Finish an EPUB with four coordinated lists: included files, reading order, navigation inclusion, and page role. This prevents a cover, chapter, or colophon from being included correctly but appearing in the wrong place or navigation context.
This article assembles the whole book. Detailed cover specifications, inline-image paths, and series metadata belong to their own guides.
Create a four-column book plan
List cover, navigation page, chapter one, chapter two, and colophon. For every item, record whether it is included, its reading order, whether it appears in navigation, and its role. Inclusion and navigation are separate decisions.
Check the same plan before and after export
- Set the bibliographic information.
- Assign the cover.
- Select chapter files in reading order.
- Exclude any non-navigation pages as intended.
- Review the pre-export chapter count and order.
- Export and inspect navigation and package files.
Testing completed so far confirms an EPUB containing a cover and required navigation resources including nav.xhtml and NCX. It does not record a heading change followed by a rebuild with the resulting navigation items. Navigation regeneration after a content change is therefore not claimed as verified.
Repair only the mismatched list
If navigation order is wrong, revisit chapter order. If the cover appears twice, distinguish cover assignment from an inline image. If the colophon appears early, adjust reading order without resetting unrelated metadata.
Rebuild after a heading change
When a chapter heading changes, update the book plan, export to a new identifiable file, and inspect the navigation label, destination, and order. Then confirm that the unchanged cover and colophon retained their positions. This is the specific rebuild test missing from testing so far.
Repeat the smallest proof on another day
Before adopting the complete book plan, close the project and repeat the smallest useful path later. Record inclusion, reading order, navigation, page role, output filename, and inspection time. A result that depends on memory or an already-open preview is not yet a dependable routine.
Keep one untouched copy and change a single condition per retry. If the second run differs, identify whether the source, operation, or inspection changed before expanding the scope. This rehearsal is also the point to keep navigation rebuilding after a heading change clearly labeled as unverified rather than filling the gap with an assumption.
The next practical step for the complete book plan is to prepare the smallest useful copy and write down its expected result before touching the production manuscript. Extend this particular workflow only after the observed result matches.
Conclusion
A complete EPUB stays auditable when inclusion, order, navigation, and role are checked as separate columns. Rune Studio has a verified package with navigation resources; rebuilding those resources after a heading change remains untested so far. See Rune Studio’s book-building tools
