Kindle Previewer 3 — Beta

  • Sumo

Amazon has released a new version of Kindle Previewer, the tool many developers use to convert EPUBs to MOBIs. It’s available for Windows and Mac OS.

Since it’s still in Beta, I won’t replace my existing Kindle Previewer version (2.941).

Here’s the link (note: I had quite a bit of trouble downloading with Chrome on my Mac, but Firefox downloaded without a hitch):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1003018611

It’s worth reading all the FAQs, so scroll through the download page.

One highlight is the list of devices supporting Bookerly and Enhanced Typesetting. In fact, it mentions that you should keep version 2.941 on hand to compare Enhanced Typesetting results with non-Enhanced when viewing in Kindle Previewer.

Of course, Enhanced Typesetting seems to be applied within the Amazon ecosystem; we can’t add it (or Bookerly) as developers. So we can’t preview these features as we work.

I’ll look into this more as time goes on, and update as needed. I’d love to hear from anyone who has used the new Previewer. What are your experiences? Crash much, or not at all? Javascript errors? Enhanced typesetting present? Comments on the interface itself?

 

Kindle Publishing Guidelines Also Updated

You can download them here:

https://kindlegen.s3.amazonaws.com/AmazonKindlePublishingGuidelines.pdf

The Guidelines address Enhanced Typesetting, but without saying ‘how’ to do apply it.

New Fixed-Format Wrinkle

The new Publishing Guidelines also describe (in a new Chapter 12) a version of the KF8 Fixed-layout format without popups. Amazon states this can be used when text is large enough so it doesn’t need magnification. This is all fine, but designers should keep in mind what devices and apps their books will be read on; small smartphone screens might mean that what seems big on iPad or Fire will still seem small on iPhone.

10 Responses to “Kindle Previewer 3 — Beta”

  1. Quite a few improvements, but my #1 gripe with Amazon remains. They need to update the Kindle plug-in for InDesign 5.5 or create a new one. It’s ridiculous to be able to export a epub book from ID in seconds, but have to muddle through another app to create one for Kindles.

    Amazon is a giant company. It needs to spend money like one not play the techno-Scrouge.

  2. Matteo says:

    Hi,

    I have been testing the new KP3 beta version. There are a lot of enhancements, starting from the general design and layout. It is much easier to navigate the book and it is great to have the option to preview the Kindle for iOS as well.

    The problem is that this seems to work only with some books, only those enabled for “enhanced typesetting”. As for others the KP3 converts the book to an .azk format as the old KP used to do, suggesting to test that file on an iOS device.

    Also, the conversion process seems to be quite lengthly compared to the previous KP version. They specify this is due to the “enhanced typesetting” optimisation taking place during the conversion.

    Finally, I hope there will be more Kindle Fire devices skins added to the software.

  3. Kevin Callahan says:

    Thanks for the update, Matteo.

    This is Beta, still, so maybe Amazon will unkink these problems.

  4. […] Kindle Previewer 3 — Beta (EPUB Secrets) Amazon has released a new version of Kindle Previewer, the tool many developers use to convert EPUBs to MOBIs. It’s available for Windows and Mac OS. One highlight is the list of devices supporting Bookerly and Enhanced Typesetting. In fact, it mentions that you should keep version 2.941 on hand to compare Enhanced Typesetting results with non-Enhanced when viewing in Kindle Previewer. […]

  5. Gustavo says:

    I installed Kindle Previewer 3 on a PC with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. Windows warned this program doesn’t have an known publisher (?), but I chose Run Anyway. I can open the app but when I try to open a book, .epub or .mobi the app crashes. Anyone facing a similar issue? I have sent the crash log to Kindle support and I’m waiting for feedback. I’ll post it here when they reply. In the meantime I installed it in my Mac with El Capitan and it works fine.

  6. Alexandre Alvarez says:

    I been strgling to publish my book on kindle for weeks, they make it so difficult I’m using a program called Scrivner, and it’s just not going trough for me, so frustrating.

  7. Marie says:

    My first eBook and I’ve recently installed Kindle Previewer 3. It opens up saying “Converting your book to Kindle Format and checking to see if Enhanced Typesetting is supported…” which is taking ages (got to go through 360-odd pages). At first I thought it had stalled, so I think a process bar would be good to know if it’s still running. The rest is just making me go WTF all the time. Been struggling to get the styles right for ages now…

  8. ditto the status bar. i’ve closed it twice thinking it isn’t working. now i’m waiting it out, but it’s a 500-page book, so I guess it’s taking a while. ?

  9. Celeste says:

    This is an old thread, but IMHO the Kindle Previewer 3 is crap. The thumbnail pane is right in the center of the screen, with the tablet preview to the right. I would have to keep my head turned constantly to the right to read the book. No one does that. Can someone tell me how to close the thumbnail pane?