Fancy formatting on Kindle -- how's it done?

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 12:48 AM

I have been building a few books in Calibre to find out how to make nice looking books designs. I am doing this in HTML and then converting to the Kindle 3 (mobi).

Recently I downloaded a sample from a book on Amazon and found amazing formatting. I have no idea how they do this. Maybe someone can give me some hints. I have attached the downloaded .azw1 file.

On the Kindle 3 it displays with a Goudy style base font, displays small caps correctly, switches to a sans-serif Verdana style font to display a shaded box. There is no indication in the HTML code that Calibre produces of any of these changes, or even of changes to italics.

Obviously something is happening that Calibre knows nothing about.

This text looks beautiful compared to the normal text I have been producing with Calibre. Does anyone know how it is done?

kovidgoyal · 07-20-2011, 12:55 AM

azw1 format files are not ebooks, they are scans of paper books.

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 01:09 AM

How can that be? The fonts enlarge and the lines wrap when I change font size on the Kindle.

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 01:16 AM

I've tried to attach the file but haven't figured out how to do that.

OK found out how now.

cybmole · 07-20-2011, 01:31 AM

you would get all the answers if you de-drmed the amazon file, via calibre plug ins, converted it to epub with calibre, then examined the resulting code, esp the CSS

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 01:40 AM

cybmole: I have done that. I have deDRM plugin installed. I have looked at the HTML code and the CSS file produced. But there is a lot happening that can't be explained. In particular there is no indication of font switching. I didn't think that was possible in the Kindle. But obviously it is.

Kovid says .azw1 files are scanned paperbacks. But I can't see how that is possible since when I increase the font size the line wrap properly.

cybmole · 07-20-2011, 01:52 AM

post the title of the free sample please, I'll take a look

cybmole · 07-20-2011, 01:57 AM

does everything in the sample reflow/rescale ? maybe there's a mix of scanned images & text ?

e.g. I've been told, on this forum, that mobi does not support drop caps so maybe a workaround with images is being used.

DoctorOhh · 07-20-2011, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhoyt

Kovid says .azw1 files are scanned paperbacks. But I can't see how that is possible since when I increase the font size the line wrap properly.

A quick look indicates that Kovid is 100% accurate this is a Topaz file, read more about Topaz files here.

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 02:04 AM

It's the sample listed here: http://www.amazon.com/Histories-and-...1141535&sr=1-1

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 02:06 AM

The title of the book which has the free sample is: Histories and Fallacies by Carl R. Trueman.

kovidgoyal · 07-20-2011, 02:07 AM

They contain scans of individual letters/glyphs.

bhoyt · 07-20-2011, 02:11 AM

Thanks Kovid. Now I understand! So Calibre does some OCR work to decipher these letters and glyphs! That's impressive.

DoctorOhh · 07-20-2011, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhoyt

Thanks Kovid. Now I understand! So Calibre does some OCR work to decipher these letters and glyphs! That's impressive.

No OCR done by calibre. Unproofed OCR included in the book for search and dictionary support.

cybmole · 07-20-2011, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

They contain scans of individual letters/glyphs.

yes - in Kindle for PC, viewing the sample, I see that the opening word - "Introduction", which is in a handwriting style font on a white rectangular background, does not re-scale with the main chapter font; it must be a standalone image

so should there be an option to preserve the scans/images in mobi to epub conversion ?

07-20-2011, 12:48 AM	#1
bhoyt Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Oamaru, New Zealand Device: KT, Android Tablet and Phone	Fancy formatting on Kindle -- how's it done? I have been building a few books in Calibre to find out how to make nice looking books designs. I am doing this in HTML and then converting to the Kindle 3 (mobi). Recently I downloaded a sample from a book on Amazon and found amazing formatting. I have no idea how they do this. Maybe someone can give me some hints. I have attached the downloaded .azw1 file. On the Kindle 3 it displays with a Goudy style base font, displays small caps correctly, switches to a sans-serif Verdana style font to display a shaded box. There is no indication in the HTML code that Calibre produces of any of these changes, or even of changes to italics. Obviously something is happening that Calibre knows nothing about. This text looks beautiful compared to the normal text I have been producing with Calibre. Does anyone know how it is done?

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07-20-2011, 12:55 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,242 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	azw1 format files are not ebooks, they are scans of paper books.

07-20-2011, 01:09 AM	#3
bhoyt Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Oamaru, New Zealand Device: KT, Android Tablet and Phone	How can that be? The fonts enlarge and the lines wrap when I change font size on the Kindle.

07-20-2011, 01:31 AM	#5
cybmole Wizard Posts: 3,720 Karma: 1759970 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	you would get all the answers if you de-drmed the amazon file, via calibre plug ins, converted it to epub with calibre, then examined the resulting code, esp the CSS

07-20-2011, 01:40 AM	#6
bhoyt Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Oamaru, New Zealand Device: KT, Android Tablet and Phone	cybmole: I have done that. I have deDRM plugin installed. I have looked at the HTML code and the CSS file produced. But there is a lot happening that can't be explained. In particular there is no indication of font switching. I didn't think that was possible in the Kindle. But obviously it is. Kovid says .azw1 files are scanned paperbacks. But I can't see how that is possible since when I increase the font size the line wrap properly.

07-20-2011, 01:52 AM	#7
cybmole Wizard Posts: 3,720 Karma: 1759970 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	post the title of the free sample please, I'll take a look

07-20-2011, 01:57 AM	#8
cybmole Wizard Posts: 3,720 Karma: 1759970 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	does everything in the sample reflow/rescale ? maybe there's a mix of scanned images & text ? e.g. I've been told, on this forum, that mobi does not support drop caps so maybe a workaround with images is being used.

07-20-2011, 02:04 AM	#10
bhoyt Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Oamaru, New Zealand Device: KT, Android Tablet and Phone	It's the sample listed here: http://www.amazon.com/Histories-and-...1141535&sr=1-1

07-20-2011, 02:06 AM	#11
bhoyt Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Oamaru, New Zealand Device: KT, Android Tablet and Phone	The title of the book which has the free sample is: Histories and Fallacies by Carl R. Trueman.

07-20-2011, 02:07 AM	#12
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,242 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	They contain scans of individual letters/glyphs.

07-20-2011, 02:11 AM	#13
bhoyt Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Oamaru, New Zealand Device: KT, Android Tablet and Phone	Thanks Kovid. Now I understand! So Calibre does some OCR work to decipher these letters and glyphs! That's impressive.

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