Quote:
Originally Posted by ficbot
I downloaded three epubs yesterday and loaded them onto my Sony reader. Two were library books and one was a freebie from the Sony store. I was shocked at how different they looked.
Both library books had absolutely minuscule default fonts. One looked just fine once I adjusted to the next zoom level. The other turned super-giant on the next zoom level and also developed margins that left three inches of white space on every side of the screen so that only a small tube of text was visible down the middle.
The Sony book had a normal-sized font and looked okay, except that periodically (in between chapters) there would be a screen's worth of scrolling which would be totally blank. Other Sony books I have seen have not been as nice and have had other issues.
I understand that people like to have control over their own books and it would not be right to say everyone must do it this way or that way. But I have to admit, after last night I feel like a definitive ebook style guide and some sort of standardization would be nice.
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I agree that an ebook style guide would be a very good idea. It would provide ebook formatters with a basic guide to follow that would provide a consistent look for ebooks. It would also be designed with ebooks in mind.
For example, it could establish a standard all-around margin of 0.2" (5mm) for ebooks, or it could use a percentage of the total screen dimensions (the left and right margins are 5 percent of the screen width). In the same way, other formatting could be established independent of a specific screen size (everything is based on percentages of the screen size).
As far as formatting problems go, it is possible that the ebooks were created with a printed version in mind, rather than display on a screen. For example, the blank pages could be there to ensure that each chapter starts on a odd page (on the right side of the book), something that's not an issue with ebooks.
In the same way, the font size may not be considered crucial with ebooks because the user can increase the font size. However, there should be a minimum font size used so that they text is at least readable at the smallest setting.
As I said at the beginning, I think an ebook style guide would be a great help to people who are making ebooks. If properly designed, it would ensure that ebooks have a good consistent look, and would improve readability.