Full Justified or Left Justified?

JSWolf · 01-24-2013, 03:04 PM

How do you prefer to have your eBooks formatted? Do you prefer full justified where the lines end in the same place to give a consistent look or do you prefer left justified where you get a ragged right?

Apache · 01-24-2013, 03:09 PM

Left is fine. I am not that anal that I need full justification.

Apache

BeccaPrice · 01-24-2013, 03:16 PM

I prefer ragged right. Full justification can have some strange typographical artifaces, unless your rendering engine is *very* good.

NickyWithNook · 01-24-2013, 03:19 PM

Hmm this is a good question. I guess I like them justified in hard copy books, however on e-readers it leads to some weird spacing within a line sometimes, so maybe on e-readers left justified.

piperclassique · 01-24-2013, 03:27 PM

Left aligned for me

DiapDealer · 01-24-2013, 03:33 PM

You forgot the "Do you even really notice?" option.

I have no preference. Unless someone were to ask me to check the book I was reading right now, it just usually never occurs to me. Once I'm in the groove, the only thing that will distract me is lengthy sections entirely italicized (That makes me focus extra hard and I end up gritting my teeth if it goes on for any length. "C'mon!! It can't all need to be emphasized! Let up already!")

Ripplinger · 01-24-2013, 04:03 PM

As I expected before hitting the vote button, I think it's going to a pretty much 50/50 split or close to it.

I prefer full justified, even though my Sony readers don't hyphenate so there are occasional chunks of white, probably more so on my 5" screen with a larger bold font then there would be on a 6" screen with a normal font. That doesn't bother me at all. The jagged right edge does bother me though.

But everyone's preference is going to be different. I know some who insist on putting a space between paragraphs which I absolutely hate more than left justified. But it's their choice. If a book isn't to your liking, it's really a simple matter to change it to your preferences with great free tools like Calibre and Sigil, or some readers might be able to change margins, font, spacing, justification on the fly.

JSWolf · 01-24-2013, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You forgot the "Do you even really notice?" option.

I have no preference. Unless someone were to ask me to check the book I was reading right now, it just usually never occurs to me. Once I'm in the groove, the only thing that will distract me is lengthy sections entirely italicized (That makes me focus extra hard and I end up gritting my teeth if it goes on for any length. "C'mon!! It can't all need to be emphasized! Let up already!")

I didn't forget. I want the answer to be one or the other. I don't want a doesn't matter type answer.

DiapDealer · 01-24-2013, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

If a book isn't to your liking, it's really a simple matter to change it to your preferences with great free tools like Calibre and Sigil, or some readers might be able to change margins, font, spacing, justification on the fly.

I just said it somewhere else: Those who don't care ... don't care. Those who do care, are going to change it the way they like it anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I didn't forget. I want the answer to be one or the other. I don't want a doesn't matter type answer.

Well sure ... nothing like seeing who wins the battle between the more manageable number of extremists.

usuallee · 01-24-2013, 04:13 PM

Strongly prefer fully justified. Also prefer no line between paragraphs, but can tolerate it as long as the paragraphs are indented. Calibre does a great job formatting books the way one wants.

JSWolf · 01-24-2013, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usuallee

Strongly prefer fully justified. Also prefer no line between paragraphs, but can tolerate it as long as the paragraphs are indented. Calibre does a great job formatting books the way one wants.

Given the way I've seen a lot of publisher made eBooks, Calibre could get the spacing wrong and the section break space could be removed and that's not good. Use Sigil to fix the things you don't like.

I too prefer no line spaces, indents, and full justification. It just looks better and it doesn't have all those white space that distracts the eyes as you are reading.

DiapDealer · 01-24-2013, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Given the way I've seen a lot of publisher made eBooks, Calibre could get the spacing wrong and the section break space could be removed and that's not good. Use Sigil to fix the things you don't like.

"Use my way to achieve your personal preference ... it's better than yours."

JSWolf · 01-24-2013, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

"Use my way to achieve your personal preference ... it's better than yours."

The problem is that a lot of publisher eBooks use code like <p>&nsbp;</p> or <p class="someclass"> </p> to do a section break. It's not always easy for Calibre to get it right and keep the section break looking like a section break.

HarryT · 01-24-2013, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I too prefer no line spaces, indents, and full justification. It just looks better and it doesn't have all those white space that distracts the eyes as you are reading.

Doesn't it depend what you're reading? You probably don't want to have poetry fully justified, for example, do you?

Chi Cygni · 01-24-2013, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

Left is fine. I am not that anal that I need full justification.

Apache

I'm not a lefty. I need to justify everything!

View Poll Results: Do you prefer eBooks to be Full Justified or Left Justified
I prefer reading eBooks that are Full Justified.	91	51.70%
I prefer reading eBooks that are Left Justified.	85	48.30%
Voters: 176. You may not vote on this poll

01-24-2013, 03:04 PM	#1
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,784 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Full Justified or Left Justified? How do you prefer to have your eBooks formatted? Do you prefer full justified where the lines end in the same place to give a consistent look or do you prefer left justified where you get a ragged right? Last edited by JSWolf; 01-24-2013 at 03:07 PM.

01-24-2013, 03:33 PM	#6
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,891 Karma: 207182180 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	You forgot the "Do you even really notice?" option. I have no preference. Unless someone were to ask me to check the book I was reading right now, it just usually never occurs to me. Once I'm in the groove, the only thing that will distract me is lengthy sections entirely italicized (That makes me focus extra hard and I end up gritting my teeth if it goes on for any length. "C'mon!! It can't all need to be emphasized! Let up already!") Last edited by DiapDealer; 01-24-2013 at 03:42 PM.

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01-24-2013, 03:09 PM	#2
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,306 Karma: 90981752 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	Left is fine. I am not that anal that I need full justification. Apache

01-24-2013, 03:16 PM	#3
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,146 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	I prefer ragged right. Full justification can have some strange typographical artifaces, unless your rendering engine is very good.

01-24-2013, 03:19 PM	#4
NickyWithNook Guru Posts: 750 Karma: 3942770 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: American living in Australia Device: Kobo Libra Colour, Kindle Fire, Kindle Pwhite (Don't use Nook anymore)	Hmm this is a good question. I guess I like them justified in hard copy books, however on e-readers it leads to some weird spacing within a line sometimes, so maybe on e-readers left justified.

01-24-2013, 03:27 PM	#5
piperclassique A garbling groftpot Posts: 996 Karma: 9234667 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: France Device: Oasis, Voyage, Kobo mini, Samsung tablet, phones, whatever.	Left aligned for me

01-24-2013, 04:03 PM	#7
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,587 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	As I expected before hitting the vote button, I think it's going to a pretty much 50/50 split or close to it. I prefer full justified, even though my Sony readers don't hyphenate so there are occasional chunks of white, probably more so on my 5" screen with a larger bold font then there would be on a 6" screen with a normal font. That doesn't bother me at all. The jagged right edge does bother me though. But everyone's preference is going to be different. I know some who insist on putting a space between paragraphs which I absolutely hate more than left justified. But it's their choice. If a book isn't to your liking, it's really a simple matter to change it to your preferences with great free tools like Calibre and Sigil, or some readers might be able to change margins, font, spacing, justification on the fly.

01-24-2013, 04:13 PM	#10
usuallee Media Junkie Posts: 278 Karma: 2039392 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Device: Kobo Libra H20, Kindle PW	Strongly prefer fully justified. Also prefer no line between paragraphs, but can tolerate it as long as the paragraphs are indented. Calibre does a great job formatting books the way one wants.