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Originally Posted by JSWolf
It depends on the Reader or program/app and the available fonts. The thing is with say a Kobo, I can sideload the font(s) I want to have available. So the choice is mine from whatever fonts I have available. With a Kindle (non-jailbroken), the only way to install the font(s) of your choice is to embed. Some apps use the installed fonts on the device and some also allow you to sideload. You can also embed as well if need be.
So no, eBooks are not the step-child. I've seen some eBooks with the same fonts embedded that were used in the pBook and without any modification, the main reading font is too light on an eInk screen. One common embedded font that doesn't work as is is Adobe Garamond Pro because it is too light. I can sort out that problem fairly easily, but most people cannot.
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True, but that's a benefit of the format itself rather than a provision by the publisher, isn't it? Publishers
could embed a nice commercial font to give the ebook a unique feel like they do for physical books. Some do, but many don't. Plenty of lay-readers don't go to the lengths of putting different fonts onto their devices like we do, and they're probably the majority of e-readers. So while the format has the potential to be prettier than the physical book, publishers ,IMO, give it the step-treatment by not customising it right off the bat, the onus of beautifying the ebook falling onto the reader instead.
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I find sans-serif as the base font to make the eBook have a cheap feel. Like the publisher and/or author didn't give a damn about the book.
One of the worst eBooks I have seen is The Martian. It has FreeSerif, FreSansOblique, FreeSans, FreeMonoOblique, & FreeMono embedded. These fonts are all much too light for an eInk screen. The worst of the bunch is FreeMono. The book makes some extensive use of monospace and the font embedded is very very light. This is a case of the publisher not seeing how these fonts look on an eInk screen. They look awful and I had to dump them because they make the eBook rather hard to read.
I've made a version of Charis SIL that I call ChareInk that I think looks very good on eInk sceens. It is available for free on MR. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=184056
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Yeah, I hate sans fonts in text too. I'm okay with spare use of those for headlines and such. Other than text-books, I have only ever come across sans serif text fonts in cheap paperbacks printed on thin greyish paper. So the sight of a sans serif font in an ebook automatically makes it seem like a cheap ebook for me.
I tend to get sick of fonts quickly, so I have 15 select ones that I rotate through on my H2O. Your modified Charis is already one of them. Thanks, JSWolf.
