Kobo Aura won't display a charcater ⇒

MelBr · 06-14-2017, 01:37 AM

Hi all,

I've been reading a book (a pop-sci book) and after not being able to figure out what the author meant, I looked at the epub with Calibre Viewer and noticed that my Aura won't display this character: ⇒ (rightwards double arrow U+21D2). Author uses these as an implication.

I've tried changing fonts and even uploaded my own font but no matter what, Aura just won't display it.

I've been thinking that maybe I could force Calibre to render these out as images somehow?

Any suggestions? Thanks!

oren64 · 06-14-2017, 02:08 AM

Kobo fonts don't have all the characters, so missing characters will not show on your device.
Unicode font contains a wide range of characters, I check Bitstream Cyberbit font and it have the character ⇒, create a new directory called "fonts" in the root directory of the device, and extract the font to this directory.

MelBr · 06-14-2017, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oren64

Kobo fonts don't have all the characters, so missing characters will not show on your device.
Unicode font contains a wide range of characters, I check Bitstream Cyberbit font and it have the character ⇒, create a new directory called "fonts" in the root directory of the device, and extract the font to this directory.

Oren64, I gave that a try but it still won't display it. It shows it fine on my computer but Aura still can't display it for some reason.

oren64 · 06-14-2017, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBr

Oren64, I gave that a try but it still won't display it. It shows it fine on my computer but Aura still can't display it for some reason.

Try a restart and open Aa menu on your device.

JSWolf · 06-14-2017, 03:40 AM

Try ChareInk at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=184056

rashkae · 06-14-2017, 06:33 AM

The Kobo Epub reading software does not fall back to a different font if the glyph is missing. The Kobo Kepub reader, however, does, so you can work around this problem in most cases by using the Calibre extended driver to load to the book. You might also have to sideload a font with a more complete character set. So far, I've found the "Arial Unicode MS" font to be the most comprehensive at supporting all commonly used Unicode characters.

davidfor · 06-14-2017, 08:46 AM

I've done a little testing.

I have a sample book that someone here created a long time ago that has is intended to test the fonts. This has a lot of different characters to see if the font displays them. I added "rightwards double arrow" to this and tested it as both an epub and kepub.

For the epub, it wasn't displayed with any of the the supplied fonts other than the two added for Japanese support. These are "Kobo Tsukushi Mincho" and "Kobo UD Kakugo". Unfortunately, these don't show italics or bold when used with epubs. I did have a version of Bookerly on the device. This displayed the arrow.

For the kepub, the rightwards double arrow was displayed for all fonts in the kepub. For most, it was falling through to another for support. I assume this is one of the two fonts above.

JSWolf · 06-14-2017, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rashkae

The Kobo Epub reading software does not fall back to a different font if the glyph is missing. The Kobo Kepub reader, however, does, so you can work around this problem in most cases by using the Calibre extended driver to load to the book. You might also have to sideload a font with a more complete character set. So far, I've found the "Arial Unicode MS" font to be the most comprehensive at supporting all commonly used Unicode characters.

I've found Charis SIL (or ChareInk for eInk screens) is fairly comprehensive as well.

MelBr · 06-14-2017, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

I've done a little testing.

I have a sample book that someone here created a long time ago that has is intended to test the fonts. This has a lot of different characters to see if the font displays them. I added "rightwards double arrow" to this and tested it as both an epub and kepub.

For the epub, it wasn't displayed with any of the the supplied fonts other than the two added for Japanese support. These are "Kobo Tsukushi Mincho" and "Kobo UD Kakugo". Unfortunately, these don't show italics or bold when used with epubs. I did have a version of Bookerly on the device. This displayed the arrow.

For the kepub, the rightwards double arrow was displayed for all fonts in the kepub. For most, it was falling through to another for support. I assume this is one of the two fonts above.

Thank you! I downloaded Bookerly and Amazon Ember (they were zipped together) and Bookerly displayed the ⇒ correctly. Interestingly, Ember didn't.

I haven't tried MS Arial yet (Bookerly is serifed which is what I prefer for reading).

Thank you all! This was a weird issue that I never encountered before. I wonder if I ever missed any other characters in so many books I read on this device... hmmm.

MelBr · 06-14-2017, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Try ChareInk at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=184056

Just tried ChareInk as well. It works! It displays ⇒ properly. It's a wonderful font face too. Thank you!

JSWolf · 06-14-2017, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBr

Thank you! I downloaded Bookerly and Amazon Ember (they were zipped together) and Bookerly displayed the ⇒ correctly. Interestingly, Ember didn't.

I haven't tried MS Arial yet (Bookerly is serifed which is what I prefer for reading).

Thank you all! This was a weird issue that I never encountered before. I wonder if I ever missed any other characters in so many books I read on this device... hmmm.

Bookerly may not work properly because the there are errors in the metadata.

JSWolf · 06-14-2017, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBr

Just tried ChareInk as well. It works! It displays ⇒ properly. It's a wonderful font face too. Thank you!

Happy to help. Glad you can see all the characters as they should be.

MelBr · 06-14-2017, 01:56 PM

davidfor and rashkae mentioned kepub in this thread. I never heard of this format before and after looking at MR Wiki, it seems to be Kobo specific and it seems to (somehow) mitigate these font issues according to davidfor's comment above.

How do you convert epub to kepub? I've looked at Calibre, which I use to manage books on my Aura, but I did not see kepub in "Convert books" dialog...

rashkae · 06-14-2017, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBr

davidfor and rashkae mentioned kepub in this thread. I never heard of this format before and after looking at MR Wiki, it seems to be Kobo specific and it seems to (somehow) mitigate these font issues according to davidfor's comment above.

How do you convert epub to kepub? I've looked at Calibre, which I use to manage books on my Aura, but I did not see kepub in "Convert books" dialog...

Install the "KoboTouchExtended" Plugin in Calibre. With it enabled, books will automatically be sent to the Kobo as Kepub on the fly when you use the "Send to Device" button.

I have a post in the "Ultimate Tricks" tread with a more comprehensive list of tweaks to get the most of it, but just installing that plugin should get you started to see the difference.

JSWolf · 06-14-2017, 03:08 PM

But, kepub has its own set of issues. You may want to stick with ePub.

06-14-2017, 01:37 AM	#1
MelBr Zealot Posts: 105 Karma: 414068 Join Date: Feb 2013 Device: iPad Pro, Kobo Aura One	Kobo Aura won't display a charcater ⇒ Hi all, I've been reading a book (a pop-sci book) and after not being able to figure out what the author meant, I looked at the epub with Calibre Viewer and noticed that my Aura won't display this character: ⇒ (rightwards double arrow U+21D2). Author uses these as an implication. I've tried changing fonts and even uploaded my own font but no matter what, Aura just won't display it. I've been thinking that maybe I could force Calibre to render these out as images somehow? Any suggestions? Thanks!

06-14-2017, 02:08 AM	#2
oren64 I need a chapter break Posts: 4,042 Karma: 56058267 Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Israel Device: Kobo Glo	Kobo fonts don't have all the characters, so missing characters will not show on your device. Unicode font contains a wide range of characters, I check Bitstream Cyberbit font and it have the character ⇒, create a new directory called "fonts" in the root directory of the device, and extract the font to this directory. Last edited by oren64; 06-14-2017 at 03:06 AM.

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06-14-2017, 03:40 AM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,353 Karma: 145488914 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Try ChareInk at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=184056

06-14-2017, 06:33 AM	#6
rashkae Wizard Posts: 1,269 Karma: 5935030 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Aura HD	The Kobo Epub reading software does not fall back to a different font if the glyph is missing. The Kobo Kepub reader, however, does, so you can work around this problem in most cases by using the Calibre extended driver to load to the book. You might also have to sideload a font with a more complete character set. So far, I've found the "Arial Unicode MS" font to be the most comprehensive at supporting all commonly used Unicode characters.

06-14-2017, 08:46 AM	#7
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	I've done a little testing. I have a sample book that someone here created a long time ago that has is intended to test the fonts. This has a lot of different characters to see if the font displays them. I added "rightwards double arrow" to this and tested it as both an epub and kepub. For the epub, it wasn't displayed with any of the the supplied fonts other than the two added for Japanese support. These are "Kobo Tsukushi Mincho" and "Kobo UD Kakugo". Unfortunately, these don't show italics or bold when used with epubs. I did have a version of Bookerly on the device. This displayed the arrow. For the kepub, the rightwards double arrow was displayed for all fonts in the kepub. For most, it was falling through to another for support. I assume this is one of the two fonts above.

06-14-2017, 01:56 PM	#13
MelBr Zealot Posts: 105 Karma: 414068 Join Date: Feb 2013 Device: iPad Pro, Kobo Aura One	davidfor and rashkae mentioned kepub in this thread. I never heard of this format before and after looking at MR Wiki, it seems to be Kobo specific and it seems to (somehow) mitigate these font issues according to davidfor's comment above. How do you convert epub to kepub? I've looked at Calibre, which I use to manage books on my Aura, but I did not see kepub in "Convert books" dialog...

06-14-2017, 03:08 PM	#15
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,353 Karma: 145488914 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But, kepub has its own set of issues. You may want to stick with ePub.

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