Line Spacing 2014

DiapDealer · 02-06-2014, 02:12 PM

Seriously!?

After all this time ... why is the smallest line-spacing setting on the Kindle Fire still too damn big? Would it be THAT hard to add just one more setting on the smaller side? Or even take the highest setting (that I can't imagine anyone using) and shift everything one to the right so there's an opening for a smaller setting.

I love the device to death, but I have to use a different app for reading because the line-spacing just looks goofy-big to me.

Is the rest of the world just resigned to the fact that "this is how it is?"

OK, carry on. Rant over.

tomsem · 02-06-2014, 05:21 PM

While I agree smallest line spacing should be smaller still, it doesn't bother me enough to switch reading apps or tweak CSS. But I also use smallest text size and that may be why: at larger sizes, it seems more annoying.

Typographic practice would be to reduce the leading/point size ratio as point size increases. But it seems they are just keeping a constant ratio, hence the effect I observe above.

Moreover, line spacing should adjust as column width increases, so if you are reading in landscape, there should be more space than in portrait, and arguably, the margin and type size settings should also be orientation-specific. As it is, I often prefer reading in landscape, as the same leading/line spacing that looks too wide in portrait looks better with longer lines of text.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ebook typography. Some of this reflects lack of attention to detail on the part of publishers, but some certainly lies with the reading system vendors, as in this case.

All of which argues for giving users more control over everything even when it overrides publisher settings. But I'd really prefer a reading system that made good choices for me: I don't want to have to adjust the layout of every book.

jswinden · 02-07-2014, 11:19 AM

Line spacing seems to vary with the device and with the file type, mobi7 versus KF8. I agree with your rant, but Amazon still turns a deaf hear to our pleas for more formatting control. It is not like it would cost them that much to add more formatting options, but they apparently don't give a crap about what we want.

Blossom · 02-08-2014, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Seriously!?

After all this time ... why is the smallest line-spacing setting on the Kindle Fire still too damn big? Would it be THAT hard to add just one more setting on the smaller side? Or even take the highest setting (that I can't imagine anyone using) and shift everything one to the right so there's an opening for a smaller setting.

I love the device to death, but I have to use a different app for reading because the line-spacing just looks goofy-big to me.

Is the rest of the world just resigned to the fact that "this is how it is?"

OK, carry on. Rant over.

Yeah it's still broken. On the android app it's fixed and works just like it should. You would think they would fix it on the Kindle Fire.

DiapDealer · 02-08-2014, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

Yeah it's still broken. On the android app it's fixed and works just like it should. You would think they would fix it on the Kindle Fire.

Ooh... I'll have to check out the Kindle app on an N7. That'll be my next device if it looks good. Thanks for the tip!

Blossom · 02-08-2014, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Ooh... I'll have to check out the Kindle app on an N7. That'll be my next device if it looks good. Thanks for the tip!

Just make sure to have a screen dim app installed and turn on if you tried to read a Kindle book without it on the Kindle app the brightness will blind you it's a bug that hasn't been fixed and the Overdrive Media Console app has the same bug but a screen dim app will keep it from happening. I don't why it happens on the N7 but this is the only fix I know of.

This is the one I use it was made by a member here for the original Kindle Fire and has been updated since to work with the Nexus 7 and other tablets.
Here's the link to the Amazon version

Moon+ and Mantano do not have these problems.

booklover6 · 02-08-2014, 02:58 PM

The tablet app has no font choice selection, though, FYI.

DiapDealer · 02-08-2014, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by booklover6

The tablet app has no font choice selection, though, FYI.

I'm not that particular about fonts. As long as it's not Comic Sans or something like that... I'm OK.

I use Mantano and ePub a lot (yes, on a Kindle Fire). But I'd like to be able to use the Kindle app for books that I can't find (or can't afford) in ePub. Don't feel like messing around with conversion and/or tweaking any more to get around the gawd-awful line spacing of KF8 in the Kindle Fire's reading app.

Just want to be able to buy/read Kindlebooks AND ePubs on the same device with little to no diddling involved. The inability to set the Kindle app's line spacing small enough is the main hurdle in achieving that goal. Looks like I'm reading some double-spaced high-school book report.

Blossom · 02-08-2014, 04:03 PM

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like on the N7. I brought the font to smaller size then I would use normally but as you can see it looks identical with the exception of font and line spacing of the Kindle Fire.

BTW the font the Kindle app uses is Droid Serif

02-06-2014, 02:12 PM	#1
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,361 Karma: 203720150 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Line Spacing 2014 Seriously!? After all this time ... why is the smallest line-spacing setting on the Kindle Fire still too damn big? Would it be THAT hard to add just one more setting on the smaller side? Or even take the highest setting (that I can't imagine anyone using) and shift everything one to the right so there's an opening for a smaller setting. I love the device to death, but I have to use a different app for reading because the line-spacing just looks goofy-big to me. Is the rest of the world just resigned to the fact that "this is how it is?" OK, carry on. Rant over.

02-08-2014, 04:03 PM	#9
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	Here's a screenshot of what it looks like on the N7. I brought the font to smaller size then I would use normally but as you can see it looks identical with the exception of font and line spacing of the Kindle Fire. BTW the font the Kindle app uses is Droid Serif Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Blossom; 02-08-2014 at 04:27 PM.

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02-06-2014, 05:21 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,904 Karma: 27013865 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	While I agree smallest line spacing should be smaller still, it doesn't bother me enough to switch reading apps or tweak CSS. But I also use smallest text size and that may be why: at larger sizes, it seems more annoying. Typographic practice would be to reduce the leading/point size ratio as point size increases. But it seems they are just keeping a constant ratio, hence the effect I observe above. Moreover, line spacing should adjust as column width increases, so if you are reading in landscape, there should be more space than in portrait, and arguably, the margin and type size settings should also be orientation-specific. As it is, I often prefer reading in landscape, as the same leading/line spacing that looks too wide in portrait looks better with longer lines of text. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ebook typography. Some of this reflects lack of attention to detail on the part of publishers, but some certainly lies with the reading system vendors, as in this case. All of which argues for giving users more control over everything even when it overrides publisher settings. But I'd really prefer a reading system that made good choices for me: I don't want to have to adjust the layout of every book.

02-07-2014, 11:19 AM	#3
jswinden Nameless Being	Line spacing seems to vary with the device and with the file type, mobi7 versus KF8. I agree with your rant, but Amazon still turns a deaf hear to our pleas for more formatting control. It is not like it would cost them that much to add more formatting options, but they apparently don't give a crap about what we want.

02-08-2014, 02:58 PM	#7
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,545 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre 1, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle, Kobo Libre Colour	The tablet app has no font choice selection, though, FYI.

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