What File Does Kindle Use

EPUB vs. MOBI vs. PDF: Which Book Format Should You Utilise?

You've finished your masterpiece and it's time to upload information technology to the publishing marketplaces.

But here'south the challenge: Each market place (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.) has different file formats and requirements for authors. Plus, you need your book to wait professional across all platforms: Kindles, Nooks, iPads, smartphones, etc. So, what format allows you to publish on multiple marketplaces and platforms with the to the lowest degree work?

All of these marketplaces and platforms accept EPUB, others accept PDF, and a few accept MOBI. Writers should know where they intend to publish their book, and what those marketplaces' requirements are. Likewise, PDFs may exist your choice if your story requires fixed formatting. It's 2021. More and more avant-garde authors crave unique formatting to tell their tale.

Between EPUB, MOBI/AZW3, and PDF, y'all should use whichever book format matches your intended market place. For case, MOBI/AZW3 is mainly for distribution on Amazon's marketplace and all Amazon Kindle devices. (But you lot may non demand to relieve MOBI/AZW3 files yourself — more on that later.)

Proper formatting is your ticket to eBook publishing. If you're publishing on multiple platforms, you're going to need different kinds of formatting for each. Just not to worry, this articles volition intermission the process downwardly for you.

In this article, you will learn:

EPUB vs MOBI vs PDF — what's the difference betwixt each format?
The benefits of each format
Which publishing platforms accept which format
Which file format you lot should use based on your private needs

Tabular array of contents

What Volume Format Should You Use: EPUB, PDF, or MOBI/AZW3?
Which Marketplaces Accept Which Formats?
What Are the Differences Betwixt EPUB, PDF, and MOBI?
EPUB — The Gold Standard for eBook Publishing
- What Are the Pros and Cons of Using EPUB?
- When Should I Use EPUB?
- Extra Resources for EPUB
MOBI (AZW3/KPF) — Amazon'due south Proprietary Format
- When Should I Use MOBI Files?
- What Is Sideloading?
- How to Check Book Formatting for Amazon via KDP
- Extra Resources for MOBI
PDF — The Print-on-Demand Solution
- What Are the Pros and Cons of Using a PDF?
- When should I use a PDF?
- Extra Resources for PDF
How to Convert EPUB to MOBI
Book Formatting Tools to Create EPUB, MOBI, and PDF Files
- Vellum
- Draft2Digital
- Ebook Launch
- Kindle Create
Which eBook File Format Is All-time For You?

What Book Format Should You lot Use: EPUB, PDF, or MOBI/AZW3?

In near every case, yous should outset by using the EPUB file format for your book.

If y'all plan to distribute your eBook on the Amazon marketplace, you should apply the current version of MOBI/AZW3 to ensure your eBook looks exactly like you lot intend on Kindle devices. The easiest way to do this is by uploading your EPUB file to Kindle Create via Amazon KDP.

Most other marketplaces have EPUB files without the need for conversions.

PDFs may exist your best selection for graphically detailed eBooks/documents. PDF is the only file format of these 3 that maintains the fixed format of how graphics appear on the page. This besides makes it more limited, but we'll become into that later.

EPUBs and MOBIs reflow and resize all sorts of elements which may issue in a huge change to the appearance yous intended.

Which Marketplaces Take Which Formats?

Amazon (and Kindle, manifestly) have MOBI/AZW3 in their marketplace (which you lot can convert from EPUB using their own platform).

Most other marketplaces accept EPUBs, and some take multiple formats.

Kobo also accepts EPUBs and MOBIs. Apple Books and Google Play accept EPUBs and PDFs.

Here's a side-past-side comparison of EPUB vs. MOBI vs. PDF and other formats, every bit well as which marketplaces use which format:

What Are the Differences Between EPUB, PDF, and MOBI?

And then, this begs the question: What is the deviation between EPUB, MOBI, and PDF?

EPUB is a universal eBook file format. EPUBs are reflowable, resizable, and can contain digital rights direction (DRM) functionalities. Although Amazon used to turn down EPUB files until they were converted to MOBI files, they now take EPUB files onto their Amazon Kindle marketplace. (They basically convert EPUB files to MOBI files when they're put on Kindle.)

MOBI is the remnant of an eBook company Amazon bought eons ago. The MOBI name and file format are more often than not obsolete, but its descendants (such every bit AZW, AZW3, and KFX) go along on as Amazon Kindle'due south file format of choice. Many people in the biz even so say "MOBI" when they mean "AZW3" or "KFX".

PDF is the most printer-friendly file format. This means your graphically detailed manuscript remains every bit graphically detailed every bit you intended. However, because PDFs are fixed format, they don't resize or reflow well.

EPUB — The Gold Standard for eBook Publishing

An EPUB file in the most common certificate format for eBooks and other multimedia files. EPUB stands for "electronic publication." An EPUB file is actually an annal file consisting of XHTML files that carry your content. Based on HTML and CSS, EPUB is free, open-source, and open standard.

Created and certified by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) in 2007, EPUB is the most widely supported vendor-contained eBook format. Simply put, more eBook readers tin can read EPUB than any other format in the earth.

EPUB 3.2 was released in 2019 — the about recent update, as of 2021.

The Book Industry Study Group has endorsed EPUB 3 as the format of choice for eBooks worldwide.

Have yous ever read an eBook that was a pain to read? (And I'k not talking virtually James Joyce'south Ulysses.) If you plant yourself constantly resizing the text and layout of your e-reader, you probably weren't reading an EPUB. EPUB files automatically arrange to the size of your device — be it a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or east-reader — so that y'all accept a nifty reading experience. This is chosen "reflowable," and it's pretty great.

EPUB files are:

Reflowable
Resizable
Fixed-layout
Good for highlighting, bookmarking, and even irresolute background colors
Friendly with inline raster and vector images
Able to contain DRM every bit an optional layer
Used by virtually all eBook readers

Is EPUB better than MOBI? Yes, EPUB is improve than MOBI in nigh circumstances. The only reward to MOBI is that Amazon'south format is automatically protected by DRM, whereas DRM is an optional layer in EPUB files.

Amazon at present accepts EPUBs on its marketplace but converts EPUB to MOBI during upload.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Using EPUB?

Pros for using EPUB files:

EPUB files are open source.
When compared to other eBook formats, EPUBs are just easy (both to create and edit).
Virtually all publishers have EPUB books on their marketplaces.
Virtually all eBook readers open up EPUBs, including the Nook, Android devices, Apple Books, Sony Reader, Adobe Digital Editions, and so many more.
With the ability to highlight, resize, and bookmark, EPUBs are very reader-friendly.
Yous can easily add multimedia to EPUB files, like tutorial videos, illustrations, and just about anything else yous can think of.
Since it'due south based on HTML, it'due south highly adaptable.
If you lot're using Google Docs, you can download your physician as an EPUB — unlike MOBI/AZW3. Evan big docs tin can be downloaded every bit EPUBs — different PDFs.

Cons of using EPUB files:

Amazon Kindles cannot read EPUB files. Even so, yous tin can now rapidly convert an EPUB to a MOBI, or one of its mod descendants, similar the AZW3. You don't even need a third-political party conversion tool — it's all done within KDP/Kindle Create.
Digital rights management (DRM) protection is an optional layer in EPUBs, meaning this anti-piracy functionality is only nowadays in some EPUBs, non all.

When Should I Use EPUB?

You lot should employ EPUB equally your main choice whenever you want to publish an eBook. Virtually all publishers accept EPUB eBooks, and they're very writer-friendly and reader-friendly.

Even Amazon accepts EPUB eBooks. Even so, they immediately convert them to their own file format: AZW3 or KPF (the newest versions of the file format previously known as MOBI). This may mess with your eBook's formatting. Most of the time, this doesn't happen, but that's why it's important to review formatting when you upload your book to KDP.

If you're publishing with Amazon'south Kindle Direct Publishing, employ Kindle Create to brand your eBook into a KPF so yous can ensure your eBook looks exactly like you want it on a Kindle device.

Is EPUB or PDF better? EPUB is meliorate than PDF for eBooks. PDFs may be meliorate for printing and perhaps graphically detailed eBooks, merely EPUBs are designed to be reflowable, resizable, and reader-friendly. PDFs are non really designed to be read equally eBooks.

EPUB Format Advantages and Limitations
How to Open an EPUB File
EPUB iii.0 Advice from the International Digital Publishing Forum

MOBI (AZW3/KPF) — Amazon's Proprietary Format

A MOBI file format (Mobipocket eBook format) is designed for eBooks, only by and large for Amazon Kindle. An AZW3 file is also designed for eBooks on the Amazon Kindle and was released alongside the Kindle Fire reader in 2011.

Amazon and its Kindle platform dominate the book market. There is no comparison. Naturally, Amazon has their very own eBook format — MOBI. The name is from when they bought Mobipocket in 2005. Amazon kept them running until 2016, then Mobipocket was permanently shut down.

Amazon's history with file formats is absolutely complicated:

Amazon Kindle nevertheless recognizes the MOBI file format.
Another file format created by Mobipocket software, PRC files, is no longer supported by Amazon.
AZW files debuted in 2007 with the first Amazon Kindle.
AZW3 files debuted in 2011 with the Kindle Fire. AZW3s are also known as Kindle Format 8 (KF8).
In 2015, Kindle Format 10 (KFX) was released with updated layout and typesetting abilities.
Kindle Package Format (KPF) is a variant of KFX. On Kindle Direct Publishing's back up page, they recommend using KPF for your eBook.

Is the MOBI format dead? No, the MOBI format is not (technically) dead. However, it is outdated and on its way out. Amazon continues to take MOBI formatted eBooks. And all Amazon'southward file formats are based on MOBI's legacy format.

AZW and its predecessors are essentially the same as MOBI, but with a different proper noun and DRM (Digital Rights Direction) scheme. In a nutshell, the AZW upgrade made MOBI files safer. It locks an writer'due south purchased work to a heir-apparent'due south account, therefore protecting your work from those nasty digital eBook pirates.

Important: PRC files created with MobiPocket Creator are no longer supported by Amazon.

Why would an author yet apply the MOBI format for a volume? An writer might still employ the MOBI format for a volume if they were comfortable with the old format. Only nowadays, it's safer to use AZW3 (and its later variants) for its anti-piracy functionality and smaller file sizes.

When Should I Use MOBI Files?

You lot should use MOBI files (or their modern cousin, AZW3 files) when you lot're publishing on Amazon's marketplace or when y'all desire to sideload your book (similar for advanced reader copies).

Kindle Straight Publishing recommends you utilise Kindle Create to make your eBook into a Kindle Package Format (KPF) file — which is a descendant of the MOBI and AZW3 file formats. A KPF helps yous see exactly what readers will see, and lets you edit the format and await of your eBook with a myriad of like shooting fish in a barrel tools.

What Is Sideloading?

Sideloading means transferring a file from one device to some other, similar to "uploading" and "downloading". This transfer may occur over WiFi, Bluetooth, or by a USB drive or app.

Sideloading can be associated with pirating books and other media because it's washed without purchasing the book directly from a platform. However, authors often utilize sideloading to distribute advanced reader copies (ARCs) before their book is publicly available for purchase.

MOBI files are very piece of cake to sideload onto a Kindle. You should be able to connect your Kindle device to your calculator over your WiFi network, then drag and drop MOBI files from your computer onto your Kindle. Even easier — you can download a number of MOBI sideloading apps, such as Amazon's Send to Kindle app, to elevate and driblet files from anywhere onto your Kindle device.

How to Bank check Volume Formatting for Amazon via KDP

It might be an extra step, but when you want to check your eBook formatting for Amazon/Kindle Direct Publishing, you really should use Kindle Create.

Kindle Create allows you to view and edit how a reader will run across your eBook on a Kindle device. And when you're finished with your thrilling manuscript and center-catching encompass, use Kindle Previewer to see how your eBook volition look when you publish it.

How to Open up a MOBI File
How to Read AZW3 Files on PC or Mac
About AZW3 Files

PDF — The Print-on-Demand Solution

The Portable Document File (PDF) is a file format that debuted in 1993, and it's still one of the most recognizable and widely used file formats in our modern world. It is most helpful in creating printer-friendly documents. However, there are rare situations when yous want to format your eBook equally a PDF.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Using a PDF?

A PDF is not really a true eBook. Information technology's a print-type document with a fixed layout.

Pros for using a PDF as an eBook:

PDFs are fixed format. This means they will appear the same no matter what size screen you are on. This may be a negative in some cases, merely you may want a PDF's fixed format for graphically detailed manuscripts that would not translate well when reflowed, like EPUBs and MOBIs practice.
Virtually electronic devices can open a PDF with congenital-in software — more than programs than tin can open an EPUB or certainly a MOBI/AZW3.
PDF format may be the style to become if you're looking to print your eBook, which many authors still do. This is where POD (Print on Demand) services come in handy. Companies such every bit KDP Print and IngramSpark are ii popular choices. These companies print what you need when you need it without having to aggregate a surplus of print books — and they require PDF files to do it.

Cons for using a PDF as an eBook:

PDFs are not reflowable or resizable. If a reader tries to zoom in, or read on small screens, a PDF may look wrong or be illegible.
PDFs are non designed to be eBooks.
Barnes & Noble Press (and the Nook) does not accept PDFs on its online marketplace.

When should I use a PDF?

You should utilise PDFs if yous demand a specific format for your eBook, or if your manuscript is graphically detailed.

For instance, Business firm of Leaves past Mark Z. Danielewski comes to mind. Part of the storytelling in House of Leaves is the foreign, unique formatting. If you search "House of Leaves EPUB", you will only find PDFs available for purchase.

PDFs tin can exist accessed on nigh whatever device. They are the well-nigh universal of the three formats. Only but because the devices can open them doesn't necessarily mean they should.

Again, PDFs have one major disadvantage that may lead you to consider some other format: PDFs are non reflowable. They don't play squeamish with any device except a printer. They don't resize or alter when swapping from i device to another. This tin can make PDF files extremely awkward to read on an e-reader, tablet, or phone. Font size will be too tiny for many devices.

How to Open a PDF
More Info on PDFs
Find PDF eBooks!

How to Convert EPUB to MOBI

To convert EPUB to MOBI, you can use complimentary online tools like CloudConvert, Zamzar, or Covertio.

To convert MOBI to EPUB, you can use the same tools: Zamzar, CloudConvert, Convertio. A simple Google search should plough up safe and reliable tools to convert your files.

You lot tin too download Calibre for free. It converts many file formats into other formats, including EPUBs, MOBIs, and PDFs in both directions.

Below are some of the best tools and services for formatting eBooks into diverse file formats.

Vellum

Vellum is an all-in-one eBook development tool for Mac. (Distressing, Windows users.)

It can help you with every aspect of your eBook, including formatting but going fashion across that. I recommend this software for whatever author using Mac.

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital (D2D) is a really useful and powerful book aggregator. They offering a simple and elegant formatting service as well.

Merely upload your MS Word-readable certificate to D2D, and they accept care of the balance. Later on, it can easily be distributed to any of D2D's partners.

Ebook Launch

Ebook Launch handles everything from illustrations to forepart thing to hyperlinks.

This service comes with a 100% guarantee that your eBook will be properly formatted for most major book retailers and aggregators, such as Amazon KDP and Smashwords.

Kindle Create

Amazon's market is the well-nigh promising frontier for aspiring authors. Then it'south fortunate that Amazon offers its Kindle Create service to view and edit what your eBook volition await similar before you publish information technology.

Using a pick of book themes, you can change the look and feel of your volume before readers see it.

It's too easy to create an interactive tabular array of contents with Kindle Create — annihilation that improves the reader experience is a practiced thing.

Which eBook File Format Is Best For You?

The eBook file format that'due south all-time for yous depends on your individual situation, just nearly authors should definitely start with an EPUB file first.

Which is meliorate: EPUB vs MOBI vs PDF? All 3 formats have their benefits:

EPUB is the universal format accepted by almost all publishers and read by nearly all due east-readers.
MOBI (and its descendants, like the KFX and AZW3) are best for publishing on Amazon's Kindle Straight Publishing market place. Yous tin can convert an EPUB file to Amazon's current format inside KDP using Kindle Creates (no 3rd-political party conversion required).
PDFs are a must if you have a graphically detailed manuscript and need a fixed format.

The easiest way to know which file formats yous demand is to go through a professional formatting company, such as Ebook Launch. With a service like Ebook Launch, you can choose multiple file formats to guarantee you have the right eBook format when the demand arises.

That's exactly what I exercise. I have all iii formats available simply in instance I'm going to utilize Amazon (MOBI), other publishers (EPUB), or print (PDF). Each has its own individual strengths that must be considered.

Hopefully, this article has given you a ameliorate understanding of the benefits of each file format for your eBook.