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Reload this Page Let's admit it: Kindle's kerning really sucks!

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Old 09-29-2020, 05:06 PM   #1
ilyasson
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Let's admit it: Kindle's kerning really sucks!
I thought it was about only my favorite custom font. Tried one another and another and another. And finally had to admit that: Kindle PW's kerning is really, really, really sucks. Kindle cannot do a proper kerning between letters.

OK, if you use "the most legitimate" bundle, which is .kfx + bookerly, you may get a slightly better results (again: "slightly"!). And if you are OK with being stuck in one terrible font and unable to control line-height, of course there is not a problem for you. But if your beloved fonts are custom ones (or even an official one other than bookerly!), get ready to deal with illogical kerning problems.

I do my research and I really surprised not even a single thread in this forum was dedicated to this issue. Some of you may say that I am an obsessive person. But is it an obsession to ask a proper kerning from a READING DEVICE, especially the most popular one?

As far as I know, other devices (pocketbook, kobo, etc.) have not such an issue. So, how hard can it be to handle it for Amazon?
Last edited by ilyasson; 09-29-2020 at 05:19 PM.
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Old 09-29-2020, 05:15 PM   #2
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Do you mean "kerning"?

I'm pretty sure there's a joke about keming in here somewhere.
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Old 09-29-2020, 05:19 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by binaryhermit View Post
Do you mean "kerning"?

I'm pretty sure there's a joke about keming in here somewhere.
Yes, you're right. My mistake. Edited it. The word is "kerning"...
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Old 09-29-2020, 05:32 PM   #4
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Bookerly is almost always just fine for me. I've never noticed the spacing being bad enough to be that noticeable. Not enough to bother my reading.
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Old 09-29-2020, 05:36 PM   #5
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It's seemed fine to me.

Then again, I'm not whatever the book equivalent of a crazy audiophile is... y'know, the type who'd spend the equivalent of the down payment on a modest house to buy a pair of headphones.
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Old 09-29-2020, 05:38 PM   #6
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For me, Minion Pro is my preferred font, although it could be a little bit heavier for my personal tastes. It has most proper ligatures, including “Th”, and the kerning is the best that I have found. The kerning of “f”, “g” and “y” in italics is a thing of beauty.


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Old 09-29-2020, 07:20 PM   #7
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You need to be reading an eBook in KFX to get kerning. Otherwise, you get no kerning at all. KF8 does not do kerning.
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Old 09-29-2020, 07:28 PM   #8
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I never noticed any problem with kerning. I guess I am lucky that I just don't notice it.

Examples would be helpful to illustrate the issue.
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Old 09-30-2020, 05:26 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deskisamess View Post
Bookerly is almost always just fine for me. I've never noticed the spacing being bad enough to be that noticeable. Not enough to bother my reading.
Quote:
Originally Posted by binaryhermit View Post
It's seemed fine to me.

Then again, I'm not whatever the book equivalent of a crazy audiophile is... y'know, the type who'd spend the equivalent of the down payment on a modest house to buy a pair of headphones.
Bookerly is too light for me. I use Constantia on all the eReaders that allow custom fonts (and sometimes embed it in documents for those that don't).
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Old 09-30-2020, 05:39 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by rcentros View Post
Bookerly is too light for me. I use Constantia on all the eReaders that allow custom fonts (and sometimes embed it in documents for those that don't).
So up the weight of Bookerly so it's not too light.
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Old 10-01-2020, 07:50 PM   #11
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I have no clue what kerning is.

I been using bookerly since it came out. But then I read on the original K1 with exactly one font available just fine. As long as its not san serif I am good it seems. And contrast, which is fine. Especially now with bold.
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Old 10-01-2020, 08:32 PM   #12
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I have no clue what kerning is.
Ignorance is bliss.
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Old 10-01-2020, 09:03 PM   #13
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Kerning is modifying the spacing between individual characters. The final triumph of kerning (this is my opinion) is the ligature. See Kerning on xkcdexplained for a bit more information to go with the cartoon below.

I do notice kerning but then I've been a bit of a typography geek for decades. What is that phrase?, Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it? Notice the spacing in the upper lines of the kerning for a walrus image compared to the bottom two line.
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Old 10-01-2020, 11:03 PM   #14
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There's also an image of a Walmart store brand product, I believe a can of soda, has what I assume is a poorly kerned "Just a click away" on it

Either that or someone photoshopped the kerning to make click no longer look like click
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Old 10-02-2020, 06:56 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by binaryhermit View Post
There's also an image of a Walmart store brand product, I believe a can of soda, has what I assume is a poorly kerned "Just a click away" on it

Either that or someone photoshopped the kerning to make click no longer look like click


Click image for larger version Name: walmart-dick-away-funny.jpg Views: 308 Size: 104.8 KB ID: 182394
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