Page text running off screen

MsLydgate · 07-19-2013, 03:03 PM

Hi! I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I thought I'd start here. I have an epub that I used calibre to convert to a mobi. It's a process that has worked flawlessly on lots of other books and I thought it would with this one. I loaded it onto my Kindle Paperwhite and started reading, but I quickly noticed that the text wasn't breaking appropriately at the bottom of the screen. When I turned the page, the text at the top of the next page only occasionally continued on from the text at the bottom of the previous page. I shrank the font to see if this would help and noticed that letters were being cut off at the bottom of the screen. I realized the text is running on down to some point and only then does it insert a page break. I checked the file in Kindle for PC and it's fine. Here are some screenshots as I'm not sure I'm explaining this clearly:

Initial font size:

Smaller font size; you barely see characters being cut off at the bottom:

In both cases, this is the next page:

I exploded the book in calibre and discovered that the text is set up in a table format: one cell contains the text of the book, the other cell contains the reference numbers for the text. Is it the table structure that's causing the problem? Is there a way I can scroll within a "page" so I can read the whole thing? Is there a way to make it insert proper page breaks? I converted it to a PDF, thinking a PDF would insert hard page breaks but it still scrolls off the screen.

I tried asking about this on the Official Amazon Fora, but I got stuck because I wasn't sure I ought to tell them it was a converted mobi. They might get cranky about such things. I tried searching here for similar problems but as you might imagine, searching on "table text" turns up a lot of results.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'd really like to be able to read this on my PW and not have to sit at my PC to read it. Thank you!

HarryT · 07-19-2013, 03:16 PM

Moved to the Kindle format forum.

Yes, it's the fact that it's a table that's causing the problem. Table rows longer than one page height do not play nicely.

Try converting to AZW3 rather than Mobi; it has much better table support.

jmilica · 07-19-2013, 03:19 PM

Did you convert to mobi or to azw3? If you haven't tried, azw3 might be better.

DaleDe · 07-19-2013, 05:12 PM

Even as ePub some readers would chop this off like mobi does. It would be better to remove the table entirely and add the text at the right with a separate flow. But if the sole purpose it to get a Kindle version then use KindleGen on the ePub and it will build a KF8 (AZW3) file for you. Of course you will need to read it with something that support KF8. Even KF8 is likely to prefer removing the table and generating a second flow for the text. Of course I don't know how many times this scenario is repeated in the book so this could be a lot of work.

Dale

thomass · 07-19-2013, 05:20 PM

using look&feel>"linearize tables" while converting the doc on Calibre should help

MsLydgate · 07-19-2013, 10:41 PM

I apologize for putting my post in the wrong place. I don't know how I overlooked the format forum. Sorry!

I re-converted my book into AZW3 and it's nearly perfect. I downloaded KindleGen anyway, but so far so good. Thank you all so much for the help.

@DaleDe: the line numbers are used all the way through the text so fixing it manually (which I thought about doing!) would be a huge headache. I'm not sure what a second flow is, but I'm guessing setting one up would also be a fairly time-consuming project. Maybe if I get really bored one day.

DaleDe · 07-20-2013, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsLydgate

I apologize for putting my post in the wrong place. I don't know how I overlooked the format forum. Sorry!

I re-converted my book into AZW3 and it's nearly perfect. I downloaded KindleGen anyway, but so far so good. Thank you all so much for the help.

@DaleDe: the line numbers are used all the way through the text so fixing it manually (which I thought about doing!) would be a huge headache. I'm not sure what a second flow is, but I'm guessing setting one up would also be a fairly time-consuming project. Maybe if I get really bored one day.

I would agree it is some work. By second flow I was referring to creating side bars for the information in the right column.

Dale

tomx2 · 10-25-2018, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomass

using look&feel>"linearize tables" while converting the doc on Calibre should help

Worked beautifully, thanks for the help!

07-19-2013, 03:03 PM	#1
MsLydgate Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite	Page text running off screen Hi! I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I thought I'd start here. I have an epub that I used calibre to convert to a mobi. It's a process that has worked flawlessly on lots of other books and I thought it would with this one. I loaded it onto my Kindle Paperwhite and started reading, but I quickly noticed that the text wasn't breaking appropriately at the bottom of the screen. When I turned the page, the text at the top of the next page only occasionally continued on from the text at the bottom of the previous page. I shrank the font to see if this would help and noticed that letters were being cut off at the bottom of the screen. I realized the text is running on down to some point and only then does it insert a page break. I checked the file in Kindle for PC and it's fine. Here are some screenshots as I'm not sure I'm explaining this clearly: Initial font size: Smaller font size; you barely see characters being cut off at the bottom: In both cases, this is the next page: I exploded the book in calibre and discovered that the text is set up in a table format: one cell contains the text of the book, the other cell contains the reference numbers for the text. Is it the table structure that's causing the problem? Is there a way I can scroll within a "page" so I can read the whole thing? Is there a way to make it insert proper page breaks? I converted it to a PDF, thinking a PDF would insert hard page breaks but it still scrolls off the screen. I tried asking about this on the Official Amazon Fora, but I got stuck because I wasn't sure I ought to tell them it was a converted mobi. They might get cranky about such things. I tried searching here for similar problems but as you might imagine, searching on "table text" turns up a lot of results. Does anyone have any ideas? I'd really like to be able to read this on my PW and not have to sit at my PC to read it. Thank you! Last edited by MsLydgate; 07-19-2013 at 03:04 PM. Reason: add picture captions

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07-19-2013, 03:16 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Moved to the Kindle format forum. Yes, it's the fact that it's a table that's causing the problem. Table rows longer than one page height do not play nicely. Try converting to AZW3 rather than Mobi; it has much better table support.

07-19-2013, 03:19 PM	#3
jmilica Banned Posts: 335 Karma: 1545924 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: India Device: Kindle KB, Kindle PW	Did you convert to mobi or to azw3? If you haven't tried, azw3 might be better.

07-19-2013, 05:12 PM	#4
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	Even as ePub some readers would chop this off like mobi does. It would be better to remove the table entirely and add the text at the right with a separate flow. But if the sole purpose it to get a Kindle version then use KindleGen on the ePub and it will build a KF8 (AZW3) file for you. Of course you will need to read it with something that support KF8. Even KF8 is likely to prefer removing the table and generating a second flow for the text. Of course I don't know how many times this scenario is repeated in the book so this could be a lot of work. Dale

07-19-2013, 05:20 PM	#5
thomass Wizard Posts: 1,669 Karma: 2300001 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Türkiye Device: Kindle 5.3.7	using look&feel>"linearize tables" while converting the doc on Calibre should help

07-19-2013, 10:41 PM	#6
MsLydgate Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite	I apologize for putting my post in the wrong place. I don't know how I overlooked the format forum. Sorry! I re-converted my book into AZW3 and it's nearly perfect. I downloaded KindleGen anyway, but so far so good. Thank you all so much for the help. @DaleDe: the line numbers are used all the way through the text so fixing it manually (which I thought about doing!) would be a huge headache. I'm not sure what a second flow is, but I'm guessing setting one up would also be a fairly time-consuming project. Maybe if I get really bored one day.