otf, ttf, something else?

Artha · 11-23-2011, 03:31 AM

I'm working on this book. It's UTF8 encoded so it _should_ output right. ADE seems to have trouble with some characters. I only need latin support but latin for all European languages not just Latin 1 or 2. And that seems to call for font embeding. From what I have read around, especially on Mobileread, opentype is the EPUB2 standard font. But I don't seem to find otf files covering all the diacritics I need. On the other hand, ttf is readily available with Dejavu or SIL fonts. And from what I gather they are free to attach too. What can I do? Is there a free tool to do this right as bad conversion might damage the quality.

Toxaris · 11-23-2011, 08:59 AM

Unfortunately, most readers do not have a fully complete UTF-8 font. You can include both otf and ttf, but if you want you can convert a ttf to otf.
The SIL fonts are quite used. There is no real tool for this, but it is not hard. In short, you need to add the font to the ePUB and specify it in the stylesheet. There are some guides on the forum, if you can't find it, let us know.

Jellby · 11-24-2011, 11:09 AM

I believe TTF is supported but most (all) readers that support embedded fonts at all, even though it's not officially required.

Beware of using very large fonts (in filesize), not only they'll make the final book larger too, but some readers may have problems fitting them in memory.

DSpider · 11-24-2011, 01:46 PM

The same issue pops up every once in a while with Romanian because some fonts simply lack foreign characters (ă, ș, ț, etc), so most of the time I have to copy-paste the regular letters and add commas (,) and various other symbols to them.

TypeTool 3 is what I would recommend for editing fonts. It does the job very well. For something more complex there's FontStudio, but it's more for professionals really. If you're looking for something free, there's FontForge. Except it's for Linux. So if you're using Windows, don't bother with Cygwin. Install VirtualBox and grab a LiveCD copy (700 MB) of Ubuntu, or look at least look here. FontForge may not look pretty but it's written well and does a good job.

Artha · 11-24-2011, 05:00 PM

That's the real issue: Romanian names as most other European diacritics in latin script are supported. The good thing is that I still have to do some typing, but the file is almost ready and it stands around 1.5Mb in size with large cover, three font faces (regular, bold, italic) and the actual text which in the book form goes for about 700 pages. So, in the end the result is pretty good I guess gathering from my private library of about one thousand epubs which can be as large as 100Mb.

JSWolf · 11-25-2011, 11:21 AM

Charis SIL is a very common font to use in embedding and it's free and legal to do so. I've never read/heard of any complaints using it in an ePub as far as not working properly.

Pablo · 11-25-2011, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Charis SIL is a very common font to use in embedding and it's free and legal to do so. I've never read/heard of any complaints using it in an ePub as far as not working properly.

I second this, it's a great looking and very complete font.

Artha · 11-25-2011, 05:04 PM

yes, that's the font. although i like gentium better, but the fine serifs make it less interesting for a low res screen.

JSWolf · 11-25-2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artha

yes, that's the font. although i like gentium better, but the fine serifs make it less interesting for a low res screen.

If you need a font to embed Charis SIL can also be made into a smallcap variety which looks much nicer then trying to simulate smallcaps be reducing normal uppercase. Also, it's free can be used in books you sell and looks nice on an eink screen.

Artha · 11-27-2011, 12:06 PM

I would have gone for the regular font and just let the software widen it to a bold and slant it instead of using italics. But both solutions are bad — already tested both options with ADE. A bold string like „lli” is almost unreadable, more like guessable and the slanted letters would look nice in print, but, again, on a low res device are quite ugly. Thank you for the idea, but I managed only with these three. And I have discovered that letting systems do the guessing it's a bad idea if you don't have a lot of pixels and some computing power.

JSWolf · 11-27-2011, 12:10 PM

Charis SIL comes in regular, bold, bold italics, and italics. No need to let the computer convert styles.

11-23-2011, 03:31 AM	#1
Artha ----- Posts: 114 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Samsung SNE65	otf, ttf, something else? I'm working on this book. It's UTF8 encoded so it _should_ output right. ADE seems to have trouble with some characters. I only need latin support but latin for all European languages not just Latin 1 or 2. And that seems to call for font embeding. From what I have read around, especially on Mobileread, opentype is the EPUB2 standard font. But I don't seem to find otf files covering all the diacritics I need. On the other hand, ttf is readily available with Dejavu or SIL fonts. And from what I gather they are free to attach too. What can I do? Is there a free tool to do this right as bad conversion might damage the quality.

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11-23-2011, 08:59 AM	#2
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Unfortunately, most readers do not have a fully complete UTF-8 font. You can include both otf and ttf, but if you want you can convert a ttf to otf. The SIL fonts are quite used. There is no real tool for this, but it is not hard. In short, you need to add the font to the ePUB and specify it in the stylesheet. There are some guides on the forum, if you can't find it, let us know.

11-24-2011, 11:09 AM	#3
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,516 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	I believe TTF is supported but most (all) readers that support embedded fonts at all, even though it's not officially required. Beware of using very large fonts (in filesize), not only they'll make the final book larger too, but some readers may have problems fitting them in memory.

11-24-2011, 01:46 PM	#4
DSpider Evangelist Posts: 450 Karma: 343115 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Romania Device: PW2 2014	The same issue pops up every once in a while with Romanian because some fonts simply lack foreign characters (ă, ș, ț, etc), so most of the time I have to copy-paste the regular letters and add commas (,) and various other symbols to them. TypeTool 3 is what I would recommend for editing fonts. It does the job very well. For something more complex there's FontStudio, but it's more for professionals really. If you're looking for something free, there's FontForge. Except it's for Linux. So if you're using Windows, don't bother with Cygwin. Install VirtualBox and grab a LiveCD copy (700 MB) of Ubuntu, or look at least look here. FontForge may not look pretty but it's written well and does a good job.

11-24-2011, 05:00 PM	#5
Artha ----- Posts: 114 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Samsung SNE65	That's the real issue: Romanian names as most other European diacritics in latin script are supported. The good thing is that I still have to do some typing, but the file is almost ready and it stands around 1.5Mb in size with large cover, three font faces (regular, bold, italic) and the actual text which in the book form goes for about 700 pages. So, in the end the result is pretty good I guess gathering from my private library of about one thousand epubs which can be as large as 100Mb.

11-25-2011, 11:21 AM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,998 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Charis SIL is a very common font to use in embedding and it's free and legal to do so. I've never read/heard of any complaints using it in an ePub as far as not working properly.

11-25-2011, 05:04 PM	#8
Artha ----- Posts: 114 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Samsung SNE65	yes, that's the font. although i like gentium better, but the fine serifs make it less interesting for a low res screen.

11-27-2011, 12:06 PM	#10
Artha ----- Posts: 114 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Samsung SNE65	I would have gone for the regular font and just let the software widen it to a bold and slant it instead of using italics. But both solutions are bad — already tested both options with ADE. A bold string like „lli” is almost unreadable, more like guessable and the slanted letters would look nice in print, but, again, on a low res device are quite ugly. Thank you for the idea, but I managed only with these three. And I have discovered that letting systems do the guessing it's a bad idea if you don't have a lot of pixels and some computing power.

11-27-2011, 12:10 PM	#11
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,998 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Charis SIL comes in regular, bold, bold italics, and italics. No need to let the computer convert styles.

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