How to zoom in with Clara 2e?

ColinB99 · 09-29-2022, 03:33 PM

Hello all ... first post here so please be gentle! Apologies if this is already covered elsewhere and I've missed it.
I've just bought a Kobo Clara 2e to replace an aging Sony PRS-T1, and have come across something that's not described in the online User Guide. I'm reading an epub (NOT a PDF) that has photos embedded within the text. I want to zoom in to get a closer look at the pictures. On the Sony, you do this with a reverse-pinch gesture. On the Kobo, this results in no zoom and a big circle that covers a chunk of text and freezes the device. The big circle is static and none of the other controls work until I wait for the device to decide to play again, which can be up to a minute later. I think the big circle is something to do with a setting "pinch to change font size" ... at least, when I turn that off, I no longer get the big circle or the device freeze. But still no zoom ability.
I've tried Kobo's online chat, but the agent kept referring me back to the User Guide, which only mentions zoom in the context of a PDF, and doesn't mention the "big circle freeze" at all.
My questions are:
1. Is it possible to zoom into an epub to get a closer look at embedded pictures & diagrams, if so how?
2. Assuming the pinch gesture & the big circle is a way to change font size, if you do that how do you get out of it again without having to wait for what seems like a long time?
Thanks in advance.

Sirtel · 09-29-2022, 03:43 PM

You cannot zoom images in epubs, but you can zoom them in kepubs. Are you familiar with Calibre?

ColinB99 · 09-29-2022, 05:48 PM

Thanks for that, I didn't know you can't zoom epubs. That's disappointing. Odd that my old Sony could do it, maybe that was just enlarging the screen view rather than zooming in.
I know of Calibre but haven't used it (just using Adobe Digital Editions). Does Calibre have the ability to convert epub to kepub? Although for that to work you'd need to know the book contains images and to convert it before loading onto the Kobo device.

ColinB99 · 09-29-2022, 05:52 PM

Thanks for that, I didn't know you can't zoom images in epubs. Odd that my old Sony could do it though; maybe that was just enlarging the screen view rather than zooming in.
I know of Calibre but haven't used it. Does that have the ability to convert epub to kepub? Although for that to work you'd have to know the book contains images before loading it onto the Kobo device (this particular book is from a public library not the Kobo store).

Sirtel · 09-29-2022, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColinB99

Thanks for that, I didn't know you can't zoom images in epubs. Odd that my old Sony could do it though; maybe that was just enlarging the screen view rather than zooming in.
I know of Calibre but haven't used it. Does that have the ability to convert epub to kepub? Although for that to work you'd have to know the book contains images before loading it onto the Kobo device (this particular book is from a public library not the Kobo store).

The KoboTouch Extended Driver for Calibre can convert an epub to kepub on the fly while sending the file to your device. But a library book usually has DRM; Calibre can't convert such a book unless the DRM has been removed. For DRM removal the noDRM plugin would be needed.

Aleron Ives · 09-30-2022, 12:06 AM

You can also use kepubify to convert EPUB to KEPUB:

https://github.com/pgaskin/kepubify

You still need Calibre for the DRM removal, though.

koboy · 09-30-2022, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You can also use kepubify to convert EPUB to KEPUB:

https://github.com/pgaskin/kepubify

You still need Calibre for the DRM removal, though.

best wishes koboy

rcentros · 09-30-2022, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColinB99

Thanks for that, I didn't know you can't zoom images in epubs. Odd that my old Sony could do it though; maybe that was just enlarging the screen view rather than zooming in.

Not sure why Kobo doesn't do it. I guess they're pushing their KePubs instead. PocketBook doesn't have any trouble zooming in on images in ePubs either.

Aleron Ives · 09-30-2022, 03:44 AM

I believe it's because Kobo displays EPUB using Adobe's Digital Editions renderer, whereas KEPUB is displayed with the Webkit renderer, which has far more features. I don't know why Kobo is still using ADE for EPUB, but it would presumably be better for users if EPUB were rendered with the Webkit engine, too.

ColinB99 · 09-30-2022, 12:00 PM

Thank you everyone for your contributions. I understand now that bog-standard epubs are not zoomable on my shiny new Kobo, which is disappointing and a definite step backward from my old Sony. It might be possible with a bit of fiddling around in various apps, but I'm uncomfortable with hacking the DRM ... that seems a bit like stealing a library book so I'm not happy with doing it.

Nikoz · 09-30-2022, 03:28 PM

I feel you... I was disappointed that my Libra 2 couldn't do something that my 8-years-old PW1 could do quite well, and I'm not ready to delete Go of books and convert them and send them back to the Kobo.
Honestly though, about the DRM, if you bought the book you should remove the DRM, guilt-free. You paid for it, you should be able to use it however you want, including zooming in on pictures (and reading on other devices, etc.).

Aleron Ives · 09-30-2022, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColinB99

I'm uncomfortable with hacking the DRM ... that seems a bit like stealing a library book so I'm not happy with doing it.

Just be sure to delete the book from Calibre and your Kobo when the loan expires, and you should be fine. You'd only have an ethical problem if you decided to keep the book after the loan duration.

DNSB · 09-30-2022, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

I believe it's because Kobo displays EPUB using Adobe's Digital Editions renderer, whereas KEPUB is displayed with the Webkit renderer, which has far more features. I don't know why Kobo is still using ADE for EPUB, but it would presumably be better for users if EPUB were rendered with the Webkit engine, too.

Simple answer would be that many epub books use Adobe's ADEPT DRM. Using RMSDK makes reading DRMmed ebooks a lot easier.

Aleron Ives · 09-30-2022, 05:15 PM

Is there a way to force decrypted e-books to use the WebKit renderer, other than converting them to KEPUB, first?

JSWolf · 09-30-2022, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Is there a way to force decrypted e-books to use the WebKit renderer, other than converting them to KEPUB, first?

Given that you have to load ePub into Calibre to remove the DRM using the DeDRM plugin, it's easier to use the KoboTouchExtended driver to convert to KePub. The conversion gets done when you send the ePub to your Kobo. It's very easy,

Here is the link to the DeDRM plugin. 10.0.3 is the current version.

https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools/releases

09-29-2022, 03:33 PM	#1
ColinB99 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Clara 2e	How to zoom in with Clara 2e? Hello all ... first post here so please be gentle! Apologies if this is already covered elsewhere and I've missed it. I've just bought a Kobo Clara 2e to replace an aging Sony PRS-T1, and have come across something that's not described in the online User Guide. I'm reading an epub (NOT a PDF) that has photos embedded within the text. I want to zoom in to get a closer look at the pictures. On the Sony, you do this with a reverse-pinch gesture. On the Kobo, this results in no zoom and a big circle that covers a chunk of text and freezes the device. The big circle is static and none of the other controls work until I wait for the device to decide to play again, which can be up to a minute later. I think the big circle is something to do with a setting "pinch to change font size" ... at least, when I turn that off, I no longer get the big circle or the device freeze. But still no zoom ability. I've tried Kobo's online chat, but the agent kept referring me back to the User Guide, which only mentions zoom in the context of a PDF, and doesn't mention the "big circle freeze" at all. My questions are: 1. Is it possible to zoom into an epub to get a closer look at embedded pictures & diagrams, if so how? 2. Assuming the pinch gesture & the big circle is a way to change font size, if you do that how do you get out of it again without having to wait for what seems like a long time? Thanks in advance.

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09-29-2022, 03:43 PM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 10,117 Karma: 224756896 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	You cannot zoom images in epubs, but you can zoom them in kepubs. Are you familiar with Calibre?

09-29-2022, 05:48 PM	#3
ColinB99 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Clara 2e	Thanks for that, I didn't know you can't zoom epubs. That's disappointing. Odd that my old Sony could do it, maybe that was just enlarging the screen view rather than zooming in. I know of Calibre but haven't used it (just using Adobe Digital Editions). Does Calibre have the ability to convert epub to kepub? Although for that to work you'd need to know the book contains images and to convert it before loading onto the Kobo device.

09-29-2022, 05:52 PM	#4
ColinB99 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Clara 2e	Thanks for that, I didn't know you can't zoom images in epubs. Odd that my old Sony could do it though; maybe that was just enlarging the screen view rather than zooming in. I know of Calibre but haven't used it. Does that have the ability to convert epub to kepub? Although for that to work you'd have to know the book contains images before loading it onto the Kobo device (this particular book is from a public library not the Kobo store).

09-30-2022, 12:06 AM	#6
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,015 Karma: 11500112 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	You can also use kepubify to convert EPUB to KEPUB: https://github.com/pgaskin/kepubify You still need Calibre for the DRM removal, though.

09-30-2022, 03:44 AM	#9
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,015 Karma: 11500112 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	I believe it's because Kobo displays EPUB using Adobe's Digital Editions renderer, whereas KEPUB is displayed with the Webkit renderer, which has far more features. I don't know why Kobo is still using ADE for EPUB, but it would presumably be better for users if EPUB were rendered with the Webkit engine, too.

09-30-2022, 12:00 PM	#10
ColinB99 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Clara 2e	Thank you everyone for your contributions. I understand now that bog-standard epubs are not zoomable on my shiny new Kobo, which is disappointing and a definite step backward from my old Sony. It might be possible with a bit of fiddling around in various apps, but I'm uncomfortable with hacking the DRM ... that seems a bit like stealing a library book so I'm not happy with doing it.

09-30-2022, 03:28 PM	#11
Nikoz Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 450000 Join Date: Oct 2021 Device: Kobo Libra 2	I feel you... I was disappointed that my Libra 2 couldn't do something that my 8-years-old PW1 could do quite well, and I'm not ready to delete Go of books and convert them and send them back to the Kobo. Honestly though, about the DRM, if you bought the book you should remove the DRM, guilt-free. You paid for it, you should be able to use it however you want, including zooming in on pictures (and reading on other devices, etc.).

09-30-2022, 05:15 PM	#14
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,015 Karma: 11500112 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Is there a way to force decrypted e-books to use the WebKit renderer, other than converting them to KEPUB, first?

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