Tips - Characters, Elements & Formatting
Avoid Conversion Issues
When proofread books are uploaded to Bookshare, they are converted to DAISY format. The conversion process can cause issues with certain characters, elements and formatting. Bookshare is doing ongoing testing and the results are listed below.
Description A-Z | Converts Correctly? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
At sign: @ | Yes | |
Auto-bulleting | No | Use asterisks * |
Auto-numbering | No | Write the numbers manually |
Bolding | Yes | The entire word must be bolded or, when converted, a random space may be inserted between the bolded and unbolded portions |
Bullets | No | Replace with asterisks * |
Charts | No | As with images, charts must be removed and replaced with "[Chart Removed]". You may retain title, caption and description information but place brackets around the text. Example: [Chart 3.2: Dinosaur Species] |
Copyright © | Yes | |
Cross-throughs | Yes | The entire word must be crossed-through or remaining portion may be separated by a space |
Currency - British pound: £ | Yes | |
Currency - Japanese yen: ¥ | Yes | |
Currency: U.S. cents and dollars: ¢, $ | Yes | |
Dashes: Em-Dash/Double | No | Use two dashes instead of long or m-dash and may either have a space or no space on either side of the dashes. Please use consistently. |
Dashes: Simple | Yes | Do not put a space before or after the dash and the words around it |
Degree Symbol (as in temp): 78° | Yes | |
Division sign: ÷ | Yes | |
Ellipses: ... | Yes | Leave no spaces between the ellipsis and the prior word, and insert a single space between it and the next word. Example: "The ellipsis rule can be confusing... but these instructions may help!" If used at the end of a sentence, add the period directly after the three dots of the ellipses. Example: "She paused only a moment.... He should have known to wait." |
Figures | No | Remove and replace with "[Figure Removed]" or "[image of... ]" if you are adding an image description unless you are adding an image description (see Image Description Guidelines) |
Footnotes cross and double-cross: †, ‡ | No | Replace with an asterisk or two asterisks |
Fractions symbols | No | Replace with #/#, 1/2 |
Images | No | Remove all images. State "[Image Removed]" or "[Image: (description of the image)]." If you are adding an image description, see Image Description Guidelines. |
Italics | Yes | The entire word must be italicized or it will be split into two words: the italicized portion and the remaining portion |
Page breaks, hard | Yes | Each page number needs a corresponding hard page break. They appear as dotted lines with the words "page break" in the middle of the dots (Example:...page break...) or as a blue line with the words "Page Break" through it. If missing, add a hard break. (In MS Word for PC, click where you want to start the new page. On the Insert tab, in the Pages group, click Page Break. In MS Word for Mac, click the place where you want to insert a new page break, go to "Insert" at the top of your screen and select "Break" and then "Page Break") |
Page breaks, soft | Yes | A dotted line WITHOUT the word "page break" (Example: .......................) is a "soft" break and can be ignored |
Page numbers | Yes | Page numbers must be the same as the original book, they must be located on either the first or last line of the page; and they must be the only character on that line. If the original does not have page numbers (common in children's books) do NOT add them. Line spaces on either side of the page number are not necessary |
Plus or minus: +- | Yes | |
Quotation Marks: both single and double (straight, opening, and closing) are converted to straight quotation marks | Yes | |
Registered: ® | Yes | |
Repetitive Text | No | The converter automatically removes repetitive text. To retain repetitive text, add three asterisks between the repeating lines. (Asterisks will be read aloud.) |
Section breaks (all types except "continuous") | Yes | All section breaks are treated as page breaks (except "continuous" which is not recognized and should not be used) |
Shapes | No | Remove |
Smart Art | No | Remove |
Spacing, Characters | Yes | Extra blank spaces will be automatically removed. Expanded and condensed spacing and scaling will be changed to plain text. Tabs are not recognized, so do not use them to format |
Spacing, Lines | Yes | Blank lines will be removed automatically |
Subscript/Lowered Font | Yes | How subscript is read aloud will depend on the tool |
Superscript/Raised Font | Yes | How superscript is read aloud will depend on the tool |
Tables | Yes | If the table has a title/description that is outside of the table itself, put brackets around it. Example: [Table 3.2: Dinosaur Species] |
Trademark: ™ | Yes | |
Underlines | Yes | The entire word must be underlined or non-underlined portion will be separated by a space |
Upside-down punctuation, as in Spanish: ¿, ¡! | Yes | |