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View Poll Results: Vintage (e)book appearance -- Your preference? | |||
Old-fashioned and "aged" | 10 | 7.41% | |
Old-fashioned but clean | 36 | 26.67% | |
Modern appearance | 39 | 28.89% | |
Don't care - I'll read it as-is | 28 | 20.74% | |
Don't care - I'll change it anyway | 19 | 14.07% | |
I don't read "vintage" books | 3 | 2.22% | |
Voters: 135. You may not vote on this poll |
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05-09-2013, 01:11 AM | #31 | |
Samurai Lizard
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grannyGrumpy wrote the following as part of a post:
Quote:
I think one use for Courier New is to give text the look of the type produced on an old-fashioned typewriter (which according to Wikipedia was the purpose of the original Courier). Like I mentioned in my last post with Comic Sans, I think that it is appropriate when used for sparingly and for a specific effect. |
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05-09-2013, 11:24 PM | #32 | |
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Solitaire1 said:
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05-10-2013, 12:01 AM | #33 |
A Hairy Wizard
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It seems most of the argument here has been about font type/style with a couple "I hate backgrounds" thrown in. That seems to ignore the artistic desire of the creator. If the author wants a specific font, they need to embed that in the ePub; likewise with a background. The real issue for those people who don't like the font/background is the ability to turn it off or change it with their current reader/app.
I continue to be chagrined at how much we limit ourselves because device x or app y doesn't support a particular feature...we cater to their limits. Some of that is understandable - I wouldn't create a book that only reads properly on a holo-projected wristwatch - but I should be able to create based on current technology. There are readers/apps that DO support changing font/background. If the end user wants that ability, then it is incumbent upon them to purchase the device that supports it - not force creators to limit themselves to old devices/technology. Device/app developers provide what the customers demand... Last edited by Turtle91; 05-10-2013 at 12:03 AM. |
05-10-2013, 01:27 AM | #34 |
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@Turtle, hear, hear!
I'm only a hobbyist uploading free books, and could "raise the bar" on my output if I so desired, but it is sad that the commercial producers have to stay within the limits of old technology if they don't want to lose sales. I think a sizeable portion of the reading public can't or won't spend more money to upgrade to newer devices. |
05-10-2013, 02:51 AM | #35 |
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05-10-2013, 03:30 AM | #36 | |
Samurai Lizard
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Quote:
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05-10-2013, 03:41 AM | #37 | |
Samurai Lizard
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Quote:
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05-10-2013, 04:09 AM | #38 | |
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Quote:
Having the functionality to read as the publisher designed it vs. change the default font/background does not in any way effect the creation of the epub itself...it is simply an option in the reader/app. For those individuals who's device/app does not support changing the font, then they will have to read it in the style as created by the publisher...just like in a pbook. If they absolutely have to be able to change the font...then they need to buy a device/app that allows it...or have the technical skills to go into the epub and change it themselves. They should NOT require the author to "dumb down" their creation so it fits their personal desires on their personal device. |
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05-10-2013, 05:08 AM | #39 |
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Whenever a text style becomes noticable, it gets in the way of the information. 99% of the time it's best to just choose a pleasant, readable font and stick with it. The ebook reader generally does this very well on your behalf :-)
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05-10-2013, 07:56 AM | #40 |
Wizard
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05-10-2013, 08:46 AM | #41 |
A Hairy Wizard
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Off the top of my head, Prestigio and Nook can put images in the background...I think just about every app can change the background color - some more than others - but at least they have night mode. Marvin can do a huge range (infinite??) of background colors, and last I heard is working on allowing textures.
Check out ereaderbackgrounds.com for more info. |
05-14-2013, 04:19 PM | #42 |
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Cool Reader allows you to change colors and textures of the background. I've been experimenting with it on my Nook HD lately.
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05-14-2013, 05:36 PM | #43 |
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I don't care, as long as it reflows to my reader. (No scans, PDFs, etc.). A lot of the "vintage" stuff I've found is two-column scans, copied to PDF. Yuck.
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05-14-2013, 06:15 PM | #44 | |
Samurai Lizard
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Quote:
One of the features I like about PDF is that it is the only format I've found that will appear on my screen exactly as I intend. With other formats I had issues with getting it to consistantly display a general typeface (serif, san serif, or monospace). I know from experience the frustration of trying to get a document to appear the same on two difference systems when dealing with word processing documents. PDF solves this problem. One of the reasons I use a NookColor (NC) as my main ebook reader is that it had good PDF support out of the box, not as good as my Sony ereaders but good support. I soon found that it's PDF support could be better so I purchased better PDF ereader software and I now find that my NC is a great ereader for PDFs. Better, I recently upgraded my NC's built-in PDF reader software and the new version is great, adding many needed features. Returning to the thread's topic, I think one of the greatest features of ebooks is that you can alter the way the ebook appears based on your own preferences, provided your ereader software supports the changes you want. Unlike with printed books, there's no way to be sure what an ebook will look like on a specific ereader. The author/releaser can include coding in the ebook to suggest the way it should look like but there's no way to force it on the readers. |
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05-15-2013, 03:33 PM | #45 | |
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Quote:
The finished documents look vintage but they are huge files that are at times unreadable due to the yellowing of the original source material. |
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