Embedded fonts not showing on kindle android app

tgiladi · 02-11-2025, 01:42 PM

I do most of my reading on my Oasis (2nd gen). I usually use the send-to-kindle service via a browser to send my books and everything is fine.
I started playing around with sending books via email from Calibre, and after setting it up correctly, it works well.
But for testing purposes, I tried sending to my kindle app on my android phone. Again, this works. But for some reason, I only see 2 fonts: Bookerly and Droid Serif. Neither is good for my books (I read in Hebrew).
I guess that it is working as expected on my Oasis since I manually added custom font to it, which is something I can't seem to do on android.
So I tried embedding the referenced fonts using the Calibre editor. And I also used that option when converting from EPUB to EPUB or from EPUB to AZW3.
Nothing works.

What am I missing?

tomsem · 02-11-2025, 05:02 PM

(I cannot read Hebrew at all.)
What is interesting is that Hebrew script using any of the built in fonts on Kindle looks pretty much the same, and I would expect it to look the same with the Kindle apps (Android app only shows 'Bookerly'; the iOS app shows the usual 8 options but they do not change anything).

But instead it's like some 'display' font that you might see on billboards or something, and strokes are not very articulated. Yuck.

Using calibre, I generated an .epub with all fonts embedded and also a PDF (for conversion to print replica format).

It seems embedded fonts are ignored (both Android and iOS).

PDF of course is WYSIWYG. The issue there is you probably would not want to read it on Oasis, unless you adjust page/margin/text size from the calibre default. Oasis will get PDF instead of Print Replica, which does not sync annotations or let you export them. And Print Replica does not support RTL page reading order or 2 page viewing. But it will look however you want it to.

If syncing annotations is not a requirement, and you don't want fixed layout, I would suggest trying a different reading app on Android with ePub format. Surely there's one that supports embedded Hebrew fonts.

Quoth · 02-12-2025, 05:31 AM

Amazon sometimes but not always strips embedded fonts on KDP upload or STK. Why?

Known reasons:
Too many fonts. How many is too many?
They don't like it. Why?
It's an encrypted font, even though it works on epub devices. Solution: only use free fonts as they are never encrypted.

Converting locally on Calibre to azw3 and using USB transfer works far better on USB Mass Storage Kindles, especially if WiFi is never on. I don't know about MTP Kindles.

If reading an ebook from Calibre on iOS or Android, use a decent epub app, like Pocketbook on Android (don't tick the 2nd check box on install).

Edit:
Some Android apps for ebooks are poor at CSS and also don't support embedded fonts at all.

tgiladi · 02-12-2025, 09:09 AM

Thanks. From what I understood from your replies, it seems that the problem is with Amazon rather than my workflow. It's not really a big deal for me since as I mentioned, I am mostly using my Oasis for reading. The kindle android app is just for these cases when I don't have the Oasis with me.
The strange thing is that some of the books I opened in the app also have a font called Publisher Font, which seems to be a serif font that kind of works for my use case, though the sizes it comes in are very limited (either very small or too big).
Any idea where that font is coming from?

PeterT · 02-12-2025, 09:58 AM

I believe publisher font is not a specific font; rather it says to use whatever font is coded / called for by the CSS markup in the book itself.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

theducks · 02-12-2025, 11:06 AM

My take is Publisher (and/or supplied) font means:
1) Use the CSS or inline style= font instead of the devices choice (Just ignore everything the book calls for)

2) The font only needs to be on the device list of fonts for the PUBLISHER to use it. The device setting is still Publisher.

3) any of the tiniest CSS errors can get a CSS ignored. The wrong CaSe is a common one.
Windows is very lax, so the book may work there and nowhere else.

4) See the other posts

I do not allow 3rd parties to get between Calibre and my device (and tamper / adjust) so I only use USB

Quoth · 02-12-2025, 11:38 AM

The "Publisher Font" just means use the font or fonts the creator of the ebook specified in CSS. It might be more than one font. It might already be on your device. You can add fonts to many ereaders. It may be an embedded font or more than one embedded font, that means the font(s) files are actually included inside the ebook. Amazon has a tendency to remove embedded (included) fonts if the file is converted by them.

And as theduck writes, if there are mistakes in the ebook then selection of Publisher might do nothing.

Quoth · 02-12-2025, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

I believe publisher font is not a specific font; rather it says to use whatever font is coded / called for by the CSS markup in the book itself.

Yes, and it may or may not be already embedded in the ebook and there can be several.

DNSB · 02-12-2025, 03:55 PM

My current record holder is one ebook where the author decided to use different fonts for different characters. After reading a couple of pages, I stripped the embedded font references to the generic versions since I didn't mind the alien's communications in sans serif and the human's speech in serif. If nothing else, it was giving me a headache trying to remember which font referenced which character and the mix of fonts on a page took me back to the old days when documents earned the nickname ransom notes.

02-11-2025, 01:42 PM	#1
tgiladi Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 30486 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Kindle Oasis	Embedded fonts not showing on kindle android app I do most of my reading on my Oasis (2nd gen). I usually use the send-to-kindle service via a browser to send my books and everything is fine. I started playing around with sending books via email from Calibre, and after setting it up correctly, it works well. But for testing purposes, I tried sending to my kindle app on my android phone. Again, this works. But for some reason, I only see 2 fonts: Bookerly and Droid Serif. Neither is good for my books (I read in Hebrew). I guess that it is working as expected on my Oasis since I manually added custom font to it, which is something I can't seem to do on android. So I tried embedding the referenced fonts using the Calibre editor. And I also used that option when converting from EPUB to EPUB or from EPUB to AZW3. Nothing works. What am I missing?

02-11-2025, 05:02 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,936 Karma: 27060151 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	(I cannot read Hebrew at all.) What is interesting is that Hebrew script using any of the built in fonts on Kindle looks pretty much the same, and I would expect it to look the same with the Kindle apps (Android app only shows 'Bookerly'; the iOS app shows the usual 8 options but they do not change anything). But instead it's like some 'display' font that you might see on billboards or something, and strokes are not very articulated. Yuck. Using calibre, I generated an .epub with all fonts embedded and also a PDF (for conversion to print replica format). It seems embedded fonts are ignored (both Android and iOS). PDF of course is WYSIWYG. The issue there is you probably would not want to read it on Oasis, unless you adjust page/margin/text size from the calibre default. Oasis will get PDF instead of Print Replica, which does not sync annotations or let you export them. And Print Replica does not support RTL page reading order or 2 page viewing. But it will look however you want it to. If syncing annotations is not a requirement, and you don't want fixed layout, I would suggest trying a different reading app on Android with ePub format. Surely there's one that supports embedded Hebrew fonts. Last edited by tomsem; 02-11-2025 at 05:06 PM.

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02-12-2025, 05:31 AM	#3
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,992 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Amazon sometimes but not always strips embedded fonts on KDP upload or STK. Why? Known reasons: Too many fonts. How many is too many? They don't like it. Why? It's an encrypted font, even though it works on epub devices. Solution: only use free fonts as they are never encrypted. Converting locally on Calibre to azw3 and using USB transfer works far better on USB Mass Storage Kindles, especially if WiFi is never on. I don't know about MTP Kindles. If reading an ebook from Calibre on iOS or Android, use a decent epub app, like Pocketbook on Android (don't tick the 2nd check box on install). Edit: Some Android apps for ebooks are poor at CSS and also don't support embedded fonts at all.

02-12-2025, 09:09 AM	#4
tgiladi Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 30486 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Kindle Oasis	Thanks. From what I understood from your replies, it seems that the problem is with Amazon rather than my workflow. It's not really a big deal for me since as I mentioned, I am mostly using my Oasis for reading. The kindle android app is just for these cases when I don't have the Oasis with me. The strange thing is that some of the books I opened in the app also have a font called Publisher Font, which seems to be a serif font that kind of works for my use case, though the sizes it comes in are very limited (either very small or too big). Any idea where that font is coming from?

02-12-2025, 09:58 AM	#5
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,483 Karma: 78910112 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	I believe publisher font is not a specific font; rather it says to use whatever font is coded / called for by the CSS markup in the book itself. Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

02-12-2025, 11:06 AM	#6
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,038 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	My take is Publisher (and/or supplied) font means: 1) Use the CSS or inline style= font instead of the devices choice (Just ignore everything the book calls for) 2) The font only needs to be on the device list of fonts for the PUBLISHER to use it. The device setting is still Publisher. 3) any of the tiniest CSS errors can get a CSS ignored. The wrong CaSe is a common one. Windows is very lax, so the book may work there and nowhere else. 4) See the other posts I do not allow 3rd parties to get between Calibre and my device (and tamper / adjust) so I only use USB

02-12-2025, 11:38 AM	#7
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,992 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	The "Publisher Font" just means use the font or fonts the creator of the ebook specified in CSS. It might be more than one font. It might already be on your device. You can add fonts to many ereaders. It may be an embedded font or more than one embedded font, that means the font(s) files are actually included inside the ebook. Amazon has a tendency to remove embedded (included) fonts if the file is converted by them. And as theduck writes, if there are mistakes in the ebook then selection of Publisher might do nothing.

02-12-2025, 03:55 PM	#9
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 46,048 Karma: 168961900 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	My current record holder is one ebook where the author decided to use different fonts for different characters. After reading a couple of pages, I stripped the embedded font references to the generic versions since I didn't mind the alien's communications in sans serif and the human's speech in serif. If nothing else, it was giving me a headache trying to remember which font referenced which character and the mix of fonts on a page took me back to the old days when documents earned the nickname ransom notes.

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