Best Serif font for KDX PDF? Ugly anti-aliasing

guiyoforward · 08-13-2010, 07:42 PM

Dear All,

I am creating my PDFs from word and even when getting a decent screen font size very close to a paper-printed 12 (see PS below for my custom page size) I notice the anti-aliasing with MS Times New Roman i.e., the anti-aliasing does not look good. Has anyone tried other serif fonts? I heard something about block serifs working well, but I don't know which of the standard MS fonts are block serifs.
Suggestions appreaciated!

PS: I am using a custom page size 18.8 x 13.2 cm - I printed a PDF black page and measured the resulting black square on the screen, and that's what I got. It works very well - although a standard A5 size wouldn't be too bad probably.

guiyoforward · 08-13-2010, 08:14 PM

Hi, sorry - the font that didn't look good is Garamond, not Times New Roman. I started experimenting - TNR looks much better (see the attached PDF), better than the others in any case. It also looks much better when "printed" at 300 dpi than with 150 DPI, 600 DPI does not seem to make a difference.

Any font suggestions?

I am also attaching my custom size template in word 2007. Before you start screaming "mobi-epub" etc., these are technical documents for which I have a source, but do not convert nicely to anything but PDF - hence the need to create the best possible PDF for the kindle screen

I hope much of this discussion will not make sense with the K3 new PDF settings, but I think Amazon has still a lot to learn (from apple, say?) about screen font rendering.

Thanks!

guiyoforward · 08-13-2010, 08:17 PM

PS custom size word template for kindle DX PDF

tomsem · 08-13-2010, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guiyoforward

I hope much of this discussion will not make sense with the K3 new PDF settings, but I think Amazon has still a lot to learn (from apple, say?) about screen font rendering.

Thanks!

There is hope: Amazon has a job listing for someone to manage their Typography team in Cupertino (where they develop Kindle). So know that they at least have such a team! Maybe they'll steal somebody from Apple, or Adobe...

However in the case of improved PDF text display on Kindle, you have to talk to Adobe. It's their SDK that is getting used by Amazon. I doubt Amazon has much control over it (maybe the contrast adjustment they're adding in K3 will help though).

guiyoforward · 08-13-2010, 08:57 PM

Thanks. Rockwell, the only (AFAIK) slab serif font in my MS Word, looks quite good, similar to the built in Kindle font, but a bit more (too) "boldy"...

NiLuJe · 08-13-2010, 09:56 PM

Try the default font (Caecilia) if you have it (or pull it from your Kindle).

Another nice slab serif is Museo Slab from the exljbris foundry.

But, yeah, full serif probably won't look very good, unless they're heavily tweaked to play nice with Grayscale AA.

Don't know about slab serifs bundled with MS products, since I don't use them

.

guiyoforward · 08-13-2010, 10:12 PM

Thanks - how do you pull fonts from kindle...?

JSWolf · 08-13-2010, 10:33 PM

I happen to like Charis and Fontin. Give both of those a try. They are freely available on the net.

NiLuJe · 08-13-2010, 11:17 PM

@guiyoforward: The fonts hack do a backup of the original fonts. You can also check the attachments of the Font hack thread in the dev subforum, they might be there somewhere

.

guiyoforward · 08-14-2010, 09:35 AM

thqanks to both!

08-13-2010, 07:42 PM	#1
guiyoforward Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 7104 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle DX Graphite	Best Serif font for KDX PDF? Ugly anti-aliasing Dear All, I am creating my PDFs from word and even when getting a decent screen font size very close to a paper-printed 12 (see PS below for my custom page size) I notice the anti-aliasing with MS Times New Roman i.e., the anti-aliasing does not look good. Has anyone tried other serif fonts? I heard something about block serifs working well, but I don't know which of the standard MS fonts are block serifs. Suggestions appreaciated! PS: I am using a custom page size 18.8 x 13.2 cm - I printed a PDF black page and measured the resulting black square on the screen, and that's what I got. It works very well - although a standard A5 size wouldn't be too bad probably.

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08-13-2010, 08:57 PM	#5
guiyoforward Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 7104 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle DX Graphite	Thanks. Rockwell, the only (AFAIK) slab serif font in my MS Word, looks quite good, similar to the built in Kindle font, but a bit more (too) "boldy"...

08-13-2010, 09:56 PM	#6
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047190 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Try the default font (Caecilia) if you have it (or pull it from your Kindle). Another nice slab serif is Museo Slab from the exljbris foundry. But, yeah, full serif probably won't look very good, unless they're heavily tweaked to play nice with Grayscale AA. Don't know about slab serifs bundled with MS products, since I don't use them .

08-13-2010, 10:12 PM	#7
guiyoforward Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 7104 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle DX Graphite	Thanks - how do you pull fonts from kindle...?

08-13-2010, 10:33 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,064 Karma: 144284144 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I happen to like Charis and Fontin. Give both of those a try. They are freely available on the net.

08-13-2010, 11:17 PM	#9
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047190 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	@guiyoforward: The fonts hack do a backup of the original fonts. You can also check the attachments of the Font hack thread in the dev subforum, they might be there somewhere .

08-14-2010, 09:35 AM	#10
guiyoforward Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 7104 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle DX Graphite	thqanks to both!