Looking for CSS suggestion to set off snail-mail

[phossler]

In some of the epubs I cleaned, there is a letter from someone in the text

I used to just use a <blockquote> around it, but I thought I could set it off a little more with some CSS.

The attachment is the best I could come up with (very simple and not overly formatted)

Does anyone have some CSS that they use which I could consider using to set off a letter?

Thanks

[BetterRed]

If I were to right align the signature I would also right align the Compliment, and assuming there's no actual signature, I probably wouldn't have any space between the Compliment and senders name.

A Victorian Miss suited to be a governess would not send an undated letter - also right aligned

And if she used someone's name in the Salutation she would use 'Sincerely' in the Compliment, probably without the 'Yours' - unless she was being deliberately flirtatious

BR

[phossler]

A Victorian Miss suited to be a governess would not send an undated letter - also right aligned

And if she used someone's name in the Salutation she would use 'Sincerely' in the Compliment, probably without the 'Yours' - unless she was being deliberately flirtatious

Not arguing, but that's what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote

Agree about right justifying the Complement

BTW, I tried to use a 'Parchment' jpg as a background-image and it really didn't work well, so the RGB I tried has a color name of Parchment

Any ideas / suggestions about the border -- change, delete??

[BetterRed]

Firstly, complement and compliment are not alternative spellings of the same word. Secondly, what would an unmarried Scot know about potential Victorian governesses :lol:

I wouldn't have a background image, IMO the margins are enough. If you use a background image to lend 'authenticity' it begs the question - would all correspondents use the same paper. Probably not, Her Ladyship is unlikely to use the same paper as His Lordship's man-of-affairs.

However if you insist, for that letter I would use low-grade white cut edge paper, whereas for Holmes' reply I might use a sheet of dove-grey deckle edge Italian paper - at $3 a pop

BR

[theducks]

Think about Mono-chrome (and lower contrast) devices: Skip the background

The Blockquote, Border and a different font face (eg cursive) should be enough to convey a character generated missive

[phossler]

Firstly, complement and compliment are not alternative spellings of the same word.

Blush - my math major background is showing ('complementary angles, etc.')

Secondly, what would an unmarried Scot know about potential Victorian governesses

I guess that's why Holmes makes the big bucks (or pounds)


Seriously, thanks for confirming no BG image (especially if I have to figure out the appropriate stationary) and I'll just go with the extra margins and the background-color. IMHO it provides just enough of a difference to indicate that the letter text is something other than just body text without being too 'cutsey' and shows on my reader

[phossler]

Originally Posted by theducks

Think about Mono-chrome (and lower contrast) devices: Skip the background

The Blockquote, Border and a different font face (eg cursive) should be enough to convey a character generated missive

Thanks, this is just for me so it doesn't need to be too 'universal'

I had not really thought about a cursive or script typeface, but I think I'll experiment and see how I like it.

I think that your typeface suggestion and BetterRed's ideas are simple enough to add to the CSS and also not be overwhelming. If I go with the typeface, then I wouldn't need a BG color.

Thanks

[PeterT]

As an asde, you'll find a version of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes that includes the Copper Beeches here at MobileRead

[phossler]

Originally Posted by PeterT

As an asde, you'll find a version of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes that includes the Copper Beeches here at MobileRead

Thanks for pointing that out.

I looked at how the 'snail mail' was set off in that version using ADE, and it appears that there was only a line before and one after.

[phossler]

I tried Lucida Handwriting

No Joy

Both ADE and Kindle Previewer don't show the 'scripty' font, even with [Publisher Fonts] enabled. The editor renders the typeface correctly

I don't know if it's something with the typeface or what.

I suspect that I'll stay with the body text typeface, but just set it off somehow

[dwig]

Originally Posted by phossler

I tried Lucida Handwriting

No Joy

Both ADE and Kindle Previewer don't show the 'scripty' font, ...

Perhaps just using italic, along with the margins and/or <blockquote>, will work for you. Had the narrative been more modern, a monospace font spec would work, simulating a typewritten letter.

Staying with the reader's basic fonts can be more reliable than trying to properly embed a custom font and deal with a fall back for readers that don't support the embedded font.

[Paulie_D]

Originally Posted by dwig

Perhaps just using italic, along with the margins and/or <blockquote>, will work for you. Had the narrative been more modern, a monospace font spec would work, simulating a typewritten letter.

Typewriters were quite prevalent in Holmes' era..they were invented in the 1860's

[theducks]

Originally Posted by phossler

I tried Lucida Handwriting

No Joy

Both ADE and Kindle Previewer don't show the 'scripty' font, even with [Publisher Fonts] enabled. The editor renders the typeface correctly

I don't know if it's something with the typeface or what.

I suspect that I'll stay with the body text typeface, but just set it off somehow

Did you embed the font?
Did you make the proper @font entries?

[phossler]

@ theducks

Yes & yes

The screen shots are from my other test using Segoe Script, but the Lucida results were the same

Any thoughts or ideas?

[theducks]

The font weight does not match

You declared family was for BOLD

but you did not use Bold for the letter


You can use a bold font, but declare it (use) as normal in the @font