Different epub books are showing different font sizes

[Larla]

Not sure if this is the correct forum but thought it may be because of how an epub was designed and could perhaps be corrected via editing.

I use Moonreader which has a global font size which can be set to a particular value. If I am reading a book and the fontsize is just right and then load another book more often than not I have to readjust the fontsize to get it where I want again.

I use the same font for all books that I read. I am assuming that what is causing the change in font size is due to how a book has been constructed.

What would I have to do, in terms of editing an epub, to make it such that all books look the same (font size wise).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Larla

Not sure if this is the correct forum but thought it may be because of how an epub was designed and could perhaps be corrected via editing.

I use Moonreader which has a global font size which can be set to a particular value. If I am reading a book and the fontsize is just right and then load another book more often than not I have to readjust the fontsize to get it where I want again.

I use the same font for all books that I read. I am assuming that what is causing the change in font size is due to how a book has been constructed.

What would I have to do, in terms of editing an epub, to make it such that all books look the same (font size wise).

The reason for the font size differences is because of the CSS code in the ePub. To fix this, you will have to edit the CSS and remove the code that makes the font size smaller. Leave the main text with no specified font size. Then they will all be the same. The default font size for ePub is 1em.

I have edited ePub that has different font sizes so they are all the same. I too prefer the same font size for the body text.

[Larla]

Thanks Jon. I will review several ebooks via the editor to note the differences and attempt to standardize the font size.

Sent from my Samsung Tab s5e

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Larla

Thanks Jon. I will review several ebooks via the editor to note the differences and attempt to standardize the font size.

Sent from my Samsung Tab s5e

The first thing to do in the editor is to go to the Tools menu and select Remove unused CSS rules. That gets rid of extra CSS and makes the CSS easier to edit. Then you can work on the CSS from there.

[theducks]

The new ctrl-CLICK feature of the Editor should help get to the CSS that controls your bad line size.
Place the cursor on the Tag (class= part) of the problem: ctrl-mouse-click.
That should take you to that the first occurrence

[phossler]

I have as 'standard' style CSS that I keep the way I like my Kindle to display.

I've found that most times just replacing the style sheet(s), adding my preferred font, and relinking everything gets me 95% of the way there.

I have several saved searches to clean any paragraphs with the now unused classes

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by phossler

I have as 'standard' style CSS that I keep the way I like my Kindle to display.

I've found that most times just replacing the style sheet(s), adding my preferred font, and relinking everything gets me 95% of the way there.

I have several saved searches to clean any paragraphs with the now unused classes

But that won't work in this case. Editing the CSS is what will work.

[phossler]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But that won't work in this case. Editing the CSS is what will work.

Yes, that always works, but it is a lot of work

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by phossler

Yes, that always works, but it is a lot of work

I've done this and it's not a lot of work. The more you do it, the better you get at it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by phossler

Yes, that always works, but it is a lot of work

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've done this and it's not a lot of work. The more you do it, the better you get at it.

I would tend to agree with Jon. For most of the books I edit, I use a collection of saved search/replaces that do most of the work that Sigil's plugins don't handle. Most of the books I read have pretty decent styles but the majority of my wife's indie published books need cleanup. My estimate for most of those is around 5 minutes to 10 minutes. Keeps her happy which keeps me happy.

<rant> Who the bleep would use 250% line spacing and 2.5 em default right and left margins? Answer: someone who expects most of their income to come from KU and so page turns are important. </rant>

[theducks]

I use Saved clips and simply replace the contents of the SELECTOR in the CSS.

No need to do heavy surgery on the body.
Both Calibre and Sigil have the tool to Jump to the CSS. Simply Ctrl-Click (Calibre) on the tag of the block that looks bad, Right click: Goto Link or Style (Sigil)
Replace the stuff between the { }

[phossler]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've done this and it's not a lot of work. The more you do it, the better you get at it.

Well, if there a lot of very finicky formatting, I tweak the font sizes, spacings, replace the font, etc. and just live with it

Otherwise, I nuke the original CSSs, insert my preferred CSS and fonts, and then F&R using my SSs, and the Editor tools to clean it good enough for my Kindle

The important thing is that I'm the only customer that I need to please

Many of the PD books I get have been run through Calibre multiple times and have 4-5 TOCs at the back, too many class="calibre_xx" that offer no discernable difference to my Kindle, and wierd chapter/file splits

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by phossler

Well, if there a lot of very finicky formatting, I tweak the font sizes, spacings, replace the font, etc. and just live with it

Otherwise, I nuke the original CSSs, insert my preferred CSS and fonts, and then F&R using my SSs, and the Editor tools to clean it good enough for my Kindle

The important thing is that I'm the only customer that I need to please

Many of the PD books I get have been run through Calibre multiple times and have 4-5 TOCs at the back, too many class="calibre_xx" that offer no discernable difference to my Kindle, and wierd chapter/file splits

I'm with you. I used to edit the provided CSS but too often the CSS is too wacky; for example, sometimes they use different CSS for each chapter. The downside to my setup is that I loose the chapter formatting when they don't use H tags. Or the chapter title is in a separate file and they're doing something (which I've never bothered to figure out) to glue that file together with its chapter so it's not a separate page. But I'm there for the words, so I can live with it. For me it's all about my beloved ragged right margin, a consistent font size, consistent paragraph indents, and consistent line spacing.

[phossler]

Originally Posted by hobnail

I'm with you.

I've seen books that had all the paragraph text font-size="small" or font-size=".75em"

Also multiple classes with font-size ".87em", ".85em", ".79em", etc.

Every image individually and explicitly positioned

Fully justified text with rivers running through the paragraphs


IMHO none of that fine tuning matters for reading on eReader.

And don't me started on trying to straighten out (i.e. the way I want it) a book that has been converted by Calibre multiple times:

MOBI --> EPUB --> AZW --> EPUB --> ......

I've gone back and forth as to whether I prefer the second and paragraphs to be indented and how much margin I like after a paragraph. When I change my mind, I just have to mod my 'standard' style sheet (giving it a version suffix) and relink it for the books I want to get to right away

The downside to my setup is that I loose the chapter formatting when they don't use H tags.

Yea, I find that's the most time consuming, so I try to get RegEx to convert things like <p class="ChapTitle"> to real Heading tags. I think Calibre could handle the class, but I can't -- just too confusing

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by phossler

Yea, I find that's the most time consuming, so I try to get RegEx to convert things like <p class="ChapTitle"> to real Heading tags. I think Calibre could handle the class, but I can't -- just too confusing

Heh, sounds like you haven't run into the ones that have something like half a dozen nested divs around the chapter titles. Hey guys, there's a reason it's called cascading style sheets.

In my "fancy" CSS (for Project Gutenberg and other PD books) I have multiple classes for things like poetry, letters, etc. and the div tag has things like class="block poem" so no need to nest divs.