Often users have noticed the feature of thumbnail preview not set by default in their Windows 10 operating systems. This is normal and not a bug, so if you are scavenging over the internet looking for “fixes”, you won’t find working ones.
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.
- Thumbnail display has also changed. Now, a continuous spectrum of user-selectable sizes is available rather than the discrete sizes such as Icons and Thumbnails provided in Windows XP. Note You might hear these thumbnails referred to as Live Icons. Thumbnails of 32-bit resolution and as large as 256x256 pixels are often used in Windows Vista UI.
- Thumbnail preview for EPUB, CBZ, CBR, RAR and ZIP image archives. Visual Studio 2019 using Windows 10 SDK. Minimium system requirements. Windows 7/8/8.1/10 (32/64-bit) Screenshot. Credits Source Code. Used Invertex's CBXShell as a base. Application Icon. Icons made by Those Icons from Flaticon.
- How to Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews in File Explorer in Windows 10 How to Disable Image Preview to Display Pictures in a Folder in Windows 10.
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):
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:
The Guidelines address Enhanced Typesetting, but without saying ‘how’ to do apply it.
Epub Thumbnail Windows 10
New Fixed-Format Wrinkle
Epub Thumbnail Preview Windows 10
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.