What Fonts are used in various eReaders? What Font options are available?

[tomereader]

I was trying to find out more on ereader font sizes (that would work for a legally blind person) and saw this article, thought I would share, (I did a search and looked at the first 5 of the 17 pages, hope I didn't re-post something already here):

What Fonts are used in various eReaders? What Font options are available?

from: http://ireaderreview.com/2010/04/11/...-for-ereaders/

quote:

Here are the Font choices dedicated ereaders provide -

1. Kindle – It uses PMN Caecilia which is a serif font designed by Peter Matthias Noordzij in 1990 and published by Linotype (Caecilia is Peter’s wife’s name). Kindle allows for 6 font sizes.
2. Kindle DX – Same as above though the largest font size is bigger.
3. Nook – It has 3 Fonts including Helvetica Neue (sans-serif), Amasis (serif), and Light Classic (serif). Amasis was designed by Ron Carpenter in 1990-1992. Neue Helvetica was created by redesigning the Helvetica typeface in 1983 (redesigned by D. Stempel AG). Nook has 5 different font sizes.
4. Sony 505 – This uses Dutch Roman (Dutch 801) as the default body font and Courier and Swis701 for the interface (courtesy MobileRead). Interestingly a Sony 505 Font Change Guide lists the author’s favorite font as Caecilia (the one on the Kindle). Caecilia costs $29 if you want to buy it for individual use. His 2nd choice is a free font – Bitstream Vera Serif.
5. Sony 600 – Uses Dutch 801 as the default font. It comes with a Font Fusion Engine from BitStream. The Sony Reader Touch Edition allows 5 font sizes. It also has a ‘Zoom In’ feature that lets you zoom a page ( you can zoom the page while using any of the 5 font sizes, there’s a very cool sliding scale, and the downside is that page turns don’t work when you have zoomed a page).

Dedicated eReaders seem to be focusing on making things simple with only the Nook allowing changeable fonts (out of Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader).

With the iPhone and iPad we see a huge variety of fonts available across the various apps.

iPad Font Choices

1. iBooks - Baskerville (a monospace font), Cochin (a serif font designed by G. Peignot in 1914 which despite the criticism by Font Feed is my favorite), Palatino (also a good font, designed by Hermann Zapf in 1986 and named after Giambattista Palatino, a master of calligraphy), Times New Roman (designed by Stanely Morison and Victor Lardent in 1932 specifically for The Times of London), and Verdana (it’s a computer screen optimized font designed for Microsoft by Matthew Carter – Really? Steve Jobs used a Microsoft owned Font?). iBooks allows 10 font sizes.
2. Kindle for iPad – It’s a font that’s very similar to Caecilia and at the same time there are some slight differences so not sure what font it uses. There are 5 font sizes.
3. Kobo Books for iPad – It uses Baskerville, Verdana, Georgia (serif typeface, also designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft, named after a tabloid headline – ‘Alien Heads found in Georgia’), and Trebuchet (sans-serif, yet another typeface designed for Microsoft – this time by Vincent Connare, named after the trebuchet siege engine after Mr. Connare heard someone ask a Trebuchet related interview question). Kobo allows 9 font sizes.
4. Wattpad - It has Georgia, Courier, Arial, AppleGothic, Courier New, and Zapfino. It also has an astounding 26 font sizes.

There’s definitely a healthy selection of Font choices on the iPad.


[[SKIPPED SECTION ON iPHONES fonts]]

Why Fonts are important for eReaders

Let’s start by talking about serif and sans-serif fonts -

1. Serif fonts have little details (called serifs) at the end of alphabets – the little arches at the top and bottom of the stem of a ‘capital I’ in printed books are one example. Serifs are used in traditional printing and in books and are considered more readable.
2. Sans-serif fonts do not have these little flourishes (sans-serif = without serifs). They are considered more legible on computer screens and are preferred for webpages – mostly because computer screens don’t have enough resolution to show serifs (which are generally tiny) properly.

eReaders, since they have much higher density of pixels, tend to prefer serif fonts. Perhaps the fact that books use serif fonts also motivates eReader companies to use serif fonts.

Here are some of the ways in which fonts are important -

1. Readability - The right font increases readability. Obviously, size and line spacing and other factors play a big role too.
2. Aesthetics - Fonts, when used intelligently, can increase the aesthetic appeal of a book.
3. Personalization - Font choice would let readers choose a font that suits their reading preferences.
4. Book Uniqueness – Font choice would also let authors and typesetters choose a font that best suits a book.
5. Familiarity – Use of Serif Fonts makes reading on eReaders closer to reading an actual book (as opposed to reading a computer screen).
6. Long Form Reading – There was a belief (unproven) that serif fonts helped guide the eye when reading long passages of text.
7. Recognition – (unproven) Serifs make it easier and quicker to recognize alphabets and words and improve/quicken the reading experience.

My personal preferences for reading fonts are Caecilia on Kindle (though that’s the only one available), Amasis on Nook, and Cochin on the iPad. These are all serif fonts. They also happen to be prettier than sans-serif fonts as the serifs add a lot to the character and beauty of individual alphabets (in my opinion).

How important are Fonts for eReaders?

This is a very subjective question. Before writing this article my understanding of serif and sans-serif was non-existent so consider the next section a rough stab at quantifying importance.

* Font choice is definitely important to help eReaders cater to individual preferences. Font choice is also important to help books set themselves apart and add beauty and character.
* Fonts have a lot of impact on readability without most users understanding why - By providing a variety of font choices you increase the probability that a user likes reading on an eReader.
* By using serif fonts you cater to an eReader’s strength (high density of pixels) and make the reading experience very familiar (similar to printed books). This helps ease the transition from physical books to eReaders.
* There are three effects fonts can have – increased aesthetics, more comfortable reading, quicker reading. These are obviously great for reading and readers.
* The ability to Change Fonts allows eReaders to be much more flexible than a physical book.

We’ve basically stumbled on to a factor that may very well be a Top 10 factor for eReader success. Except that people don’t really understand it and it’s hard to get it right without introducing too much complexity.

Take the Kindle which allows no font selection and at the same time uses Caecilia – one of the best fonts for reading. You could argue that’s simpler and safer than allowing 5 font choices and confusing users. However, when you consider how much individual tastes vary, allowing 5 to 10 high quality fonts on an eReader might end up being a better choice.

There are a few things the Kindle and other eReaders should consider providing - the option to bold and unbold font, more font sizes, and some high quality fonts that users and book designers can utilize. These would add a lot to the existing features that the Kindle, Sony Reader, and Nook already provide – decent range of font sizes, variable line spacing, and words per line – and help accelerate the adoption of eReaders.



end of quote

[TallMomof2]

There are font hacks for the different Kindles. I installed one on my KDXG using the Arial font set and am very happy with it. I'm not legally blind but I have very bad vision and prefer serif fonts for my reading experience. (One of the niceties of the Kobo reader is to easily switch between the sans serif and serif font.)

For the devices that support ePub fonts can be embedded into the ebook so that one is not dependent upon the device's font.

[brainycat]

There is free software available for the PocketBook readers that allow you to use your own TTF for each of normal, italicized, bold, etc. Additionally, the software allows you to specify what size you want to use as the base, and the gradation size when you enlarge or shrink the font.

[JSWolf]

If you use ePub, you can use any font you want on a DRM free ePub eBook as you can embed the font. Of course, this does not work on an iPad. But it does work quite well with readers that support ADE.

[kjk]

44 fonts, 109 styles for the iPad. http://www.pigsgourdsandwikis.com/20...s-on-ipad.html

I count 38 fonts available on the iPhone, at least thru Stanza.

But *user* selectable fonts in iBooks are limited to 6 fonts (the five you noted plus Georgia)

[kacir]

As brainycat said, you can install any font you wish on PocketBook. For non-DRM protected books you can set any font (including other type of fonts than ttf), set any size you wish.
If you install third-party version of fbreader you can also fine tune the format of the book - justification, hyphenation, line spacing, margins, first line intend, paragraph spacing, bold font by default, ... just about anything.

BUT.
If I was to recommend a book reader for a legally blind person, I would probably suggest the new Kindle DX graphite.
It has large display, which is VERY important if you need really large font size, so you do not have to turn page that often. Plus, it has better contrast than other readers. The fact it uses default font that is not very well suited for such reading isn't that important, because with [almost] any reader out there you can always prepare pdf file with the desired layout.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by brainycat

There is free software available for the PocketBook readers that allow you to use your own TTF for each of normal, italicized, bold, etc. Additionally, the software allows you to specify what size you want to use as the base, and the gradation size when you enlarge or shrink the font.

The alternate version of FBReader on Pocketbooks allows a ridiculous amount of end-user typographic controls but arbitrary TTF support is a standard feature of the line.

There is also a hacked version of ADE that allows choice of TTF font, margins, etc through a userstyle css.

Hanlin readers allow user-installable TTFs for non-DRM ebooks.

With most second tier vendors the features vary according to the reader app (or firmware) in use so it's not as cut-n-dried as with the walled-garden readers.

And, as pointed out, for DRM-free content there is always the option to print the ebook to PDF (or jpg folders) so anything with a screen can be made useful.

[AlexBell]

Cybook Gen3 - and I think Cybook Opus - allows 5 font families: Bitstream Vera Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Goudita Sans SF, and Verdana. I really appreciate this choice, since they differ somewhat in line spacing. So if I read an ebook with a line spacing I don't like I can choose the font family which best suits my preferences.

For what it is worth I think that it is very important to allow the user to have as many choices as possible.

Regards, Alex

[EowynCarter]

Only mobi and azf won't stand using fonts.

Any reader using ePub will use any font you like

I loves these "Hey, look, the iPad is wonderful, it can do that". And almost everyone else have the function too.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Cybook Gen3 - and I think Cybook Opus - allows 5 font families

Those are included by default (I guess). They actually allow any TTF font you might upload. I use Droid Serif, and sometimes TeX Gyre Schola.

[troymc]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Any reader using ePub will use any font you like

Except the iPad, which won't use the embedded fonts.

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I loves these "Hey, look, the iPad is wonderful, it can do that". And almost everyone else have the function too.

yep, I agree!


Troy

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Cybook Gen3 - and I think Cybook Opus - allows 5 font families: Bitstream Vera Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Goudita Sans SF, and Verdana. I really appreciate this choice, since they differ somewhat in line spacing. So if I read an ebook with a line spacing I don't like I can choose the font family which best suits my preferences.

For what it is worth I think that it is very important to allow the user to have as many choices as possible.

Regards, Alex

Originally Posted by Jellby

Those are included by default (I guess). They actually allow any TTF font you might upload. I use Droid Serif, and sometimes TeX Gyre Schola.

And certainly on the Gen3 the largest size is very large !!!!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Only mobi and azf won't stand using fonts.

Uh, that is not quite accurate.
Mobi format does in fact allow end-user font control. I'm doing it right now on my pocketbook 360. I can do it if I dig up my Hanlin V3 with OpenInkpot. I can do it if I choose to fire up Mobipocket on my PC.

Font choice is a function of the *reader app* not the ebook format.
Some apps allow it, other's don't.

What Mobi doesn't allow, that ePub does, is for the publisher to optionally *force* their font choice upon the end user.

[EowynCarter]

Mobi format does in fact allow end-user font control. I'm doing it right now on my pocketbook 360. I can do it if I dig up my Hanlin V3 with OpenInkpot. I can do it if I choose to fire up Mobipocket on my PC.

What I meant is that mobi will allows for one font in all the book.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

What I meant is that mobi will allows for one font in all the book.

And I'm currently looking at four on my Pocketbook reader app.
With the FBReader180 app for PB360 I can define over twenty if I wanted to, a different base font for every tag in the document.
http://code.google.com/p/fbreader-po...eader180_guide
OpenInkpot alows similar flexibility as do various userstyle hacks for ADE.

It's not the file format, it's the reader app.
With some apps, the least they can do is the most they will do. Others do a more concientious job at presenting readable output. Many reader apps just render the document blindly while others parse the content against external rendering guidelines (via userstyle css or an xml stylesheet) and allow the user to present the content exactly how they want it.
Its a philosophy kind of thing, not a law of nature.