Another font size problem - Page 3

alex_d · 12-23-2006, 04:35 AM

Sony probably has little interest meddling with how publishers typeset their books, and quick consumer research experiments probably concluded that people don't want large fonts. (The way some of you said you didn't think you'd come to like large fonts.)

Anyway, while getting to customize the look of your book would've been a popular feature at the Connect store, for now I just blame Sony for not having a setting that biases the size modes (ie to be bigger or smaller). What kind of settings menu has two options, a slideshow, and the copyright?

NatCh- "Not if they actually are at fault. And particularly not if they're the only ones who can fix the problem or the ones blocking fixing the problem. I'm not saying that that is the case, just pointing out that we don't really know what the case actually is. I'm also not saying that there is no problem, there definitely is a problem with the font sizes on a lot of the books. I just think that while we're complaining loudly about it, we should keep in mind that what we think the fix is, may not be the fix."

You're quite the Buddhist monk there, but there's a reason their philosophy didn't progress much for two thousand years. Being half-right is sometimes better than speaking in wise tautologies.

NatCh · 12-23-2006, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex_d

You're quite the Buddhist monk there, but there's a reason their philosophy didn't progress much for two thousand years. Being half-right is sometimes better than speaking in wise tautologies.

Hmm. Which half do you see as wrong? The half where the publishers really could be the problem, or the half where we don't really know what the case is?

I generally find it's best to make sure that what I'm getting all worked up about is actually so, that way I find I make a donkey of myself far less frequently. In this case, I'm just trying to avoid losing sight of the obvious, yes they're obvious points, but that's exactly why folks tend to lose track of them: they fade into the landscape.

HarryT · 12-23-2006, 10:26 AM

Nat,

Just worked out what your "sig" actually says. As a classical scholar I really should have been quicker off the mark

. I love it!

NatCh · 12-23-2006, 11:31 AM

Thanks, Harry. I do like my little, obscure jokes.

BettyE · 12-25-2006, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aprilbeginnings

..... so now I go to read one of the other books I got through connect and I must say now I am a little peeved because the font size on large is perhaps the size small on the stuff I have changed...... these books will be much harder for me to read

Aprilbeginnings -

Maybe we should name the books and publishers. The book that is ticking me off at the moment is "Term Limits" and the publisher is Pocket Star Books. What about the book you are currently reading?

One thing I just thought of is that maybe the publishers honestly don't know this is an issue and maybe they would welcome our feedback.

One other thing that I didn't mention earlier -- I never had a font problem with my Rocket E-book, so I don't believe it is difficult for Sony to control this.

Betty

eyestrain · 12-26-2006, 06:00 AM

It might be a good idea, but I'm fairly positive now that it has nothing to do with the publishers.

I stumbled upon this thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8709

in which it states that Sony use an affiliate company to do the conversion. They charge for the service, quite a lot as it goes.

To my mind this makes Sony wholly culpable, as they contract those who make the conversion.

HarryT · 12-26-2006, 06:19 AM

I'm sure, though, that the publisher is able to specify what they'd like to font face and size to be, just as they do when they send a book to a printers.

Perhaps the fundamental problem is that the Reader doesn't honour the font size of the original. ie 12pt text in a source document doesn't come out as 12pt on the Reader. My experience is that you need to increase font size by about 4pt to have it appear the same size on the Reader as in the original RTF document.

Aprilbeginnings · 12-26-2006, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BettyE

Aprilbeginnings -

Maybe we should name the books and publishers. The book that is ticking me off at the moment is "Term Limits" and the publisher is Pocket Star Books. What about the book you are currently reading?

One thing I just thought of is that maybe the publishers honestly don't know this is an issue and maybe they would welcome our feedback.

One other thing that I didn't mention earlier -- I never had a font problem with my Rocket E-book, so I don't believe it is difficult for Sony to control this.

Betty

The book I am currently reading I got out *THERE*...... newgroups and I may be frowned at for this, but I can enlarge them so that they are very comforatble for me to read..... I set them arial 18 rtf.

I just did a thread on three books that were small, named the books anyway and one that the font size came out great.....

subject title is *question on connect books*..... I had made a suggestion sort of what you mention..... keeps tabs on what is what and isn't.

NatCh · 12-26-2006, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyestrain

It might be a good idea, but I'm fairly positive now that it has nothing to do with the publishers.

I stumbled upon this thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8709

in which it states that Sony use an affiliate company to do the conversion. They charge for the service, quite a lot as it goes.

To my mind this makes Sony wholly culpable, as they contract those who make the conversion.

That thread is discussing what's needed for independent authors to get their books in Connect -- i.e. what you or I would have to do if we wrote a book and wanted to get it into the store. I'm relatively sure that the likes of Simon & Schuster go through an entirely different approach.

The main reason for requiring the conversion service for indies seems to be to make sure that they get some of the copy-editing services that they're missing by not going through a full-up publisher. And, personally, I don't think that $200 is all that much for a full copy-editing.

Anyway, that whole discussion of those two (and several other) points has already taken place in the thread you referenced, so I won't replicate it here.

But my point here is that Sony's requiring use of the service for indies looks to me like more of an evidence for due diligence in getting quality texts than one for them being sloppy -- if they didn't care at all what sort of crap came through Connect, they'd just sell 'as is' any file that anyone e-mailed to them. I'm not saying they're doing all they might, I have no way of knowing that, just that this isn't really an indication that they're not.

KlondikeGeoff · 12-26-2006, 05:50 PM

Hey, April, I responded to your post on the other thread, and I think it is important to note here what I wrote, to see if anybody has an idea.

You said the book Echo Park was OK on the Large size, but I'm reading that book right now, and have the same trouble with Large in horizontal being one size smaller than the first books I got.

So, here's a case where two of us have bought the same book, but got different Large size. What the heck is going one here?

As I was the OP, I hope I won't offend anybody, the the discussions on whether Sony or the publishers are to blame is not the point.

Here is a case where two different Readers have different font sizes with the very same book purchased through Connect.

It may be a defect in the Reader, the software, the firmware, or whatever, but gol' darn it, we bought the Reader and the books from Sony, so THEY are responsible and should do something about it.

But, of course, they won't, alas.

Aprilbeginnings · 12-26-2006, 05:55 PM

The only thing I can say and I said on the other thread is that perhaps we are defining the word large as different. What might be large enough for me might not be large enough for you? I would not say Echo Park was huge, but it was very acceptable for me to read where the other purchased books are much smaller, and although I can read them, they are the size that makes it a little more difficult for me so I went and read a book I could see instead of one of the purchased ones.

Well you know, lightwedge has a thing you can lay on the books that magnifies them...... ha ha. watch some of us end up getting one of them suckers <G>

RWood · 12-26-2006, 07:49 PM

When I wrote to Sony about the pricing problem they asked me to call them and talk directly rather than through email. That was done. At the end of that segment he asked if there were any other concerns. I mentioned the changing base font size from book-to-book and the runtogetherwords that would not pass even basic spell check. He asked me to forward examples of both to him for additional anaysis. Any additional examples provided here will be forwarded.

KlondikeGeoff · 12-27-2006, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aprilbeginnings

Well you know, lightwedge has a thing you can lay on the books that magnifies them...... ha ha. watch some of us end up getting one of them suckers <G>

Do you have a Lightwedge? If so, how do you like it? From the reviews on Amazon, it does not seem as though it is bright enough. Anybody have experience with this thing?

In some thread somebody mentioned a Paperchase Z LED light as being good, but when I call Borders here they never heard of it.

I find a strong enough light makes it much easier to read the smaller type. Any recommendations for a good book light?

Aprilbeginnings · 12-27-2006, 10:30 AM

We are waiting with baited breath for a lightwedge to be made to fit this reader. The others are just too big although if you really wanted to hold it to the book I guess you could (I don't wish too, tried it in a store)..... so I keep checking their sight. They never did reply to my second email being specific about the wedge and not a clip on light which when they responded said they were working on a clip on, so I wanted more specificity..... never got it.....

As far as your comment about stronger light making smaller type easier to read, you can say that again..... the brighter it is, the easier it is to read...

alex_d · 12-27-2006, 04:10 PM

boldness also helps a huge amount. I wish that LRF/RTF books had not only a size setting, but a font weight setting too.

12-23-2006, 04:35 AM	#31
alex_d Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 187 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony Reader	Sony probably has little interest meddling with how publishers typeset their books, and quick consumer research experiments probably concluded that people don't want large fonts. (The way some of you said you didn't think you'd come to like large fonts.) Anyway, while getting to customize the look of your book would've been a popular feature at the Connect store, for now I just blame Sony for not having a setting that biases the size modes (ie to be bigger or smaller). What kind of settings menu has two options, a slideshow, and the copyright? NatCh- "Not if they actually are at fault. And particularly not if they're the only ones who can fix the problem or the ones blocking fixing the problem. I'm not saying that that is the case, just pointing out that we don't really know what the case actually is. I'm also not saying that there is no problem, there definitely is a problem with the font sizes on a lot of the books. I just think that while we're complaining loudly about it, we should keep in mind that what we think the fix is, may not be the fix." You're quite the Buddhist monk there, but there's a reason their philosophy didn't progress much for two thousand years. Being half-right is sometimes better than speaking in wise tautologies. Last edited by alex_d; 12-23-2006 at 04:45 AM.

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12-23-2006, 10:26 AM	#33
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,545 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Nat, Just worked out what your "sig" actually says. As a classical scholar I really should have been quicker off the mark . I love it!

12-23-2006, 11:31 AM	#34
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Thanks, Harry. I do like my little, obscure jokes.

12-26-2006, 06:00 AM	#36
eyestrain Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Voyage	It might be a good idea, but I'm fairly positive now that it has nothing to do with the publishers. I stumbled upon this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8709 in which it states that Sony use an affiliate company to do the conversion. They charge for the service, quite a lot as it goes. To my mind this makes Sony wholly culpable, as they contract those who make the conversion.

12-26-2006, 06:19 AM	#37
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,545 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I'm sure, though, that the publisher is able to specify what they'd like to font face and size to be, just as they do when they send a book to a printers. Perhaps the fundamental problem is that the Reader doesn't honour the font size of the original. ie 12pt text in a source document doesn't come out as 12pt on the Reader. My experience is that you need to increase font size by about 4pt to have it appear the same size on the Reader as in the original RTF document.

12-26-2006, 05:50 PM	#40
KlondikeGeoff Wombat Aficionado Posts: 481 Karma: 733 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Arizona Device: Fire, Kindle1, Sony PRS-500 Reader, Rocket 1100 eBook	Hey, April, I responded to your post on the other thread, and I think it is important to note here what I wrote, to see if anybody has an idea. You said the book Echo Park was OK on the Large size, but I'm reading that book right now, and have the same trouble with Large in horizontal being one size smaller than the first books I got. So, here's a case where two of us have bought the same book, but got different Large size. What the heck is going one here? As I was the OP, I hope I won't offend anybody, the the discussions on whether Sony or the publishers are to blame is not the point. Here is a case where two different Readers have different font sizes with the very same book purchased through Connect. It may be a defect in the Reader, the software, the firmware, or whatever, but gol' darn it, we bought the Reader and the books from Sony, so THEY are responsible and should do something about it. But, of course, they won't, alas.

12-26-2006, 05:55 PM	#41
Aprilbeginnings Guru Posts: 632 Karma: 404 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Southern CA Device: Sony PRS-500 /prs 650 soon	The only thing I can say and I said on the other thread is that perhaps we are defining the word large as different. What might be large enough for me might not be large enough for you? I would not say Echo Park was huge, but it was very acceptable for me to read where the other purchased books are much smaller, and although I can read them, they are the size that makes it a little more difficult for me so I went and read a book I could see instead of one of the purchased ones. Well you know, lightwedge has a thing you can lay on the books that magnifies them...... ha ha. watch some of us end up getting one of them suckers <G>

12-26-2006, 07:49 PM	#42
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	When I wrote to Sony about the pricing problem they asked me to call them and talk directly rather than through email. That was done. At the end of that segment he asked if there were any other concerns. I mentioned the changing base font size from book-to-book and the runtogetherwords that would not pass even basic spell check. He asked me to forward examples of both to him for additional anaysis. Any additional examples provided here will be forwarded.

12-27-2006, 10:30 AM	#44
Aprilbeginnings Guru Posts: 632 Karma: 404 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Southern CA Device: Sony PRS-500 /prs 650 soon	We are waiting with baited breath for a lightwedge to be made to fit this reader. The others are just too big although if you really wanted to hold it to the book I guess you could (I don't wish too, tried it in a store)..... so I keep checking their sight. They never did reply to my second email being specific about the wedge and not a clip on light which when they responded said they were working on a clip on, so I wanted more specificity..... never got it..... As far as your comment about stronger light making smaller type easier to read, you can say that again..... the brighter it is, the easier it is to read...

12-27-2006, 04:10 PM	#45
alex_d Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 187 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony Reader	boldness also helps a huge amount. I wish that LRF/RTF books had not only a size setting, but a font weight setting too.

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