Adjusting word spacing for justified text – kepub

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I’d really appreciate it if it became a patch. Easier to manage from a user perspective, and no need to reimport books.

It should be possible with the caveat that it will be in the libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml file within PatchGroup: KePub stylesheet additions alternatives. This means that in fw 4.32.19501 you would only be able to enable one of these:

1. KePub stylesheet additions - text justify
2. KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeSpeed
3. KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility
4. KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing

Since I'm currently planning to retire patches 2 & 3 at the next fw upgrade you'd be choosing between 1 & 4 in future.

P.S. In case you haven't already noticed, I added a couple of screenshots to my earlier post to show the effect of setting word-spacing: -0.05em in a kepub.

Here's a beta for the proposed new patch. It should work in fw 4.32.19501 (with the above caveat). Just copy it into your existing libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml file and enable it in the normal way.

Spoiler:

KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing:
  - Enabled: no
  - PatchGroup: KePub stylesheet additions alternatives
  - Description: Reduces the space between words in KePubs.
  - FindBaseAddressString: ".KBSearchResult, .KBAnnotation, .KBHighlighting {"
  # *** Don't change anything in the 4 ReplaceString lines below ***
  - ReplaceString: {Find: ".KBSearchResult, .KBAnnotation, .KBHighlighting { font-size: 100% !important; -webkit-text-combine: inherit !important; }\n", Replace: ".KBSearchResult,.KBAnnotation,.KBHighlighting{font-size:100%!important;-webkit-text-combine:inherit!important}.KBAnnotatio", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 122, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"horizontal-tb\"] { border-bottom: 2px solid black !important; }\n", Replace: "n[writingMode=\"horizontal-tb\"]{border-bottom:2px solid #000!important}.KBAnnotation[writin", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 212, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"vertical-rl\"] { border-right: 2px solid black !important; }\n", Replace: "gMode=\"vertical-rl\"]{border-right:2px solid #000!important}.KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"v", MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 299, Find: ".KBAnnotation[writingMode=\"vertical-lr\"] { border-left: 2px solid black !important; }", Replace: "ertical-lr\"]{border-left:2px solid #000!important}/*********************************/", MustMatchLength: yes}
  # *** Don't change anything in the 4 ReplaceString lines above ***
  #
  # Customise the -0.05 value if you prefer.
  # N.B. Be careful, if it's too big some words may get joined together.
  - FindReplaceString: {Find: "/*********************************/", Replace: "body{word-spacing:-0.05em         }", MustMatchLength: yes}

Do let me know if you spot any unpleasant side-effects!

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

It should be possible with the caveat that it will be in the libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml file within PatchGroup: KePub stylesheet additions alternatives. This means that in fw 4.32.19501 you would only be able to enable one of these:

1. KePub stylesheet additions - text justify
2. KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeSpeed
3. KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility
4. KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing

Since I'm currently planning to retire patches 2 & 3 at the next fw upgrade you'd be choosing between 1 & 4 in future.

P.S. In case you haven't already noticed, I added a couple of screenshots to my earlier post to show the effect of setting word-spacing: -0.05em in a kepub.

I had noticed, thanks for adding them. For me personally this would just mean using this patch group again since I’m using the kobo config method with optimize legibility.

As I understand it I’d still be able to use both the config file and the proposed word spacing patch. With the understanding that the results I get might not be quite the same as if I were using just the word spacing patch.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

It should be possible with the caveat that it will be in the libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml file within PatchGroup: KePub stylesheet additions alternatives. This means that in fw 4.32.19501 you would only be able to enable one of these:

1. KePub stylesheet additions - text justify
2. KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeSpeed
3. KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility
4. KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing

Since I'm currently planning to retire patches 2 & 3 at the next fw upgrade you'd be choosing between 1 & 4 in future.

Why retire #3? I really like the ligatures.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

As I understand it I’d still be able to use both the config file and the proposed word spacing patch.

Yes, you can combine enabling the proposed patch KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing with adding the new Kobo config option

[Reading]
webkitTextRendering=optimizelegibility

which removes the need for the existing patch KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility.

I added the beta patch to my earlier post #31.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Why retire #3? I really like the ligatures.

You won't need to lose your kepub ligatures. We now have a new option for the Kobo config file.

The discussion started in the main fw 4.32.19501 thread (post #308) about a week ago but I summarised here in the main kobopatch thread.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Yes, you can combine enabling the proposed patch KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing with adding the new Kobo config option

[Reading]
webkitTextRendering=optimizelegibility

which removes the need for the existing patch KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeLegibility.

I added the beta patch to my earlier post #31.

Can it be combined with the OptimizeSpeed option or are they basically the same?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Can it be combined with the OptimizeSpeed option or are they basically the same?

The new kobopatch KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing can be combined with the optimizeSpeed option as long as you

1. Disable patch KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeSpeed
2. Add

   webkitTextRendering=optimizespeed

   to the existing [Reading] section of your .kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

The new kobopatch KePub stylesheet additions - word-spacing can be combined with the optimizeSpeed option as long as you

1. Disable patch KePub stylesheet additions - optimizeSpeed
2. Add

   webkitTextRendering=optimizespeed

   to the existing [Reading] section of your .kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file

Thank you! Can't wait to test your patch.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Thank you! Can't wait to test your patch.

Wait no more! I added it to post #31

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Wait no more! I added it to post #31

I saw, yes, and already saved your post.

[MGlitch]

Added the beta patch, a quick comparison for a full page of text before and after shows I've gained about two lines of text. Which is by no means a small feat considering all the other efforts I've made to cram as much text at a comfortable reading setting onto a screen.

Interestingly the space between words doesn't appear drastically changed, obviously it has changed since two lines of text don't just decided "welp I've had enough of being on this page I think I'll go join my mates on an earlier page" and run off to do so. I'll settle in to do some reading today to see if I find any issues.

[JSWolf]

Is there any way to create a patch to fix the bug where you can get part of the first line of the next page on the bottom of the current page?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is there any way to create a patch to fix the bug where you can get part of the first line of the next page on the bottom of the current page?

Of course you can just adjust line-spacing to lose the half-line.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Of course you can just adjust line-spacing to lose the half-line.

Tbf it’s sometimes more than one line spacing. But I believe that if you don’t patch line 10/24 spacing it’s less likely to be an issue you see. If that’s the case I’d be surprised if there was a patch to fix this issue since it’d either be one created or at least exacerbated by the user. I also think it’s further exacerbated by using your own fonts.

I might actually take a look at Literata Books line spacing and see if it’s done properly, I suspect it is thought I’d also have thought Bookerly would have been as well. I’d look at Charink but I trust Jon is fastidious enough to have set them correctly. I also didn’t notice this being an issue with my settings for charink.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Of course you can just adjust line-spacing to lose the half-line.

But that's not what I want. I don't want a larger space between lines. I want a way to fix the bug.