*VERY* detailed guide on changing default Reader fonts

[Valloric]

Here it is, an extremely detailed and thorough guide to changing the default fonts on the Reader. It's in 4 steps, 17 pages, 9 pictures and 5 appendices. For a procedure that takes a full 15 minutes, it can not get any more detailed than this.

If you have any questions, post them here, and I'll get to them when I can.

Dear God, this took me a whole day... and I had so much stuff I needed to do today .

Please carefully read both the Guide and this thread before asking questions! Thank you!

CHANGELOG:

v1.2
- Step Two: parts rewritten to support the next version of PRSC, 1.04; thanks to Jeff for adding explicit support for custom fonts in PRSC
- added licensing info: file under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.
- some clarifications
- some typo fixes

v1.1
- Step Two: updated references to latest version of PRSC; also changed the screenshot to latest version
- Step Four: it now explicitly instructs people who use Sony's eBook Library to change its fonts too, instead of merely suggesting it
- Step Four: removing and restoring books instruction also made more clear
- hyperlinks are now blue, instead of that nasty yellow color
- some typo fixes

v1.0
- initial version

[acidzebra]

That's a very nice guide, Valloric.

[JeffElkins]

Excellently done! This is a wonderful resource. Mods: This deserves a sticky.

[zelda_pinwheel]

stuck. thanks Valloric ! that deserves karma.

[dordale]

Thanks so much Valloric!! I really appreciate your efforts. I've toyed with the idea of changing the fonts on my reader but have shied away from it for fear of bricking the thing. Now, with your excellent guide, I might get up the courage to try!

dordale

[JeffElkins]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

stuck. thanks Valloric ! that deserves karma.

Agreed Zelda! I forgot, but have corrected myself

[Peto]

Originally Posted by Valloric

Here it is, an extremely detailed and thorough guide to changing the default fonts on the Reader. It's in 4 steps, 17 pages, 9 pictures and 5 appendices. For a procedure that takes a full 15 minutes, it can not get any more detailed than this.

If you have any questions, post them here, and I'll get to them when I can.

Dear God, this took me a whole day... and I had so much stuff I needed to do today .

Great piece of work, with a nice extract from Hyperion. I had given up trying to replace my fonts, but your effort deserves another try. I'll tell you how it goes.

Whether I succeed or not (I am rather pessimistic after so many trials), thanks a lot.

[crc]

Thank you for taking the time to document this process. I was able to replace the font with a much nicer one with only a few minutes work after reading this.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by crc

Thank you for taking the time to document this process. I was able to replace the font with a much nicer one with only a few minutes work after reading this.

Good to hear! I am glad this guide helped you replace that nasty Dutch Roman

[Rontonio]

Hi. I went through the entire process, word by word. At the point on page 8, where I clicked "Customize" I got an error message: "An exception of class NilObject Extension was not handled. Application must shut down." I figured the SD card file might still contain the right files, but there was no files.505.1.1.00.18040 folder. What now? I already purchased Caecilia, and hope I can get this thing figured-out. Thanks for your help.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by Rontonio

Hi. I went through the entire process, word by word. At the point on page 8, where I clicked "Customize" I got an error message: "An exception of class NilObject Extension was not handled. Application must shut down." I figured the SD card file might still contain the right files, but there was no files.505.1.1.00.18040 folder. What now? I already purchased Caecilia, and hope I can get this thing figured-out. Thanks for your help.

Rontonio, I've actually seen this error a few times myself, usually after using PRSC once already and populating the sdcard folder. My solution was to just delete the whole folder where PRSC was extracted and then re-extract PRSC again (into a new folder).

Basically, it's some kind of weird bug in PRSC. Deleting it and extracting again solves it.

Hope that helps. If it doesn't, report back here.

EDIT: Also, why buy Caecilia? I mean, it's nicer than the Bitstream Vera Serif that is used in the guide, but not by much. I happened to have the font for business reasons so I used it, but I would have definitely went with Vera Serif had I not had it lying around. Vera Serif is free, Caecilia is 30$.

[Rontonio]

I extracted the file again, filled-out the customization box, and it worked this time. Who knows? Thanks for your prompt response, Valloric. The reader looks great, and my books are definitely easier to read with Caecilia 55 Roman.
I didn't go with the Vera Serif since by looking at your graphic I wasn't sure it was that much of an improvement over Dutch. I had also considered Georgia, but frankly I didn't want to have to go through the process twice if wasn't satisfied with whatever font I chose. I've seen the Kindle and liked the font so I just made the decision to go with Caecilia. It's a huge improvement over the original Dutch. I'm quite sure Vera Serif would have been, too.
I appreciate your help. Thank you

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by Rontonio

I appreciate your help. Thank you

Not a problem, glad to help.

[Rontonio]

After doing some reading at lunch I see that words, and even entire lines are missing after some page turns. I originally flashed an empty reader and reloaded the books after installing the new font, but maybe I needed to reload the original book files rather than those from the Reader with the Dutch font?

[igorsk]

Make sure you use identical fonts on the Reader and in the eBook Library. Also, clear the cache.xml or reupload books using eBook Library to repaginate them.