Choice between epub and LRF, which do you use?

[siulayhumga]

I usually convert book into both epub and lrf. Mainly use LRF on the reader but keep epub as a backup (archive)

[BlackVoid]

My choice would be:
- Stick with LRF because it is the Sony's 'native' file and worry about converting down the road only if need arises

I only read LRF format books on my reader. It looks better and it is faster than any other format.
As for backup purposes you should consider LIT format - I found that it converts the best to any other formats.

[Teddman]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

My choice would be: I only read LRF format books on my reader. It looks better and it is faster than any other format.

Have you tried .rtf files? I find them to be just as fast as LRF, and they also have full justification, even if you zoom the font. The 505's rtf support is top notch.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Valloric

Do we need to have this whole discussion again? The fonts need to be in the OPF. Everything needs to be in the OPF, except the files that define the OPF itself.

Go through the whole discussion and replace the word "image" with the word "font". The result is the same.

So how does one specify the fonts in the OPF file?

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by Teddman

Have you tried .rtf files? I find them to be just as fast as LRF, and they also have full justification, even if you zoom the font. The 505's rtf support is top notch.

One problem with rtf on the PRS-505 is the lack of support for images (illustrations).

[Amalthia]

Originally Posted by netseeker

One problem with rtf on the PRS-505 is the lack of support for images (illustrations).

It also does not support table of contents or hyperlinks.

[Teddman]

Good points... I guess most of the time, all I care about is support for bookmarks and full justification.

On the plus side, I do like that I can edit font size and style easily in a text editor if I want to tweak an rtf.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So how does one specify the fonts in the OPF file?

Reference them in the manifest element. Fot TrueType fonts, make the "item" element look something like this:

<item id="font1" href="fonts/font1.ttf" media-type="application/x-font-truetype" />

For OpenType fonts, this:

<item id="font2" href="fonts/font2.otf" media-type="application/x-font-opentype" />

The standards Gods have not specified font MIME types, but these follow the naming conventions and are probably the best you could use. And they work.

Of course, the "href" and "id" are up to you.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Just wondering for those who download free books from the forum here or who buy multiformat books at Fictionwise, do you download the epub or the lrf version? I have been sticking with LRF since I started with those thinking they were the 'native' format and now I have a lot of books. But I am interested in 'future proofing' my collection as much as possible and am wondering if it might be better to either start using the epub instead or to take a weekend and re-download everything into epub?

I have to be honest and admit that one reason I bought my Sony reader -- even though I already owned a Kindle -- was because of the large number of books here at MobileRead that were only available in the .lrf format. After trying unsuccessfully to convert the .lrf files to something that I could turn into Mobipocket, I just bought the Sony reader. So -- when I purchase Multi-format books from Fictionwise or Baen/Webscriptions, I just ignore the .lrf version and download the ePub version if it's available. I can explode the ePub and convert to any other format and so far, the .lrf files are still locked up.

[brycej]

I use both lrf and epub format books. I really like that fact that the recent books I have downloaded from Project Gutenberg are in epub format. I don't have to do any conversion, just load the book onto my reader and I am set. Also, a lot of the books I download from the public library are now in epub format...much nicer than the PDFs they used to have.

I think that justification should be a user controlled feature. I have it turned off for lrf files in my reader and I am fine with epubs not having full justification. I don't want full justification on such a small device until they can properly format the lines with correct hyphenation. But I know that is now what everyone wants and I don't see any reason we should not be able to choose.

[radius]

Originally Posted by Renaldo

The criticisms in this thread are about ePub as seen on the Sony readers. My knowing what ePub is capable of doesn't change that I don't like reading them on the Sony as compared to LRF, and I'd guess that goes for most of the other pro-LRFers here. I'd rather choose an inferior format that has a better implementation than a superior format with an inferior implementation.

Does that mean you will never read your books again on a new device? Sure the current Sony Reader you have may not display ePub perfectly, but what about the next reader you buy? Or the one after that? you will most likely be able to keep using ePub books in the future, but using LRF ties you to Sony's line of devices.

I have gone with ePub instead of LRF for a number of reasons, but primarily because I know that I will always be able to open it up and examine/fix its contents at any time.



Some of my reasons for choosing epub:

• easier to change display font
• faster display if you changed the font
• don't need to load using Sony's library software to avoid paging calculations
• better looking default font for displaying books from other sources
• easier to convert to HTML for hand editing/personalization
• more freedom to position things on the page in general

[pepak]

Originally Posted by radius

Does that mean you will never read your books again on a new device? Sure the current Sony Reader you have may not display ePub perfectly, but what about the next reader you buy?

That's why I store e-books in a format that is easy to convert. I get the best of both worlds - a future-proof book that can be comfortably read on today's devices.

[*]easier to change display font

How come? You need to modify the book with either format, and using Calibre, the difference seems negligible.

[*]don't need to load using Sony's library software to avoid paging calculations

So you prefer recalculation every time you open a new section of a book to one-time recalculation when you first open the book?

[radius]

Originally Posted by pepak

How come? You need to modify the book with either format, and using Calibre, the difference seems negligible.

Mostly because I was never able to get Calibre to successfully embed a body font for me (italics worked for some strange reason though). That means that I had to reflash every time I wanted to change fonts.

But not all fonts seem to render correctly, so that meant another reflash.

Then I have to re-load all my books because the LRF indexing is wrong and I end up missing text on some pages.

Whew!

For epubs, I can embed or reference fonts easily. Just open up the epub using my zip program, copy and paste into the stylesheet and I'm done (well, and drag some fonts into the epub if I'm embedding). ADE also doesn't like some fonts (e.g. Cambria) but its much easier to test out so I don't mind as much.

So you prefer recalculation every time you open a new section of a book to one-time recalculation when you first open the book?

Sure do, because its fast. To me, hitting a short delay every once in a while is preferable to hitting one long delay when I first want to read your book.

[ficbot]

I want to thank everyone for their great comments. This thread has taken some interesting turns! I am sticking with LRF for now and trusting that if Sony stops supporting it, someone (Calibre?) will come up with a translator so we can convert our stuff if we have to

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I want to thank everyone for their great comments. This thread has taken some interesting turns! I am sticking with LRF for now and trusting that if Sony stops supporting it, someone (Calibre?) will come up with a translator so we can convert our stuff if we have to

As long as your Reader works you'll be fine reading LRF. It's a great terminal format for the PRS series. Keep books in whatever archive format you want (epub is great for that) and Calibre can always shift it to LRF.