Create EPub with Calibre

Calibre can convert .docx (Word) and html files to several different electronic book formats. PDF files can also be imported, but these lack the markup structure needed for a ebook navigation.

The files needs to have the proper structure: titles, headings, etc need to marked. This is done in html by using CSS to define things such as headings (<h1>, <h2>, etc). In Word, this must be done using Styles. Open the Styles Pane, and apply styles to the Title, Chapters (Heading 1), chapter sections (Heading 2).

Style Pane in Word

You can adjust the syles by selecting "Modify Style." You can change the font, font size, and other attributes (color, bold/italic, etc):

Modify Style

 

Modify Heading

 

Once you have a properly formatted document, import it into Calibre using the "Add Book" menu item"

Add Book to Calibre

Calibre can import Word files, html, and other fomats:

Word doc Import

 

Once the file has been added, use the Convert menu to begin the conversion process:

Convert Ebook

The Conversion window has options to set the Meta Data (author, etc), as well as various Formatting Options.

In the "Look and Feel" menu, check the "embed fonts" option:

Calibre Look

The rest of the options can be left to their defaults, though you can change the output format here if you want to. Once you have set the options, click the OK button on the bottom right.

To export the e-book, use the Save to Disk menu item:

Calibre Save

This will export the epub file as well as an .opf file containing the book metadata. When you share an ebook, you do not need to share the opf file, as Calibre will create a new one when importing a book.

To view the book in your library, you can use the Book Viewer:

Calibre Viewer

 

If you right-click on the book, you'll see an information and navigation window:

Inpsect book

The text styled as "Heading 1" is now a chapter title in the Table of Contents:

Table of Contents

 

You can also edit a book after it has been converted, using the Edit Book menu item:

Calibre Edit

In the Edit view, you'll see that the ePub is just html and css:

edit view

 

For much more information, including how to convert a website into an ebook, go to the Calibre User Manual, in particular the eBook Conversion and FAQ sections