Ease of adding custom fonts in PW4

As a returning Kindle user after an ~7 year gap, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how easy it is now to add custom fonts to the Kindle. No jailbreak, no hacks, just easy peasy.

I didn't realize you could do this so easily until I stumbled across it in the new PW User's Guide, 4th ed., Ch 7. It boils down to: connect Kindle to PC, browse to the /fonts folder, and copy custom font files in there. Basic directions are in the Readme.txt file in the /fonts folder, if needed.

Geez that is great news, I'm a happier PW4 owner than I was yesterday. Hope that other new-ish Kindle owners are aware of this. I usually don't read the manuals, so I was lucky I ran across that.

[Barty]

This is a feature that was added very recently, so you have not been missing out for years.

Custom font doesn't work with mobi, though, hence it doesn't work with periodicals.

Originally Posted by Barty

This is a feature that was added very recently, so you have not been missing out for years.

Custom font doesn't work with mobi, though, hence it doesn't work with periodicals.

Right, I assume it's only an option for either modern KFX or AZW3 DRM'd books from the Kindle store that are on my PW4, or DeDRM'd AZW3 files that I put back on there.

And now, here's the frustrating trade-off when talking about sideloaded books:
* I like to sideload converted books from other sources, and upload them to my Kindle account to leverage the notes/booksmarks syncing across devices. Problem is, that only works with DeDRM'd mobi files.
* I like to use custom fonts. Problem is, doesn't work with mobi files.

Ergo, for sideloaded books, I now have to choose whether I want to sync notes, or use custom fonts.

[Almamida]

It doesn’t work with uploaded mobi both ?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by maximus83

Right, I assume it's only an option for either modern KFX or AZW3 DRM'd books from the Kindle store that are on my PW4, or DeDRM'd AZW3 files that I put back on there.

And now, here's the frustrating trade-off when talking about sideloaded books:
* I like to sideload converted books from other sources, and upload them to my Kindle account to leverage the notes/booksmarks syncing across devices. Problem is, that only works with DeDRM'd mobi files.
* I like to use custom fonts. Problem is, doesn't work with mobi files.

Ergo, for sideloaded books, I now have to choose whether I want to sync notes, or use custom fonts.

You can have both. Either convert to dual mobi instead of plain mobi, or rename the file extension of your epub from .epub to .txt before uploading (no need to convert). Then you'll get syncing and custom fonts.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Either convert to dual mobi instead of plain mobi, or rename the file extension of your epub from .epub to .txt before uploading (no need to convert). Then you'll get syncing and custom fonts.

So that's good to hear. In my case, the epub approach would be more convenient, because I already have the epubs in Calibre for all my non-Amazon books.

Is there any difference int the resulting output quality between the renaming hack approach, versus pre-converting to mobi/both in Calibre?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by maximus83

Is there any difference int the resulting output quality between the renaming hack approach, versus pre-converting to mobi/both in Calibre?

Not that I've noticed, but then I only tried it with a couple of books.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Not that I've noticed, but then I only tried it with a couple of books.

So far this isn't working on all books for me. First couple of Epub books I converted to 'mobi/both' in Calibre and uploaded to Amazon will sync notes, but I cannot use the custom fonts I installed.

Now I've tried one that does work.

What's the likely issue with the source epub books?

[Almamida]

If you convert them via Kindlegen, I’m sure you’ll have a correct mobi both version.
When I convert books via Calibre, sometimes the conversion or transfer to the cloud give me a mixed result.

Originally Posted by Almamida

If you convert them via Kindlegen, I’m sure you’ll have a correct mobi both version.
When I convert books via Calibre, sometimes the conversion or transfer to the cloud give me a mixed result.

Whoa, nailed it. That's it. I just did a batch rename of all epub source books in my library to end with *.txt, dumped 'em on the Send-to-Kindle app, and they are all working.

The fact that this only ended up working when using send-to-Kindle, versus using Calibre to convert to 'both' format, leaves me wondering is there some bug in Calibre? Or is this a known black box issue that you only get to work if you use Kindlegen, with no other solution on the horizon?

This is a fine solution for now, but part of me doesn't want to be dependent on *any* of Amazon's tools if I don't have to.

[Almamida]

I also wish to find the perfect Calibre conversion settings EPUB > Mobi both to just handle everything from Calibre and send the books on the cloud from there.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Almamida

I also wish to find the perfect Calibre conversion settings EPUB > Mobi both to just handle everything from Calibre and send the books on the cloud from there.

I had asked at one point if a plugin could be created to use kindlegen through Calibre, but nobody was interested. I wish I knew more about how to create plugins...I would try to do it myself.

Shari