Skip to content
Glossary

What is a reflowable EPUB?

Updated:

A reflowable EPUB stores text and its structure, not positions on a page, so the reading app lays it out again for each screen, font and size. It is the default kind of EPUB and the opposite of a fixed-layout one.

Why it matters when you convert a PDF to EPUB

A PDF is the opposite: every character has a fixed position on a printed page, so a phone or e-reader can only shrink or zoom it. Converting to a reflowable EPUB means recovering what the PDF never stored explicitly: which lines form a paragraph, which text is a heading, what the reading order is and which lines are page furniture (running headers, page numbers) that must disappear.

Reflowable text is what makes font size, margins, night mode and dictionary lookups work on an e-reader. The cost is that the exact page design is lost, which is why some documents should stay PDF.

Related terms

EPUBCheck messages about this

  • OPF-100 The "…" property only applies to pre-paginated content.
  • HTM_060b EPUB reading systems must ignore viewport meta elements in reflowable documents; viewport declaration "…" will be ignored.
  • CSS-006 CSS selector specifies fixed position.

Convert a PDF to EPUB
Convert up to 5 pages free, no account needed.

FAQ

What is a reflowable EPUB?

A reflowable EPUB stores text and its structure, not positions on a page, so the reading app lays it out again for each screen, font and size. It is the default kind of EPUB and the opposite of a fixed-layout one.

Can every PDF become a reflowable EPUB?

Running text can. Pages whose layout is the content, such as comics, sheet music, forms or heavily designed spreads, read better as PDF or as a fixed-layout EPUB.