Text Justification

[GSteer]

Hey,

So picked up a Kobo reader yesterday, took it back this morning is the darn thing rattled, yip, move it slightly and you could hear the internal pcb/battery knocking on the casing.

Anyway, swapped it out today for one that doesn't, my first must have been a friday afternoon job where they'd run out of rubber/foam inserts.

Couple of points that are bugging me that are tempting me to return it

1) PDF handling - lets face it without reflow it's terrible having to scale/scroll. I can face converting my pdf's to epubs if needed though until they fix it via a firmware update (if they do). Any comments JCKobo?

2) Text justification in epubs - does anyone know if editing the css file will allow full justifcation left/right or am I stuck with only left justification? It's kinda weird reading like that.

EDIT: Just reconverted Halh - Spacejock from it's RTF source in Calibre, this time forcing the justifcation (great thing that I can read manuals eh [doh]) and the outputted epub is now justified correctly, yay - looks like I might need to run things through Calibre if they're not already set like that.

3) Hate the big blue button though, almost worth returning it and waiting for the black version or skining it when available. Thought I could ignore it but maybe I can't, this is probably personal to everyone though.

EDIT: Having said that I'm wondering if the grey page/white edge is better for less eyestraing vs grey page/black edge? Thoughts?

Otherwise nice and light, good to read with different font/sizes,

[GSteer]

For those that might be interested I've found that the following settings in Calibres XXX file to epub conversion give a good approximation to a normal paperback page to my eyes, increase the font numbers by 1 or more if you want the text size larger.

This allows you to directly convert to epub without having to rename/delete the css file and loose other formatting.

Note: Only tested using Hal -Spacejock from it's RTF source file -> ePub. Will try a few more later.

- In Calibre, after adding the book, right click and select Convert eBooks -> Convert Individually.

- Under "Look and Feel" use 14,16,18,20,22,22,24,24 in the font size key, put a tick in the "remove spacing between paragraphs" and drop the text justification box down to "justify"

- Under "Page Setup" change the values from 5.0pts to 3.0pts for each of the margins

This gives a good size for me, but might still be too small for some. Scaling still won't work nativly but at least formatting is retained whilst still allowing a bit of control over font size per book.

Personally I also forced a manual front cover during the conversion, the values above might need tweaking book to book.

[somecanuck]

Originally I thought the black was better for the same reason, but the white is very nice. I think the black may be too much contrast difference compared to the gray eInk screen now.

[srid]

Originally Posted by GSteer

EDIT: Having said that I'm wondering if the grey page/white edge is better for less eyestraing vs grey page/black edge? Thoughts?

I don't think it matters -- just take frequent breaks from reading, you'll be fine. For reference:

"[...] reducing eye fatigue is less a matter of choosing a specific display than of taking short breaks from looking at the screen. [...] When we read, a series of ocular muscles jump around and can cause strain, regardless of whether we are looking at pixels or paper. While you’re reading, your eyes make about 10,000 movements an hour. It’s important to take a step back every 20 minutes and let your eyes rest."

“The new LCDs don’t affect your eyes,” Mr. Taussig said. “Today’s screens update every eight milliseconds, whereas the human eye is moving at a speed between 10 and 30 milliseconds.”

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0...pagemode=print

[GSteer]

Originally Posted by srid

I don't think it matters -- just take frequent breaks from reading, you'll be fine. For reference:

"[...] reducing eye fatigue is less a matter of choosing a specific display than of taking short breaks from looking at the screen. [...] When we read, a series of ocular muscles jump around and can cause strain, regardless of whether we are looking at pixels or paper. While you’re reading, your eyes make about 10,000 movements an hour. It’s important to take a step back every 20 minutes and let your eyes rest."

“The new LCDs don’t affect your eyes,” Mr. Taussig said. “Today’s screens update every eight milliseconds, whereas the human eye is moving at a speed between 10 and 30 milliseconds.”

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0...pagemode=print

Lol - in that case I'd best stop using a compter for 10 hours a day constantly like I have for 15 years

Wonder when the first gel skins will appear, that'll make the point moot anyways.