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https://github.com/fnando/kitabu

A framework for creating e-books from Markdown using Ruby. Using the Prince PDF generator, you'll be able to get high quality PDFs. Also supports EPUB, Mobi, Text and HTML generation.
https://github.com/fnando/kitabu

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A framework for creating e-books from Markdown using Ruby. Using the Prince PDF generator, you'll be able to get high quality PDFs. Also supports EPUB, Mobi, Text and HTML generation.

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README 

        
# kitabu



[![Tests](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/workflows/ruby-tests/badge.svg)](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu)

[![Gem](https://img.shields.io/gem/v/kitabu.svg)](https://rubygems.org/gems/kitabu)

[![Gem](https://img.shields.io/gem/dt/kitabu.svg)](https://rubygems.org/gems/kitabu)

[![MIT License](https://img.shields.io/:License-MIT-blue.svg)](https://tldrlegal.com/license/mit-license)



Kitabu is a framework for creating e-books from Markdown using Ruby. Using

Prince PDF generator, you'll be able to get high quality PDFs. Also supports

EPUB, Mobi, and HTML generation.



While Prince is too expensive (495USD for a single user license), the free

version available at  generates a PDF with a

small logo on the first page, which is removed when sent to a printer; you can

use it locally for viewing the results immediately. When you're done writing

your e-book, you can use [DocRaptor](http://docraptor.com), which have plans

starting at \$15/mo.



## Features



- Write using Markdown

- Book layout support

- Syntax highlight

- Generate HTML, PDF, e-Pub (version 3.3), and Mobi

- Table of Contents automatically generated from chapter titles



## Installation



To install Kitabu, you'll need a working Ruby 3.2+ installation. If you're cool

with it, just run the following command to install it.



    gem install kitabu



After installing Kitabu, run the following command to check your external

dependencies.



    $ kitabu check



    Prince XML: Converts HTML files into PDF files.

    Installed.



    Calibre's ebook-convert: Converts ePub e-books into .mobi files.

    Installed.



There are no hard requirements here; just make sure you cleared the correct

dependency based on the formats you want to export to.



## Usage



To create a new e-book, just run



    $ kitabu new mybook



This command creates a directory `mybook` with the following structure:



```

.

├── Gemfile

├── Gemfile.lock

├── Guardfile

├── assets

│   ├── fonts

│   ├── images

│   │   ├── cover.png

│   │   ├── kitabu.svg

│   │   ├── markdown.svg

│   │   └── up.svg

│   ├── scripts

│   └── styles

│       ├── epub.css

│       ├── html.css

│       ├── pdf.css

│       ├── print.css

│       └── support

│           ├── kitabu.css

│           ├── normalize.css

│           ├── notes.css

│           └── toc.css

├── config

│   ├── helpers.rb

│   ├── kitabu.yml

│   └── locales

│       └── en.yml

├── templates

│   ├── epub

│   │   ├── cover.erb

│   │   ├── page.erb

│   │   └── toc.erb

│   └── html

│       └── layout.erb

└── text

    ├── 01_Getting_Started.md

    ├── 02_Creating_Chapters.md

    ├── 03_Syntax_Highlighting.md.erb

    ├── 04_Dynamic_Content.md.erb

    ├── 05_Exporting_Files.md

    └── 06_Changelog.md



13 directories, 28 files

```



The `config/kitabu.yml` file holds some information about your book; so you'll

always change it.



The generated structure is actually a good example. So make sure you try it!



![Kitabu - Sample Book](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/raw/main/attachments/cover.png)



There's a generated sample available on the

[attachments directory](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/tree/main/attachments)

• [PDF](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/raw/main/attachments/kitabu.pdf) /

[EPUB](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/raw/main/attachments/kitabu.epub) /

[MOBI](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/raw/main/attachments/kitabu.mobi) /

[HTML](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/raw/main/attachments/browser-version.png).



Now it's time to write your e-book. All your book content will be placed on the

text directory. Kitabu requires you to separate your book into chapters. A

chapter is nothing but a directory that holds lots of text files. The e-book

will be generated using every folder/file alphabetically. So be sure to use a

sequential numbering as the name. Here's a sample:



    * text

      * 01_Introduction

        * 01_introduction.md

      * 02_What_is_Ruby_on_Rails

        * 01_MVC.md

        * 02_DRY.md

        * 03_Convention_Over_Configuration.md

      * 03_Installing_Ruby_on_Rails

        * 01_Installing.md

        * 02_Mac_OS_X_instructions.md

        * 03_Windows_instructions.md

        * 04_Ubuntu_Linux_instructions.md



If you prefer, you can add a chapter per file:



    * text

      * 01_Introduction.md

      * 02_What_is_Ruby_on_Rails.md

      * 03_Installing_Ruby_on_Rails.md



You'll want to see your progress eventually; it's time for you to generate the

book PDF. Just run the command `kitabu export` and your book will be created on

the `output` directory.



Kitabu can generate a Table of Contents (TOC) based on your h1-h6 tags. To print

the TOC, you need to print a variable called `toc`, using the eRb tag.



    <%= toc %>



#### Frontmatter



Markdown files (and their `.md.erb` counterparts) support frontmatter, a section

that can inject variables to the page. Notice that the contents inside the `---`

delimiters must be valid YAML annotation and only basic types can be used

(booleans, numbers, strings, nils and hashes/arrays with these same types).



Right now there's only one special value called `section`, which defines the

class section when generating files. This allows you to have files inside your

`text` directory that doesn't necessarily should have styling like regular

chapters. For instance, this is how you can define a changelog section:



```markdown

---

section: changelog

---



## Changelog



### Jan 26, 2024



- Initial release

```



> [!NOTE]

>

> Notice that `section` will be retrieved from the first file, even if you have

> multiple files defining a section with a directory.



This meta data will be inject on your template using the variable `meta`. If you

have other variables, you could print them as `<%= meta["varname"] %>`.



### Using ERB



You can also have `.md.erb` files. You can mix Markdown and HTML, like the

following:



    ## This the chapter title



    <%= image_tag "myimage.png" %>



The above content must be placed in a `.md.erb` file. The generated content will

be something like this:



```html



```



You book's helpers can be added to `config/helpers.rb`, as this file is loaded

automatically by kitabu.



You can see available helpers on

.



### Syntax Highlighting



To highlight code, use fenced code blocks.



    ``` ruby

    class User < ActiveRecord::Base

      validates_presence_of :login, :password, :email

      validates_uniqueness_of :login, :email

    end

    ```



You can even provide options:



    ```php?start_line=1&line_numbers=1

    echo "Hello World";

    ```



- We use [Redcarpet](https://rubygems.org/gems/redcarpet) for Markdown

  processing.

- We use [Rouge](https://rubygems.org/gems/rouge) for syntax highlighting.



The following Redcarpet options are enabled:



- `autolink`

- `fenced_code_blocks`

- `footnotes`

- `hard_wrap`

- `highlight`

- `no_intra_emphasis`

- `safe_links_only`

- `space_after_headers`

- `strikethrough`

- `superscript`

- `tables`



### Hooks



There are a few hooks that allows manipulating the content. You can use

`before_render` and `after_render` to process the Markdown content. You can add

such hooks to your `config/helpers.rb` file.



```ruby

Kitabu::Markdown.add_hook(:before_render) do |content|

  # manipulate content and return it.

  content

end



Kitabu::Markdown.add_hook(:after_render) do |content|

  # manipulate content and return it.

  content

end

```



### Using custom fonts



You can use custom fonts on your ebooks. Just add them to the `fonts` directory

(you can create this directory on your book's root directory if it doesn't

exist).



Then, on `assets/styles/support/fonts.css` you can add the `@font-face`

declaration.



```css

@font-face {

  font-family: "Open Sans Condensed Bold";

  src: url("../../fonts/OpenSans-CondBold.ttf");

}

```



Finally, to use this font, do something like this:



```css

.chapter > h1 {

  font-family: "Open Sans Condensed Bold";

}

```



Instead of doing the above manually, you can also use Prince's `--scanfonts`

option.



```console

$ prince --scanfonts assets/fonts/* > assets/styles/support/fonts.css

```



Just remember to replace the generated path to be something like `../../fonts`

instead.



> [!TIP]

>

> In most cases, it's easier to redefine `sans-serif`, `serif` and `monospace`

> fonts. To know more about how to do this, read Prince's

> [Redefining the generic font families](https://www.princexml.com/doc/styling/#redefining-the-generic-font-families)

> documentation.



If you're unsure if fonts are actually being used on PDF files, use the

environment variable `PRINCEOPT` to disable system fonts.



```console

$ PRINCEOPT='--no-system-fonts --debug --log output/prince.log' kitabu export --only pdf

=> e-book couldn't be exported



$ tail -n10 output/prince.log

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: debug: font request: Caslon, serif

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: warning: Ensure fonts are available on the system or load them via a @font-face rule.

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: warning: For more information see:

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: warning: https://www.princexml.com/doc/help-install/#missing-glyphs-or-fonts

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: internal error: Unable to find any available fonts.

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: finished: failure

Sat Jan 27 18:39:10 2024: ---- end

```



### Configuring Markdown



Kitabu uses [Redcarpet](https://github.com/vmg/redcarpet) as the Markdown

engine. You can override the default processor by setting

`Kitabu::Markdown.processor`. This can be done by adding something like the

following to `config/helpers.rb`:



```ruby

Kitabu::Markdown.processor = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(

  Kitabu::Markdown::Renderer.new(hard_wrap: false, safe_links_only: true),

  tables: true,

  footnotes: true,

  space_after_headers: true,

  superscript: true,

  highlight: true,

  strikethrough: true,

  autolink: true,

  fenced_code_blocks: true,

  no_intra_emphasis: true

)

```



The above options are Kitabu's defaults.



### Exporting PDFs using DocRaptor



If you're not planning to buy PrinceXML, consider using

[DocRaptor](http://docraptor.com). Here's how you can easily do it:



```bash

curl -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d'{"user_credentials":"YOUR_CREDENTIALS_HERE", "doc":{"name":"kitabu.pdf", "document_type":"pdf", "test":"false", "document_url":"https://example.com/output/kitabu.pdf.html"}}' http://docraptor.com/docs > kitabu.pdf

```



## References



- Markdown: 

- Markdown PHP: 

- Some PrinceXML tips by the creator himself: 



## Legal Notes



- PrinceXML: [license](http://www.princexml.com/license/)



## Maintainer



- [Nando Vieira](https://github.com/fnando)



## Contributors



- https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/contributors



## Contributing



For more details about how to contribute, please read

https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md.



## License



The gem is available as open source under the terms of the

[MIT License](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT). A copy of the license can be

found at https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/blob/main/LICENSE.md.



## Code of Conduct



Everyone interacting in the kitabu project's codebases, issue trackers, chat

rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the

[code of conduct](https://github.com/fnando/kitabu/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).