Kobo Forma sideloading ebooks?

[Raisin55]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the experience of reading .epub files on the kobo forma that are not bought from the kobo store?
I saw in one review that they say there will be a large empty gap on the bottom of each page.
Is it possible to make it look normal by filling out most of the screen, and also include page numbers etc?

I am quite new to e-books readers, so I don't have a lot of knowledge on how everything works.

[RichSz]

Every book I've ever read on my Forma came from somewhere other than the Kobo store, usually Smashwords. I haven't noticed any formatting issues but I'm not super picky. Converting the books to kepub (easy with Calibre) speeds up page turns but I've noticed no formatting changes.

Perhaps someone with a sharper eye can chime in.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Raisin55

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the experience of reading .epub files on the kobo forma that are not bought from the kobo store?
I saw in one review that they say there will be a large empty gap on the bottom of each page.
Is it possible to make it look normal by filling out most of the screen, and also include page numbers etc?

I am quite new to e-books readers, so I don't have a lot of knowledge on how everything works.

It's entirely possible to remove empty gaps by patching your Kobo (the patch about widows and orphans and the patch about bottom space). Epubs use Adobe page numbers, which you can display or not, as you wish.

Here is a sideloaded epub on my Kobo Libra (patched, page numbers are hidden by choice).

[forster01]

Originally Posted by Raisin55

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the experience of reading .epub files on the kobo forma that are not bought from the kobo store?
I saw in one review that they say there will be a large empty gap on the bottom of each page.
Is it possible to make it look normal by filling out most of the screen, and also include page numbers etc?

I am quite new to e-books readers, so I don't have a lot of knowledge on how everything works.

You can setup your reading experience only by patching Kobo.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by forster01

You can setup your reading experience only by patching Kobo.

You don't need to patch the device. You just need to make sure the books are properly formatted. The space left at the bottom of the screen (which seems to the the OPs concern) depends on the formatting of the page and the font size used. Large fonts will make it look like a lot of space is left as the device can't put half a line on the screen. One issue is with widows and orphans. If they are left to the default, it can leave extra space.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You don't need to patch the device. You just need to make sure the books are properly formatted. The space left at the bottom of the screen (which seems to the the OPs concern) depends on the formatting of the page and the font size used. Large fonts will make it look like a lot of space is left as the device can't put half a line on the screen. One issue is with widows and orphans. If they are left to the default, it can leave extra space.

Remember Widows and Orphans can cause a large gap at the bottom of the screen.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Remember Windows and Orphans can cause a large gap at the bottom of the screen.

You mean the widows and orphans I mention in the last line of my post? And as I started with "properly formatted", doesn't that cover it as well?

[Raisin55]

Thanks for all the help, I'm not sure i understand much of it though - I've never had an ereader before.
What are widow and oprhans, and how do you go about patching a device?

[RobertJSawyer]

Okay, let's get back to the original poster's actual point:

"I saw in one review that they say there will be a large empty gap on the bottom of each page."

That's simply not true. Most sideloaded epubs will display just fine with no adjustments at all.

[ps67]

This is a definition of what are widows and orphans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widows_and_orphans

In epub css You can set them to: 1 or 2 or 3 ecc (2 is enough to have the possibility of a little blank space in the bottom of screen). If You set them to 1 You won't waste space on Your screen, otherwise You could do it.

About patches: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=328052

They are modifications to the standard Kobo firmware that give to You more possibilities of customization. They are kindly written and maintained by members of this forum.

But anyway:

Originally Posted by RobertJSawyer

Okay, let's get back to the original poster's actual point:

"I saw in one review that they say there will be a large empty gap on the bottom of each page."

That's simply not true. Most sideloaded epubs will display just fine with no adjustments at all.

Is right.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by RobertJSawyer

Okay, let's get back to the original poster's actual point:

"I saw in one review that they say there will be a large empty gap on the bottom of each page."

That's simply not true. Most sideloaded epubs will display just fine with no adjustments at all.

Umm no. My experience, when I first got my Kobo, was exactly those gaps the OP is talking about. They were in many, if not most of my epubs. Widows and orphans issue, which went away after I edited the css. The patch does the same thing.

[RobertJSawyer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Umm no. My experience, when I first got my Kobo, was exactly those gaps the OP is talking about.

And when did you first get your Kobo? What firmware were you running back then?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by RobertJSawyer

And when did you first get your Kobo? What firmware were you running back then?

In September 2019. I think the firmware was 4.17, but I'm not really sure. I was hugely disappointed by the epub experience at first, but after fixing widows/orphans and applying the patches (specifically disabling the bottom padding) the formatting got much better.

[stumped]

I sideload everythng to Forma as kepub using the driver add-on for calibre.
I am very satisfied with the result and have not tweaked anything
I like seeing pages in chapter as well as pages in book. I think that is kepub only.


I also tested adding epub via Dropbox and that looked ok also.
I do already set widows, orhans to 1 in all my books though

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by stumped

I sideload everythng to Forma as kepub using the driver add-on for calibre.
I am very satisfied with the result and have not tweaked anything
I like seeing pages in chapter as well as pages in book. I think that is kepub only.


I also tested adding epub via Dropbox and that looked ok also.
I do already set widows, orhans to 1 in all my books though

The renderer used for kepub is more aggressive about putting text on the screen. As near as I can tell, internally widows and orphans are disabled regardless of what is in the CSS. Much like the patch does for epubs.