Fix "small caps" problem

MSWallack · 06-05-2012, 12:09 PM

So I have an ebook that has been formatted (not by me) so that each new chapter or section begins with a slightly oversized letter followed by several words, in all caps, but in a tiny font before the text returns to standard upper and lower case and a regular font size. It appears that the formatting is trying to emulate small caps but doing so really poorly. When I get to each new chapter I have to either squint or zoom just to read the first few words. It's getting a wee bit annoying. Is there a quick way in Sigil to fix this? Note that I really don't understand CSS yet...

pdurrant · 06-05-2012, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSWallack

So I have an ebook that has been formatted (not by me) so that each new chapter or section begins with a slightly oversized letter followed by several words, in all caps, but in a tiny font before the text returns to standard upper and lower case and a regular font size. It appears that the formatting is trying to emulate small caps but doing so really poorly. When I get to each new chapter I have to either squint or zoom just to read the first few words. It's getting a wee bit annoying. Is there a quick way in Sigil to fix this? Note that I really don't understand CSS yet...

It depends on how the formatting has been done. It might be as simple as a change to the CSS controlling the 'smallcaps' text. Or you might need to edit each chapter start individually. It's impossible to say which case applies to your particular ebook.

JSWolf · 06-05-2012, 12:14 PM

In most cases, smallcaps are just a simple style in the CSS. If that's the case, check how it's done. It should be a font size of either 75% or .75 em to be correct for the default font size of 1em.

MSWallack · 06-05-2012, 01:13 PM

I opened the ebook in Sigil. Here is what the beginning of a chapter looks like (I've changed the text of the book itself...):

<body class="calibre">
CHAPTER 1

 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

 

I SHOULDN’T HAVE come, Bob Smith thought as he looked at the people around him. I should have gone far away.

But he had answered the phone call.

pdurrant · 06-05-2012, 01:21 PM

It looks like you just need to change the CSS for style calibre12.

But that will only fix the font size, of course. Since the ALL CAPS is hard coded, there's no way to change that (without errors) without changing the text itself.

rkomar · 06-06-2012, 12:24 AM

I created some EPUBs with small caps a while ago using sigil, and the code there looked like:

Code:

<small>I SEEM TO BE</small>

So, it looks like the same font is used for small caps and the standard text. It just has the tags around the small caps. There are no issues with the font being tiny that way. I don't see how to automatically change your EPUB to follow that style, though.

Doitsu · 06-06-2012, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But that will only fix the font size, of course. Since the ALL CAPS is hard coded, there's no way to change that (without errors) without changing the text itself.

Since the current Sigil version supports PCRE, it'd would be possible to use a \L backreference to change the all caps text to lower-case characters.
For example, the following regular search and replace expressions would change all caps text to lower case text:

Search: (.*?)
Replace: \L\1

Jellby · 06-06-2012, 04:05 AM

That cannot know when a letter must be uppercase anyway, as in a proper name.

pdurrant · 06-06-2012, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellby

That cannot know when a letter must be uppercase anyway, as in a proper name.

Exactly so. When the information isn't there, there's no automated way to fix it.

st_albert · 06-06-2012, 10:24 AM

FWIW, I will add that my experience has been that this method of simulating small caps (i.e. font size 75%, or whatever, used with all caps in the text) does not work reliably in all epub readers (nor, IIRC, in kindle 3 and below).

One could (should?) embed an actual small-caps font, but some e-readers don't handle embedded fonts well either.

pdurrant · 06-06-2012, 10:45 AM

Well, actually small-caps should be done by specifying font-variant:small-caps in the CSS for the text you want in small-caps. Unfortunately, ADE doesn't support this part of the OPS 2.0.1 specification yet, and ADE is what most readers use when rendering ePubs.

MSWallack · 06-06-2012, 10:59 AM

I just changed the CSS definition (it was .43em or such) to 1.0em and everything looks fine now. I'd obviously prefer "real" small caps than just all caps, but at least the text is readable without zooming or squinting (I guess I'm getting old...). Thanks for the help.

JSWolf · 06-06-2012, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSWallack

I opened the ebook in Sigil. Here is what the beginning of a chapter looks like (I've changed the text of the book itself...):

<body class="calibre">
CHAPTER 1

 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

 

I SHOULDN’T HAVE come, Bob Smith thought as he looked at the people around him. I should have gone far away.

But he had answered the phone call.

Code:

.calibre12 {
  font-size: 75%
}

There, fixed.

06-05-2012, 12:09 PM	#1
MSWallack Right, Except When Wrong Posts: 353 Karma: 3968525 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Indianapolis Device: Kindle Oasis 3 (sometimes iPad Mini).	Fix "small caps" problem So I have an ebook that has been formatted (not by me) so that each new chapter or section begins with a slightly oversized letter followed by several words, in all caps, but in a tiny font before the text returns to standard upper and lower case and a regular font size. It appears that the formatting is trying to emulate small caps but doing so really poorly. When I get to each new chapter I have to either squint or zoom just to read the first few words. It's getting a wee bit annoying. Is there a quick way in Sigil to fix this? Note that I really don't understand CSS yet...

06-05-2012, 01:13 PM	#4
MSWallack Right, Except When Wrong Posts: 353 Karma: 3968525 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Indianapolis Device: Kindle Oasis 3 (sometimes iPad Mini).	I opened the ebook in Sigil. Here is what the beginning of a chapter looks like (I've changed the text of the book itself...): <body class="calibre"> <p class="calibre7" id="filepos13245"><span class="calibre11 bold">CHAPTER 1</span></p> <p class="calibre9 sgc-1"> </p> <p class="calibre10"><span class="calibre12 bold">CHICAGO, ILLINOIS</span></p> <p class="calibre9 sgc-1"> </p> <p class="calibre10"><span class="italic">I</span> <span class="calibre12 italic">SHOULDN’T HAVE</span> <span class="italic">come,</span> Bob Smith thought as he looked at the people around him. <span class="italic">I should have gone far away.</span></p> <p class="calibre15">But he had answered the phone call.</p>

06-06-2012, 12:24 AM	#6
rkomar Wizard Posts: 2,986 Karma: 18343081 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada Device: PRS-505, PB 902, PRS-T1, PB 623, PB 840, PB 633	I created some EPUBs with small caps a while ago using sigil, and the code there looked like: Code: <small>I SEEM TO BE</small> So, it looks like the same font is used for small caps and the standard text. It just has the <small> tags around the small caps. There are no issues with the font being tiny that way. I don't see how to automatically change your EPUB to follow that style, though. Last edited by rkomar; 06-06-2012 at 12:28 AM.

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06-05-2012, 12:14 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,968 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	In most cases, smallcaps are just a simple style in the CSS. If that's the case, check how it's done. It should be a font size of either 75% or .75 em to be correct for the default font size of 1em.

06-05-2012, 01:21 PM	#5
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,506 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	It looks like you just need to change the CSS for style calibre12. But that will only fix the font size, of course. Since the ALL CAPS is hard coded, there's no way to change that (without errors) without changing the text itself.

06-06-2012, 04:05 AM	#8
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,516 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	That cannot know when a letter must be uppercase anyway, as in a proper name.

06-06-2012, 10:24 AM	#10
st_albert Guru Posts: 696 Karma: 150000 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: none	FWIW, I will add that my experience has been that this method of simulating small caps (i.e. font size 75%, or whatever, used with all caps in the text) does not work reliably in all epub readers (nor, IIRC, in kindle 3 and below). One could (should?) embed an actual small-caps font, but some e-readers don't handle embedded fonts well either.

06-06-2012, 10:45 AM	#11
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,506 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	Well, actually small-caps should be done by specifying font-variant:small-caps in the CSS for the text you want in small-caps. Unfortunately, ADE doesn't support this part of the OPS 2.0.1 specification yet, and ADE is what most readers use when rendering ePubs.

06-06-2012, 10:59 AM	#12
MSWallack Right, Except When Wrong Posts: 353 Karma: 3968525 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Indianapolis Device: Kindle Oasis 3 (sometimes iPad Mini).	I just changed the CSS definition (it was .43em or such) to 1.0em and everything looks fine now. I'd obviously prefer "real" small caps than just all caps, but at least the text is readable without zooming or squinting (I guess I'm getting old...). Thanks for the help.