ePub vs. kePub

[Ksquared]

I've been reading on a Kobo wifi for years, and have mostly stayed with side loaded ePubs. Now that I have an Aura (or will have a working one when they replace my repeatedly freezing one), I have been side loading some kePubs using calibre to convert from ePubs. I have seen a number of opinions in various posts about the virtues of each format, but I would like to see the opinions of others in one place I can make the most educated decision.

Right now I am likely to stick with ePubs, due to what I see as the pros and cons of that format.

While I like the additional reading stats that I get with the kePubs, I don't like the title at the top. I found through these forums that I can get rid of the header and footer, and don't think I can get rid of the header only in a kePub, and I really like the page numbers at the bottom that I get with the ePubs (particular, aren't I).

So, all of you experiance Kobo users, what do you see as the benefits and drawbacks of each of these format?

[jackie_w]

You may be interested in this thread, even though it is a few months old.

[Ksquared]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

You may be interested in this thread, even though it is a few months old.

Thanks Jackie - that is pretty much what I was looking for! I searched but did not find that thread.

Any additional comments and opinions are appreciated.

[rashkae]

You can remove the header only from Kepub, (and in fact, unlike trying to use the full screen option, removing the header doesn't require working around right margin bugs.)

You need to add:

showPageHeader=false

to the [reading] section of your kobo.conf file.

[Ksquared]

Originally Posted by rashkae

You can remove the header only from Kepub, (and in fact, unlike trying to use the full screen option, removing the header doesn't require working around right margin bugs.)

Thanks - I will give that a try. I will then most likely favor the Kepub!

[IanD]

One thing not mentioned is the large gaps that commonly appear at the bottom of pages when using epub. It's as if the engine tries to fit an entire paragraph, and starts on the next page if it can't.

That, and faster page turns are the main reasons I stick with kepubs.

[GeoffR]

I read both ePubs sideloaded via Calibre and KePubs synced from Kobo. Although the KEPUB reader has improved in the last few firmware releases, I still prefer ePubs. The main reasons are:

* Automatic hyphenation works better in ePubs. Although hyphenation improved for KePubs in recent firmware, there are still some problems remaining.

* Full justification works better in ePubs. The KEPUB reader still has an annoying problem where the text is not always properly justified when the line contains words connected by certain non-ascii characters such as em-dashes and ellipses.

* The EPUB reader allows narrower line spacing. The KEPUB reader has a bug that causes part of the top line of text to appear at the bottom of the previous page if the line spacing is set too narrow. (Although most users won't see this problem, as it is usually necessary to edit the book's stylesheet or use a firmware patch to get the line spacing narrow enough to trigger the problem.)

* The EPUB reader supports ligatures in fonts that have them, the KEPUB reader doesn't. In general the EPUB reader seems to have better font support than the KEPUB reader, as all of the fonts I use work with the EPUB reader, while some don't work properly with the KEPUB reader. (Even the OpenDyslexic font that comes with the device works fine with the EPUB reader but not with the KEPUB reader.)

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by IanD

One thing not mentioned is the large gaps that commonly appear at the bottom of pages when using epub. It's as if the engine tries to fit an entire paragraph, and starts on the next page if it can't.

That is caused by the widows/orphans settings, it has been discussed (to put it mildly) extensively in this forum. It is quite easy to change if you don't like it.

[IanD]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

That is caused by the widows/orphans settings, it has been discussed (to put it mildly) extensively in this forum. It is quite easy to change if you don't like it.

Cheers. I'm fairly new here...

[Ripplinger]

I still prefer epub for several reasons.

I don't like the book title on top, but I do want to see the page numbers. This view however leaves you with a blank line or 2 where the book title would normally be. If you use full page, where you eliminate both the title and page numbers, it doesn't happen and you do get full use of the entire screen without that blank space at the top. It's not extreme though and I could live with this if it was the only problem.

But what I can't live with is that every single page has the bottom showing 1 pixel of the top of the next page's text, and then on the next page, the tops are cut off by that same amount, and I haven't found any way to get rid of it. Surprisingly I never see the problem I've read about from others where the right side of text is chopped off at times. The 2 kepub screenshots show that bottom chopped text.

Originally Posted by IanD

One thing not mentioned is the large gaps that commonly appear at the bottom of pages when using epub. It's as if the engine tries to fit an entire paragraph, and starts on the next page if it can't.

That, and faster page turns are the main reasons I stick with kepubs.

I don't see this happening anymore in my epubs at all, perhaps GeoffR's patch fixes it? The 2 epub screenshots are the last paragraph at the end of a chapter.

Page turns are only slightly faster for me on kepub, not enough to make any appreciable difference while reading.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

But what I can't live with is that every single page has the bottom showing 1 pixel of the top of the next page's text, and then on the next page, the tops are cut off by that same amount, and I haven't found any way to get rid of it. Surprisingly I never see the problem I've read about from others where the right side of text is chopped off at times. The 2 kepub screenshots show that bottom chopped text.


I don't see this happening anymore in my epubs at all, perhaps GeoffR's patch fixes it? The 2 epub screenshots are the last paragraph at the end of a chapter.

I believe that cut off is due to using custom line spacing in the patch. Turn those off, and the text should not be cut off any longer.

[IanD]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

But what I can't live with is that every single page has the bottom showing 1 pixel of the top of the next page's text, and then on the next page, the tops are cut off by that same amount, and I haven't found any way to get rid of it. Surprisingly I never see the problem I've read about from others where the right side of text is chopped off at times. The 2 kepub screenshots show that bottom chopped text.

This happens to me, but very rarely - maybe once in ... ooh ... feels like a thousand pages or so. I've no idea why it would be different for you. I imagine you've already played with line heights and so forth.

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I don't see this happening anymore in my epubs at all, perhaps GeoffR's patch fixes it? The 2 epub screenshots are the last paragraph at the end of a chapter.

I'm sure you (and GeoffR) are correct. I'll give the {orphans: 0; widows: 0} trick a spin tonight, either using the Calibre settings, the Kobo Touch driver trick, or just directly editing the stylesheet. I will say this - out of the box this bug is terrible. I'm losing 1/5 to a 1/4 of every page in white space.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I believe that cut off is due to using custom line spacing in the patch. Turn those off, and the text should not be cut off any longer.

The problem is caused by the line spacing being too narrow for the KEPUB reader to handle. Although the line spacing patch allows the line spacing to be set narrow enough to trigger the problem, the problem can still show up even without the patch if the line spacing is set too narrow by other means (such as by the publisher setting the line-height too low in the book's stylesheet.)

The EPUB reader doesn't have this problem, it can handle much narrower line spacing.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The problem is caused by the line spacing being too narrow for the KEPUB reader to handle. Although the line spacing patch allows the line spacing to be set narrow enough to trigger the problem, the problem can still show up even without the patch if the line spacing is set too narrow by other means (such as by the publisher setting the line-height too low in the book's stylesheet.)

The EPUB reader doesn't have this problem, it can handle much narrower line spacing.

That fixed it in the kepub, thanks. I increased the line spacing by 2 taps and the chopped off text is now gone.

So it's down to something I forgot to mention in the above post. It's livable, just not preferable for me, where unless you have justification off, kepubs override all centered text and align everything left. Where I mind it is at the chapter numbers and titles. I could avoid it by making sure the book stylesheet calls for full justification, then I can keep justification off on the reader and chapter headings will remain centered. It's just odd to me that kepubs do that.

[Rockin]

Originally Posted by IanD

I'll give the {orphans: 0; widows: 0} trick a spin tonight,

I believe you really want {orphans: 1; widows: 1} as the zero would be undefined behavior. Zeros don't make sense if you read the definition of orphans and widows.