Right to Left Languages

GarbageGhost · 04-28-2020, 05:35 PM

Hello,
For languages reading from right to left, is it possible to edit the direction the book reads? It was a PDF I converted to AZW3, so it initially read from up to down, which wasn't as disorienting as it is to now turn from left to right, and read from right to left.
I tried adding the following line of css:

extra_css="body {direction: rtl;}"

But the pages still turn from left to right in both AZW3 and ePub. My experience with css is next to none, so it’s possible I am just making an error.
I also apologize, because I posted yesterday in the wrong thread.
Any help with this would be much appreciated!

jhowell · 04-28-2020, 10:00 PM

For Kindle books to change pages in the RTL direction should put the following in the OPF metadata:

<meta name="primary-writing-mode" content="horizontal-rl"/>

GarbageGhost · 05-03-2020, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

For Kindle books to change pages in the RTL direction should put the following in the OPF metadata:

<meta name="primary-writing-mode" content="horizontal-rl"/>

Thank you for taking the time to respond! When I open the metadata edit screen, this is what I am greeted with:

Click image for larger version

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Where do I go to add this line?
Thank you again.

jhowell · 05-04-2020, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarbageGhost

Where do I go to add this line?

It goes in the OPF, an XML file within the EPUB that contains metadata. It can be accessed using the "Edit book" function in calibre. (If you don't know what any of that means you will need to do some research.)

GarbageGhost · 05-12-2020, 02:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

It goes in the OPF, an XML file within the EPUB that contains metadata. It can be accessed using the "Edit book" function in calibre. (If you don't know what any of that means you will need to do some research.)

I did my research and even compared it with some other texts that read from right to left, and thought I did everything right, but it still reads from left to right. Please help point out my error?

jhowell · 05-12-2020, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarbageGhost

Please help point out my error?

Your image shows the primary-writing mode being set to horizontal-lr. It needs to be horizontal-rl instead. ("rl" means right-to-left in this case.)

GarbageGhost · 05-12-2020, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

Your image shows the primary-writing mode being set to horizontal-lr. It needs to be horizontal-rl instead. ("rl" means right-to-left in this case.)

Shoot, that is my bad. I attached the wrong screenshot. This should be the correct one. It still reads from left to right with the following line. Thank you for your continued patience.

jhowell · 05-13-2020, 03:47 PM

The only other thing I can think of to try is set the page-progression-direction.

To do that, if your spine element in the OPF is:

<spine toc="ncx">

Change it to:

<spine toc="ncx" page-progression-direction="rtl">

If that does not work then I am out of ideas.

(Based on your original statement, "But the pages still turn from left to right", this is all about changing the page turn direction so that you can tap the left side of the screen to advance and the right side to go back. This metadata has nothing to do with the direction of text on individual pages.

And just to verify: You are trying this out on your Kindle? I don't think that calibre's e-book reader pays attention to reversed page turn direction in books.)

Doitsu · 05-13-2020, 04:30 PM

The World Wide Web Consortium recommends using dedicated bidi markup to describe RTL content, where markup is available and epub books with RTL styles will fail EPUBCheck.

For example,

Code:

body {direction: rtl;}

will trigger the following EPUBCheck error message:

Code:

ERROR(CSS-001): The 'direction' property must not be included in an EPUB Style Sheet.

@GarbageGhost
Try replacing all <body> tags with <body dir="rtl"> tags.

GarbageGhost · 05-14-2020, 03:21 AM

@jhowell this did the trick! Thanks for your help!

@Doitsu thank you for also being there for this!

tsouron · 10-19-2022, 10:53 AM

Hi, i knwo this thread is kinf of old,

would you mind sharing with me what script did the trick for you and where should i be insering it?

Thanks a lot!

Doitsu · 10-19-2022, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsouron

would you mind sharing with me what script did the trick for you and where should i be insering it?

You'll have to be more specific. For example, .mobi files don't support RTL at all and .azw3 files have only limited RTL support.
Please provide a short HTML excerpt and a screenshot of the rendering isssue(s).

tsouron · 10-19-2022, 01:01 PM

Hi, Thanks for helping here.
im trying to work with a hebrew text which goes from right to left.
i followed the instructions on the thread and in the OPF file i changed the following:
<spine toc="ncx" page-progression-direction="rtl">
it didnt seem to work for me.
please see screenshot below.

Thank you!

Click image for larger version

Name: Screenshot 2022-10-19 130018.png
Views: 499
Size: 376.5 KB
ID: 197266

Doitsu · 10-19-2022, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsouron

it didnt seem to work for me.

What exactly is your problem?
Do all <html> or <body> tags have dir="rtl" attributes?
For example: <html dir="rtl" lang="he">

tsouron · 10-19-2022, 09:55 PM

Im trying to have the text to show from right to left.
In addition the text is revesible, Every single word is spelled backwards.
is there a way to change it?

04-28-2020, 05:35 PM	#1
GarbageGhost Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 4	Right to Left Languages Hello, For languages reading from right to left, is it possible to edit the direction the book reads? It was a PDF I converted to AZW3, so it initially read from up to down, which wasn't as disorienting as it is to now turn from left to right, and read from right to left. I tried adding the following line of css: extra_css="body {direction: rtl;}" But the pages still turn from left to right in both AZW3 and ePub. My experience with css is next to none, so it’s possible I am just making an error. I also apologize, because I posted yesterday in the wrong thread. Any help with this would be much appreciated!

05-13-2020, 03:47 PM	#8
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,000 Karma: 89771343 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Charlottesville, VA Device: Kindles	The only other thing I can think of to try is set the page-progression-direction. To do that, if your spine element in the OPF is: <spine toc="ncx"> Change it to: <spine toc="ncx" page-progression-direction="rtl"> If that does not work then I am out of ideas. (Based on your original statement, "But the pages still turn from left to right", this is all about changing the page turn direction so that you can tap the left side of the screen to advance and the right side to go back. This metadata has nothing to do with the direction of text on individual pages. And just to verify: You are trying this out on your Kindle? I don't think that calibre's e-book reader pays attention to reversed page turn direction in books.) Last edited by jhowell; 05-13-2020 at 04:24 PM.

05-13-2020, 04:30 PM	#9
Doitsu Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,679 Karma: 23983815 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW2	The World Wide Web Consortium recommends using dedicated bidi markup to describe RTL content, where markup is available and epub books with RTL styles will fail EPUBCheck. For example, Code: body {direction: rtl;} will trigger the following EPUBCheck error message: Code: ERROR(CSS-001): The 'direction' property must not be included in an EPUB Style Sheet. @GarbageGhost Try replacing all <body> tags with <body dir="rtl"> tags.

10-19-2022, 10:53 AM	#11
tsouron Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite	Right to left direction Hi, i knwo this thread is kinf of old, would you mind sharing with me what script did the trick for you and where should i be insering it? Thanks a lot!

10-19-2022, 01:01 PM	#13
tsouron Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite	Right to left direction Hi, Thanks for helping here. im trying to work with a hebrew text which goes from right to left. i followed the instructions on the thread and in the OPF file i changed the following: <spine toc="ncx" page-progression-direction="rtl"> it didnt seem to work for me. please see screenshot below. Thank you!

04-28-2020, 10:00 PM	#2
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,000 Karma: 89771343 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Charlottesville, VA Device: Kindles	For Kindle books to change pages in the RTL direction should put the following in the OPF metadata: <meta name="primary-writing-mode" content="horizontal-rl"/>

05-14-2020, 03:21 AM	#10
GarbageGhost Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 4	@jhowell this did the trick! Thanks for your help! @Doitsu thank you for also being there for this!

10-19-2022, 09:55 PM	#15
tsouron Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite	Im trying to have the text to show from right to left. In addition the text is revesible, Every single word is spelled backwards. is there a way to change it?

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