Six reasons to use

vectors in e-books, or
when SVG really rocks in
ePub.
 6 reasons to use vectors in e-books, or when SVG really rocks in ePub.

If I ask you, whether you have ever read anything, using portable devices like PDAs,
smartphones, ebook readers etc. it would be a rhetorical question. When I ask you, whether
you have heard anything about vector graphics, you don't need to answer too. Probably you
even have an experience of creating vector graphics yourself. Nowadays there are so many
vector graphics editors, both paid and free of charge, that it isn't a problem at all... But have
you ever created ePub documents instead of PDF, using SVG images as a source of
graphics? That question don't sounds like an ordinary one. Why vectors instead of raster?
Why SVG instead of GIF/JPG/BMP? When, why, what software?

I hear distant voices: “Resizing! No quality losses.” Yes, but it's not all. I don't want to focus on
common SVG advantages, which are results of its vector origins. Moreover, most ePub docs
are novels and have little graphics. Here I'd like to present several cases, when, from my
point of view, vector graphics in general, and SVG particularly can be extremely useful for
your ePub docs.

1. SVG files are smaller than JPEG and GIF images, because SVG is pure XML code.
Moreover, they are more compressible. The price for using vector images was always
the fact, that it was much harder to create and work with, but with the help of third party
tool, caled “SVG Kit for Adobe Creative Suite” there is no difference between working
with such types like SVG and JPG, BMP etc. in InDesign.

2. Bitmap images, embedded into SVG XML

code will be rendering much better on
resizing. The feature is, that it's possible to
transmit the graphical representation as
vectors directly within the XML file. For
many graphic objects this will mean greatly
decreased download time and scaling
without loss of detail.(the example is taken
from http://www.openclipart.org/ Here and
further all the images are raster, but they
were all SVG..., so it looks like not
discussing SVG, but blaming raster...:) )

3. Covers with SVG text over a background

raster looks much greater, than pure raster.
As we all know we have only one chance to
make first impression. In addition, it is
clear, that book is judged by its cover.
Probably, the way we read books
nowadays has changed, but we haven’t.
 4. Equations and formulas, which have always
been scourge of every PDF document or
raster image, rendered in SVG look great,
and can be resized clearly. If you have ever
blamed the world, because you couldn’t
understand “those” sign, you understand
how much nerves it can save. Can you read,
the formula aside? Me neither.

5. Two-dimensional graphs in an X,Y

coordinate system. Different charts and
graphs also look much better in vectors.
You’ll find plenty of flash charts around the
web, which proclaim resizing as a must, so
why not to use it in SVG. Moreover, you don’t
need to make them yourself, just google and
you’ll find plenty of them. For example you
can find simple graphs in pure XML at
http://graphs.nicer2.com/

6. Show of respect to ePub itself: with the help

of third party tool, called Adobe Content
Server
(www.adobe.com/products/contentserver),
you get more possibilities to manage Digital
Rights (DRM) than in ordinary PDF. However it's a tool for professional publishers, and
the price is high.

Yeah, I’m leaping like a frog, awaiting SVG images to be everywhere in ePubs!

Btw, in case you have only one question: “But how, Luke?” I’ll be like evangelist -
http://svg.scand.com. Now we have an option: SVG Kit for Adode Creative Suite. I’ve used
one of their illustrations, as you can see.