epub2sphinx

epub2sphinx is a tool to convert epub files to ReST for Sphinx.

It uses Pandoc for converting HTML data inside epub files into ReST.

It creates a directory structure similar to what sphinx-quickstart generates by default.

Installation

• Install pandoc

  # On Ubuntu
  sudo apt-get install pandoc
  # On Arch Linux
  pacman -S pandoc
  

  For installing on other platforms, look here.

• Install epub2sphinx

  python setup.py install
  

• Install Sphinx

  epub2sphinx can generate ReST files without Sphinx, but Sphinx is used to build the HTML files if --build or --serve flags are used.

  pip3 install sphinx
  

Usage

Usage: epub2sphinx [-o <output_directory_path>] [-t <sphinx_theme_name>] [-s|--server|-b|--build] [-c] <epub_file_name>

  This tool helps you to convert your epub files into sphinx format for a better reading experience.
  Kindly provide the epub file as the argument to this command.

Options:
  -o, --output-directory PATH  The name of the output directory where the ReST file will be generated.
                               Kindly make sure that the given directory is not existing already.
  -t, --theme TEXT             The name of the sphinx theme.You can check for the available themes at:
                               <https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/theming.html#builtin-themes>
  -b, --build                  Build HTML from the generated ReST files using Sphinx.
                               Sphinx has to be installed for this to work.
  -s, --serve                  Build HTML using Sphinx and Serve the files on localhost.
                               Sphinx has to be installed for this to work.
  -c, --include-custom-css     Include the custom CSS from the EPUB for the HTML output
  --version                    Show the version and exit.
  --help                       Show this message and exit.

Example

epub2sphinx -o out_dir -t classic my_book.epub

# To generate HTML files using Sphinx
cd out_dir
make html

Usecase

epub2sphinx can be used to convert public domain or CC-licensed epub files into static web pages that allows people to read them online. This will be useful for sites like Project Gutenberg or FreeTamilEbooks. Eventhough Project Gutenberg has an option to read online, it is very plain. Using Sphinx allows us to make use of any default or custom sphinx theme to make it look better.

Screenshots of comparison

Project Gutenberg online read vs Sphinx generated output