NickelTypeFix: a mod for better typography and typesetting (kepub only)

[fogice]

The rendering speedup alone is making my Libra 2 so much better. I'm no longer quite as jealous of my wife's Clara BW.

[MrSilverstrike]

Originally Posted by fogice

The rendering speedup alone is making my Libra 2 so much better. I'm no longer quite as jealous of my wife's Clara BW.

If you'd like to try an even faster version, I have one available to test.

Opening my test book has gone from 11s → 2s

[npr]

Tested the "even faster version" using the test book on my Libra 2.

Time to load first chapter 3.5 seconds. Same time as v0.10.

[fogice]

In reading your write-ups, I think there's some caching of letterforms that helps with the speed? So, after a reboot, I ran the test twice on my Libra 2 with the new version.

4.35 First run
3.49 Second run (went back to the first page, then re-entered the big chapter)

[MrSilverstrike]

Ah yes, I'm on a Clara BW here!

[xyclonei]

Originally Posted by MrSilverstrike

If you'd like to try an even faster version, I have one available to test.

Opening my test book has gone from 11s → 2s

That is amazing! Thank you.

EDIT: I seem to have the below Note (last line) in the log. Any idea why?

2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Firmware: 4.38.23697
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Build md5: 6015a0b210613b34ca930beae31d7f7f
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Glyph wobble: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Vertical text: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Justify koboSpan: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Justify punctuation: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Letter-spacing spaces: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Reader-font fallback: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Capital spacing: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Reader-font quoting: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Page-boundary clipping: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Centered images: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Drop caps: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Fast text shaping: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Line layout: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: EPUB delivery: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Small caps: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Mid-parse layout: enabled=yes, active=yes
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: 24 line-spacing values: enabled=no, active=no
2026-09-09 23:51:58 NickelTypeFix v0.10-dirty: Note: a hooked GUI call arrived on an unexpected thread; the affected fix is sitting out (other fixes are unaffected). (src/nickeltypefix.cc:642)

[MrSilverstrike]

Originally Posted by xyclonei

EDIT: I seem to have the below Note (last line) in the log. Any idea why?

That's likely a misleading error. A fix was not applied to a thread unrelated to the epub renderer, which is actually correct behaviour!

[JSWolf]

I was thinking, the name doesn't seem correct. I think it should be changed to KePubTypeFix as it does nothing for RMSDK.

[elyonson]

I'm so glad I saw this on Reddit. This fixed all my issues with Kobo since moving from Kindle. It's much cleaner especially on Justified!

I made an account specifically just to thank you because I really really really appreciate it.

The only thing left that bothers me are the text titles that justify left when using Full Justify. Is that something you can fix?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by elyonson

I'm so glad I saw this on Reddit. This fixed all my issues with Kobo since moving from Kindle. It's much cleaner especially on Justified!

I made an account specifically just to thank you because I really really really appreciate it.

The only thing left that bothers me are the text titles that justify left when using Full Justify. Is that something you can fix?

That's due to the CSS, You need to edit the ePub and remove all text-align: left; from the CSS.

[elyonson]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's due to the CSS, You need to edit the ePub and remove all text-align: left; from the CSS.

I see. I buy books directly from Kobo and I kind of don't want to dump and re-upload it just for that.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by elyonson

I see. I buy books directly from Kobo and I kind of don't want to dump and re-upload it just for that.

If you open the kepub and then the [Aa] menu, what have you set as "Justification" (bottom line)? Try setting it to "Off". Are the chapter headings now centred?

[JSWolf]

If the chapter headers use an h tag, they will remain centered. It's if they use a p will they become no longer centered.

[Falkor]

Originally Posted by elyonson

The only thing left that bothers me are the text titles that justify left when using Full Justify. Is that something you can fix?

Funny, the default renderer in firmware 5.x does exactly what you want. It overrides any text-align style. I find it extremely annoying.

[MrSilverstrike]

Originally Posted by elyonson

The only thing left that bothers me are the text titles that justify left when using Full Justify. Is that something you can fix?

Yes, headers are unaffected by the justification override that Kobo ships. The same thing actually happens with images once NickelTypeFix is installed, so it's more consistent (as images in ebooks are often part of the header). I think that's actually the right behaviour... but perhaps it should be a setting, whether justification applies to everything or not.

Originally Posted by Falkor

Funny, the default renderer in firmware 5.x does exactly what you want. It overrides any text-align style. I find it extremely annoying.

Don't get me started on the new renderer... The 5.x renderer also doesn't do letter spacing (at all). I actually have a version of NickelTypeFix for the 5.x firmware that I'm testing... if you're feeling adventurous I'd be happy to post a pre-release that's available for testing.