.

For a faster response, the best way to reach us is directly through our Contact Page.

 

I'm trying to work out something. To example this I added a preface page to the sample on Vellum's website. Basically, I want to have the first paragraph have the same indentation as other paragraphs on a prefzce page. Is this possible?

 

Are you able to insert different fonts from your computer into Vellum? Like for handwriting fonts?

 

Just updated Vellum and the new update is creating an error when transferring word documents. Some of the prose is being transferred as "Centered". I have to remove the center formatting throughout the entire book. Can you please fix on next update?

 

Is this thread being monitoring by Vellum anymore? If not, is there another help forum somewhere?

 

See the updates to very first post in the thread.