As far as I can tell from testing the only fonts the 505 recognizes is Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier. Anything else it just displays the book in Arial/TNR.

Of those three TNR is the easiest for me to read, but I'd prefer to read my books in Trebuchet or Calibri.

Anyone found a way to modify the supported font list?

You can make your own books in BookDesigner and embed the font you want to use. This produces LRF files (the native format for the Sony) that are larger than they would be without the embedded font and the page turns take a bit longer. Otherwise you could make custom sized PDF files (like those from Feedbooks) that use your favored font.

There was some discussion about replacing the base fonts in the PRS-500 but as I remember that option is not available for the firmware of the 505.

By the way, the fonts in the Reader are from Bitstream and are Dutch (the TNR clone) and Swiss (the Helv or Ariel clone.)

I usually make my own pdf files and embed the font I want. I don't typically read whole books or articles in anything other than Times New Roman, though. I find most fonts to be too distracting and annoying to read continually.

It should be noted, however, that embedding fonts in a document can dramatically slow down the page turn speed from a fraction of a second to several seconds.

There is at least one more font, I use New Century Schoolbook, and it shows up correctly. In fact, I don't technically have that font on my computer, but if I assign it to the RTF I'm reading it gets displayed in that font on the device.
If anyone has a truly comprehensive list of the fonts the device supports directly, I'd love to see it. I only found out about New Century Schoolbook because someone on this forum mentioned it. Before I was using Times-Roman, which was the only serif font I could find that displayed on the device.

There is at least one more font, I use New Century Schoolbook, and it shows up correctly. In fact, I don't technically have that font on my computer, but if I assign it to the RTF I'm reading it gets displayed in that font on the device.
If anyone has a truly comprehensive list of the fonts the device supports directly, I'd love to see it. I only found out about New Century Schoolbook because someone on this forum mentioned it. Before I was using Times-Roman, which was the only serif font I could find that displayed on the device.

Unless this is a new feature of the 505 that I'm unaware of, New Century Schoolbook isn't present on the Reader. There are, as has been said, only three fonts - Couirer, Swiss, and Dutch. Any font will be mapped onto one of these three, unless embedded in the actual document.

There is at least one more font, I use New Century Schoolbook, and it shows up correctly. In fact, I don't technically have that font on my computer, but if I assign it to the RTF I'm reading it gets displayed in that font on the device.
If anyone has a truly comprehensive list of the fonts the device supports directly, I'd love to see it. I only found out about New Century Schoolbook because someone on this forum mentioned it. Before I was using Times-Roman, which was the only serif font I could find that displayed on the device.

nope, just tested it

it shows up as Dutch/TNR

You can make your own books in BookDesigner and embed the font you want to use. This produces LRF files (the native format for the Sony) that are larger than they would be without the embedded font and the page turns take a bit longer. Otherwise you could make custom sized PDF files (like those from Feedbooks) that use your favored font.

There was some discussion about replacing the base fonts in the PRS-500 but as I remember that option is not available for the firmware of the 505.

By the way, the fonts in the Reader are from Bitstream and are Dutch (the TNR clone) and Swiss (the Helv or Ariel clone.)

Cool, I'll try messing with BookDesigner tonight. :thumbsup:

Cool, I'll try messing with BookDesigner tonight. :thumbsup:

couldn't wait till tonight :p lol

anyway, BD works great! figured out how to embed fonts, add photos, and format just how I like it in about 2mins

and my new favorite font is Sylfaen (pretty close to TNR, but with subtle differences that I prefer)

Just don't use Comic Sans for reading. God, I hate that font. Teachers used that craptastic font on assignments when I was in high school all the time (they probably still do, too... the bastards). Every time I saw it I couldn't help but think it was such an unprofessional and annoying font to read assignments in. That's one font I'll likely never use in any of my ebooks. </rant> ;)

Now I just need to figure out how to remove the BD credits :p

also, is Sylfaen
sil-fain' (methinks this one)
sil-fay'-en
sile'-fain

??

I've been trying to embed some fonts recomended by people here but they seem to crash the reader :blink: i try to open the book and the 505 restarts as if i had shut it down.

Also the sony connect software crashes when trying to display the book. Any ideas?

Just don't use Comic Sans for reading. God, I hate that font. Teachers used that craptastic font on assignments when I was in high school all the time (they probably still do, too... the bastards). Every time I saw it I couldn't help but think it was such an unprofessional and annoying font to read assignments in. That's one font I'll likely never use in any of my ebooks. </rant> ;)

Teachers weren't the only ones... for a while that font was *everywhere*. Luckily, now there's something you can be a part of to help put the "sans" in comic sans (http://bancomicsans.com/). ;)

try this:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20644
You can made your own font using FontCreator or other programs. Just modify the 3 original font files.

try this:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20644
You can made your own font using FontCreator or other programs. Just modify the 3 original font files.

Thanks for the tip i'll try it out tonight :) just a quick question, do i need to re-format all my current books to the new font as well? or will the device automatically change them when i change the font using alanine's method?

edit:

worked great thanks alot :)
i had some issues with converting from .otf to .ttf and changing Font Family, but i found a piece of software called FontCreator. It has a free trial and does it all so i'm a happy guy. thanks again

Thanks for the tip i'll try it out tonight :) just a quick question, do i need to re-format all my current books to the new font as well? or will the device automatically change them when i change the font using alanine's method?

I hacked my 500 with Chinese fonts and the loaded books (LRF) will use your changed fonts at once and the page turn time required seems unaffected.

I have no experience with 505. But anyway, if you find missing characters or the page turning time is extra long, you can copy your books back to the PC and re-upload them through the sonly s/w afterwards. It worths your effort because you can read with your favorite fonts. (I used Sylfaen and Monotype Corsiva)

Mind you that your Menu fonts will be affected too.