Touch Caecilia font on the Kobo Touch and the Kindle 3

jswinden · 07-12-2011, 12:32 AM

Kindles use what appears to be a slightly modified version of the Caecilia font. Because my eyes are not as young as they once were, I modify my mobi files to display the text in all bold on my Kindle 3. I wanted to see how this looked on the Kobo Touch and started out using Lexia DaMa Bold. It is a bit different from Caecilia, but close. Tonight I was able to locate PMN Caecilia 85 Heavy (http://fontpark.net/en/search/Caecilia/1/), which is closer to the Kindle Caecilia and bolder than Lexia DaMa. I installed this font on my Kobo Touch and it is very close to the bolded Caecilia that is displayed on my Kindle 3. Check out the photos below.

This is the closest I can come to showing a comparison of nearly the same fonts on both readers under the exact same lighting and as close as I could manage to attaining the same font sizes. The two readers are very close in how they render the text. However, I think the Kindle 3 does a better job of rendering the text as it definitely appears a bit darker in real life and it is certainly much more consistent across the screen. That is, the Kobo Touch tends to render text lighter in random areas of the screen than in others. I don't notice that with the Kindle.

Though the Kindle 3 currently has the edge with this particular font, I still think the Kobo Touch has potential as text rendering can be enhanced through firmware changes and Kobo seems willing to make improvements.

Two caveats about using PMN Caecilia 85 Heavy on the Kobo Touch. One, it is bolded normal text only--no bolded italics. Two, it doesn't render well in kePubs, it only renders as shown in the photos in sideloaded ePubs. Great frustration there as kePubs seem to have lots of issues currently.

...

Atilla · 07-12-2011, 09:08 AM

Any luck geting the sans serif version of the same font?

jswinden · 07-12-2011, 11:01 AM

The Kindle actually uses different fonts for serif and sans serif. I'm not sure what font they use for the sans serif. I do like it though.

Atilla · 07-12-2011, 02:00 PM

I like the Kindles sans serif font. So far the closest I could come to it on KT is
Arial Rounded MT Bold.

However the kindle font is slightly taller then this.

jswinden · 07-12-2011, 03:06 PM

You might browse through the FontPark website I linked to above. They have a lot of free fonts. I haven't had time to just browsw through it yet, but it is on my list of things to do.

masona8 · 07-12-2011, 09:17 PM

how is the search function?

JSWolf · 07-12-2011, 09:54 PM

Why is the underlined text on the Kobo lighter then the non-underlined text?

Joe563 · 07-12-2011, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is the underlined text on the Kobo lighter then the non-underlined text?

The underlined text may be hyperlinks. If Kobo styling is OFF hyperlinks are displayed in light gray.

jswinden · 07-12-2011, 11:19 PM

That's correct it is hyperlinked text. For some strange reason the creator of this book decided to use a couple of words from each citation to link it to endnotes. Most sane people would use an endnote number at the end of the citation.

jswinden · 07-12-2011, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masona8

how is the search function?

At the FontPack website? Or on the Kobo Touch? It works well on the FontPack website. Unfortunately the Kobo Touch currently has no search function within books, though I understand that they plan to add one. I hope so as it needs it!

charleski · 07-14-2011, 12:24 AM

To be honest, I can't see any difference between the two. They look the same after adjusting for the slight difference in lighting and converting to grayscale to remove the minor colour cast in the K3 pic.

tomsem · 07-14-2011, 07:04 PM

I believe the Kindle sans serif is Helvetica Neue, same as Nook. Though again, Kindle may be using 'Medium' rather than 'Regular'.

Atilla · 07-17-2011, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

I believe the Kindle sans serif is Helvetica Neue, same as Nook. Though again, Kindle may be using 'Medium' rather than 'Regular'.

You are correct tomsem, and yes it is medium. Thank you.

07-12-2011, 12:32 AM	#1
jswinden Nameless Being	Caecilia font on the Kobo Touch and the Kindle 3 Kindles use what appears to be a slightly modified version of the Caecilia font. Because my eyes are not as young as they once were, I modify my mobi files to display the text in all bold on my Kindle 3. I wanted to see how this looked on the Kobo Touch and started out using Lexia DaMa Bold. It is a bit different from Caecilia, but close. Tonight I was able to locate PMN Caecilia 85 Heavy (http://fontpark.net/en/search/Caecilia/1/), which is closer to the Kindle Caecilia and bolder than Lexia DaMa. I installed this font on my Kobo Touch and it is very close to the bolded Caecilia that is displayed on my Kindle 3. Check out the photos below. This is the closest I can come to showing a comparison of nearly the same fonts on both readers under the exact same lighting and as close as I could manage to attaining the same font sizes. The two readers are very close in how they render the text. However, I think the Kindle 3 does a better job of rendering the text as it definitely appears a bit darker in real life and it is certainly much more consistent across the screen. That is, the Kobo Touch tends to render text lighter in random areas of the screen than in others. I don't notice that with the Kindle. Though the Kindle 3 currently has the edge with this particular font, I still think the Kobo Touch has potential as text rendering can be enhanced through firmware changes and Kobo seems willing to make improvements. Two caveats about using PMN Caecilia 85 Heavy on the Kobo Touch. One, it is bolded normal text only--no bolded italics. Two, it doesn't render well in kePubs, it only renders as shown in the photos in sideloaded ePubs. Great frustration there as kePubs seem to have lots of issues currently. ... Attached Thumbnails Last edited by jswinden; 07-12-2011 at 12:36 AM.

07-14-2011, 12:24 AM	#11
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	To be honest, I can't see any difference between the two. They look the same after adjusting for the slight difference in lighting and converting to grayscale to remove the minor colour cast in the K3 pic. Attached Thumbnails

07-14-2011, 07:04 PM	#12
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,464 Karma: 25996225 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	I believe the Kindle sans serif is Helvetica Neue, same as Nook. Though again, Kindle may be using 'Medium' rather than 'Regular'. Last edited by tomsem; 07-14-2011 at 07:24 PM.

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07-12-2011, 09:08 AM	#2
Atilla Addict Posts: 224 Karma: 619496 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Canada Device: Kindle 3, Kindle 3 3G, Kobo Touch, Playbook, Kobo Clara HD	Any luck geting the sans serif version of the same font?

07-12-2011, 11:01 AM	#3
jswinden Nameless Being	The Kindle actually uses different fonts for serif and sans serif. I'm not sure what font they use for the sans serif. I do like it though.

07-12-2011, 02:00 PM	#4
Atilla Addict Posts: 224 Karma: 619496 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Canada Device: Kindle 3, Kindle 3 3G, Kobo Touch, Playbook, Kobo Clara HD	I like the Kindles sans serif font. So far the closest I could come to it on KT is Arial Rounded MT Bold. However the kindle font is slightly taller then this.

07-12-2011, 03:06 PM	#5
jswinden Nameless Being	You might browse through the FontPark website I linked to above. They have a lot of free fonts. I haven't had time to just browsw through it yet, but it is on my list of things to do.

07-12-2011, 09:17 PM	#6
masona8 Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: kobo, Kindle DX graphite, Kindle 3	how is the search function?

07-12-2011, 09:54 PM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,897 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Why is the underlined text on the Kobo lighter then the non-underlined text?

07-12-2011, 11:19 PM	#9
jswinden Nameless Being	That's correct it is hyperlinked text. For some strange reason the creator of this book decided to use a couple of words from each citation to link it to endnotes. Most sane people would use an endnote number at the end of the citation.