text not visible in any view

[Susan Archie]

i have a validated epub made from indesign. When i open in SIGIL, i see no text. I see the images, and I see quote marks and double-dashes. In the code view I see little red lines.
I have attached a screen shot of the split view pane. My chapter icon and quote marks are in upper pane, the red lines are in bottom pane.
I have a Mac Pro Intel Xeon 10.7.4. I have rebooted since installing.
I also tried looking at an ebook from a Lynda.com tutorial, Alice in Wonderland, and I can't see it either, only the images.

I need SIGIL to insert a cover image for kindle and can't do that either, but first things first. I have successfully inserted all the meta-data.
Thanks.

[user_none]

This issue has been reported. Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce it and I develop on OS X. If I cannot reproduce the issue I cannot fix it. My guess is it's some issues with your system and Qt. Possibly related to fonts.

[Toxaris]

It almost seems that the color of your text is white. If you select some text, is it visible then?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

It almost seems that the color of your text is white. If you select some text, is it visible then?

I was thinking that...Except, the book is in split view and

color: white

style should not affect CV.

But some sort of QT color (card) assignment shift might affect all.
Punctuation usually follows Paragraph colors unless it is part of tag: ex. class="foo"

OP are you running the 'stock', standard system color theme?

[Susan Archie]

i don't see where I can change font color, but if i strikethrough or underline i see those marks.

I think it must be font driven, i've got something that's upsetting the system. I use TypeDNA Font Manager, but do use the standard system color theme. Graphite and Blue.

I feel better knowing it's not me doing something wrong, since i just started this last week.. thank you.

[Susan Archie]

i was able to use your guide to learn to do everything i need to do to validate my epub; add cover, keywords, etc., and even validate and create a mobi file in KindleGen. But when i quit SIGIL it always "Unexpectedly Quits". It saves everything, so no issue there. I just can't quit it without a crash. I'm sure it's related to the font and no visible text in the preview panes.

I have attached the crash report in case you have any interest in that.
Thanks, especially for the guide.
s

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Susan Archie

i don't see where I can change font color, but if i strikethrough or underline i see those marks.

I think it must be font driven, i've got something that's upsetting the system. I use TypeDNA Font Manager, but do use the standard system color theme. Graphite and Blue.

I feel better knowing it's not me doing something wrong, since i just started this last week.. thank you.

Are you using obscured fonts?

Hitch

[Susan Archie]

Hi Hitch, I don't know what that is, "obscured fonts". Do you mean embedded? I am using Times (System font) and Arial.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Susan Archie

Hi Hitch, I don't know what that is, "obscured fonts". Do you mean embedded? I am using Times (System font) and Arial.

INDD and Adobe frequently use "encrypted" fonts in their programs. If your font is encrypted, you will have trouble in ePUB, as the devices (and, perhaps, Sigil?) shan't be able to de-encrypt the font to display it. When you open the PDF you made, somewhere along the way, and look at the Font properties, what does it say, please? Does it say, embedded subset, or embedded, or....?

And, while we're at it, do they say "OTF" or "True Type," or...? You're on a Mac, right? Are these fonts from the "font suitcase" you're using?

I mean--here's what may, and I mean, MAY, be part of the issue: fonts used by both Microsoft and Apple are licensed to THEM, not to you. They're licensed to you for personal use. But, when you use the fonts for, say, a print book, you're fine, because you're not redistributing the fonts. IF, however, you try to redistribute the fonts by embedding them IN an ePUB, you have to actually be able to EMBED the font in the ePUB. As far as I know, you cannot secure an entire font file from the Mac "Font Briefcase/Suitcase" (or whatever it's called). You can't, in other words, copy the font file and embed it in the ePUB. So, what I'm trying to grasp is whether, when you used INDD, INDD encrypted the font file so that it couldn't be used (either embedded or decrypted) by Sigil in rendering. I could be completely off-base here--in other words, you may not have "calls" in CSS and the code to an embedded "font," and this mightn't be the problem, BUT, we run into the encrypted font (obscured) issue all the time with PDF's that were created in INDD and sent to us, and then having problems with the client because the "print designer" never understood that the fonts needed for the document couldn't just be "sent" to us from the font suitcase on a Mac.

As I said--I could be completely and utterly off-base here, so...did you embed fonts in INDD; are they OTF or TTF fonts; are they shown in the ePUB (in the code, I mean) as being called through the CSS and "installed" in the CSS, and are they visible in the font folder? Can you download and open the font folder to another computer?

And if I am sending you off on a wild goose chase, my sincere apologies--I'm just spit-balling here, based upon our own experiences with embedded fonts, INDD and the more-often-than-PC-based Mac issues. I could, really, be completely blowing smoke out my keister, too--particularly if you are NOT using any font calls in your document other than the usual type that you'd see in CSS, not using embedded fonts but giving font calls (e.g: "Times New Roman" with a "serif" fallback).

Does any of that help?

Hitch

[Susan Archie]

I was finally able to get back to this project. I went through and made sure every instance of embeddable fonts were removed, so that only Times and its versions are there. I made a pdf of the epub and checked fonts, and only Times shows. I am attaching the screenshot..

I think it must be some font that i have in my system that's not in any way associated with the epub. But I have no idea. Even after stripping out all references/calls to anything but Times, I still do not see WYSIWYG type in SIGIL.

Could it be because I am calling Times, and not Times New Roman? I'm going to try that. I looked at the fonts in the choices above and it's Times New Roman, not Times.

Thanks
s

[Hitch]

Have you tried simply embedding an ENTIRE font package--not an embedded subset? What I see when I look at those is that they are encoded. I suspect that they are encrypted (I don't use obscured fonts--it's an Adobe specialty, so my Foo in this area is not mighty), but why don't you try yanking that out and not calling ANY FONT, and see what happens, first?

Hitch

[Toxaris]

If there is no compelling reason to add the font, don't do it. It makes the file larger and will not always work on all readers.

Also, due to a bug in the QT-framework, fonts don't always display correctly. Try if the font is visible in ADE.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

If there is no compelling reason to add the font, don't do it. It makes the file larger and will not always work on all readers.

Also, due to a bug in the QT-framework, fonts don't always display correctly. Try if the font is visible in ADE.

Hey, Tox:

I think if she just yanks out the font, and doesn't call it, I'd be surprised if that doesn't fix it. I'm relatively certain those are encrypted, which means, in a Type-1 font, that she can't draw the character outlines, IIRC. .

Susan: Does your ePUB have an "encryption.xml" file in your META folder?

ETA: See this: http://indesignsecrets.com/cid-ident...s-are-back.php ; CID refers to a character map, OR encoding. Really--try deleting that font in its entirety, and I suspect you'll be able to see your ePUB.

Hitch