Font conversion question

[Tazina]

Hi, I love Calibre and I'm so used to it that now I'm trying to do things like Font Conversions and such. I have a Sony PRS-300.

My question is when you go into Convert and want to make an Epub, when you select Font Size Key and it asks for the Base Font Size--my question is does that pt size need to be exact? I mean I have like maybe 100 books on my reader, most from different sources like .pdf, .pdb, .rtf, and the like, and I know that rarely do I know the original font size.

So I let it default to 12pt and under Base Font Size I choose 13 point and go from there. Now the output file isn't in 13 point but it seems like the font (I chose Verdana) is correct.

So is it better to have the correct Font Size for the Input or does it matter as long as the font is changed to verdana?

Hope this made sense, I re-wrote it three times and it made sense to me . Thanks for any help!
Doran

[kovidgoyal]

To understand how font scaling works, read this section of the user manual:

http://calibre-ebook.com/user_manual...size-rescaling

[Tazina]

I did read it over and maybe I'm just trying to read more into it than there is. What I'm wondering is the input font size number. If it doesn't mean anything in relation to the output file then why do you ask for it? If it does have some bearing on the output file then what happens when I give the incorrect input size? For example, the .rtf file has all the fonts at 10pt but I tell Calibre that it's supposed to be 12pt. Since I'm wrong in giving it the correct number then what changes?

I'm an old school guy who always has the old term "garbage in-garbage out" rattling around in my noggin. heh

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Tazina

I did read it over and maybe I'm just trying to read more into it than there is.

I don't do a lot of conversions, so this answer has only the benefit for you of being reasonably quick. For me, it has the benefit that if I'm wrong, someone will usually correct me and I can find out what I think I know, but don't.

What I'm wondering is the input font size number. If it doesn't mean anything in relation to the output file then why do you ask for it? If it does have some bearing on the output file then what happens when I give the incorrect input size? For example, the .rtf file has all the fonts at 10pt but I tell Calibre that it's supposed to be 12pt. Since I'm wrong in giving it the correct number then what changes?

Calibre doesn't ask you for the input font size. It asks for the output font size and a range of fonts relative to that for larger fonts (e.g., headers) and smaller fonts (e.g., footnotes). Input size only comes into this in two places. First, it comes in when the conversion is actually made. Calibre will decide what the input size is for the base font, and will replace it with the output base font size you specified. You can explicitly specify base font size, or it can be one chosen for you automatically, based on your default output device. The idea is that all of your books will look similar - they'll have the same base font size (after conversion), regardless of the original input base font size. If a book has all 16 point text, and you specified 12 pt, it gets converted to 12 pt. If another book has all 8 pt text, it gets converted to 12 pt, too.

Second, input font size comes in when you are trying to decide what base size and font key to specify. That's in the wizard. The only purpose of the wizard is to help you choose output font sizes (base and key). If you set up your conversion output options (base and key), then run the wizard, it will tell you what a specific font size will map to given your current settings for a book that has a specified base input font size. It's purpose is to tell you what will happen to your book for the setting your chose.

Specifically, for your example, the .rtf file has all the fonts at 10pt but you tell Calibre to use 12pt for the base size. You're not "wrong in giving it the correct number." You've simply asked Calibre to use 12 point for the base when it does the conversion. If you want to know what happens when a 10 pt base is found and you've specified a 12 pt base, you can use the Wizard. It should tell you that it will create a 12 pt base font. That's obvious.

It's most useful for the case where you tell it you have a book with 10 pt base, and ask it how big will a 16 pt font be in that book, given your current options. Calibre will think Hmmm,. 10pt base input needs to be converted to 12 pt base, so 16 pt Header needs to be converted to (it then checks the key font listing) and does a rescaling and comes up with some number, like 18 pt.

Clear as mud - right? Probably wrong, too, but if it is someone will almost certainly tell us.

[Tazina]

Actually that made a lot of sense. Thank you for your explanation, I knew I was reading way too much into the options. Thank you again

One other thing. I was wondering if there was an easy way to change the "standard" font the PRS-300 uses for something else? That way I wouldn't have to reconvert all my books every time I find a different font I like to read with.

I know there have been long posts about this subject and I don't think I really understood if you could or not. Until that PRS+ program can change fonts as easily as it does text sizes I'll have to add my personal CSS font and reconvert.