09-06-2011, 12:20 PM | #1 |
Zealot
Posts: 106
Karma: 52102
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Samsung Android Tablet w/Moon+ Pro Reader
|
Gentium Book font (ttf) doesn't render correctly
After trying about about a dozen different fonts, my favorite font by far is the Gentium Book Basic from SIL .org at:
http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/p...=Gentium_basic It has just the right amount of serif to look very pleasing, has nice proportions in width and height, and has a slightly heavier stroke, without looking overly bold, very easy to read. However, I have a problem with it rendering correctly. Things that are supposed to be italic show up as bold, and things that are supposed to be bold show up in normal font weight. This is in every epub (sideloaded, drm-free) that I tested, about a half dozen of them. The thing is that with any other ttf that I've tried, and the built in ones, the italics and bold always render correctly, so I'm pretty sure it's not the epubs themselves, but something wonky about how the Gentium Book font is seen by the Kobo. I have ensured that the fonts are named correctly, and as all of the other fonts I have tried, ie: GenBkBas.ttf GenBkBas-Bold.ttf GenBkBas-BoldItalic.ttf GenBkBas-Italic.ttf I've also verified with Windows properties and a font management program (Typograf) that the fonts have their properties properly identified within the .ttf files and none of the bold/italics are misnamed. In trouble shooting, I found that if I install only the regular and italic fonts, then italics show up correctly in the proper font-face (and *not* in the Kobo's attempt to make an italic out of a regular font) and all of the bold shows up as normal weight, as expected. But as soon as I add the -Bold version, then all of the italics are bold and bold stays normal weight. Can someone else please test and give me some insight into whether there is something wrong with the Gentium Book fonts themselves, or if the Kobo has a glitch that needs to be addressed? Fonts are attached for easier reference. Thanks The REAL Joe |
09-06-2011, 01:12 PM | #2 |
Zealot
Posts: 123
Karma: 20018
Join Date: May 2010
Device: Kobo
|
I don't know if this will help any or not, but for all the (working) ttf fonts I've used on my own Kobo Touch, they were named:
font-Regular.ttf font-Bold.ttf font-Italic.ttf font-BoldItalic.ttf |
Advert | |
|
09-06-2011, 01:18 PM | #3 |
Never spit into the wind.
Posts: 328
Karma: 23499
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New Westminster, BC
Device: Kobo Original, Kobo Touch, Kobo Android(smartphone & tablet)
|
I have installed the fonts in your attachment and tested them on two books:
Kobo EPUB - all fonts display as expected i.e. regular, bold, italic and bold italic Non-Kobo EPUB - everything is displayed in bold whereas there is text in bold, regular and italic in the book viewed using ADE ETA: I have done some additional testing of fonts with non-Kobo EPUBs. In my tests, the fonts displayed correctly when using the pre-installed fonts but not for user-installed fonts. Additionally, the error was different for the same book when different user-installed fonts were used. e.g. for the same book when one set of fonts was used everything displayed as bold but when using another set everything displayed as regular. Two of my four user-installed fonts did work correctly with non-Kobo EPUBs. Last edited by Joe563; 09-06-2011 at 01:46 PM. Reason: More info. |
09-06-2011, 03:54 PM | #4 | |
Zealot
Posts: 106
Karma: 52102
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Samsung Android Tablet w/Moon+ Pro Reader
|
Quote:
So it appears that there's a high probability that the Kobo itself is not calling the fonts correctly in all cases for non-kepubs. I also note that the epubs show perfectly in ADE (mixed italics/bold/regular) but not on the Kobo with this particular font. Could one of the Developers please take a look into this? Thanks The REAL Joe |
|
09-06-2011, 10:40 PM | #6 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
|
I tried this as well using a non-Kobo acquired commercial epub (The Lamorna Wink by Martha Grimes). Gentium, Gentium Book and Charis -- all for SIL -- render in one weight only; but all Kobo supplied fonts and others I have acquired such as PT Serif display correctly -- all weights and styles.
I would raise it with SIL; they must be doing something non-standard. PT Serif and PT Sans are from Paratype and available under open (ie free) license. See: http://www.paratype.com/public/. The serif ismy favourite font for the Kobo Touch. |
09-06-2011, 10:40 PM | #7 |
Zealot
Posts: 106
Karma: 52102
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Samsung Android Tablet w/Moon+ Pro Reader
|
FWIW,
I converted the GentiumBook TrueType fonts to .OTF fonts using the free web service at: http://onlinefontconverter.com/ ...and now they render bold, italic and normal text correctly. Not saying that the issue I originally posted about is fixed, but at least I can use my favorite font without issue now. For anyone else having problems with their favorite font(s) not rendering correctly, you might want to give this a try too. Cheers The REAL Joe |
09-06-2011, 10:45 PM | #8 | |
Zealot
Posts: 106
Karma: 52102
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Samsung Android Tablet w/Moon+ Pro Reader
|
Quote:
GentiumBook doesn't seem to do that, and the ever-so-slightly heavier stroke makes it a bit more readable than my previous favorite, PT Serif. Cheers The REAL Joe |
|
09-06-2011, 10:56 PM | #9 | |
Connoisseur
Posts: 90
Karma: 4254
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Norway
Device: Kobo Touch
|
Quote:
|
|
09-07-2011, 01:57 PM | #10 | |
Groupie
Posts: 152
Karma: 216188
Join Date: Jul 2010
Device: Nook Classic, Kobo Touch, Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Aura
|
Quote:
|
|
09-07-2011, 09:11 PM | #11 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,302
Karma: 2607151
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo
|
Quote:
|
|
09-07-2011, 09:58 PM | #12 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 60
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NJ, USA
Device: Kindle, Cybook Opus, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo, Kobo Aura
|
I have the same problem (kobo showing bold instead of italics) with Bitstream Vera Sans .ttf. The online font converter created the .otf files as -Roman (not -Regular), -Oblique (instead of -Italics), and -BoldOblique
I renamed them for the kobo, and after powering off and on, it worked! Thanks for the advice Side note: My original .ttf files work properly on the Cybook Opus. Last edited by Nina182B; 09-07-2011 at 10:13 PM. |
09-07-2011, 11:23 PM | #13 | |
Zealot
Posts: 106
Karma: 52102
Join Date: Jun 2010
Device: Samsung Android Tablet w/Moon+ Pro Reader
|
Quote:
I think it's the way the Kobo is calling the fonts. That's most likely where the problem lies in my opinion. Cheers The REAL Joe |
|
06-21-2015, 09:24 AM | #14 | |
Junior Member
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Spain
Device: Irex DR-800S, Sony PRS-505
|
Quote:
After days of trying to get Trebuchet to work (tried everything: renaming, font name and properties editing...), just saving it to otf made it, and now Trebuchet shows italics correcly. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Touch How to render txt and mobi in other language correctly? | xuyn2003 | Kobo Reader | 3 | 07-17-2011 06:38 AM |
Calibre E-Book Viewer and ADE render ePub TD font-size differently | Agama | Devices | 5 | 06-17-2011 02:44 AM |
Does the Sony support OTF fonts, or do I need a TTF font? | elizilla | Sony Reader | 1 | 02-07-2011 12:34 PM |
Is there a tool to see the contents of an embedded font file (ttf)? | James_Wilde | ePub | 4 | 09-06-2010 03:53 PM |
Possibly not necessary to change TTF font names? | DairyKnight | Sony Reader Dev Corner | 0 | 10-13-2008 02:10 AM |