Kobo fonts displaying spaces after em dashes

Siavahda · Yesterday, 01:42 AM

I just got my first kobo (Clara Colour) and one thing I've noticed is that, regardless of what font I use, the kobo is displaying a lot of em dashes as having a space after them. When the space doesn't exist in the actual ebook file. (I have checked with the Calibre editor.)

:edited to add: the ebooks I'm looking at are justify-aligned. When I tell the kobo to set justification to left, the spaces after the em dashes seem to disappear. I want this effect without having to set the alignment to the left.

I know this is a kobo issue because the same ebook on my paperwhite doesn't show spaces after the em dashes with the built-in baskerville font, but using baskerville on my kobo = spaces after most em dashes.

I was told Noto Serif is a font that does not add spaces to em dashes (because apparently some fonts just do this??? why) and it's true that it displays a lot less spaces, but not zero.

How do I make my kobo reflect the lack of spaces accurately? Is there a particular font? Is it a margins thing? (Altering the margins does seem to affect it; some spaces vanish or appear at different margin settings.) I have very bad hands, I do not want to have to manually edit in spaces around all em dashes in every ebook to make them display consistently.

I know this should be a small thing but it's genuinely making me regret giving up my kindle. Really hoping there's an easy fix!

Sirtel · Yesterday, 04:53 AM

Is this with epubs or kepubs? Kepubs have issues with displaying justified text. There is no absolute fix, other than experimenting with different fonts, font sizes and margins. You could also install the word-spacing patch in Kobopatch, and maybe try a different hyphenation dictionary.

Personally I set the justification on my Kobos to OFF, because I edit my books to have justification in the css. This results in a better display than when using the Kobo option.

Siavahda · Yesterday, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Is this with epubs or kepubs? Kepubs have issues with displaying justified text. There is no absolute fix, other than experimenting with different fonts, font sizes and margins. You could also install the word-spacing patch in Kobopatch, and maybe try a different hyphenation dictionary.

Personally I set the justification on my Kobos to OFF, because I edit my books to have justification in the css. This results in a better display than when using the Kobo option.

These are epubs I have sideloaded onto my kobo.

I mostly have the justification on the kobo set to off, because I too edit my books to be justified in the css.

Unfortunately, justification = off isn't enough to fix this problem. I even installed the hyphenation dictionary from this post, and it helped, but hasn't completely solved it.

John F · Yesterday, 06:01 AM

I use kepubs, and emdashes (I think they are emdashes) causes problems with full justification. This has been going on for a long time.

JSWolf · Yesterday, 06:34 AM

@Siavahda, give ChareInk7SP a go. It has a smaller space and there are no spaces around em dashes.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=2140184

Siavahda · Yesterday, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

@Siavahda, give ChareInk7SP a go. It has a smaller space and there are no spaces around em dashes.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=2140184

Thank you for the suggestion! I just tried - if I leave the justification setting OFF, there's still gaps after some em dashes. It's better than any other font I've tried, I think, but it's not 100%.

Interestingly, if I go into the ebook's css and add "letter-spacing: 1px;" to body, it seems to fix the problem. Of course, that does make the text look pretty different. I'd rather a different solution!

Siavahda · Yesterday, 07:42 AM

Removing the text-align: justify in the ebook's css helped; setting the Kobo to justify the text didn't seem to add spaces to the em dashes then.

Setting the letter-spacing to -1px seems to completely erase the spaces, and the text doesn't look as odd (to me) as 1px!

(This is all with ChareInk7SP btw.)

JSWolf · Yesterday, 02:47 PM

I think I've figured out the problem. In a lot of eBooks, there are spaces around em dashes. When I edit the eBook, I remove the spaces.

Siavahda · Yesterday, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think I've figured out the problem. In a lot of eBooks, there are spaces around em dashes. When I edit the eBook, I remove the spaces.

Nope. Like I said in the original post, the spaces aren't there in the ebook file.

I can't swear there's not some rule buried in the css telling the ebook to display em dashes that way, but there are not spaces around the em dashes in the book text.

Sirtel · Yesterday, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think I've figured out the problem. In a lot of eBooks, there are spaces around em dashes. When I edit the eBook, I remove the spaces.

For me it's more natural to have the spaces, because that's the way it's done in my native language. The US way of not having spaces around em dashes has always seemed very unnatural to me. But I can't be bothered to edit them either way, so I just leave em dashes as they are in the book.

JSWolf · Yesterday, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siavahda

Nope. Like I said in the original post, the spaces aren't there in the ebook file.

I can't swear there's not some rule buried in the css telling the ebook to display em dashes that way, but there are not spaces around the em dashes in the book text.

There is no CSS that I've ever seen to put spaces around em dashes.

I just figured it out. You are reading KePub. I know this because changing the letter space does not do anything if you are reading an ePub on your Kobo. The KoboTouch driver is converting your ePub to KePub. You can turn that off if you want ePub.

JSWolf · Yesterday, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

For me it's more natural to have the spaces, because that's the way it's done in my native language. The US way of not having spaces around em dashes has always seemed very unnatural to me. But I can't be bothered to edit them either way, so I just leave em dashes as they are in the book.

I find it odd looking to have spaces around em dashes and ellipsis.

Aleron Ives · Yesterday, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I can't be bothered to edit them either way, so I just leave em dashes as they are in the book.

Gasp!

We've finally found a formatting matter that Sirtel isn't picky about?

Sirtel · Yesterday, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Gasp!

We've finally found a formatting matter that Sirtel isn't picky about?

I must be getting old and senile...

Siavahda · Today, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There is no CSS that I've ever seen to put spaces around em dashes.

I just figured it out. You are reading KePub. I know this because changing the letter space does not do anything if you are reading an ePub on your Kobo. The KoboTouch driver is converting your ePub to KePub. You can turn that off if you want ePub.

What is the KoboTouch driver and where is it? I've only had my Kobo a few days and I haven't heard of that before.

Do all Kobos turn epubs to kepubs out of the box?

Yesterday, 01:42 AM	#1
Siavahda Zealot Posts: 147 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Helsinki Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2018	Kobo fonts displaying spaces after em dashes I just got my first kobo (Clara Colour) and one thing I've noticed is that, regardless of what font I use, the kobo is displaying a lot of em dashes as having a space after them. When the space doesn't exist in the actual ebook file. (I have checked with the Calibre editor.) :edited to add: the ebooks I'm looking at are justify-aligned. When I tell the kobo to set justification to left, the spaces after the em dashes seem to disappear. I want this effect without having to set the alignment to the left. I know this is a kobo issue because the same ebook on my paperwhite doesn't show spaces after the em dashes with the built-in baskerville font, but using baskerville on my kobo = spaces after most em dashes. I was told Noto Serif is a font that does not add spaces to em dashes (because apparently some fonts just do this??? why) and it's true that it displays a lot less spaces, but not zero. How do I make my kobo reflect the lack of spaces accurately? Is there a particular font? Is it a margins thing? (Altering the margins does seem to affect it; some spaces vanish or appear at different margin settings.) I have very bad hands, I do not want to have to manually edit in spaces around all em dashes in every ebook to make them display consistently. I know this should be a small thing but it's genuinely making me regret giving up my kindle. Really hoping there's an easy fix! Last edited by Siavahda; Yesterday at 02:02 AM. Reason: more details

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Yesterday, 04:53 AM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 15,263 Karma: 247605191 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	Is this with epubs or kepubs? Kepubs have issues with displaying justified text. There is no absolute fix, other than experimenting with different fonts, font sizes and margins. You could also install the word-spacing patch in Kobopatch, and maybe try a different hyphenation dictionary. Personally I set the justification on my Kobos to OFF, because I edit my books to have justification in the css. This results in a better display than when using the Kobo option.

Yesterday, 06:01 AM	#4
John F Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,226 Karma: 72583667 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo Clara 2E	I use kepubs, and emdashes (I think they are emdashes) causes problems with full justification. This has been going on for a long time.

Yesterday, 06:34 AM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,750 Karma: 153649587 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	@Siavahda, give ChareInk7SP a go. It has a smaller space and there are no spaces around em dashes. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=2140184

Yesterday, 07:42 AM	#7
Siavahda Zealot Posts: 147 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Helsinki Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2018	Removing the text-align: justify in the ebook's css helped; setting the Kobo to justify the text didn't seem to add spaces to the em dashes then. Setting the letter-spacing to -1px seems to completely erase the spaces, and the text doesn't look as odd (to me) as 1px! (This is all with ChareInk7SP btw.)

Yesterday, 02:47 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,750 Karma: 153649587 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I think I've figured out the problem. In a lot of eBooks, there are spaces around em dashes. When I edit the eBook, I remove the spaces.