Epub books text justified with update?

Mayr · 09-07-2009, 01:58 PM

I'm buying a Sony PRS-505 and would like to know if you guys think it will display correctly justified text in epub books after a firmware update by Sony.
Do you think such an update is possible and expectable in the near future?

frabjous · 09-07-2009, 02:27 PM

I wouldn't hold your breath. I think if this mattered to them, they would have included it as a feature in the new 300s and 600s but don't appear to have done so. There have been rumors for a long time they were working on a firmware update, but I've stopped believing them personally.

Let's hope they prove me wrong.

DDHarriman · 09-07-2009, 05:30 PM

Second that!

But... everything is possible.

iozy · 09-09-2009, 05:35 PM

Well epub seems to be the dominant format and it is the one used by the official UK stores for the Reader... yet it looks awful on a reader, with wasted whitespace at the margins or too-small text and odd flowing, it is very poorly implemented and one wonders if anyone other than the guinea pig customers has ever bought an epub and read it on a Reader...

Madam Broshkina · 09-09-2009, 06:13 PM

I think that when Sony starts selling epubs exclusively and if enough people complain about the lack of full justification they will come out with a update. The Sony 300 I bought come with a bunch of sample ePub books and I was not to impressed with them. Though the ePub books make it easier to go to the same book on the 300 and the 505 because of the little page numbers on the side. I just remember where I left off on one reader and go to that page on the other reader. Can't do that with LRF/LRX books.

JSWolf · 09-09-2009, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iozy

Well epub seems to be the dominant format and it is the one used by the official UK stores for the Reader... yet it looks awful on a reader, with wasted whitespace at the margins or too-small text and odd flowing, it is very poorly implemented and one wonders if anyone other than the guinea pig customers has ever bought an epub and read it on a Reader...

Too small text is not a problem with ePub. It's a problem with the book in question. Try going to medium and you'll probably find it no longer too small. But then again, what you may find too small, others may find just fine. That is why you can go to medium.

doreenjoy · 09-10-2009, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

I think that when Sony starts selling epubs exclusively and if enough people complain about the lack of full justification they will come out with a update. The Sony 300 I bought come with a bunch of sample ePub books and I was not to impressed with them. Though the ePub books make it easier to go to the same book on the 300 and the 505 because of the little page numbers on the side. I just remember where I left off on one reader and go to that page on the other reader. Can't do that with LRF/LRX books.

Personally I find ragged-right margins easier to read, so I don't know how many customers will be clammoring for full justification.

frabjous · 09-10-2009, 12:32 PM

Clamor clamor clamor!

I understand that people's preferences vary, but full justification is what most of us are used to (--open any paper book on your shelf--) and find ragged right offputting.

informale · 09-10-2009, 12:38 PM

Hmm.. how about writing an open letter to Sony concerning this issue?

AnemicOak · 09-10-2009, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frabjous

Clamor clamor clamor!

I understand that people's preferences vary, but full justification is what most of us are used to (--open any paper book on your shelf--) and find ragged right offputting.

It shouldn't be that hard for them to give people the option to have it either way.

DDHarriman · 09-10-2009, 05:49 PM

One of the reasons I bought the 505 last December was to test ePub.

But without full justification, the format is useless for me.

goldilocks · 09-10-2009, 06:03 PM

Personnally I don't like full justification. I just read a book that had two words on one line - one at the beginning and one at the end, with a big blank spot in the middle. I never liked pbook spacing either-too many extra spaces between words.

HansTWN · 09-10-2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

One of the reasons I bought the 505 last December was to test ePub.

But without full justification, the format is useless for me.

I would like full justification, but "useless" without it? I thought easily readable text was the idea! What I really call useless is the way some PDF's display on the Sony.

frabjous · 09-10-2009, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldilocks

Personnally I don't like full justification. I just read a book that had two words on one line - one at the beginning and one at the end, with a big blank spot in the middle. I never liked pbook spacing either-too many extra spaces between words.

Well obviously if you make the lines that short, things change.

But otherwise, typographically well-made books will avoid stretching interword spacing by too much even with full justification by hyphenating words to fit nearly the same amount of characters on every line. That's really only possible with fairly advanced typographical programs like InDesign, Scribus or--the free alternative--LaTeX. It's not current possible with anything using ePub source.

So in the meantime, my favorite book format is PDFs made to have the right size for the reader, which can be done with LaTeX. But those are rare. ePubs tend to come next, but I'd still prefer full justification. (PDFs not made to have the page size of the reader of course are much less readable, of course, and I'll usually process them with something like SoPDF or PDFLRF first.)

iozy · 09-11-2009, 03:44 AM

Is there a way to process epubs to a pdf or so? If I convert them to LRF in Calibre the text size is usually all over the place with sudden pull quotes in large followed by the smallest text imaginable.

I'm not complaining about ragged right, I can live with it. I am moaning about huge margin sizes. On a recent epub purchase, the standard S was about 6pt. Way too small. With huge borders. So shifting up to M results in a readable font but even bigger borders, resulting in only 50% of the screen being used. That particular epub looks much better in landscape mode... BUT I just know if I had bought everything in LRF, everything would fill the screen and be the right size mostly... come on SONY, polish the ePub firmware for the 505!

09-07-2009, 01:58 PM	#1
Mayr Connoisseur Posts: 65 Karma: 16 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Porto, Portugal Device: Sony PRS-505, iPhone 3Gs	Epub books text justified with update? I'm buying a Sony PRS-505 and would like to know if you guys think it will display correctly justified text in epub books after a firmware update by Sony. Do you think such an update is possible and expectable in the near future?

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09-07-2009, 02:27 PM	#2
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	I wouldn't hold your breath. I think if this mattered to them, they would have included it as a feature in the new 300s and 600s but don't appear to have done so. There have been rumors for a long time they were working on a firmware update, but I've stopped believing them personally. Let's hope they prove me wrong.

09-07-2009, 05:30 PM	#3
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Second that! But... everything is possible.

09-09-2009, 05:35 PM	#4
iozy Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: PRS-505	Well epub seems to be the dominant format and it is the one used by the official UK stores for the Reader... yet it looks awful on a reader, with wasted whitespace at the margins or too-small text and odd flowing, it is very poorly implemented and one wonders if anyone other than the guinea pig customers has ever bought an epub and read it on a Reader...

09-09-2009, 06:13 PM	#5
Madam Broshkina Manic Do Fuse Posts: 2,312 Karma: 3325462 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony 500, 505, 350, Kindle 3, DXG, nook, Irex DR800SG, iPad	I think that when Sony starts selling epubs exclusively and if enough people complain about the lack of full justification they will come out with a update. The Sony 300 I bought come with a bunch of sample ePub books and I was not to impressed with them. Though the ePub books make it easier to go to the same book on the 300 and the 505 because of the little page numbers on the side. I just remember where I left off on one reader and go to that page on the other reader. Can't do that with LRF/LRX books.

09-10-2009, 12:32 PM	#8
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	Clamor clamor clamor! I understand that people's preferences vary, but full justification is what most of us are used to (--open any paper book on your shelf--) and find ragged right offputting.

09-10-2009, 12:38 PM	#9
informale Member Posts: 16 Karma: 244 Join Date: May 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505, Netronix EB600	Hmm.. how about writing an open letter to Sony concerning this issue?

09-10-2009, 05:49 PM	#11
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	One of the reasons I bought the 505 last December was to test ePub. But without full justification, the format is useless for me.

09-10-2009, 06:03 PM	#12
goldilocks Addict Posts: 344 Karma: 1222222 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Florida Device: Sony PRS-505	Personnally I don't like full justification. I just read a book that had two words on one line - one at the beginning and one at the end, with a big blank spot in the middle. I never liked pbook spacing either-too many extra spaces between words.

09-11-2009, 03:44 AM	#15
iozy Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: PRS-505	Is there a way to process epubs to a pdf or so? If I convert them to LRF in Calibre the text size is usually all over the place with sudden pull quotes in large followed by the smallest text imaginable. I'm not complaining about ragged right, I can live with it. I am moaning about huge margin sizes. On a recent epub purchase, the standard S was about 6pt. Way too small. With huge borders. So shifting up to M results in a readable font but even bigger borders, resulting in only 50% of the screen being used. That particular epub looks much better in landscape mode... BUT I just know if I had bought everything in LRF, everything would fill the screen and be the right size mostly... come on SONY, polish the ePub firmware for the 505!