Do epubs from Kobo have screwy formatting?

kLy · 10-02-2012, 03:38 AM

I'm a prospective Kobo Glo buyer and did some research online. Seems like there are / were some issues with the way Kobo handles formatting of their books:

http://td.typepad.com/treeweaselweek...ce-people.html

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ook-like-crap/

This was in January and the information seems to be conflicting. Looks like one party suggests that this was just a temporary glitch while another suggests this is a permanent direction.

Is this still an issue?

I would definitely want all the epubs I buy from Kobo to be compatible with other readers. I certainly *don't* want to be locked in to Kobo indefinitely because they intentionally screw up epub formatting for other devices. I might as well get a Kindle in that case.

Thanks

RareBird · 10-02-2012, 06:27 AM

Kobo uses it's own Kobo epub (kepub) for download to your device and desktop app when you sync but you can also download an Adobe epub file you can use on any device.

kLy · 10-02-2012, 07:19 AM

Yes, I realise that, but according to the articles those Adobe epubs have screwy formatting.

davidfor · 10-02-2012, 08:49 AM

None of the epubs, free or purchased, that I gave gotten from Kobo have had any problems with formatting. I vaguely remember discussion here about Kobo doing this and the stopped a while ago.

RareBird · 10-02-2012, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kLy

Yes, I realise that, but according to the articles those Adobe epubs have screwy formatting.

Sorry I misunderstood. I've never had a problem with any of the Adobe epubs I've downloaded.

Cdesja5 · 10-02-2012, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RareBird

Sorry I misunderstood. I've never had a problem with any of the Adobe epubs I've downloaded.

I've never had problems either. I read most of these (epubs downloaded from the Kobo website, not kepubs loaded directly to ereader) after putting them in Calibre and can read them on my tablet or eReader/s with no issues. Formatting looks OK to me...

AnemicOak · 10-02-2012, 09:37 AM

Out of about 325 books in my Kobo account I've had eight or nine where the formatting was messed up, not too bad really I guess (I always download the ePubs). For those books the messed up formatting consisted primarily of missing italics and some missing punctuation. The problems in those books were unique to Kobo when checked against samples from B&N and Amazon.

My problem wasn't so much the formatting problem which could be fixed as it was the way Kobo support handled fixing the issue. For the first six problem books my support ticket went in Sept 20th 2010 the issue was resolved (with 5 books fixed one refunded) June 10th 2011! Note that I was the one who ended up contacting the publisher and getting them to send new files (which they did within the first week of the issue) it took Kobo a few weeks to update the books on their servers, but apparently no one thought to "refresh" my account so I just kept getting the same bad files until someone figured it out nine months later after I pestered them for a resolution time and again.

The other couple books I've had formatting issues with have simply been refunded as I don't think they want to deal with me pestering them anymore.

I don't know if those ones eventually got fixed or not although the publisher said they'd send new files.

rashkae · 10-02-2012, 09:37 AM

It was a temporary error. It just took a lot of noise to get Kobo to look at it. Good luck to anyone who stumbles on any remaining.... sub-optimal files.

(Disclaimer: I haven't purchased a book from Kobo since, so the above statment is actually an assumption on my part, but I think a safe one.)

kLy · 10-02-2012, 10:23 AM

Great! Sounds like the issues have cleared up then. I hadn't seen any follow up blog posts saying as such so I thought I'd check. Thanks

10-02-2012, 03:38 AM	#1
kLy Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Sony PRS-350	Do epubs from Kobo have screwy formatting? I'm a prospective Kobo Glo buyer and did some research online. Seems like there are / were some issues with the way Kobo handles formatting of their books: http://td.typepad.com/treeweaselweek...ce-people.html http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ook-like-crap/ This was in January and the information seems to be conflicting. Looks like one party suggests that this was just a temporary glitch while another suggests this is a permanent direction. Is this still an issue? I would definitely want all the epubs I buy from Kobo to be compatible with other readers. I certainly don't want to be locked in to Kobo indefinitely because they intentionally screw up epub formatting for other devices. I might as well get a Kindle in that case. Thanks

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10-02-2012, 06:27 AM	#2
RareBird Addict Posts: 377 Karma: 770002 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Windsor, Nova Scotia Device: Kobo Aura	Kobo uses it's own Kobo epub (kepub) for download to your device and desktop app when you sync but you can also download an Adobe epub file you can use on any device.

10-02-2012, 07:19 AM	#3
kLy Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Sony PRS-350	Yes, I realise that, but according to the articles those Adobe epubs have screwy formatting.

10-02-2012, 08:49 AM	#4
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	None of the epubs, free or purchased, that I gave gotten from Kobo have had any problems with formatting. I vaguely remember discussion here about Kobo doing this and the stopped a while ago.

10-02-2012, 09:37 AM	#7
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Out of about 325 books in my Kobo account I've had eight or nine where the formatting was messed up, not too bad really I guess (I always download the ePubs). For those books the messed up formatting consisted primarily of missing italics and some missing punctuation. The problems in those books were unique to Kobo when checked against samples from B&N and Amazon. My problem wasn't so much the formatting problem which could be fixed as it was the way Kobo support handled fixing the issue. For the first six problem books my support ticket went in Sept 20th 2010 the issue was resolved (with 5 books fixed one refunded) June 10th 2011! Note that I was the one who ended up contacting the publisher and getting them to send new files (which they did within the first week of the issue) it took Kobo a few weeks to update the books on their servers, but apparently no one thought to "refresh" my account so I just kept getting the same bad files until someone figured it out nine months later after I pestered them for a resolution time and again. The other couple books I've had formatting issues with have simply been refunded as I don't think they want to deal with me pestering them anymore. I don't know if those ones eventually got fixed or not although the publisher said they'd send new files.

10-02-2012, 09:37 AM	#8
rashkae Wizard Posts: 1,268 Karma: 5935030 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Aura HD	It was a temporary error. It just took a lot of noise to get Kobo to look at it. Good luck to anyone who stumbles on any remaining.... sub-optimal files. (Disclaimer: I haven't purchased a book from Kobo since, so the above statment is actually an assumption on my part, but I think a safe one.)

10-02-2012, 10:23 AM	#9
kLy Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Sony PRS-350	Great! Sounds like the issues have cleared up then. I hadn't seen any follow up blog posts saying as such so I thought I'd check. Thanks