eBook Layout

A friend of mine is letting me borrow his laptop with Corel X3 on it so I can decide if it's a good idea for making layouts for eBooks.

What I want (and I don't know if it's possible) is to have a template per page with a box for a title, a 2 column box of article text, and a box for a footer (with page number).

Is that possible?

I don't want to have to draw in unique text boxes on every single page of the document! I'll be doing 15 or so of these eBooks and I don't want to have to create three new text boxes on EVERY page.

Would a newer version of Corel be better?

I've spent HOURS trying to figure this out and I'm frustrated! I'm trying to get a better "look" than just put it together in Word. My first attempt at an eBook (in Word) was okay, but doesn't have the professional look I'm really going for.


Thanks!

  • The Outdoor Princess said:

    A friend of mine is letting me borrow his laptop with Corel X3 on it so I can decide if it's a good idea for making layouts for eBooks.

    What I want (and I don't know if it's possible) is to have a template per page with a box for a title, a 2 column box of article text, and a box for a footer (with page number).

    Is that possible? Yes it is, but using a macro is the best way to get the text boxes across all pages. For repeating logos/graphics/text which appears on all pages - you use a Master Page. Instead of clicking New Layer at the bottom of the Object Manager, you click on New Master Layer. Anything you put on that will appear on ALL pages. It can be turned off for individual pages, however. The text boxes are no good to you here though as anything you type in a text box will automatically appear on every page of your document. You need to place those on normal layers and a macro can copy your text boxes to every page in your document very quickly. I made one here back when I had X4, but I am not sure if it also worked with X3. Jeff Harrison may know, or someone else with X3 can probably tell you.

    I don't want to have to draw in unique text boxes on every single page of the document! I'll be doing 15 or so of these eBooks and I don't want to have to create three new text boxes on EVERY page. Without the aid of a macro, it would be a simple (but tedious) matter of selecting all text boxes on a page and then clicking Copy. Then you would go to the next page and click paste, and move to the next page and paste and so on. If you only had to do it once to create a template then it would not be so bad. Save as a .CDT file (CorelDraw Template).

    Would a newer version of Corel be better? Definitely. There are a lot of new and enhanced features in X5 and you also can add a ton of macros to it to really make it rock. You can do the same in X3, but many macros have been written for X4 and X5 only which use a different layer structure to X3.

    I've spent HOURS trying to figure this out and I'm frustrated! I'm trying to get a better "look" than just put it together in Word. My first attempt at an eBook (in Word) was okay, but doesn't have the professional look I'm really going for.  As a starting point, if I was you I would ask a series of questions in here about specific tasks you are unsure how to do. There are so many talented people in these forums you will be amazed how much they know and how friendly and helpful they can be. One of the first things I ever did when I first bought CorelDraw was to set up customized tool bars. They are fully customizable, just like in MS Word, but there are a lot more handy things you can add in CorelDraw. The features you use most should always be one click away, not buried away in some menu.

    Start asking away, listing each thing you want to know and we can start helping you. It would also be good to have an idea of what you are trying to do, as in what type of e-Book are you making? Do you have an image you could post here, or post a link to on the Net that we can look at. For example, what sized page will it be and will it be portrait or landscape?

    Best regards,
    Brian.

    • CorelDRAW is not the right program for creating an ebook.
       
      An ebook is almost entirely text based. Most ebook formats are very similar to HTML. If you want something to look better, you need to learn how to do the formatting for the ebook format you are creating.