kobo aura font sizes

[jb1]

So I bought the new Kobo Aura and I can't believe how they messed up with the the font sizes. They are absolutely ridiculous. I used to have the Touch and found that the increased font size that I needed meant that I had to turn the pages too often. That was why I was excited to get the Aura, so that there was a bigger screen and I could have more words on a page. You would think that 24 font sizes would be a great feature until you actually start checking them out. The first 10 to 15 font sizes are not readable even to a person with great vision. They are useless! And the biggest font sizes are still small in comparison to the biggest font sizes on the Touch. The fact is that my Touch had many more options for big font sizes. I really hope that they fix this problem with the Aura. Can anyone find any use for the first half of the font sizes on the Aura????

[speakingtohe]

On my Aura I can read the smallest font although I wouldn't want to. Size 4 is good for me.
The largest size is 8 lines per page. Seems big enough (close to 1/2 inch high.

Could it be the book you are reading?

Helen

[davidfor]

Unfortunately, as Kobo have increased the resolution of the devices, they have kept the same font sizes. The last time I checked, the font sizes used were: 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58. On my Touch, I use 17 and the Glo, 22. When sitting next to each other, the Glo is a little smaller than the Touch, but is more readable. I haven't seen an AuraHD to compare.

With the list of fonts above, the firmware does handle the sizes in between. If you edit ".kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf", you can set the font to any number in the range. The font size is the line "readingFontSize". Change that, and it is used from then on for new books opened. But, it will be lost if you change any of the settings.

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

On my Aura I can read the smallest font although I wouldn't want to. Size 4 is good for me.
The largest size is 8 lines per page. Seems big enough (close to 1/2 inch high.

Could it be the book you are reading?

Helen

Yes this seems likely. A lot of books use a font-size smaller than "normal" (or its equivalent) for the main body text which means you have to use a bigger font setting on the ereader to get a size you like. I use Sigil on my ebooks to always set the body text to font-size:normal. I just wish publishers would standardise on this.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by jb1

So I bought the new Kobo Aura and I can't believe how they messed up with the the font sizes. They are absolutely ridiculous. I used to have the Touch and found that the increased font size that I needed meant that I had to turn the pages too often. That was why I was excited to get the Aura, so that there was a bigger screen and I could have more words on a page. You would think that 24 font sizes would be a great feature until you actually start checking them out. The first 10 to 15 font sizes are not readable even to a person with great vision. They are useless! And the biggest font sizes are still small in comparison to the biggest font sizes on the Touch. The fact is that my Touch had many more options for big font sizes. I really hope that they fix this problem with the Aura. Can anyone find any use for the first half of the font sizes on the Aura????

On my Aura running firmware 2.6.1 and an epub with the default font size set to 1 em, I get 12 lines per page with the text being about 1.2cm (1/2 inch) high. On a .kepub from Kobo, I get around 18 lines per page and the text is about .6cm (1/4 inch) tall -- the gap between the lines is much wider on the .kepub as well.

Are you reading epubs or .kepub.epub (the library will show them as Kobo epubs)? If non-DRMed, you can change the font settings using various tools.

Regards,
David

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Unfortunately, as Kobo have increased the resolution of the devices, they have kept the same font sizes. The last time I checked, the font sizes used were: 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58. On my Touch, I use 17 and the Glo, 22. When sitting next to each other, the Glo is a little smaller than the Touch, but is more readable. I haven't seen an AuraHD to compare.

With the list of fonts above, the firmware does handle the sizes in between. If you edit ".kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf", you can set the font to any number in the range. The font size is the line "readingFontSize". Change that, and it is used from then on for new books opened. But, it will be lost if you change any of the settings.

On the Aura with 2.6.1, I just tried setting the font size to 72 and it gave me a larger size than the slider did. Moving the slider worked to reduce the font size but no way to get back to 72 without re-editing the .conf file.

If Kobo could get both renderers to agree on what "normal" font size is, it would make life easier.

Regards,
David

[samhy]

The size I'm using depends on the font: with some fonts, the size slider is very close to the right side; with others, the slider is on the left side. And I agree that there is a big gap around the middle of the scale.
Knowing that I'm using 2 or 3 fonts and I'm fine

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DNSB

On the Aura with 2.6.1, I just tried setting the font size to 72 and it gave me a larger size than the slider did. Moving the slider worked to reduce the font size but no way to get back to 72 without re-editing the .conf file.

I don't think I tried anything bigger than 58, but I'm not surprised it works

If Kobo could get both renderers to agree on what "normal" font size is, it would make life easier.

An annoying little "feature". I have wondered if it was deliberate, or if the renderers in use made it hard to match properly.

[jb1]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

On my Aura I can read the smallest font although I wouldn't want to. Size 4 is good for me.
The largest size is 8 lines per page. Seems big enough (close to 1/2 inch high.

Could it be the book you are reading?

Helen

So I checked and noticed that it is partly the book I am reading. For some reason, the biggest font size isn't very big. The largest size fits 15 lines per page. I bought the book through kobo so I am not sure why that is.

[jb1]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Unfortunately, as Kobo have increased the resolution of the devices, they have kept the same font sizes. The last time I checked, the font sizes used were: 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58. On my Touch, I use 17 and the Glo, 22. When sitting next to each other, the Glo is a little smaller than the Touch, but is more readable. I haven't seen an AuraHD to compare.

With the list of fonts above, the firmware does handle the sizes in between. If you edit ".kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf", you can set the font to any number in the range. The font size is the line "readingFontSize". Change that, and it is used from then on for new books opened. But, it will be lost if you change any of the settings.

With my Aura I am able to use a smaller font than the Touch because it is more readable. However, for some reason, the font size with the book I am using which I bought through Kobo won't increase enough.
Question- I have no idea how you edit in the way you suggest. I am only able to move the arrow.

[jb1]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Yes this seems likely. A lot of books use a font-size smaller than "normal" (or its equivalent) for the main body text which means you have to use a bigger font setting on the ereader to get a size you like. I use Sigil on my ebooks to always set the body text to font-size:normal. I just wish publishers would standardise on this.

How do you get Sigil? Is that a font face? Aura doesn't have it.

[jb1]

Originally Posted by DNSB

On my Aura running firmware 2.6.1 and an epub with the default font size set to 1 em, I get 12 lines per page with the text being about 1.2cm (1/2 inch) high. On a .kepub from Kobo, I get around 18 lines per page and the text is about .6cm (1/4 inch) tall -- the gap between the lines is much wider on the .kepub as well.

Are you reading epubs or .kepub.epub (the library will show them as Kobo epubs)? If non-DRMed, you can change the font settings using various tools.

Regards,
David

Sorry I am obviously really stupid with this stuff. I don't know what I am reading. I bought the book normally through kobo.

[jb1]

Originally Posted by DNSB

On the Aura with 2.6.1, I just tried setting the font size to 72 and it gave me a larger size than the slider did. Moving the slider worked to reduce the font size but no way to get back to 72 without re-editing the .conf file.

If Kobo could get both renderers to agree on what "normal" font size is, it would make life easier.

Regards,
David

How do you do that? Change it to a particular number? I only see a slider.

[paola]

Originally Posted by jb1

How do you get Sigil? Is that a font face? Aura doesn't have it.

Sigil is a software to create epubs - freely available here

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jb1

With my Aura I am able to use a smaller font than the Touch because it is more readable. However, for some reason, the font size with the book I am using which I bought through Kobo won't increase enough.
Question- I have no idea how you edit in the way you suggest. I am only able to move the arrow.

These settings are stored in a file on the device. It is found in the directory ".kobo/Kobo" and is called "Kobo eReader.conf". Changes made to this file will be used by the device. If you want to try a font size that the settings dialog doesn't allow, change the number on the line starting with "readingFontSize".