[Tugger]

There is a problem with some books where the fonts on KF8 devices are too small to read comfortably even at font size setting 6. Increasing the size setting to 7 on the Kindle then makes them too large. There is no setting that makes them acceptable to the reader.

Now that Kindle 3 Keyboards are also getting the KF8 upgrade, this may develop into a widespread problem.

I came across this when trying out the Amazon InDesign Plugin to create .mobi files. The files it creates all have this problem. To be fair to it, it is a beta, v0.971.

This problem might easily apply to other source files created in other ways, so it is worth knowing about.

Before KF8, font sizes were specified in the html and were set to a number between 1 and 6. That worked.

With KF8 the font size is set in the css file, and it can be set in many different ways. I am simply going to tell you what doesn't work and how to fix it. A full explanation would require a book on css.

The problem
The file initially has the font sizes set in points. A standard 12 point book produces a tiny font on the Kindle. The Kindle device can be set by the user to 8 font sizes. Even at size 6 it is still too small for some users. The moment you go to size 7 it jumps to being far too large. This leads to complaints from readers.

The solution
Edit the .css file.
Wherever a size is specified in points, divide the number by 10 and specify it in ems. For example "font-size: 12pt" becomes "font-size: 1.2em"
Now the fonts will be sensible sizes and the size settings on the Kindle will work correctly.
If you have a text editor with macros you can automate the process.

I hope you find this helpful.