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JJ Johnson · 06-16-2020, 04:29 PM

I have some ePub files that I've downloaded from a free book site that I'm trying to clean up with a python script. Basically just some global search/replaces using regular expressions, and then replacing the CSS file with my own.

These will be loaded onto my Kobo Libra, converted to kepub, if that's relevant. Formatting in these files is extremely basic - chapters have a heading and paragraphs, seldom anything more.

I'm looking for some basic guidelines to what works best on an ereader. Some specific questions:

Default font size? Is 1em standard?

What about line spacing?

Should there be any page margins or padding? My Kobo has a (side) margin setting. If there's a standard, I'd want to use that and expect the Kobo's setting to work both with commercially published books and those that I modify.

Paragraphs. Is there a standard for indents? I've seen 2em used.

One thing I also notice in these files is that they specify two CSS files in the header. The first has most of the formatting. The second does nothing but set <body> top and bottom margins to 5pt. Is there any particular reason for doing this?

06-16-2020, 04:29 PM	#1
JJ Johnson Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 2119794 Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Colorado Device: Kobo Libra H20	Very basic ePub CSS? I have some ePub files that I've downloaded from a free book site that I'm trying to clean up with a python script. Basically just some global search/replaces using regular expressions, and then replacing the CSS file with my own. These will be loaded onto my Kobo Libra, converted to kepub, if that's relevant. Formatting in these files is extremely basic - chapters have a heading and paragraphs, seldom anything more. I'm looking for some basic guidelines to what works best on an ereader. Some specific questions: Default font size? Is 1em standard? What about line spacing? Should there be any page margins or padding? My Kobo has a (side) margin setting. If there's a standard, I'd want to use that and expect the Kobo's setting to work both with commercially published books and those that I modify. Paragraphs. Is there a standard for indents? I've seen 2em used. One thing I also notice in these files is that they specify two CSS files in the header. The first has most of the formatting. The second does nothing but set <body> top and bottom margins to 5pt. Is there any particular reason for doing this?