Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Sony Reader

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 06-18-2011, 11:37 AM   #16
delphin
Evangelist
delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 434
Karma: 346901
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: SONY PRS-650
Here is an update of my previously posted NimbusMod font, which, as before, has been embedded into a sample EPUB so you can preview it.

Through the Looking Glass (NimbusMod1.5).epub

NimbusMod is a font that I have modified extensively to look as nice as possible as a reading font on an eInk device. The font weight, spacing, and character outlines have all been tweaked for maximum readability.

The 1.5 version has had some minor spacing changes to several letters to improve kerning, and had the upper case letter Q descender tweaked a bit to make it slightly more prominent vs. the previously released version of NimbusMod. This should help the letter "Q" be more easily distinguished from an upper case "O" at smaller font sizes.

As stated above, I have embedded the NimbusMod font in a sample EPUB so you can easily check it out on your Sony by simply loading this EPUB file (note the custom NimbusMod font starts on page four, prior to that the original Sony font is used, so you can compare the two within the same document)

Don't worry, when you load embedded fonts like this, they do not make any changes to your readers configuration, and will only show up in the document that they are embedded in.

If you would like to use the NimbusMod font, just change the EPUB extension to .zip and un-zip it , then you will find the two font files in the OPS/fonts folder -


NimbusMod.ttf -- is the regular standard weight font.

NimbusMod_I.ttf -- is the italic standard weight font.

I did not create bold versions of this font for the Sony, because the built in Sony font rendering will take care of creating a bolded version if you don't supply one, and in this case, it's algorithm does a really nice job, so there is no reason to install or embed a bold version.

Last edited by delphin; 06-18-2011 at 11:40 AM.
delphin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2011, 12:23 PM   #17
Analogus
Fanatic
Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Analogus ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Analogus's Avatar
 
Posts: 568
Karma: 2170348
Join Date: Apr 2011
Device: 2x Sony PRS-350; PRS-300 (†), Paperwhite (†), Voyage
Used your fonts one day extensively. My personal impression:

Pros:
+ Nimbus is a VERY readable font on the Sony PRS350 5”
+ Fonts are darker compared to the original Sony fonts.
+ Blackening is regular
+ Not as straight as Caecilia but not as cheerful like Times. Could be a golden midway.

Cons: ---

Thanks. Trying the new version.


A.
Analogus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2011, 11:50 PM   #18
delphin
Evangelist
delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 434
Karma: 346901
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: SONY PRS-650
Quote:
Originally Posted by Analogus View Post
Used your fonts one day extensively. My personal impression:

Pros:
+ Nimbus is a VERY readable font on the Sony PRS350 5”
+ Fonts are darker compared to the original Sony fonts.
+ Blackening is regular
+ Not as straight as Caecilia but not as cheerful like Times. Could be a golden midway.

Cons: ---

Thanks. Trying the new version.


A.
Thanks for trying out NimbusMod on your 350, and providing feedback.

I agree, NimbusMod isn't fancy. This was intentional, because first and formost, NimbusMod was designed to be easy to read, and to help minimize screen reading fatigue, not for 'variety' or 'style'.

On my 650, I find that NimbusMod let's me comfortably read about a full font size smaller text compared to Sony's default font, and still read longer without fatigue.

I will be doing a few final minor tweaks to NimbusMod over the next day or two to improve the legibility of some of the punctuation glyphs at smaller font sizes (increasing the font weights of single and double quotation marks, and some of the other minor diacritic elements).

So let me know if you have any other suggestions for improvements.
delphin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2011, 09:07 AM   #19
Japes
Addict
Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 303
Karma: 1033852
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: Sony PRS-350,Sony PRS-950,Pocketbook 360+,B&N Nook Simple Touch Reader
Has anyone had a chance to compare LexiaDaMa (my personal favorite, after testing more than 20 different fonts...both free and paid), to Delphin's new NimbusMod?
Japes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2011, 09:07 AM   #20
Japes
Addict
Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 303
Karma: 1033852
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: Sony PRS-350,Sony PRS-950,Pocketbook 360+,B&N Nook Simple Touch Reader
And, Delphin, in your testing, did you ever test LexiaDaMa?
Japes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2011, 02:45 PM   #21
delphin
Evangelist
delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 434
Karma: 346901
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: SONY PRS-650
Quote:
Originally Posted by Japes View Post
And, Delphin, in your testing, did you ever test LexiaDaMa?
Yes, LexiaDaMa is similar to the popular Kindle font PMN Caecilia.

LexiaDaMa is essentially the same as Caecilia except for minor differences in the descender on the Upper case Q and the lower case g.

Aesthetically, I prefer fonts with a full loop cursive descender on the lower case letter 'g' as you find in Time Roman family fonts, which Caecilia has, but I really don't like the huge jutting descender on the upper case 'Q' in Caecilia.

There seems to be a wide spread misconception that another difference between the two fonts is that LexiaDaMa is 'free' where, unless you have a Kindle, you have to buy PMN Caecilia. I don't think that this is correct, since the author of LexiaDaMa has a web page that lists it for sale as a commercial font, just like Linotype does for PMN Caecilia. So although there may be copies floating around the web, technically, either font should be purchased and would cost fifty dollars or more if purchased separately.

I think that one reason for the popularity of these fonts is that they split the difference between a totally unadorned san-serif font like Ariel, Verdana, or Bitstream Vera-Sans, and the Classic Time Roman style fonts you see used in typeset books.

Font's like LexiaDaMa, Caecilia are technically serif fonts, but lean rather heavily style wise towards the simple Sans-Serif fonts that are common on the web these days, and which are used in comic books and 'graphic novels' (fonts like comic sans for example)

I tried to keep NimbusMod as simple as possible, to also try to split the difference, but my font leans more heavily towards the classic roman serif fonts used in published books.

Most traditionally published books still use Times Roman or similar full serif fonts, and that's what I grew up reading, so I prefer a 'times' style font, and that's why I created NimbusMod, which is nothing but a simple times style font that is optimized for reading on eInk devices.

Depending on your age, background (and just plain personal preferences) you might prefer either a times style font like NimbusMod, or a unifom stroke width serif font like LexiaDaMa or Caecilia, or a totally san-serif font like Ariel, Verdana, or Bitstream Vera-Sans.

I created NimbusMod because although there are lots of fonts like LexiaDaMa, Caecilia, and San-Serif fonts that look pretty good on eInk screens, I found there aren't as many times style fonts that really have good readability on smaller eInk screens.

Last edited by delphin; 06-19-2011 at 03:16 PM.
delphin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2011, 07:10 PM   #22
Japes
Addict
Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 303
Karma: 1033852
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: Sony PRS-350,Sony PRS-950,Pocketbook 360+,B&N Nook Simple Touch Reader
Like it, but, I still prefer LexiaDaMa, at least on my Sony. I feel it renders better and is slightly more readable, to my eyes. But, I've tested alot of fonts, and, yours is the closest I've found to LexiaDaMa. I discarded all the rest summarily. Yours is excellent.
Japes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 12:35 AM   #23
delphin
Evangelist
delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.delphin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 434
Karma: 346901
Join Date: Dec 2010
Device: SONY PRS-650
Quote:
Originally Posted by Japes View Post
Like it, but, I still prefer LexiaDaMa, at least on my Sony. I feel it renders better and is slightly more readable, to my eyes. But, I've tested alot of fonts, and, yours is the closest I've found to LexiaDaMa. I discarded all the rest summarily. Yours is excellent.
Interesting.

I find that I can read both LexiaDaMa and NimbusMod comfortably at much smaller font sizes compared to many others, but am just slightly more comfortable with NimbusMod at my preferred font size for long reading sessions.

I think LexiaDaMa may have a slight edge on individual character legibility at smaller point sizes, due to the fact that it's a less condensed typeface than NimbusMod, but this lends it to just a litter higher tendency to run letters together in some combinations, at some font sizes, which for me leads to slightly more eye fatigue after several hours.

It's still enormously better than the default Sony font in this regard, and is a relatively 'open' typeface compared to many others.

As I said, my preference may be simply because I grew up reading similar condensed Times style fonts in paperback books, so the slightly more condensed letters don't bother me, and actually help keep words distinct on the smaller screen.

I can read comfortably at the 'small' font size for hours with NimbusMod, which was never possible with Sony's default font.

Another thing that I have found that helps with reading fatigue is to switch off from one font to another, when changing to the next title, especially if it's a book in another genre.

Switching fonts helps keep things from running together.

So I probably will be switching off between LexiaDaMa, Caecilia, and NimbusMod, just for variety.

This is yet another reason that Sony REALLY messed up in not making the fonts user selectable like the new Nook (which includes with a HUGE selection of fonts, right out of the box).

REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, MESSED UP. (bye, bye Sony )

Last edited by delphin; 06-20-2011 at 12:38 AM.
delphin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 07:43 AM   #24
elemenoP
Wizard
elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.elemenoP ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,717
Karma: 3790058
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NYC
Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650
I'm going to try the Nimbus sample file, but can I throw my favorite, Charis SIL, back into the running?

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/p...=CharisSILfont

It is freely available, serif, and a bit darker than the norm, because it's designed for "less than optimal reading conditions." If you check out library books, you might have seen it already because it's often embedded in Overdrive library books.

eP
elemenoP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 07:50 AM   #25
Japes
Addict
Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 303
Karma: 1033852
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: Sony PRS-350,Sony PRS-950,Pocketbook 360+,B&N Nook Simple Touch Reader
Quote:
Originally Posted by elemenoP View Post
I'm going to try the Nimbus sample file, but can I throw my favorite, Charis SIL, back into the running?

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/p...=CharisSILfont

It is freely available, serif, and a bit darker than the norm, because it's designed for "less than optimal reading conditions." If you check out library books, you might have seen it already because it's often embedded in Overdrive library books.

eP


Tried Charis previously. Not in the same ballpark as LexiaDaMa, or for that matter, the new Nimbus Mod.
Japes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 09:22 AM   #26
0utis
Enthusiast
0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.0utis ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 38
Karma: 400154
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Spain
Device: Sony PRS-505, Pocketbook 902
Well, dolphin, thanks a lot for making your custom font available to all of us. I also prefer rounder and more condensed fonts, Lexia or Caecilia are too elongated for my taste. NimbusMod is just my sort of font, plus it's very legible when the lightning is not so good.

For the record, other favorites are Book Antiqua and Old Bookman even if I find them a bit 'thin'. I like Charis far better than Lexia or Caecilia. It's a matter of personal taste, the fonts I prefer remind me of the books I used to read when I was a child... funny. But if I read a classic, I get Fontin on.
0utis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 10:13 AM   #27
Japes
Addict
Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Japes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 303
Karma: 1033852
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: Sony PRS-350,Sony PRS-950,Pocketbook 360+,B&N Nook Simple Touch Reader
Couldn't disagree more on Charis SIL. On both my Sony and my PB360+, Charis is borderline unreadable. Not sure if it's the rendering, or what, but, it's possibly the worst font I tried (and I tried ALOT of them). I just went back, after you posted this, and retried it on both the PB and Sony, in case I had mixed it up with another one and, nope. It's about as difficult to read as any font, and is probably inferior to the default Sony font (which is saying alot).
Japes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 10:26 AM   #28
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 73,657
Karma: 127838196
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Analogus View Post
Your font is in on the testing lane...

Left: Caecilia, right: NimbusMod
Attachment 72946

Looks very pleasant so far. Regular blackening. I'll give it a try for a couple of days.

Thanks so far

A.
Caecilia looks almost like American Typewriter. It's not all that wonderful for reading. I have no idea why Amazon went with something like that.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 10:28 AM   #29
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 73,657
Karma: 127838196
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
Quote:
Originally Posted by elemenoP View Post
I'm going to try the Nimbus sample file, but can I throw my favorite, Charis SIL, back into the running?

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/p...=CharisSILfont

It is freely available, serif, and a bit darker than the norm, because it's designed for "less than optimal reading conditions." If you check out library books, you might have seen it already because it's often embedded in Overdrive library books.

eP
You make it sound like Charis is used in all Overdrive eBooks. Not so. It's done by the publisher and Overdrive has nothing to do with font embedding. Charis is the most common font family used for embedding fonts.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-20-2011, 10:30 AM   #30
JSWolf
Resident Curmudgeon
JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.JSWolf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
JSWolf's Avatar
 
Posts: 73,657
Karma: 127838196
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Japes View Post
Couldn't disagree more on Charis SIL. On both my Sony and my PB360+, Charis is borderline unreadable. Not sure if it's the rendering, or what, but, it's possibly the worst font I tried (and I tried ALOT of them). I just went back, after you posted this, and retried it on both the PB and Sony, in case I had mixed it up with another one and, nope. It's about as difficult to read as any font, and is probably inferior to the default Sony font (which is saying alot).
What about Charis don't you like? One thing that has to be done with Charis is add in a line-height descriptor. of either 1.1em or 1.2em depending on what you like best.
JSWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How to choose a favorite format for my reader MRi Library Management 4 05-10-2011 03:44 PM
Favorite Custom Installed Font on your Sony Reader JohnnyRocks Sony Reader 36 03-07-2011 02:33 PM
What's your favorite RSS feed reader? Nate the great News 9 02-18-2010 04:31 AM
Favorite Fonts firstclown Bookeen 37 03-26-2008 03:17 PM
Favorite comments about the Reader Peregrine Sony Reader 0 11-13-2006 08:10 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:21 PM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.