Whereas traditionally, it’s been tough at greatest to create print-quality PDF books from markup alone, CSS3 now brings the Paged Media Module, which targets print guide formatting. “Paged” media exists as finite pages, like books and magazines, fairly than as lengthy scrolling stretches of textual content, like most web sites. CSS3 permits us to type textual content, divide it into guide pages, and set the web page construction as a complete. You possibly can dictate the scale of the guide, header and footer content material, the best way to show cross references and tables of contents, whether or not so as to add guides and bleeds for industrial printing firms, and extra. With a single CSS stylesheet, publishers can take XHTML supply content material and switch it right into a laid-out, print-ready PDF. You possibly can take your XHTML supply, bypass desktop web page structure software program like Adobe InDesign, and bundle it as an ePub file. It’s a light-weight and adaptable workflow, which will get you stunning books quicker.
Article Continues Under
XML, XSL, XHTML, and PDF processors#section2
Because the publishing business strikes towards digital-centric workflows, there’s a necessity for scalability—repeatable processes and workflows that work at small and huge scales. Making a well-formatted printed guide is now not sufficient; publishers usually must launch a number of completely different codecs for each guide: print, ePub for the iPad, Nook, and so on., .mobi for the Kindle, and so forth. The toughest bounce is the one from print to ePub—you could put plain textual content, usually from a number of paperwork or textual content flows, and non-linear parts akin to photos, right into a cleanly-tagged linear stream, and bundle it with a desk of contents and directions on the best way to tie collectively the varied recordsdata that make up the guide (see the ePub Wikipedia web page to study extra concerning the further particular sauce that’s a part of the ePub format). Even InDesign’s ePub output nonetheless wants a whole lot of further cleanup after the actual fact, due to the non-linear nature of print web page design.
For a few years, XML has been one strategy to obtain a scalable multi-destination publishing mannequin. XML provides a structured and standardized strategy to tag guide content material. It converts simply to XHTML, which is the inspiration for digital books. It additionally comes with XSL-FO, which is markup that converts to print-quality PDF structure. XSL-FO has been each the gateway to XML-source publishing, and a significant roadblock: it’s a robust language for structuring pages and formatting XML recordsdata, nevertheless it’s additionally intricate, unapproachable, and never very well-known. Nonetheless, by utilizing XSL-FO and a PDF processor like Antenna Home or Prince to learn the markup, publishers can use a single XML supply to stream neatly into XHTML and ePub and in addition to supply absolutely laid-out, print-quality PDFs.
With the mix of main PDF processors and paged media options in CSS3, XML- and XHTML-based publishing can transfer away from XSL-FO to faucet the huge and gifted net design neighborhood. PDF processors Antenna Home 6.0 and Prince 8.0 include built-in CSS assist, together with a slew of their very own CSS extensions. These processors learn tagged recordsdata and convert them to PDF utilizing user-supplied stylesheets. The paginated PDF you get makes use of the identical in depth CSS obtainable for net design, along with the specialised CSS3 options added only for paged media, like textual content strings, cross references, and printer marks. [1]
Value is a consider adopting this type of workflow. The PDF processor is the most important upfront price beside the preliminary stylesheet growth. As of this writing, Antenna Home prices $1,700 for a single person license, or $7,000 for a server license. Prince’s licenses are considerably much less: $495 for a single person, or $3,800 for a server license. However in comparison with the continued price of desktop web page structure, a single upfront cost to put in a PDF processor turns into a viable possibility. (Prince provides a demo model that watermarks the primary web page of every PDF however is in any other case absolutely purposeful. It’s a great way to experiment and consider the workflow.)
The open supply command-line instrument xhtml2pdf is constructed on python and might convert html to PDF without cost, nevertheless the CSS assist is far much less strong than the for-pay instruments, particularly for CSS3 paged media options. Obtain the supply code from GitHub. Listed here are some notes I whipped up after enjoying with xhtml2pdf for an hour.
The brand new CSS3 options come from the Paged Media Module and the Generated Content material for Paged Media Module (GCPM). I used the newest working draft and the newest editor’s draft of the Paged Media Module to develop my stylesheets. The spec is pretty steady and has entered the final name interval (that means the working group feels fairly good about it and is searching for remaining evaluate earlier than they suggest development). They’re nonetheless enhancing and it’s probably that they’ll launch one other Final Name Working Draft to finalize adjustments made throughout this evaluate interval.
Step one when working with print paperwork is to arrange your web page construction utilizing the @web page ingredient. That is akin to grasp pages in print structure, via which you’ll set the trim measurement (i.e., web page dimensions), borders, working headers and footers, fonts, and so forth—mainly something that you simply wish to seem on each web page. And naturally, you may nonetheless use cascades. For instance:
@web page {
measurement: 5.5in 8.5in;
}This code units the trim measurement of each web page within the guide, which you’ll then construct on to type completely different sections of your guide. The next web page definitions add margins and padding for left and proper hand pages solely in elements of the file that use the “chapters” web page rule:
@web page chapters:left { /* left web page setup */
margin: 0.75in 0.75in 1.125in 0.62in;
padding-left: 0.5in;
}
@web page chapters:proper { /* proper web page setup */
margin: 0.75in 0.62in 1.125in 0.75in;
padding-right: 0.5in;
}The web page names are yours to create, and every named web page will be additional damaged up into :first (which types the primary web page inside a component that makes use of that web page rule), :left, and :proper. Invoke web page guidelines like this:
part.chapter {
web page: chapters;
}The Paged Media spec additionally has 17 predefined web page areas you can customise inside your web page guidelines. There’s the principle web page space, after which 16 different areas run alongside the perimeters, as follows:
| top-left-corner | top-left | top-center | top-right | top-right-corner |
| left-top | primary web page space | right-top | ||
| left-middle | right-middle | |||
| left-bottom | right-bottom | |||
| bottom-left-corner | bottom-left | bottom-center | bottom-right | bottom-right-corner |
You possibly can type every of those web page areas individually, if for instance you wish to add navigation tabs or working headers or footers (see beneath for extra on these). The Paged Media Editor’s Draft has an awesome description of sizing and positioning of margin packing containers. All however the nook margin packing containers have variable widths (for packing containers on the horizontal edges) or heights (for packing containers alongside the vertical edges), and can stretch the total width or top obtainable till they run into an impediment (for instance, neighboring content material outlined in one of many adjoining margin packing containers). The instance beneath provides a grey bleed to the skin fringe of all index pages by including a background coloration to simply three of the vertical margin packing containers. As a result of there’s no different content material outlined within the remaining packing containers, the bleed will fill the total top of the web page. You would possibly accomplish an analogous impact with a hard and fast place background picture or by utilizing web page borders, however this technique is straightforward, clear, and offers true bleeds (see Bleeds beneath).
@web page indexmaster:proper {
@top-right-corner {
background-color: #777777;
background-color: device-cmyk(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.5);
padding-left: .8in;
margin: -6pt -6pt -6pt 0;
}
@right-top {
background-color: #777777;
background-color: device-cmyk(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.5);
padding-left: .8in;
margin: -6pt -6pt -6pt 0;
}
@bottom-right-corner {
background-color: #777777;
background-color: device-cmyk(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.5);
padding-left: .8in;
margin: -6pt -6pt -6pt 0;
}
}To maintain the bleed on the skin edge, the left and proper pages must be outlined individually. The margins, padding, and margin packing containers will all want slight changes for the corresponding left web page bleed. (You might also have observed that there are two coloration definitions within the above code; see CMYK Colours beneath for extra about that.)
Counters aren’t new, however actually turn out to be useful for paged media, permitting you so as to add computerized numbering to chapters, figures, examples, and so forth with only a few traces of CSS, like this:
part.chapter > div.titlepage > div > div > h2.title:earlier than {
counter-increment: ChapterNo;
content material: "Chapter " counter(ChapterNo);
}
div.figure-title:earlier than {
counter-increment: FigureNo;
content material: "Determine " counter(ChapterNo)"-" counter(FigureNo)": ";
}
part.chapter {
counter-reset: ChapterNo FigureNo;
}Within the above code, we created two counters, one for chapter numbering and one for determine numbering, after which reset them each beginning at each new chapter. (Keep in mind counter-reset cascades, which signifies that if you wish to reset just a few counters on the identical ingredient however you outline them individually, solely the final definition can be honored. To get all of the counters to reset, you could run them collectively, as proven above.) Moreover, we used the ChapterNo counter throughout the determine title, to do issues like this: “Determine 5-11:.” On this case, the ChapterNo counter is definitely utilized to the determine title’s guardian ingredient—part.chapter. The PDF processor will look progressively additional and additional up till it finds an occasion of the required counter that applies to the ingredient in query.
You possibly can flip virtually any ingredient right into a string you can then invoke in your CSS to seem somewhere else all through your doc. Headers and footers, the place you have got the web page quantity and a few textual content seem on every web page, make good use of strings—for instance, the guide title on the left-hand web page, and the chapter title on the precise (CSS3 additionally contains some built-in dealing with for working parts; see beneath for why I selected to make use of strings as an alternative).
Use string-set on any ingredient to make the contents of the ingredient reusable. Make up a reputation for it, and identify the content material you wish to embody:
div.guide > div.titlepage > div > div > h1.title {
string-set: Booktitle self;
}
part.chapter > div.titlepage > div > div > h2.title {
string-set: Chapter self earlier than;
}Within the high instance, the identify of the string is “Booktitle,” and I exploit the quite simple “self” to say that I would like the string to incorporate regardless of the content material of that ingredient is. Within the second block, I inform the string to incorporate each the content material of the ingredient, in addition to any content material I added utilizing the :earlier than selector (as I did so as to add with the chapter numbers within the Counters part, above).
To invoke the strings, reference them within the content material property:
@web page :left { /* left web page setup */
@bottom-left { /* verso working footer */
content material: counter(web page)" "string(Booktitle);
}
}
@web page :proper { /* proper web page setup */
@bottom-right { /* recto working footer */
content material: string(Chapter)" "counter(web page);
}
}Strings will be fairly highly effective and might embody numerous kinds of content material throughout the string-set property, together with counters (I exploit the web page counter within the above examples to show the present web page quantity on every web page as nicely), earlier than/after textual content, and static textual content. You can even outline a number of strings inside one string-set property.
CSS3-GCPM really contains particular properties only for working parts: working() and ingredient(). Used collectively, these properties convert any ingredient right into a working header or footer. Nonetheless, the hazard right here is that once you convert a component to a working ingredient on this approach, it now not seems in its unique place: working() acts extra like a float that additionally repeats on subsequent pages. Since I would like my headers to seem each of their locations inline and as working parts, I used strings as an alternative.
Most lengthy paperwork (like books) embody cross references, which normally look one thing like this: “See web page 127.” Inside an XML or HTML workflow, cross references will be arrange as dwell hyperlinks that bounce to a different part. Though dwell cross reference hyperlinks are a primary characteristic for all digital books, together with web-optimized PDFs, they naturally received’t be helpful for the print guide. Nonetheless, because the supply content material is unpaginated, it’s exhausting to know what location the textual content ought to confer with. You received’t know the print web page quantity till you ship the textual content via the PDF processor, and in any case that web page quantity is inaccurate with regards to reflowable eBooks. The reply is to make use of generated textual content, which depends on target-counter(), and target-text().
For instance, say you have got this cross reference in your HTML:
<p>See <a category="xref" href="#section25" title="Working with Cross
References">Chapter 5, <em>Working with Cross References</em></a>.</p>By including this type to your CSS:
a.xref:after {
content material: " (web page " target-counter(attr(href, url), web page) ")";
}You’ll find yourself with:
See Chapter 5, Working with Cross References (web page 127)
There are some things occurring in that CSS. First, we provided a static textual content string that can add an area, a gap parenthesis, the phrase “web page ”, and one other house earlier than any generated content material. The following bit, target-counter, tells the renderer to drag in a selected counter associated to the ingredient. Then, throughout the parentheses, we inform the renderer that we want the “web page” counter that applies to the href attribute of the ingredient in query i.e., the renderer ought to observe the hyperlink to its supply (#section25), work out what web page it’s on, and show that web page quantity. To wrap it up, we’ve one final textual content string so as to add a closing parenthesis. If the pagination adjustments the subsequent time we run the doc via the PDF processor, the web page quantity will replace mechanically.
The target-text() property takes issues a step additional by pulling in all of the textual content from one other ingredient elsewhere within the doc. For a easy instance, let’s say we have to do one thing a few hard-coded cross reference to a print web page quantity, like this one:
<p>See <a category="xref" href="#section25" title="Working with Cross References">web page 110</a></p>…<h2 class="title" id="section25">Working with Cross References</h2>
Once more, we wish to make it possible for the cross reference all the time shows an correct web page quantity, however we additionally wish to embody the identify of the part being referenced to match the formatting of our earlier instance. And so, the next:
a.xref {
content material: target-text(attr(href, url), content material())" (web page " target-counter
(attr(href, url), web page) ")";
}…will give us this:
See Working with Cross References (web page 127)
The target-text property works very similar to target-counter—it follows the url to its supply, and after we provide it with a price of content material(), it pulls within the content material of the ingredient we’re linking to. The final piece of our cross reference is so as to add the referenced chapter quantity throughout the cross reference textual content. If we’ve already arrange computerized chapter numbering utilizing counters, as we did above in Strings, then we are able to pull that in as nicely:
a.xref {
content material: target-counter(attr(href, url), ChapterNo)", "target-text
(attr(href, url), content material())" (web page " target-counter(attr(href, url),
web page) ")";
}For our desired finish consequence:
See Chapter 5, Working with Cross References (web page 127)
And now for an essential warning: Antenna Home received’t break generated textual content throughout traces. If the imported textual content is just too lengthy to slot in the web page space, it’ll simply stretch off previous the web page edge. Antenna Home will, nevertheless, break static textual content strings that you simply embody within the content material property. For instance, within the above, it can break anyplace in “Chapter “, “ (web page “, and “)”, nevertheless it received’t break throughout the precise chapter title, or within the web page or chapter numbers (although these latter two are so small, that it most likely wouldn’t break inside them anyway). This makes generated textual content considerably dangerous and solely acceptable for brief traces; extra about this within the Footnotes part beneath.
A desk of contents will be arrange within the XHTML as a sequence of nested unordered lists, with every record merchandise linked to the part in query. This works nice for ebooks, however print books must show the web page quantity for the part as nicely. Identical to cross references, you should utilize target-counter to set that up:
div.toc ul li.preface a:after {
content material: chief(dotted) " " target-counter(attr(href, url), web page);
}The chief(dotted) perform provides a pacesetter tab between the textual content of the desk of contents entry and the generated web page quantity, like so:
Working with Cross References…………………………………….. 127
There are three predefined chief types: dotted, stable, and house—or you may create your personal string. For instance, chief(“~”) will create a line of tildes.
Multi-column layouts#section8
Multi-column layouts are one other new characteristic of CSS3. They permit you to cut up any div into a number of columns utilizing column-count. For instance, to set solely the index of a guide in two columns, whereas leaving nearly all of the textual content in a single column, add column-count: 2 to the index div:
div.titlepage+div.indexnote+div.index {
column-count: 2;
column-gap: 12pt;
}The column-count property units the variety of columns, and the column-gap property units the house between the columns. You can even add column-width to specify the width of two (or extra) columns. The columns will span all the obtainable web page space by default.
Should you’ve completed digital guide manufacturing, then you definitely’re more than likely aware of CSS’ web page break properties: page-break-before, page-break-after, and page-break-inside.
As outlined in CSS2.1, page-break-before and -after settle for the next values: auto, all the time, keep away from, left, proper, and inherit. You should utilize them to pressure breaks round parts, or use page-break-inside to forestall breaks from occurring inside parts. (That is helpful for conserving all paragraphs of a sidebar on the identical web page, for instance). Assigning a price of left or proper will pressure a break till you find yourself with a clean left or proper web page, respectively. That is helpful for guide chapters, the place you need each chapter to begin on a right-hand web page. You’d outline the chapter div as follows:
part.chapter {
page-break-before: proper;
}CSS3 provides just a few further properties for multi-column layouts: break-before, break-after, and break-inside. These perform the identical because the page-break guidelines, however on the column degree, and add just a few further potential values: web page (pressure a web page break), column (pressure a column break), avoid-page (keep away from a web page break), and avoid-column (keep away from a column break).
CSS3-GCPM provides particular dealing with only for footnotes. First you’ve bought the @footnote selector, which defines the a part of the web page reserved only for footnotes (should you’ve bought any). We even have a brand new type of float: float: footnote;, which is the place the true magic occurs. Whenever you apply a float of footnote to a component, all the contents of the ingredient get floated all the way down to the underside of the web page, into the @footnote web page space. They lose the conventional inherited formatting, and as an alternative get styled with any formatting you’ve outlined for the @footnote space. Moreover, on the level of reference, a marker is added (in superscript by default) that corresponds to the quantity (or image) subsequent to your newly floated content material. You possibly can type the in-text marker, known as the footnote-call, and the floated footnote quantity, known as the footnote-marker with two new pseudo-elements: ::footnote-call and ::footnote-marker.
Now right here’s the disconnect: my XHTML supply recordsdata included all footnotes as endnotes, the place the footnote textual content sat on the finish of every part. My print design known as for the footnotes to seem on the web page on which they had been referenced. Despite this, I virtually bought footnotes working with none XHTML adjustments by simply utilizing generated textual content and the CSS3 footnote instruments. Finally this plan failed as a result of, as famous above, generated textual content in some PDF processors doesn’t like to interrupt throughout traces however will as an alternative simply run off the margin if it will get too lengthy. For books with footnotes simply a few phrases lengthy, there’s no drawback, however that’s hardly ever the case. [2]
I ended up enhancing the XHTML to maneuver the footnotes to the precise place the place they’re referenced and wrap them in a span with class="footnote". I selected spans primarily as a result of that would go away the footnotes inline, with out including an additional paragraph break (as a div or p would).
Right here’s the brand new html:
<p>As you noticed within the earlier part,<span class="footnote"><p>Should you
had been paying consideration, after all.</p></span> generated textual content would not break
throughout traces.</p>Yep, you’re seeing that proper: we’ve bought a p inside a span inside a p. It’s not precisely completely shaped XHTML, nevertheless it does the trick. And with this easy CSS:
span.footnote {
float: footnote;
}We get this:
As you noticed within the earlier part,1 generated textual content doesn’t break throughout traces.
1 Should you had been paying consideration, after all.
One other a part of the CSS3 footnote arsenal is a predefined counter—footnote—that applies to all parts with float: footnote. The footnote counter resets the identical as another counter (see Counters above), permitting you to restart footnote numbering as wanted (for instance, you would possibly set the numbering to restart in the beginning of every new chapter).
You possibly can customise the way in which footnotes are marked—with numbers, letters, symbols, or another worth supported in list-style-type. There’s additionally a predefined “footnotes” type that rotates via after which multiplies 4 completely different glyphs: asterisk, double asterisk, cross, and double cross. Footnotes can be numbered with decimal numbers like 1, 2, 3, and so on., by default. To alter to lowercase letters, you’d do the next:
::footnote-call {
content material: counter(footnote, lower-alpha);
}
::footnote-marker {
content material: counter(footnote, lower-alpha);
}Make sure that to set the record sort for each the footnote name and footnote marker, until you wish to critically confuse your readers.
Bookmarking is irrelevant once you’re coping with print media, however is a useful (and I might argue, important) part for web-optimized PDFs. Bookmarking provides a linked desk of contents to the navigation panel of a PDF reader, permitting customers to leap to particular sections. You possibly can create bookmarks to virtually any ingredient, and you may inform the PDF the best way to nest and show the bookmarks all in your CSS.
Right here we’ve bought two ranges of bookmarks, nesting level-one headings inside chapter titles. As an alternative of getting all the degrees expanded and displayed when the PDF is opened, we’ve set them to a state of “closed.” Customers will solely see the chapter titles, and might click on to broaden the tree and see the nested part headings if they want:
part.chapter > div.titlepage > div > div > h2.title {
bookmark-level: 1;
bookmark-state: closed;
}
div.sect1 > div.titlepage > div > div > h2.title {
bookmark-level: 2;
bookmark-state: closed;
}Bookmarks will mechanically embody the whole lot of a component’s content material, together with any textual content you added with :earlier than and :after selectors. Nonetheless, you may limit the bookmark to show solely a subset of the ingredient’s data by utilizing the bookmark-label property. For instance:
part.chapter > div.titlepage > div > div > h2.title {
bookmark-level: 1;
bookmark-state: closed;
bookmark-label: content material();
}The instance above will show solely the precise textual content of the ingredient, and ignore any earlier than/after content material. Word that each one textual content is imported with none formatting, and you may’t specify mixtures of content material values inside a single bookmark-label declaration.
You can even select to show a selected textual content string that can overwrite the contents of the HTML ingredient. For instance, if you wish to add a bookmark to the copyright web page, however the phrases “Copyright Web page” don’t really seem anyplace within the textual content:
div.copyrightpage {
bookmark-level: 1;
bookmark-state: closed;
bookmark-label: "Copyright Web page"
}In the case of including customized fonts to your CSS, you might be relieved to know that it’s the identical outdated CSS you’re used to: use @font-face to declare the font, and use font-family to invoke it. Keep in mind to incorporate fallback fonts, particularly for physique textual content the place you might want to make use of symbols that aren’t included in your primary physique font set. Once more, this is similar CSS that folks have been utilizing for ages:
font-family: "Gotham", "Arial Unicode", sans-serif;Arial Unicode contains an enormous variety of glyphs, and so is normally a fairly protected sans-serif fallback.
Most industrial printers require fonts to be embedded in each PDF file. The strategies for this range relying on the PDF processor, so that you’ll must learn the documentation fastidiously if you wish to construct embedded fonts into your workflow. You would additionally embed fonts after conversion with PitStop or one other PDF post-processing instrument.
There are a whole lot of good options for fonts coming with CSS3, however they’re nonetheless unstable and neither Antenna Home nor Prince has added assist but (although Antenna Home—and Prince to a extra restricted extent—has some good extensions for working with fonts). Try the Fonts module to get a way of what’s coming. Growth that improves textual content formatting on a bigger scale, together with specifying word- and line-breaks, spacing, and so forth is underway. Prince and Antenna Home have applied a number of the options to various levels, as they’d been outlined on the time of launch. You possibly can try the spec, although I encourage you to test along with your PDF processor’s CSS reference earlier than you experiment, as there could also be variations.
Ultimate touches for printing#section13
There are just a few remaining steps to take should you’re planning to print your doc commercially.
Picture decision#section14
Picture decision is essential for printed media. A common guideline is to set every picture’s decision someplace within the 200 to 300dpi vary (particular necessities depend upon every guide’s wants). Most PDF processors will impose their very own default resolutions on photos throughout conversion, however you may select to protect the decision of the supply recordsdata as an alternative:
img {
image-resolution: from-image;
}You can even set the worth to regular, to let the processor select the decision, or you may present a selected numerical dpi worth. (Messing round with picture decision is difficult, although, so do your homework first!)
CMYK colours#section15
You ought to be fascinated with CMYK colours all through constructing your stylesheet. You specify CMYK colours equally to the way you specify RGB colours:
hr {
coloration: device-cmyk(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.3);
}Every worth ought to be a quantity between 0 and 1 (share values really additionally work, although solely the decimal values are endorsed by the W3C spec proper now). Specify the share of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black ink for use, in that order. You can even construct that in with fallbacks by stacking coloration definitions, for instances the place you could repurpose your stylesheets for a number of shows (net, print, and so on):
hr {
coloration: #B3B3B3;
coloration: device-cmyk(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.3);
}If the system studying the code doesn’t perceive CMYK, it’ll use the web-friendly model.
Printer marks and bleed#section16
Throughout industrial printing, books are literally printed on a bigger web page measurement than the ultimate model, and are reduce down. The slicing is normally fairly precise, however can range up to a couple sixteenths of an inch. So, to make sure that any photos or colours that you’ve on the edges of the web page will precise lie on the sting of the web page with out strips of white being left in the course of the cropping course of, you could set them to run off the web page edge a bit, simply in case, and then you definitely’ll want to inform the processor to render that little bit of additional stuff past the sting, and so as to add crop marks to information the printer:
@web page {
bleed: 6pt;
marks: crop;
}It’s that simple. In fact, you’ll must be inventive with bleeding parts, utilizing destructive margins and positioning to get them to truly bleed—the processor received’t mechanically add further coloration or content material past the boundaries of the ingredient, it’ll solely present content material that already exists.
Ultimate notes and additional studying#section17
You possibly can learn via the total record of CSS that Antenna Home helps, however I warn you that the documentation is restricted at greatest and never all the time clearly worded. Prince’s documentation is barely higher.
Each Antenna Home and Prince have their very own extensions constructed on high of the usual CSS3, that are value trying out. Listed here are Antenna Home’s extensions. Prince’s extensions are listed inline with common CSS assist, and are much less strong. Moreover, if the CSS documentation isn’t serving to, it could be helpful to learn the documentation for the associated XSL-FO property. They’ve been in use longer and are extra fleshed out, and the performance is normally the identical or very related. I wasn’t capable of finding documentation on Prince for this, however right here is Antenna Home’s documentation.
Keep in mind that CSS3 continues to be a creating spec; CSS3.data retains a reasonably up-to-date record of the standing of the varied CSS3 modules. Don’t let that cease you from dipping a toe/foot/leg/neck within the water, although! Right here, I restricted myself to some book-building fundamentals—web page dimensions and margins, cross references, strings, headers and footers, and printer-friendly colours, photos, and bleeds—however CSS3 has much more to supply with regards to paged media, and I encourage you to see how a lot you are able to do (and keep in mind, CSS2.1 nonetheless works, too).