Pictures and undesirable blank pages

[exaltedwombat]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

But I suppose that he's building an .epub; if not, why is he posting in the Sigil forum?

Because there isn't an editor that works directly with .mobi code?

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by exaltedwombat

Because there isn't an editor that works directly with .mobi code?

Is that a question or a retoric question? If the OP would be building an ebook for Kindle, he should post in the Kindle forum. We don't know anything about what kind of ebook he's making. So is perfectly logic for me to guess in first term that the OP wants an epub. Whatever, the solution I posted works for both, .epub and .azw3

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The eink emulator in KindlePreviewer is notoriously unreliable. I'd trust the image Rubén attached of the background-image rendering on his K7 device much more. But regardless ... I think we've gone a lot farther down the KindleBook rabbit hole than we need to already. Especially with no followup material from the OP indicating that it's even relevant.

Howdy:

Actually, I've found the KF7 emulator in KP2.9xx to be pretty reliable. However, that being said, in order to resolve this (I know, I know, Diap, you want it put away, but..), I'm charging my K2, and shall report back forthwith. I will be ecstatic--but shocked--if the background image works in that device.

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I will be ecstatic--but shocked--if the background image works in that device.

And even if it does, I'm guessing it might be because of how (or with what program) it was converted to mobi more than anything.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Howdy:

Actually, I've found the KF7 emulator in KP2.9xx to be pretty reliable. However, that being said, in order to resolve this (I know, I know, Diap, you want it put away, but..), I'm charging my K2, and shall report back forthwith. I will be ecstatic--but shocked--if the background image works in that device.

Hitch

Under Kindle 2 works nothing I don't know how many users still use those devices Why to use them when you can download a free Kindle app for your smartphone or tablet (even e-ink tablets) that allow a better reading experience? Amazon should bury the K7 format

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

Under Kindle 2 works nothing I don't know how many users still use those devices Why to use them when you can download a free Kindle app for your smartphone or tablet (even e-ink tablets) that allow a better reading experience? Amazon should bury the K7 format

Well that's a bit unfair. There are still tons of Kindle 2 devices in use. When you attached an image of it working on your "Old Kindle", I assumed you meant the K7 format.

You're free to ignore users of Kindle 2 devices if you like, but as long as it's possible for a Kindle 2 user to buy a K7 version of an ebook I was selling/creating, I feel I owe it to those users to make sure it works reasonably on those devices.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You're free to ignore users of Kindle 2 devices if you like, but as long as it's possible for a Kindle 2 user to buy a K7 version of an ebook I was selling/creating, I feel I owe it to those users to make sure it works reasonably on those devices.

Yes, of course, I understand your point. But I "feel" that it can be "tons of Kindle 2 devices" as you say, but not many users of them. If we would make a survey in this site (would it be representative the sample? I think so) about how many Kindle 2 there are and how many users (in active) are still using them, we could know better if the K7 format is an "alive" format.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

Yes, of course, I understand your point. But I "feel" that it can be "tons of Kindle 2 devices" as you say, but not many users of them. If we would make a survey in this site (would it be representative the sample? I think so) about how many Kindle 2 there are and how many users (in active) are still using them, we could know better if the K7 format is an "alive" format.

I don't feel we (this site) would be very representative of the public at large at all. We're the early adopters; the multiple device owners; the eager gobblers-up of the latest and greatest ereading/eink technology. We are not even close to representing the hoi polloi of the ereader-owning world.

But again, the numbers don't really matter to me. Until Amazon nixes the mobi format (or allows sellers to choose to offer their product as KF8-only), then I'm of the opinion that money-spent by a Kindle2-owning customer is the same as money spent by users of KF8-capable devices. And they should be accounted for wherever possible if you're willing to accept their money for your product.

But I've said all this before. We don't need to go over it again here. I suggest a thread in the Kindle format forums if someone wants to continue the discussion.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

But I've said all this before. We don't need to go over it again here. I suggest a thread in the Kindle format forums if someone wants to continue the discussion.

No, it's ok to me. Now regarding that "bug"(?) of Sigil with the property "background-size: contain", when you have a free minute, take a look at the book attached. It seems that Sigil needs some text in order to show a background image. And the more text, the bigger the image (but if one sets the size of the image as "contain", it seems to me that the size shouldn't be linked with the amount of text, since the property is applied to the <body> tag and not to the <p> tag).

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

Yes, of course, I understand your point. But I "feel" that it can be "tons of Kindle 2 devices" as you say, but not many users of them. If we would make a survey in this site (would it be representative the sample? I think so) about how many Kindle 2 there are and how many users (in active) are still using them, we could know better if the K7 format is an "alive" format.

Ruben:

I think you would be VERY surprised at just how many are in circulation and being used all the time. I am constantly surprised at how many of my clients will say, when they get their MOBI files, "but, where's my font?" and after a LOT of back-forth, I end up divining that sure enough, they're using a keyboard that they only bought a few years ago. The DX only stopped being made, what, 3 years ago, and Amazon sold out that entire stock for a year afterward?

No offense, Rube, but...that's wishful thinking. LOTS of people still have K2s and more have the KF7 devices that were still being sold until very, very recently.

BTW, my K2 is still ticking--and I received this as a very early adopter of the 2nd-gen Kindle. That's gotta be at least 9 years, or so, right? *(can't remember, old bat that I am...)

Just saying. And for those of us in the biz, well...we have no choice. It's that simple.

ETA: I can now confirm that there is absolutely NOTHING there. On my world-class K2 Kindle. No image, no background, nuttin'. As the old commercial used to go, "NUTTIN, Honey!"

Hitch

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

It seems that Sigil needs some text in order to show a background image. And the more text, the bigger the image...

While there are still a lot of Kindle devices around that only support MOBI or KF8, the majority of books these days are delivered by Amazon in KFX format.

I did a test with "Full Background.epub" and "Full Background Bis.epub". When converted to KFX they are treated like Sigil, the calibre editor, and the calibre reader (in scroll mode). The image size varies to match the size of the text on the page, whether visible or not. Changing the font size also changes the size of the image.

Also, conversion to KFX will fail if there is no text on the page at all.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by jhowell

While there are still a lot of Kindle devices around that only support MOBI or KF8, the majority of books these days are delivered by Amazon in KFX format.

I did a test with "Full Background.epub" and "Full Background Bis.epub". When converted to KFX they are treated like Sigil, the calibre editor, and the calibre reader (in scroll mode). The image size varies to match the size of the text on the page, whether visible or not. Changing the font size also changes the size of the image.

Also, conversion to KFX will fail if there is no text on the page at all.

Hi jhowell;

Many thanks for your tests. Yes, the Calibre editor doen't show anything but if you open the .epub with the Calibre Viewer, you'll see the background. The same under ADE. With the keywords "contain" and "cover" the ereader should show the background image even without text. See for example this page:

https://css-tricks.com/almanac/prope...ckground-size/

Regarding Kindle, in my old Kindle 4NT, the background works ok with very few text. But things seem to be different with newer Kindles. Something must be no so good with webkit.

Regards
Rubén

[DiapDealer]

Seems webkit likes to have the background-attachment property explicitly set to "fixed" (as opposed to the default "scroll") for the effect to work.

body {
     margin: 0;
     padding: 0;
     background: url("../Images/banlv%40k3.jpg");
     background-size: contain;
     background-repeat: no-repeat;
     background-position: 50% 50%;
     background-attachment: fixed;
}

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Seems webkit likes to have the border-attachment property explicitly set to "fixed" (as opposed to the default "scroll") for the effect to work.

body {
     margin: 0;
     padding: 0;
     background: url("../Images/banlv%40k3.jpg");
     background-size: contain;
     background-repeat: no-repeat;
     background-position: 50% 50%;
     background-attachment: fixed;
}

Brilliant!! With that addition, the background works under Kindle (.kf8, .kfx) without text added. And it is showed not only in Sigil, but also with the Calibre Editor (the Calibre Viewer already showed fine the background).
So, the conclusion is that if we are building an ebook for the Kindle platform, we must add "background-attachment: fixed;" and if we are building an ebook for RMSDK, then we mustn't.

Many thanks Diap, you found a black pearl.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

With that addition, the background works under Kindle (.kf8, .kfx) without text added.

As far as I can tell the background-attachment property is ignored when producing KFX.