Troubleshooting azw3 books converted from epub defaults to publisher font

mmu · 12-26-2022, 08:05 PM

I have a kindle paperwhite 2021. I have been converting several epub to azw3 using Calibre and noticed that all the new azw3 books loaded in kindle ends up resetting to 'publisher font' setting on kindle. But the font on font settings in kindle, still point to Helvetica (which I have made default for all books).
I had to manually change the font to Helvetica or my saved theme again, every time I open a new book. This looks like a bug because 'publisher font' is not selected but still the font is changed from Helvetica.
Is this a known bug with azw3 formats and the new kindle paperwhite? I did not have this issue with my older 2016 kindle.
Is there a way to disable loading of this publisher font when converting using Calibre? I have already removed all my CSS styling such as fonts during filter styles in conversion and also made sure there are no embedded fonts using run checks option which gives me no fonts at all.

jhowell · 12-26-2022, 08:34 PM

Conversion to azw3 in calibre adds metadata that allows the "Publisher font" option to appear in the list of fonts. It does this even if the book contains no embedded fonts. That metadata allows Publisher font as an option but does not force it to be selected.

My best guess is that your default theme is set to use Publisher font and that what you believe to be the default is actually only used for books that do not support Publisher Fonts. You should hopefully be able to solve this by modifying your default theme.

mmu · 12-27-2022, 12:59 AM

Thanks for the response. I looked at my current saved theme and it's set to Helvetica. My current saved theme is called 'ff'. The quirky thing about this issue is if I pick a system preset theme (such as standard, compact, etc.) or change the font from Helvetica (so that the theme now points to custom), and then pick my saved theme, ff, from the list of themes, it goes back to Helvetica font.
But it looks like when I open a new azw3 book, the font points to either amazon ember or publisher font (both look the same to me) as the default. This extra step of changing font settings and picking my saved theme sets it right, but still seems like a bug to me.

jhowell · 12-27-2022, 08:01 AM

That does sound like a bug. My Kindle doesn't do that.

My Oasis has firmware 5.15.1 on it. If you have earlier firmware you may want to try updating it.

You can also try doing a Restart. That can sometimes fix odd problems.

CRussel · 12-27-2022, 02:44 PM

I've seen this on my Oasis (3rd version) at 5.14.2. I didn't, actually, recognize that this was only on ePub conversions, but really, it's trivial to fix on your device. If you open a book and the fonts look wrong, just open the Fonts dialog, select any other font than the one it shows, and then select the one you want. You'll see it change in the background. And you'll not have problems with that book again. Yeah, it's a bug. But seriously? It's trivial to workaround.

mmu · 12-27-2022, 04:55 PM

Thank you.
My firmware is 5.15.1
It's indeed a trivial fix to change theme twice to get the settings right. I get that it's definitely a bug now.
I was initially hoping that it's a formatting setting or a Calibre conversion setting that I needed to tweak but looks like it's not.

shalym · 12-28-2022, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've seen this on my Oasis (3rd version) at 5.14.2. I didn't, actually, recognize that this was only on ePub conversions, but really, it's trivial to fix on your device. If you open a book and the fonts look wrong, just open the Fonts dialog, select any other font than the one it shows, and then select the one you want. You'll see it change in the background. And you'll not have problems with that book again. Yeah, it's a bug. But seriously? It's trivial to workaround.

This happens to me occasionally, too. I never noticed whether or not it's from converted epubs, or even whether or not it only happens on my Oasis 3. It's definitely not only on 5.14.2, though, because I had it happen just a week or 2 ago, and I've had 5.15.1 for quite a while now.

Shari

12-26-2022, 08:05 PM	#1
mmu Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2022 Device: kindle 11th gen 2021	azw3 books converted from epub defaults to publisher font I have a kindle paperwhite 2021. I have been converting several epub to azw3 using Calibre and noticed that all the new azw3 books loaded in kindle ends up resetting to 'publisher font' setting on kindle. But the font on font settings in kindle, still point to Helvetica (which I have made default for all books). I had to manually change the font to Helvetica or my saved theme again, every time I open a new book. This looks like a bug because 'publisher font' is not selected but still the font is changed from Helvetica. Is this a known bug with azw3 formats and the new kindle paperwhite? I did not have this issue with my older 2016 kindle. Is there a way to disable loading of this publisher font when converting using Calibre? I have already removed all my CSS styling such as fonts during filter styles in conversion and also made sure there are no embedded fonts using run checks option which gives me no fonts at all.

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12-26-2022, 08:34 PM	#2
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,072 Karma: 91577715 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Charlottesville, VA Device: Kindles	Conversion to azw3 in calibre adds metadata that allows the "Publisher font" option to appear in the list of fonts. It does this even if the book contains no embedded fonts. That metadata allows Publisher font as an option but does not force it to be selected. My best guess is that your default theme is set to use Publisher font and that what you believe to be the default is actually only used for books that do not support Publisher Fonts. You should hopefully be able to solve this by modifying your default theme.

12-27-2022, 12:59 AM	#3
mmu Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2022 Device: kindle 11th gen 2021	Thanks for the response. I looked at my current saved theme and it's set to Helvetica. My current saved theme is called 'ff'. The quirky thing about this issue is if I pick a system preset theme (such as standard, compact, etc.) or change the font from Helvetica (so that the theme now points to custom), and then pick my saved theme, ff, from the list of themes, it goes back to Helvetica font. But it looks like when I open a new azw3 book, the font points to either amazon ember or publisher font (both look the same to me) as the default. This extra step of changing font settings and picking my saved theme sets it right, but still seems like a bug to me.

12-27-2022, 08:01 AM	#4
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,072 Karma: 91577715 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Charlottesville, VA Device: Kindles	That does sound like a bug. My Kindle doesn't do that. My Oasis has firmware 5.15.1 on it. If you have earlier firmware you may want to try updating it. You can also try doing a Restart. That can sometimes fix odd problems.

12-27-2022, 02:44 PM	#5
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I've seen this on my Oasis (3rd version) at 5.14.2. I didn't, actually, recognize that this was only on ePub conversions, but really, it's trivial to fix on your device. If you open a book and the fonts look wrong, just open the Fonts dialog, select any other font than the one it shows, and then select the one you want. You'll see it change in the background. And you'll not have problems with that book again. Yeah, it's a bug. But seriously? It's trivial to workaround.

12-27-2022, 04:55 PM	#6
mmu Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2022 Device: kindle 11th gen 2021	Thank you. My firmware is 5.15.1 It's indeed a trivial fix to change theme twice to get the settings right. I get that it's definitely a bug now. I was initially hoping that it's a formatting setting or a Calibre conversion setting that I needed to tweak but looks like it's not.

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