Font embedding frustration

[Psymon]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

One way to check it is via FontForge. Load up the font and look at the info. On one tab it mentions the OS/2 version compatibility. You can also change it there and regenerate the fonts.

Took me a while to clue in to what it was you were saying to do! At first, I thought you meant to go to the FontForge website (which I found) and then "load up" my font there somewhere -- couldn't find anywhere to do so. Then I realized that it was a proggie that I had to download/install -- which I did.

Took a while to figure out how to use it (it seems like I'm stuck in my C: drive and can't check fonts on any other drive!), and then I checked the "Ruthie" font that I used in that last, "modern" version of my epub.

"Ruthie" would appear to be fine -- at least, under OS/2 it says "2" (which I presume is what it should say).

Then I checked one of the three "olde"-style fonts that I'd used in that late-Middle English text (in that first sample I'd loaded up here in my initial query), and when I load it I get a "warning" that says that I can't have an OS/2 spec set at "0", and when I look at the font info in that OS/2 section it says "Automatic".

In any case, that font (and presumably the other two "olde"-style fonts that I used there, all made by the same type designer) seem to work on the iPad (in iBooks, anyway), so if I was going to do that version -- for iPad/iBooks only -- well, I guess I'm okay.

(I'm still debating whether to do that version, or just go with graphics for that part for every version).

I have no idea what it is used for and why there are issues with it if the version is higher. It is just one of those quirks.

I have no idea either! This ebook-creation stuff is getting endlessly more and more complicated! I seem to be downloading and installing software left and right, just to see if things "work". When I started getting into this, I never thought it would be this complicated and problematic. :/

[Psymon]

Originally Posted by Perkin

The only other thing I could suggest along this line of thinking is to reduce the height and width of the svg container by (say) 10, so it would be

      <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="95%"  preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 582 890"  width="95%" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
        <image height="890" width="582" xlink:href="../Images/Frontispiece.jpg"></image>
      </svg>

Thanks for the suggestion -- I just tried it, though, and still have the same issue (re blank pages). :/

[Psymon]

I FOUND THE SOLUTION!!! To the issue re full page images adding an extra blank page when viewed in portrait mode...

For whatever reason, what was causing the problem was that even though I had each/every full-page image done up as a separate HTML file, in those I had been linking to my style sheet as well -- by simply deleting that, it got rid of the problem! I don't know what it is that I have in my style sheet that causes that extra blank page (only in portrait mode, in iBooks), but that's what it was. In fact, I've now set my image sizes to 100% (not 99% or 95%) and they're coming out fine, both landscape and portrait.

So that problem is solved!

I'm really starting to wonder now, though, if perhaps I should just design specifically for iBooks. I realize that that will limit my audience (and potential income), but I'm not really all that "ambitious" anyway -- I'm semi-retired now, I don't have a great enough income to go out and buy any/every ereader on the market (past/present/future), not to mention the frustration level of trying to design things that work in "every" platform.

I've got an iPad, and while I'm sure opinions might vary on this, from all the ereaders that I've seen, and all the different apps that I've tried, none seem to work/display as nicely as iBooks does -- I just love how the latter lets you actually display the book so that it looks like an actual "book" (with the simulated gutter in the middle and stuff)!

Anyone have any thoughts on that? I don't mean on my opinion of iBooks, really, but rather on my limiting any ebooks I might create specifically to iBooks? Like I said, I'm not really "in it for the money". It just seems so impractical for me, in my position -- both financially (I can't afford to buy a ton of different readers to test things) and "exasperatingly" (as far as designing multiple versions of each book for all the various platforms).

If anyone thinks I'm making a big mistake in thinking about limiting myself in this way, please don't hesitate to try to nudge me -- with valid reasons -- in a different direction. But at the moment, this morning, this seems to be the direction that I'm leaning to.

I'd love to hear others' thoughts on that -- and in the meantime, thank you SO very, very much to everyone who has responded to me with all their help on this little first-time project mine so far!

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by Psymon

... on my limiting any ebooks I might create specifically to iBooks? Like I said, I'm not really "in it for the money". It just seems so impractical for me, in my position -- both financially (I can't afford to buy a ton of different readers to test things) and "exasperatingly" (as far as designing multiple versions of each book for all the various platforms).

If anyone thinks I'm making a big mistake in thinking about limiting myself in this way, please don't hesitate to try to nudge me -- with valid reasons -- in a different direction....

Well...you'll lose 90% of the ebook market according to this (2012) article - apple have only 10% - it varies somewhat by country but if you want max sales you need to look at kindle conversions then self publishing on Amazon
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...a_fact_auletta

update- maybe you "only" lose 80% !

depends which article you read:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...rt-ruling.html
The iBookstore, meanwhile, is currently Amazon’s most viable competitor in the e-book market: since its launch, in 2010, Amazon’s share of e-book sales has fallen to an estimated fifty to sixty per cent, and the iBookstore, according to the Apple executive Keith Moerer, now has twenty per cent of the market.

[Psymon]

Originally Posted by cybmole

update- maybe you "only" lose 80% !

Thanks for the links! Certainly factors to take into consideration (re market share of each platform). In that regard, here's an article written only just this month (October 7, 2013) which says that iBooks only has a 5% share of the market! Go figure...

http://thefutureofink.com/ebook-publishing-platforms/

I definitely need to think about this before making any drastic decisions. If anything, I'm thinking that perhaps I might just get myself a Kindle, and then just design for iBooks and Kindle??? I'm just having a lot of trouble seeing myself designing for EVERY platform -- but getting the amazon market would certainly open up the biggest market (if I understand these stats correctly).

[cybmole]

yep - amazon have by far the largest market share & there are good tools to take you from your existing design to kindle - not sure if this is the best forum for discussing those though

[Psymon]

Originally Posted by cybmole

yep - amazon have by far the largest market share & there are good tools to take you from your existing design to kindle - not sure if this is the best forum for discussing those though

Well, I don't have a Kindle (yet), but obviously I'm already on my way to doing okay (I think -- or hope!) as far as iBooks go. Any thoughts on publishing ONLY for just iBooks and Kindle, and that's it?

Right now, the thought of designing for "everything" is a bit much, but even down the road -- if/when I got a handle on those two -- it just seems like such an utter pain in the butt to always design for half a dozen (or more) platforms.

I want to be HAPPY in life, much more than I want to be rich or "popular".

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Psymon

Well, I don't have a Kindle (yet), but obviously I'm already on my way to doing okay (I think -- or hope!) as far as iBooks go. Any thoughts on publishing ONLY for just iBooks and Kindle, and that's it?

Right now, the thought of designing for "everything" is a bit much, but even down the road -- if/when I got a handle on those two -- it just seems like such an utter pain in the butt to always design for half a dozen (or more) platforms.

I want to be HAPPY in life, much more than I want to be rich or "popular".

You can do what you want. (and where you see the $$)

But I think you are leaving out a large number of older devices (monochrome,E-INK)
ADE EPUB was the sole standard of many public Libraries until recently.

I suggest you stop by various format forums and read the limitations and features of your targeted formats. (you have used some elegant HTML code, but not every device supports all that. ADE 1.7 (EPUB2) has lots of to avoid. different brands add more gotchas to that mix)
Those huge , Apple endorsed images sizes are probably chosen to deliberately choke older devices I use a cover around 300x500 for a 600x800 EINK display. The cover is more than just visable, even when the device makes it fill the screen.

Remember: A cover is only 1 page in the book. The reader is going to spend most of their time NOT on the cover page.

[Psymon]

Originally Posted by theducks

You can do what you want. (and where you see the $$)

$$$ are nice, that's certainly only natural, but not at the sacrifice of peace of mind.

I suggest you stop by various format forums and read the limitations and features of  your targeted formats. (you have used some elegant HTML code, but not every device supports all that.

I'd have a very hard time NOT trying to design things "elegantly"! I've seen screenshots (or whatever) of some e-readers, and geez, it's like reading a plain text file with no formatting at all -- it might as well have been typed on an old manual typewriter or something.

You have me thinking, once again, of maybe just sticking with designing for iBooks exclusively -- don't feel bad about that, though, that's not necessarily a bad thing if I do end up going that way! Take a lesson from an old fart like me -- HAPPINESS and PEACE OF MIND is way more important than money (or popularity).

[cybmole]

little or no money to be made from designing for library loans!.

not sure how all countries work but I think basic model is: library pays for 1 epub ( so that's 1 sale for the author) & gets to loan it out many, many times. Publisher sets the limit & it can only be out to one person at a time. I read a lot of epub library loans but I doubt the author gets much.

I do know that in UK, authors get all of 6p each time I borrow a library paperback, but in USA, the author gets zero for a paperback library loan. USA library model is it sone hard copy book = 1 sale, then loan it out until it falls apart then buy another....

Kindle (mobi or the newer AZW3) from epub is straightforward in that you can use kindle for PC as your viewer and with a program called kindlegen which I think is freeware, or with calibre as your main conversion tool. there's a forum for calibre, not sure where yo'd do to ask about kindlegen but I'm sure others will tell us.

but if you want elegant only maybe you could stick with the market leading colour tablet devices: ipad, & kindle fire & publish only via amazon & ibooks

[Psymon]

Originally Posted by cybmole

but if you want elegant only maybe you could stick with the market leading colour tablet devices: ipad, & kindle fire & publish only via amazon & ibooks

I don't really know anything about Kindle (yet!), but if Kindle Fire is basically the only one that can handle really nice, visually-appealing designs, can one design only for that (Fire) and have it not available for the other Kindles (in which one's design would probably fall apart)?

[theducks]

Cybe
I was not suggesting ADE EPUB because of Library loans.
I was suggesting it because there are a TON of devices out there because of Library loans.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Psymon

Thanks for the links! Certainly factors to take into consideration (re market share of each platform). In that regard, here's an article written only just this month (October 7, 2013) which says that iBooks only has a 5% share of the market! Go figure...

http://thefutureofink.com/ebook-publishing-platforms/

I definitely need to think about this before making any drastic decisions. If anything, I'm thinking that perhaps I might just get myself a Kindle, and then just design for iBooks and Kindle??? I'm just having a lot of trouble seeing myself designing for EVERY platform -- but getting the amazon market would certainly open up the biggest market (if I understand these stats correctly).

If Apple has even 5% of the ebook market, I'll eat my slippers. What bollocks! We have the privilege of converting for some very big authors, and most of them don't sell 1 book on iBooks to every 1,000 they sell on Amazon. Our Authors consistently sell 95% or more on Amazon. FWIW.

I don't really know anything about Kindle (yet!), but if Kindle Fire is basically the only one that can handle really nice, visually-appealing designs, can one design only for that (Fire) and have it not available for the other Kindles (in which one's design would probably fall apart)?

You can design for the Fire, by using "fixed-format," but you don't want to do that for a variety of reasons. There are millions--millions--of devices out there yet that are "K7-compatible." That means, they don't display the fancier typography, etc. That's millions of potential buyers. You have to learn how to do "fallback," which means, have your fancier typography "fallback gracefully" for K7-device owners. (Kindle, Kindle2, DX and some Kindle3's).

If I may--without trying to get in your business--you may wish to not lose sight of the forest for the trees. A book's value is in its content--not how fancy the typography is. As a reader, not an ebook-converter or any other professional capacity, when I pick up a book in a bookstore that has a crapload of "fancy typography" (zillions of text boxes, exclamation marks, bullseyes, and the like) I tend to put it down, because my tendency is to think it's been padded by clever layout people to make it look like it has more content than it really does. Or, that the typography is to disguise a lack of content, or dreadful content.

So...I'm sure your book would stand alone even if done in Times New Roman, right? Didn't you have some message about doing it in "regular" font, and then putting the blackletter version at the back? Think of it that way for Amazon--your Fire version can have blackletter, even though I personally would not "go" for that--and your other versions will simply be in Caecilia, which is a TNR clone.

Just my $.02.

Hitch

[varlog]

[$.02]
I think I have it from Ursula le Guin : one writes a book when one have an idea which couldn't be expressed in just few sentences (my free interpretation). My other guru author (see my Avatar) compares book to a window into another world: you see only a fragment of it and that only through description - is that what you see enough to believe in it (free interpretation again).
What I want to say by it: in a book I like my fonts to be readable and my illustrations (if any) not distracting.
[$.02]

[JSWolf]

One of the best fonts to use for embedding that is better then most default fonts is Charis SIL. It doesn't get in the way and looks good. My modified version is better. Charis SIL is the most used embedded font family. It is used by publishers when they don't need any specific fonts and yet want to embed.