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wallcraft · 12-09-2009, 08:37 PM

The generic EZ-Reader fixes and enhancements list asks for user selected ePub fonts (33rd in the list for BOTH Basic & Pocket Pro) and there are several threads exploring the underlying issue of a poor default font, e.g. see My suggestions on getting the device to look blacker. However, I want to make a broader request - for user customization options for the ePub format.

No current implementation of mobile Adobe Digital Editions does this, but it is already possible for ADE to accept a User Stylesheet, see User Stylesheet for Adobe Digital Editions. Allowing this (e.g. in a fixed location on the SD card or on internal memory) on EZ Reader's would provide a mechanism to add user provided fonts and much more (e.g. bold all fonts, change justification, change margins, change line spacing). This capability is already available for individual DRM-free ePubs by explicitly modifying the ebook (Fonts and Epub - What works on Sony, Works for Pocket Pro too!), but this would apply to all ePubs, including ePubs with DRM, without changing them. My impression is that this is almost trivial to implement, it is quite possibly already enabled (as it is in the Sony eBL viewer) but the folder that has to currently include the userStyle.css isn't visible to the user. The downside of this approach is that CSS stylesheets are not user-friendly, but it is easy to generate examples and just use an example "as is".

An alternative, which I think requires more work to implement, would be to offer a menu of customization options. These would at a minimum include an option to change the default font. The B&N Nook is the first mobile ADE implementation to offer a choice of three system fonts for ePub, although it does not allow user provided fonts. Other options in a customization menu could be all-bold, set margin width, etcetera.

Adding support for userStyle.css and/or a customization menu (the two are not mutually exclusive) would make EZ Reader's ePub viewer the best currently available. Since everyone is now using ADE, and ePub, the vendors who go the extra mile to add more features to ePub will end up selling more devices. This upgrade would be a win for everyone.

12-09-2009, 08:37 PM	#1
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	Needed: Customization for ePub The generic EZ-Reader fixes and enhancements list asks for user selected ePub fonts (33rd in the list for BOTH Basic & Pocket Pro) and there are several threads exploring the underlying issue of a poor default font, e.g. see My suggestions on getting the device to look blacker. However, I want to make a broader request - for user customization options for the ePub format. No current implementation of mobile Adobe Digital Editions does this, but it is already possible for ADE to accept a User Stylesheet, see User Stylesheet for Adobe Digital Editions. Allowing this (e.g. in a fixed location on the SD card or on internal memory) on EZ Reader's would provide a mechanism to add user provided fonts and much more (e.g. bold all fonts, change justification, change margins, change line spacing). This capability is already available for individual DRM-free ePubs by explicitly modifying the ebook (Fonts and Epub - What works on Sony, Works for Pocket Pro too!), but this would apply to all ePubs, including ePubs with DRM, without changing them. My impression is that this is almost trivial to implement, it is quite possibly already enabled (as it is in the Sony eBL viewer) but the folder that has to currently include the userStyle.css isn't visible to the user. The downside of this approach is that CSS stylesheets are not user-friendly, but it is easy to generate examples and just use an example "as is". An alternative, which I think requires more work to implement, would be to offer a menu of customization options. These would at a minimum include an option to change the default font. The B&N Nook is the first mobile ADE implementation to offer a choice of three system fonts for ePub, although it does not allow user provided fonts. Other options in a customization menu could be all-bold, set margin width, etcetera. Adding support for userStyle.css and/or a customization menu (the two are not mutually exclusive) would make EZ Reader's ePub viewer the best currently available. Since everyone is now using ADE, and ePub, the vendors who go the extra mile to add more features to ePub will end up selling more devices. This upgrade would be a win for everyone.