Line break for poetry

[wisark]

Hello, I need to edit several poetry books and convert them to epub format. The problem I run into is that I need to somehow indicate when a verse (line) ends, and depending on the device and font size the verses (lines) could be broken and the words that don't fit go to the next line.

I would like that if that happens, the words that do not fit in the line go automatically to the next line (which it already happens) but with some indentation, like for example:

When a verse does not fit in the

same line

it should be shown with some indentation

Or that those words are displayed to the right of the line with "[" to indicate it:

When a verse does not fit in the

[same line

it should be shown with an opening bracket

Any of these solutions would work for me, and I would like to know if this is possible to configure somehow in Calibre, Sigil or in another way. I don't know how to code CSS but I suspect that maybe it can be solved using CSS code.

I found an old thread (from 2013) in this forum in which some solutions were presented but it was said that there was still no simple solution, and I think that perhaps now there may be already some possible resolution to this problem.

Thanks for everything and best regards.

[kovidgoyal]

Look at the files from https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/con...ormatting-demo it tells you exactly how to do that.

[BetterRed]

@wisark - convert them from what?

Best place to look is in the Workshop and ePub forums - search for 'poetry' in thread titles.

I can move this to ePub of you say 'yes'

BR

[theducks]

A Hanging (- value) indent Paragraph style will do the split line the way you want.

[wisark]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Look at the files from https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/con...ormatting-demo it tells you exactly how to do that.

Thank you so much! I checked that demo file with Calibre viewer and that was exactly what I was talking about! The problem is that I am really a newbie and I have no idea how to get it done. I see that the settings are:

ebook-convert demo.zip .epub -vv --authors "Kovid Goyal" --language en --level1-toc '//*[@class="title"]' --disable-font-rescaling --page-breaks-before / --no-default-epub-cover

Would you please be so kind as to indicate me the steps I would have to take in order to get it done? My original file is a .docx and I am using Calibre to converting it to ePub.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@wisark - convert them from what?

Best place to look is in the Workshop and ePub forums - search for 'poetry' in thread titles.

I can move this to ePub of you say 'yes'
BR

yes

Sorry I am really new and I had no Idea, I am now taking a look at the Workshop, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. My original file is a .docx and I am converting it into a .epub file using Calibre (I've done it successfully I think, but I'd love to solve this last problem)

Originally Posted by theducks

A Hanging (- value) indent Paragraph style will do the split line the way you want.

Thanks for your answer friend but as I started a few days ago using Calibre I have no idea what do you mean, I'm going to do my research. Thanks again.

[retiredbiker]

My original file is a .docx and I am converting it into a .epub file using Calibre

Your best bet by far will be to use paragraph styles in the .docx in Word (or whatever you are using to make the docx). The paragraph styles will convert to the style you want in the epub. The style you will want for this is called a hanging indent; it has a generous left margin and then a negative value for the first-line indent. The result is, if a line over-flows, it will be indented below the first line.

Search for using paragraph styles in Word Help, and also search for poetry styles or hanging indent styles. By setting the margin and the indent you can control exactly how it works in your document. This will save you mucking about with conversion settings or editing the epub.

In general, use paragraph styles for ALL formatting on the word processor side, except for italics and bold within a paragraph. It will make everything soooo much easier.

Below is a picture of what a setting like this looks like in Writer; Word will be somewhat similar. This setting will indent the whole poem 1 cm from the margin and give a further .5 cm indent to overflow lines.

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by wisark

I would like that if that happens, the words that do not fit in the line go automatically to the next line (which it already happens) but with some indentation, like for example:

Use a hanging indent. Something like this in your css file...

.hanging {
  text-indent: -1em;
}

and then use...

<p class="hanging">My poetry line</p>

[BetterRed]

@wishart - if you regard your DOCX file as your manuscript, I recommend you make the changes as outlined by @retiredbiker using Word. Do a search for "Microsoft word template for poetry" in your browser ro get some examples

Word keeps its Styles in template files.

BR

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Use a hanging indent. Something like this in your css file...

.hanging {
  text-indent: -1em;
}

and then use...

<p class="hanging">My poetry line</p>

That CSS is not going to work properly because you've left out the left-margin..

.hanging {
  left-margin: 1em;
  text-indent: -1em;
}

[wisark]

Originally Posted by retiredbiker

Your best bet by far will be to use paragraph styles in the .docx in Word (or whatever you are using to make the docx). The paragraph styles will convert to the style you want in the epub. The style you will want for this is called a hanging indent; it has a generous left margin and then a negative value for the first-line indent. The result is, if a line over-flows, it will be indented below the first line.

Search for using paragraph styles in Word Help, and also search for poetry styles or hanging indent styles. By setting the margin and the indent you can control exactly how it works in your document. This will save you mucking about with conversion settings or editing the epub.

In general, use paragraph styles for ALL formatting on the word processor side, except for italics and bold within a paragraph. It will make everything soooo much easier.

Below is a picture of what a setting like this looks like in Writer; Word will be somewhat similar. This setting will indent the whole poem 1 cm from the margin and give a further .5 cm indent to overflow lines.

I tried this solution and it worked for me! Thank you very much! I used hanging indent in my paragraph style for the poems, and then I converted the file into ePub and checked on my Kindle and it seems it worked, so I would recommend (if you are like me, a person who does not know how to code HTML/CSS and is new to the art of creating ebooks) to use this solution so that way you can mark the end of a verse using hanging indents.

Thanks again everyone.