For the impatient, the installer files (and source) can be found as attachments at the top of the Github Release page.


This Sigil release is a mix of bug fixes and new features for both epub2 and epub3 users. Some of the highlights for this release include:

Fixed the bug on Windows where smart right single quotes used for apostrophes couldn’t be added properly added to a user word list. This one has been aroud for a while!

Ability to limit/disable clipboard history saving (a new General Preferences setting). Please note that the clipboard history feature will behave exactly as it always has while Sigil is running. Meaning that anything added to the clipboard while Sigil is running will be available for pasting. The new preference setting merely dictates how many entries (if any) get saved to the Sigil ini file when Sigil closes. Set it to zero to keep Sigil from saving any of the clipboard history to the ini file.

A new Spellcheck Dictionary Preferences setting that allows the user to include words with numbers in them.

Two new Quick Launch Icons for plugins were added to the main menu. There are now a total of five available.

The specific changes/additions follow.


Bug Fixes

  • Add python_3.5_fixes3.patch to Python build and update build docs on OSX to fix missing symbols
  • Fix crash caused by Preview holding pointer to user removed resource when front tab is non-html resource
  • Fix crash in FlowTab destructor due to re-entering flowtab during Syntax Highlighting and signals
  • Fix issue with file icons disappearing when reordering in Book Browser (commit ecb56b1f)
  • Fix missing epub3 Manifest cover-image property setting/unsetting with BookBrowser
  • Fix issue where cancelling the SaveAs dialog disconnected an existing epub from its saved path
  • Fix assertion error in sigil-gumbo when handling extraneous script end tags
  • Apply multiple fixes for gumbo from upstream
  • Fix segfault in Split at Cursor when not an html file
  • Make sure Add Cover tool properly handles existing manifest cover properties in EPUB3s
  • Correct error dialog to say “Sigil may need to close.”
  • Prevent Images and Misc items from being dragged to the Text folder in Book Browser (commit 30bb96d)
  • Fix Linux bug that prevents rich text from other programs being pasted into Book View (issue #320)
  • Fix bug where index entries inside em and dfn tags were ignored during index generation
  • Fix bug on Windows in spell checking when smart right single quotes are used for apostrophes
  • Fix bug in simple well-formed check to handle generic xml processing instructions
  • Fix bug in epub3 MetaEditor with title-type and collection-type properties
  • Fix plugin code to prevent book href vs manifest id clashes
  • Fix bug in Plugin Runner to allow it to delete non-manifested files properly
  • Fix bug in SourceUpdates to handle properly handle css properties with multiple urls
  • Fix bugs in well-formed check to better handle missing doctypes

New Features

  • Add SIGIL_DISABLE_CURSOR_BLINK environment variable to disable text cursor to aid Accessibility on OSX
  • Better use semantic information (guide types and Landmarks) to allow the user finer control of index generation
  • Attempt to improve Metadata Editor placeholder text to help beginners
  • Preview Window Title bar will now show height and width of the Preview Window
  • Allow users to limit/disable clipboard history saving via General Preferences
  • Convert br tags in header text to linebreaks for toc/ncx/nav generation routines
  • Support spell checking of words with numbers controlled by Preference settings
  • Add two additional Quick Lauch Icons for Plugins

Be aware that Sigil-0.9.9 still enforces the need for epub3 to have and support an NCX so that it generates as backward a compatible epub as possible. This may be relaxed in future releases.

Sigil-0.9.9 like its predecessors passed all of the following tests for epub3 support: iframe, img, audio, video , mathml, svg (except for svg support in the spine), javascript, and of course recognizing and allowing html5 specific tags like section, and etc. Sigil-0.9.9 also supports javascript based local-storage and display of embedded pdfs.


Download Location
The official location for downloading this Sigil release (and all official releases) is:

https://github.com/Sigil-Ebook/Sigil/releases/tag/0.9.9 (downloads found at the bottom)

The latest version of the Sigil User Guide can be downloaded from: https://github.com/Sigil-Ebook/Sigil/raw/master/docs/Sigil_User_Guide_0_7_2.epub

Downloading binaries from anyplace else is simply NOT a good idea as they could inject anything into their own downloads. After downloading, please verify the downloaded binary exactly matches what was originally posted by running an SHA 256 checksum on the file before installing it. See the file Sigil-0.9.9-CHECKSUMS.sha256.txt for the correct checksums for each file and instructions for how to calculate a SHA 256 Checksum for your download. The Mac OS X Package has also been code signed with my Apple Developer signature.


Windows Users
If your current version of Sigil is 0.9.6 or earlier, it’s recommended (but not required) that you uninstall that version before installing 0.9.9. Some compiled Python files have had their file extentions changed (as well as the change to Python 3.5). As a result, there will be a lot of extraneous files left lying around if you just install the new over the old. It won’t cause any functionality problems, but if disk space is at a premium, you may want to clean things up a bit. You can do this by uninstalling Sigil at any time (even after 0.9.9 is installed) and reinstalling. Doing so won’t affect your any of your preferences, plugins, keyboard shortcuts, clips, saved searches, etc.

Linux Users
There are currently no official binary releases available for Linux on the Sigil Release page. Please check with your favorite distro’s software repositories to see if they have Sigil for installation via your OS’s package management system. If not, there are build instructions for compiling Sigil yourself in the source archive’s docs directory: https://github.com/Sigil-Ebook/Sigil/tree/master/docs

Don’t forget the FlightCrew plugin
Please note, the epub2 validator FlightCrew has been converted to a plugin for Sigil 0.8.900 and later.
This plugin has been updated for Sigil-0.9.3 (and later). It can be downloaded from the official Sigil-Ebook flightcrew repository if you have not already installed it.

https://github.com/Sigil-Ebook/flightcrew/releases/tag/0.9.1

Attention Mac OS X Users
Per the recommendation of http://www.python.org (see https://www.python.org/download/mac/tcltk/), due to bugs and the age of Apple’s internal Tcl library, you should also download and install ActiveState’s ActiveTcl Community Edition. To get the latest bug fixes, Sigil-0.9.9’s embedded Python has been linked with the very latest version: Tcl 8.6.4.1

We may not redistribute this Package with Sigil due to ActiveState’s binary non-redistribution policy.

So please, if you have not already done so download and install this version of ActiveState’s Active Tcl Community Edition, until we get a chance to do our own build of Tcl 8.6.4.1 from source for future releases. ActiveState is a primary contributor to http://www.python.org and a respected and trusted source for python and tcl/tk related binaries on both Windows and Mac OS X.

See: http://www.activestate.com/activetcl/downloads
Version: 8.6.4.1


Some Additional things

When you fire up Sigil for the very first time:

  • navigate to the new General Preferences and select the default
    epub version you plan to work with (epub 2 or epub3) so that new
    empty ebooks start with the correct code.
  • if you plan to work with epub3 epubs, you should change your
    PreserveEntities setting to use ONLY NUMERIC entities.
    For example use & # 1 6 0 ; for non-breaking spaces and etc.
  • We strongly recommend enabling Mend On Open in your settings
    for best performance with Sigil