Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland > How do I read an e-book?
Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland > How do I read an e-book?
Epub is a format for e-books. It is particularly well suited for reading on smaller screen devices such as tablets and mobile phones. The text flow and page layout of an epub adapts to the space on the screen and to settings made by the reader, such as text size.
Usually you download the epub file and save it on your device before opening it for reading. To read an epub, you need an ebook reader programme. Tablets have the programme built in. Mac computers, iPads and iPhones also have a built-in reading programme called Books (Apple Books). For other devices, you may need to install a reading programme.
For Windows computers, we primarily recommend Calibre, which you can download here. If you are using a work computer on which you cannot install programs yourself, there is also a portable version of Calibre that you can install without admin rights.
For those who need accessibility features and perhaps read via screen readers, Thorium is recommended.
Calibre consists of three modules: the main application, where you can manage your e-book library and also open books in the other modules; the e-book viewer, the reading application; and the e-book editor, designed for those who need to edit e-books.
You can open an epub file that you have saved on your computer in any of the modules, or in another reading programme you have, by right-clicking on the file, selecting Open with and then selecting the programme.
Once you have opened the file in the Calibre e-book viewer, you can browse the book using the arrow keys, among others. Press Esc or right-click on the page to access menu items and settings. A manual for the e-book viewer can be found here.
Whichever reading programme you choose, it is a good idea to make it your default programme for epub files. Then you can easily open an e-book for reading just by double-clicking on it. The easiest way to define the default epub programme is to right-click on an epub file and select Properties. In the window that appears, on the General tab, find the Open with setting. Click Change and select the reading programme you want to use.
For mobile phones and tablets with the Android operating system, there are many different reading apps, which you can find and install via the Google Play Store. Good options include Colibrio Reader and Pocketbook Reader.
Apple computers have a built-in reading programme called Books (Apple Books).
Once you have downloaded an e-book, you will find it in Finder in the Downloads folder. You can open the book in Books by double-clicking on the file. Once you have opened the book in Books, you can find it again via the Library view in Books.
You can scroll back and forth in the book using the arrow keys or by clicking in the right and left margins.
Menu buttons such as the table of contents can be accessed by moving the mouse pointer over the upper edge of the window.
The iPad and iPhone have a built-in reading programme called Books (Apple Books).
When you download an e-book on your iPad, it is saved in the Downloads folder. If you downloaded it via Safari, you can access it via a button with a downward pointing arrow that appears to the right of the browser’s address bar. You can also navigate to the file in the Files app (the icon that looks like an index card).
The process of downloading and opening the book may be different depending on the browser and iPad version you are using.
When the book is open in Books, scroll forwards by tapping in the right margin or swiping from right to left, and backwards in the opposite way.
You can access menus such as the table of contents by tapping anywhere on the page (but not in the left or right margin). The arrow (<) on the left of the menu bar takes you to the library view, the symbol with three horizontal lines opens the table of contents.
At the bottom of the table of contents you will probably see the text “Press to show printed page numbers”. By pressing this button, the page number of the printed book will be displayed in the table of contents and in the left margin of the e-book page where each printed page starts. You can also go to a page in the printed book by typing the page number in the search field. This feature is available in most of the SLS e-books that have a printed counterpart.
Opening and reading an epub on the iPhone works in a similar way to the iPad.