Friday, October 23, 2015

Millwater's FARRIERY: Getting Modern...

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   I published the 2010 version of the lexicon of farriery to (then still fairly new) Amazon Kindle e-reader using Amazon's online system to convert it from the original PDF file of the print edition.  I was never that happy with the results, but it actually sold some 'copies'.

Quick revisit of the final "New" Dictionary of Farrier Terms.

   I wanted to do it better with the current Millwater's FARRIERY, so the conversion was done in-house, much of it manually.  Which is why the Kindle (and other e-reader) port has taken so long to release.

   Cross-referencing has been a big part of the design since the first Pocket Dictionary in 1994, relying not only on SEE:, SEE ALSO:, and similar instructions, but on typesetting cues within the definitions and articles themselves.

   With the Kindle version, we can take that a bit farther with hypertext.  Instead of just seeing words defined elsewhere in the book printed in boldface italics, you'll actually be able to tap/click on them and go directly to their entries.

   Aside from the magic of hypertext, the content of the new e-reader version is identical to the trade paperback and hardcover editions...  Even though the Amazon page count is over 100 pages higher.  That's due to the very tight formatting in the physical print editions getting a lot of content onto each page.

   The text content is "flowable", so you can change the size smoothly...  The graphic elements have been reformatted for best display on base Kindles while staying withing the data size limitations of the format.  On some of the higher resolution new models, these element may initially display small, but you should be able to blow them up and still have good viewing resolution.

   At around half the price of the trade paperback, there are some advantages to this newfangled age.


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