Line-height in Kindle books

[RbnJrg]

I need some paragraphs of a book having a line-height of 1em; regrettably, the .kf8 format only supports a line-height of 1.2em or greater. However, I have seen that mobi7 books HAVE a line-height of 1em; after unpacking one of those mobi7 books, I could see they use the attribute "height" (applied "in-line" as any other property in mobi7), that is:

<p height="1em">...some text...</p>

Since I can't style a paragraph with css using "line-height: 1.2em", I wanted to use the mobi7 way; it didn't work How can I do to have paragraph with a line-height of 1em? It must have a way; since in mobi7 books we can have it, should be a way to have it as well in kf8 books.

[HarryT]

I suspect the answer is "you can't".

[susan_cassidy]

You probably shouldn't be specifying a line-height anyway. What if the user wants a greater line-height? They should be able to adjust it, via the ereader's settings. Personally, I prefer a slightly greater line-height than average.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I suspect the answer is "you can't".

Easier question: what's the need? If it's simply aesthetic, tell the client that the formatting requirements/restrictions have changed since 2009 or whenever, which they have, and 1.2 is the minimum now. You can try to set a line-height of, say, 98%, but in the long run, you'll regret it (wait until you see the hybrid-kluged K4iOS you'll get from that). A better alternative, if it's something like an epigraph, etc., is to use a size-smaller font. It's imperfect, but it imparts a similar feel.

From Amazon's Formatting Guidelines, 2103-3, 3.1.1, second bullet, page 11:

• Body text must use the default font size and line height. Body text should not use the <font size=”…”> tag or the font-size and line-height attributes in CSS.

and 3.1.7, page 13:

To ensure pagination, the Kindle Reader does not honor line-height value less than 1.2 em or 120%.

Thus, you are, as they say, stucketh. ;-)

Hitch

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

However, I have seen that mobi7 books HAVE a line-height of 1em; after unpacking one of those mobi7 books, I could see they use the attribute "height" (applied "in-line" as any other property in mobi7), that is:

<p height="1em">...some text...</p>

That's not line height, that's top margin (in mobi's language).

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Hitch

...

Thus, you are, as they say, stucketh. ;-)

Yes, it seems that I am But what I can't understand is why mobi7 (mobi7 from right now) supports a line-height of 1em and mobi8 doesn't. I will have to use, as you say, a font-size smaller.

Many thanks for your answer.
Rubén

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Jellby

That's not line height, that's top margin (in mobi's language).

Yes, you are right; in mobi's language "height" means margin-top and "width" means margin-left. My mistake

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

Yes, you are right; in mobi's language "height" means margin-top and "width" means margin-left. My mistake

No, "width" is first-line indent, not margin.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, "width" is first-line indent, not margin.

Yes, it is I knew that but wanted to see if anyone was careful here to discover my new mistake Thank God Kindle now supports css as it should be (but is not perfect, still can improve).