italics (and smallcaps) not displayed

franklekens · 12-30-2013, 06:51 PM

I buy an epub and download it on my computer with Adobe Digital Editions.
I then move it into Calibre, which removes the DRM if there is any (sometimes they just have watermarks).
I then upload it to my Kobo Reader. I have the Kobo Reader Device Interface, the Kobo Touch *and* the Kobo Touch Extended plugin. Probably only need one of them, but they're there now.
In these plugins, the "modify css" option is checked.

Now when I open this epub in ADE, I see the layout more or less as it is printed, with some words in italics (and some in small caps, but it's mainly the italics I'm bothered about).
But when I open it on the Kobo Reader, there are no italics. The letters are plain roman.
Now if I open the same file in Calibre, I don't see italics either. (Plus the font is really weird, but I'll let that slide.)

Is this a Calibre thing?
Is it a device interface plugin thing? Does it have to do with that "modify css"?
Or is it a Kobo Reader thing? Is it just unhappy with italics?

(I don't think it's the latter. I'd have to check, but I think the italics display just fine in some epubs I made myself, with texts of my own.)

MTIA for any help & tips.

davidfor · 12-30-2013, 07:10 PM

It could be none or all of the above. The first thing to do is try a different font. Some of the fonts on different firmware versions had problems with italics. Other than that, the Kobo devices have no issue with displaying italics.

When sending a book from calibre to a Kobo device, the only option that should affect the book formatting is the modify CSS option. And then it will only change anything of there is a "kobo_extra.css" on the device. If this has CSS in it the changes the italics, that would explain things.

To test this, disable the extended driver and make sure the KoboTouch driver is enabled. Then makes sure the modify CSS option is unchecked. Then send an epub to the device and have a look at it. If it doesn't show italics, select "Georgia" as the font and check again.

Also, open the epub with the calibre viewer before sending it. That will check that it wasn't the DRM removal that broke the italics.

If none of the above work, we probably need to see the epub file to check what is happening.

GeoffR · 12-30-2013, 07:44 PM

Does the book have embedded fonts, and are these fonts being stripped by Calibre?

It is not too common, but there are some (badly constructed) books that have embedded fonts, but which become unreadable if the fonts are stripped. For example if the book loads an embedded italic font as a seperate font-family and doesn't set the font-style to itallic, then a normal instead of italic font will be used if the font is stripped.

If that is the case then the best solution is to edit the CSS and fix the mistakes (and complain to the publisher too), but it is hard to describe exactly what changes to make without seeing the book. The other solution is to avoid stripping the embedded font and just read the book with the "Document Default" font setting, if the embedded fonts are not too awful.

RobertJSawyer · 12-30-2013, 10:12 PM

Also, if you have sideloaded any fonts to your Kobo (in the \fonts folder), make sure they have names in precisely this format, or else the Kobo reader can get confused about which weight is which:

Arial.ttf
Arial-Bold.ttf
Arial-BoldItalic.ttf
Arial-Italic.ttf

(where Arial is whatever the name of the font is).

PeterT · 12-30-2013, 10:14 PM

When you open it in ADE, are you opening the original OR what has been modified by the driver as it is sent to the Kobo?

Which driver ARE you using? KoboTouch OR KoboTouchExtended?

murg · 12-31-2013, 07:53 AM

Kobo used to have a problem with not recognising the css smallcaps tag (or whatever css elements are called). I don't know if it still has this problem...

Danger · 12-31-2013, 09:05 AM

My first thought would have been to send the book to your Kobo via ADE and see what it looks like. Then you eliminate your Kobo (if it shows you italicized words) and narrow it down to some setting/plugin in Calibre, if you Kobo doesn't show you words that should be italics then you know it's the Kobo and not Calibre.

As a side note, I've seen a lot of the books I've modified use either or a instead of the simple tag. While the first 2 (should) achieve the same result Kobo at one point was having troubles with the tags and rendering them as bold instead of italics. There is a time and place for the tag but we don't need to go into that here.

franklekens · 12-31-2013, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

When you open it in ADE, are you opening the original OR what has been modified by the driver as it is sent to the Kobo?

Which driver ARE you using? KoboTouch OR KoboTouchExtended?

In ADE I open the original.

The main reason I use Calibre to upload to the reader is that it turns the epubs into kebus, so I can have those reading time statistics per chapter. I don't really change anything else myself.

And I don't know which driver is being used. They're both in the plugin list. What determines which one is being used by Calibre? The Calibre interface isn't very clear to me about that.

Ripplinger · 12-31-2013, 09:24 AM

You need to disable the plugin you're not using, which is probably the KoboTouch since you said you want kepubs sent to your reader. Then Calibre can only use the correct one you want it to.

PeterT · 12-31-2013, 10:02 AM

The only reason I always mention disabling the driver is it IS listed in the documentation for the KoboTouchExtended driver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgoguen

Special Notes

This plugin requires calibre 1.3.0 or later.
This plugin is only tested using Kobo firmware 2.10.0 (6180F632e1, 21/10/2013) and calibre 1.10.0.
It is recommended that you disable the built-in KoboTouch driver (but not the built-in Kobo driver) while this plugin is installed. On rare occasions, calibre may select the built-in KoboTouch driver instead of this plugin.
This device plugin enables access to Kobo features that are written with the expectation that only unmodified Kobo-purchased books will be used.
When configuring the plugin, it is not necessary to include the '.kepub' portion of the file name; the plugin will add that automatically.
Modified ePub books are not saved to your calibre library in their kepub form; the kepub is only sent to your device, your copy in calibre is never modified.

Additionally DO realize that as SOON as you process the book through the Extended Driver you are no longer comparing the same material on the Kobo and in ADE.

12-30-2013, 06:51 PM	#1
franklekens Evangelist Posts: 407 Karma: 3421956 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: various Kobo's, Onyx Note2, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Keyboard	italics (and smallcaps) not displayed I buy an epub and download it on my computer with Adobe Digital Editions. I then move it into Calibre, which removes the DRM if there is any (sometimes they just have watermarks). I then upload it to my Kobo Reader. I have the Kobo Reader Device Interface, the Kobo Touch and the Kobo Touch Extended plugin. Probably only need one of them, but they're there now. In these plugins, the "modify css" option is checked. Now when I open this epub in ADE, I see the layout more or less as it is printed, with some words in italics (and some in small caps, but it's mainly the italics I'm bothered about). But when I open it on the Kobo Reader, there are no italics. The letters are plain roman. Now if I open the same file in Calibre, I don't see italics either. (Plus the font is really weird, but I'll let that slide.) Is this a Calibre thing? Is it a device interface plugin thing? Does it have to do with that "modify css"? Or is it a Kobo Reader thing? Is it just unhappy with italics? (I don't think it's the latter. I'd have to check, but I think the italics display just fine in some epubs I made myself, with texts of my own.) MTIA for any help & tips.

12-31-2013, 09:05 AM	#7
Danger Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1665031 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island, Nanaimo Device: K2 (retired), Kobo Touch (passed to the wife), KGlo, Galaxy TabPro	My first thought would have been to send the book to your Kobo via ADE and see what it looks like. Then you eliminate your Kobo (if it shows you italicized words) and narrow it down to some setting/plugin in Calibre, if you Kobo doesn't show you words that should be italics then you know it's the Kobo and not Calibre. As a side note, I've seen a lot of the books I've modified use either <em> or a <span class="[classname]"> instead of the simple <i> tag. While the first 2 (should) achieve the same result Kobo at one point was having troubles with the <em> tags and rendering them as bold instead of italics. There is a time and place for the <em> tag but we don't need to go into that here. Last edited by Danger; 12-31-2013 at 09:12 AM. Reason: additional info

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12-30-2013, 07:10 PM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	It could be none or all of the above. The first thing to do is try a different font. Some of the fonts on different firmware versions had problems with italics. Other than that, the Kobo devices have no issue with displaying italics. When sending a book from calibre to a Kobo device, the only option that should affect the book formatting is the modify CSS option. And then it will only change anything of there is a "kobo_extra.css" on the device. If this has CSS in it the changes the italics, that would explain things. To test this, disable the extended driver and make sure the KoboTouch driver is enabled. Then makes sure the modify CSS option is unchecked. Then send an epub to the device and have a look at it. If it doesn't show italics, select "Georgia" as the font and check again. Also, open the epub with the calibre viewer before sending it. That will check that it wasn't the DRM removal that broke the italics. If none of the above work, we probably need to see the epub file to check what is happening.

12-30-2013, 07:44 PM	#3
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Does the book have embedded fonts, and are these fonts being stripped by Calibre? It is not too common, but there are some (badly constructed) books that have embedded fonts, but which become unreadable if the fonts are stripped. For example if the book loads an embedded italic font as a seperate font-family and doesn't set the font-style to itallic, then a normal instead of italic font will be used if the font is stripped. If that is the case then the best solution is to edit the CSS and fix the mistakes (and complain to the publisher too), but it is hard to describe exactly what changes to make without seeing the book. The other solution is to avoid stripping the embedded font and just read the book with the "Document Default" font setting, if the embedded fonts are not too awful.

12-30-2013, 10:12 PM	#4
RobertJSawyer Guru Posts: 739 Karma: 4306712 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Libra 2, Clara 2E, and Clara HD; Kindle PaperWhite	Also, if you have sideloaded any fonts to your Kobo (in the \fonts folder), make sure they have names in precisely this format, or else the Kobo reader can get confused about which weight is which: Arial.ttf Arial-Bold.ttf Arial-BoldItalic.ttf Arial-Italic.ttf (where Arial is whatever the name of the font is).

12-30-2013, 10:14 PM	#5
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,693 Karma: 79983758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	When you open it in ADE, are you opening the original OR what has been modified by the driver as it is sent to the Kobo? Which driver ARE you using? KoboTouch OR KoboTouchExtended?

12-31-2013, 07:53 AM	#6
murg No Comment Posts: 3,240 Karma: 23878043 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo: Not just an eReader, it's an adventure!	Kobo used to have a problem with not recognising the css smallcaps tag (or whatever css elements are called). I don't know if it still has this problem...

12-31-2013, 09:24 AM	#9
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,587 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	You need to disable the plugin you're not using, which is probably the KoboTouch since you said you want kepubs sent to your reader. Then Calibre can only use the correct one you want it to.

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