Aura H2O trying kepub and have questions

[Shadowjack]

I received my new H2O 2nd edition to replace my lost H2O 1st edition. I use calibre to manage my books and side load everything. I decided to try kepub to see if I liked it (I particularly wanted the page count by chapter). I used the KoboTouchExtended plugin to perform the conversion. And I have noticed a couple of anomalies.

First, I use the custom font, Bookerly, and in kepub italicized words are also bolded. This doesn't happen in the epub.

Second, the font size are drastically different between the two formats. Kepub has a smaller size than the epub version. I use settings in the Kobo eReader.conf to set initial values: readingFontFamily, readingFontSize. For an epub the FontSize value of 20 seems equivalent to the Kepub FontSize of 30. Based on what I have read, I assume this is due to built-in stylesheets for kepub vs epub or am I missing something? Do I have to use the patches to change this behavior?

thanks.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Shadowjack

I received my new H2O 2nd edition to replace my lost H2O 1st edition. I use calibre to manage my books and side load everything. I decided to try kepub to see if I liked it (I particularly wanted the page count by chapter). I used the KoboTouchExtended plugin to perform the conversion. And I have noticed a couple of anomalies.

First, I use the custom font, Bookerly, and in kepub italicized words are also bolded. This doesn't happen in the epub.

Second, the font size are drastically different between the two formats. Kepub has a smaller size than the epub version. I use settings in the Kobo eReader.conf to set initial values: readingFontFamily, readingFontSize. For an epub the FontSize value of 20 seems equivalent to the Kepub FontSize of 30. Based on what I have read, I assume this is due to built-in stylesheets for kepub vs epub or am I missing something? Do I have to use the patches to change this behavior?

thanks.

The problem with Bookerly is you appear to be using the same shady downloaded online version I have. That version is broken so that italic always displays as bold italic. If you have a Kindle or Fire you can pull Bookerly off of that and your problem should disappear. There are several threads mentioning the problem here and there.

I've never bothered as I discovered Google's Noto Serif font. I'd recommend giving it a shot.

[k9reeder]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The problem with Bookerly is

I think there was something about changing the file names to make it work properly, not sure. Anyway, the Noto Serif font does look nice. Might give it a spin.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by k9reeder

I think there was something about changing the file names to make it work properly, not sure. Anyway, the Noto Serif font does look nice. Might give it a spin.

About the same time Amazon rolled out Bookerly, Google introduced their own reading font Literata. You can download it here.

As far as I can see, Noto Serif is basically Literata with different spacing/line height (they are both Google fonts). They both look good on my Kobo Aura.

[Shadowjack]

I have tried several of the ideas mentioned in this thread, https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...light=bookerly without any luck. I will try some other fonts.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The problem with Bookerly is you appear to be using the same shady downloaded online version I have. That version is broken so that italic always displays as bold italic. If you have a Kindle or Fire you can pull Bookerly off of that and your problem should disappear. There are several threads mentioning the problem here and there.

I've never bothered as I discovered Google's Noto Serif font. I'd recommend giving it a shot.

Actually, Bookerly (as pulled from Kindle firmware) is not fully correct and if the rendering software sticks to the metadata, it can display incorrect results. ePub and kepub are different renderers and kepub has an issue with the Bookerly. The way to fix it is with a font editor.

[jackie_w]

This same problem came up quite recently when someone was trying to get Amazon's Ember font working correctly on a Kobo (both epubs and kepubs).

I did a step-by-step on how to fix this kind of problem. I used Ember as the example but you can fix Bookerly in the same way if you have the time and inclination. The original thread is here, posts #2 and #9.

Someone also consolidated the details to the Wiki if you prefer to read it there.

[Shadowjack]

Thanks, jackie_w, those directions (which were excellent by the way) worked. In particular the Italics-Bold was using demi instead of bold.

[tiltowait]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

As far as I can see, Noto Serif is basically Literata with different spacing/line height (they are both Google fonts). They both look good on my Kobo Aura.

Noto Serif has very different italics from Literata. That, to me, is the biggest difference.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by tiltowait

Noto Serif has very different italics from Literata. That, to me, is the biggest difference.

I guess I haven't compared on a page that has italics. I'll try it next time some come up.

So if you direct compared the two, which do you prefer?

[tiltowait]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I guess I haven't compared on a page that has italics. I'll try it next time some come up.

So if you direct compared the two, which do you prefer?

Hmm. Literata has a sort of "futuristic" look, if that makes any sense, and I found it paired really well with science fiction but looks off while reading fantasy (where Goudy is great, particularly with dark fantasy). Noto has a more traditional look to it. I've never read a book with it as the font, though, so I can't state a direct preference.

(These days, I'm using Minion Pro. Before that, it was Iowan, preceded by Literata and Bookerly. I switch around a fair amount. Maybe Noto will be next!)

[JSWolf]

I prefer ChareInk for my main reading font.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by Shadowjack

Second, the font size are drastically different between the two formats. Kepub has a smaller size than the epub version.
thanks.

I've noticed this as well. I just use kobo utilities to reset the font size after loading epubs. I haven't found a better way to deal with this.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Shadowjack

Second, the font size are drastically different between the two formats. Kepub has a smaller size than the epub version. I use settings in the Kobo eReader.conf to set initial values: readingFontFamily, readingFontSize. For an epub the FontSize value of 20 seems equivalent to the Kepub FontSize of 30. Based on what I have read, I assume this is due to built-in stylesheets for kepub vs epub or am I missing something? Do I have to use the patches to change this behavior?

For calibre users the easiest way to deal with this problem is by enabling the 'Modify CSS' feature of the calibre driver (either KoboTouch or KoboTouchExtended) and adding a line of CSS to the special kobo_extra.css file used by this feature. 'Modify CSS' is found at the bottom of the 'Collections, covers & uploads' tab of the calibre driver configuration widget.

Here's a link to how this feature works.

As detailed in the link, create a kobo_extra.css file in the root directory of your H2O, and add this line to it:

body>div#book-columns>div#book-inner {font-size:1.5em}

It should only have any effect on your kepubs and should increase the font-size of each kepub by 50% (during the calibre send-to-device process) without you having to adjust the Kobo slider each time you switch between epub and kepub.

I should point out that not all Kobo models have this font-size "discrepancy" between epub/kepub. For example, the H2O does but the KA1 doesn't.

ETA: I should also add that this option is not going to work on books which are DRM-locked - at least I don't think so.

[RobertJSawyer]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

As far as I can see, Noto Serif is basically Literata with different spacing/line height (they are both Google fonts). They both look good on my Kobo Aura.

Although the roman (normal) faces look similar, Literata's italics are very different from those in Noto Serif; Noto Serif has traditional highly slanted italics; Literata's are almost vertical but with a bit of a script look to them. I prefer Noto Serif's version, but that's a matter of taste.