Convert your PDF to EPUB without losing the page formatting

Are you a budding author looking to self-publish a book? Perhaps you’ve finally got around to completing your travel guide or recipe book, or you’ve created a children’s book with illustrations and a rhyming story. You’ve got all the book contents in a PDF file and need to convert it to an EPUB file to upload to a publishing platform. But how can you convert the file and keep the layout of the pages the same, with all the pictures in the right place?

This is where the customisable settings offered by our PDF-to-EPUB conversion tool can help you out. In this blog post, we’ll tell you all you need to know to get your book converted to an ebook with the page formatting you want.

Some interesting facts about the ebook market

Did you know…

📚 30% of people in the US prefer ebooks to print or audio books, according to a 2021 survey. (*1)

👓 The same study showed 18-29-year-olds were the most likely adult age group to have read an ebook in the last year (with 42% having done so). (*2)

💵 In 2020, 191 million ebooks were sold in the US (from best estimates and not including indie authors). (*3)

💰 In 2022, ebook revenue in the US alone was $1billion (USD). (*4)

📱In 2024, 19% of Americans aged between 30 and 49 owned an ereader. (*5)

🚀 By 2029, the number of people reading ebooks in the US is forecast to reach 75.4 million. (*6)

So now’s a great time to be self-publishing your book in digital form as an ebook!

What you need to know about the EPUB file format

The EPUB format (short for electronic publication) stores ebook content. It’s one of the most widely used formats for ereaders, and EPUB files can also be read on other devices like tables, laptops and smartphones using a suitable app. If you’re looking to self-publish an ebook, then the EPUB format is a great choice.

What are fixed-layout vs. reflowable EPUB files?
There are different types of EPUB files. Standard EPUB files are reflowable. This means that the contents of the book will automatically adapt to the screen-size and settings of the device it is being viewed on. If the reader increases the font size, for example, the page contents will automatically be reorganised to accommodate this. Reflowable EPUB files work well for text-based ebooks like novels or narrative nonfiction. However, if your ebook contains images, such as photos, charts, illustrations or backgrounds, having the layout of the page change depending on the device can cause problems. Suddenly the caption that should appear next to a photo is misaligned, and images are placed in different locations on the pages.

Fixed-layout EPUB files do as the name suggests and ‘fix’ the layout of pages so that they appear the same regardless of which device they are being viewed on. The size of the page will still adapt to the screen size, but the page formatting will be preserved so that the layout of images and text appears the same on any screen.

With Zamzar, you have the option to convert your file to a fixed-layout EPUB file, if you’d prefer.

When would I need to convert my PDF to a fixed-layout EPUB?

If your PDF file contains any non-text elements, such as photos, illustrations, tables, charts, screenshots, or equations, then selecting the fixed-layout option will allow you to convert your PDF to EPUB without losing the formatting of the pages.

Here are some examples of where you might want to choose a fixed-layout EPUB file:

📸 Books that contain photos, such as autobiographies: keep the photos next to the relevant text, and ensure any photo captions aren’t separated from the image they are referring to.
🥗 Recipe books with photos: maintain the layout so that the food photos are next to their corresponding recipes.
🗺️ Travel guides with maps, photos and illustrations: ensure the maps and imagery are positioned next to the correct text, to avoid any confusion for readers.
🧸 Children’s picture books: keep the text positioned over the background images as you’d originally designed.
🦸 Comics and graphic novels: ensure the correct sequence and layout of images is retained so the story makes sense.
🎨 Art books: maintain the layout of art images so the overall design is how you intended.
📊 Textbooks with tables, charts, and mathematical or chemical equations: ensure the right charts or equations appear next to the right text so that everything makes sense for the student.
🔍 Instruction manuals and reference books: keep screenshots and diagrams next to the explanations they refer to so that everything is shown in a logical order.

How to convert PDF to EPUB without losing formatting with Zamzar:

It takes just a few clicks to convert your PDF to a fixed-layout EPUB file with Zamzar’s online tool. Just follow the steps below:

1. Go to Zamzar’s PDF-to-EPUB conversion tool.

2. Add the PDF file you want to convert. There are three different ways you can do this:
– Using the ‘Choose Files’ button: click the button, then select the files from your computer location, and click ‘Add’.
– Using drag and drop: Drag your files from your desktop or Finder/File Explorer window and drop them onto the webpage.
– Using the arrow next to the ‘Choose Files’ button to select files from a cloud storage location.

3. In the ‘Advanced settings’ window that opens, click on the box next to ‘Fixed Layout’ to select it, and amend any other settings you want to change. Click ‘Apply settings’.