PRS-350 PDF Reflow Font

yelloguy · 02-14-2011, 07:09 AM

This is about my PRS 350. Most of my reading is PDF's in reflow mode. After about three weeks, I do not like the default fonts on the 350.

So I searched and found two different ways to change the fonts.
1. Copy fonts. Then change the CSS style sheet for the ePub
2. Reflash with Baroda firmware and change the default font

Since #1 is for ePub only, I did not even try it. I reflashed my device with the Russian fw last night. But, the PDF reflow font did not change. Does anyone know if it only uses the font mentioned in the PDF? It seems to me that it is using the default Sony Serif font. So there should be a way to change that. Am I missing something? Please tell me that I am. As it stands, the (Serif) font in zoom M seems too light and the difference between zoom M and zoom L is too much. I wonder if I can copy some Windows 7 fonts like Calibri, Consolas and such and get a better looking text? Anyone tried this for PDF reflow?

Thanks in advance.

kartu · 02-14-2011, 07:11 AM

Some PDFs have built in fonts.

yelloguy · 02-15-2011, 07:58 AM

Thanks kartu. It seems that way. I tried reflowing different PDF's and it looks like it uses the original font the PDF is in while reflowing it too. I do not want to convert the PDF's to ePub since it has the same problems as reflow except it does not have an option to switch back to page view.

kartu · 02-15-2011, 08:04 AM

But... but... unlike PDFs, ePubs can always be "reflown" without sacrificing anything.
Besides, the firmware you've mentioned, supports custom EPUB css files (the way to do it was first found by pepak). Custom CSS allows you to override even built in EPUB fonts. You can read more about it in dev subforum.

yelloguy · 02-15-2011, 09:41 AM

Sorry I did not explain very well.

The problem with turning a PDF into an ePub is that no software is smart enough to understand the PDF. Sometimes there are images, sometimes some text in sidebars and sometimes headers and footers. Not to mention the line breaks and tabular data. Rarely I come across a PDF with none of these problems and then I just turn it into an ePub (with or without the custom css). In most OTHER cases, reflowing in the reader allows me to read the text. And when something (e.g. a table) does not make sense, I go back to page view (PDF) mode and look at it that way. Then I either zoom in to read text or reflow again to read it. This flexibility is not there if I turn the PDF into an ePub beforehand. Then I am stuck with the messed up tables and sidebars.

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02-14-2011, 07:09 AM	#1
yelloguy Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 4698 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: none	PDF Reflow Font This is about my PRS 350. Most of my reading is PDF's in reflow mode. After about three weeks, I do not like the default fonts on the 350. So I searched and found two different ways to change the fonts. 1. Copy fonts. Then change the CSS style sheet for the ePub 2. Reflash with Baroda firmware and change the default font Since #1 is for ePub only, I did not even try it. I reflashed my device with the Russian fw last night. But, the PDF reflow font did not change. Does anyone know if it only uses the font mentioned in the PDF? It seems to me that it is using the default Sony Serif font. So there should be a way to change that. Am I missing something? Please tell me that I am. As it stands, the (Serif) font in zoom M seems too light and the difference between zoom M and zoom L is too much. I wonder if I can copy some Windows 7 fonts like Calibri, Consolas and such and get a better looking text? Anyone tried this for PDF reflow? Thanks in advance.

02-14-2011, 07:11 AM	#2
kartu PRS+ author Posts: 1,637 Karma: 2446233 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-300, 505, 600, 650, 950	Some PDFs have built in fonts.

02-15-2011, 07:58 AM	#3
yelloguy Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 4698 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: none	Thanks kartu. It seems that way. I tried reflowing different PDF's and it looks like it uses the original font the PDF is in while reflowing it too. I do not want to convert the PDF's to ePub since it has the same problems as reflow except it does not have an option to switch back to page view.

02-15-2011, 08:04 AM	#4
kartu PRS+ author Posts: 1,637 Karma: 2446233 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-300, 505, 600, 650, 950	But... but... unlike PDFs, ePubs can always be "reflown" without sacrificing anything. Besides, the firmware you've mentioned, supports custom EPUB css files (the way to do it was first found by pepak). Custom CSS allows you to override even built in EPUB fonts. You can read more about it in dev subforum.

02-15-2011, 09:41 AM	#5
yelloguy Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 4698 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: none	Sorry I did not explain very well. The problem with turning a PDF into an ePub is that no software is smart enough to understand the PDF. Sometimes there are images, sometimes some text in sidebars and sometimes headers and footers. Not to mention the line breaks and tabular data. Rarely I come across a PDF with none of these problems and then I just turn it into an ePub (with or without the custom css). In most OTHER cases, reflowing in the reader allows me to read the text. And when something (e.g. a table) does not make sense, I go back to page view (PDF) mode and look at it that way. Then I either zoom in to read text or reflow again to read it. This flexibility is not there if I turn the PDF into an ePub beforehand. Then I am stuck with the messed up tables and sidebars.

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