.TXT a last resort for anyone else?

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by ngrant

Ditto those thoughts, Solitaire1. My jetBook Lite only offers Verdana and Arial, no serif fonts. I have become used to that, and in fact use Verdana as my default font on JBL as well as my computer as it scales nicely from small to extra large. I anticipate that firmware upgrades will take care of that problem in the future. I could, having edited my RTF or HTML file in Word and chosen a nice serif font, save it as a PDF formatted for the small screen, but I am lazy!!

The convenience factor of the JBL reader is probably the most important aspect to me and I am willing to live with its shortcomings, and look forward to many improvements through firmware upgrades. The low cost doesn't hurt either!

I don't mind the extra work involved with saving my ebooks as PDFs, and the format control is worth the extra effort. Plus, once formatted its little work to adjust it to a different screen size if that becomes necessary (basically just change the page size and save it as a PDF). Its main disadvantages are file size and rigid format (as formatted it's fine at my reader's default small size but doesn't look as good at a larger font size).

Of all of the available ebook formats, I think RTF is one of the best. It's close to plain text as far as file size goes (since it's actually a plain text format), and it offers format control not available with plain text (and it doesn't have the paragraph spacing limitation that basic HTML has).

[ngrant]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

Of all of the available ebook formats, I think RTF is one of the best. It's close to plain text as far as file size goes (since it's actually a plain text format), and it offers format control not available with plain text (and it doesn't have the paragraph spacing limitation that basic HTML has).

Agree 100%! It surprises me when I read other people's preferences for full justification (I like left-alignment) and no blank lines between paragraphs (I like the space, and mentally "take a breath" as if reading aloud...) So I think it's good that we get as much control over the formatting as possible for PERSONAL customization.

With RTF files I can pack a huge number of ebooks on a 2GB SD card for my reader and am never short of something to read.

[hidari]

Thanx for the replies everyone. I myself always like .txt format and read some of my books on it. I cannot use .rtf on my Cybookgen3 or my 505 but I hear many people are fans of it as well. I agree with you ngrant.......space between paragraphs and left alignment are all I need....

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by ngrant

Agree 100%! It surprises me when I read other people's preferences for full justification (I like left-alignment) and no blank lines between paragraphs (I like the space, and mentally "take a breath" as if reading aloud...) So I think it's good that we get as much control over the formatting as possible for PERSONAL customization.

With RTF files I can pack a huge number of ebooks on a 2GB SD card for my reader and am never short of something to read.

I think one of the main reasons that first-line-indented paragraphs with no space between them are common in printed books is to reduce the cost by reducing the total number of pages. Those extra lines can add up to a large number of additional pages.

To check this out, I took a Project Gutenburg version of "A Christmas Carol" that I formatted for my ereader, removed the space between the paragraphs, and set a first line indent for each paragraph to 0.2 inches (approximately 5mm). Just those two changes reduced the page count by 25 pages (from 307 pages down to 282 pages).

With ebooks the total page count isn't that much of an issue. This allows a reader to choose how he/she want their ebooks to appear, and not have to be concerned the total number of pages.

Like you, I prefer the space between the paragraphs (and also ragged-right paragraphs). It provide a clear visual division between the paragraphs. It also makes it easy to have consistent formatting because I simply put the same amount of space between all paragraph elements (such as titles, scene heading, main text, and interruptions).

File size isn't much of a concern for me because even with the additional space that PDF files take, the combination of my reader's internal memory along with a 1GB SD card gives me plenty of room for ebooks. It's only when I start loading music on my reader that memory space becomes an issue.

Returning to the topic of plain text ebooks, a blank line between each paragraph is one of the few types of paragraph formatting that plain text does allow. It is also the type of formatting that can be easily translated into other formats.

[ngrant]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

...Returning to the topic of plain text ebooks, a blank line between each paragraph is one of the few types of paragraph formatting that plain text does allow. It is also the type of formatting that can be easily translated into other formats.

What you say about the impact on the number of pages in a printed book makes a lot of sense...

And back on topic -- I guess the loss of bold and italic in plain text versions of ebooks *MAY* become a major disadvantage to the telling of the story, particularly in dialogue. For me, it usually makes little difference as I have a vivid imagination and often I am re-reading a favourite story that is already well-embedded in my consciousness. In those cases, reading the plain text version is like getting reacquainted with an old friend, who may have lost a little of her youthful beauty but can still charm

For new release books, I still borrow from the library as I like to read large print hardcover books that I don't have to find storage for. If the book turns out to be a keeper, I will usually look for the ebook and/or audio versions for my digital collection (no physical space required).

So my take on "plain text" -- it's great for certain purposes but not "everyone's cup of tea".

[BillSmithBooks]

I also miss bold and italic in plaintext, especially since italic can be so critical in pointing out emphasis or noting internal thoughts of characters.

Do any of you bother to replicate some of that formating in plaintext?

Normally the use of _ or / indicates italic (_italic_ or /italic/) while * indicates bold (*bold*).

When I'm converting from another format like RTF, I save it to HTML, then open up my html editor and do an automated search and replace to change the <i> and </i> to _ and the <b> and </b> to * before saving to txt.

It gives me some idea of the original formatting when reading in plain text and while not as direct as actually having italic and bold, I find it to be close enough that my mind interprets it without having to stop and think about it. Plus, plaintext is flexible enough that I can read it on any device I want.

[ngrant]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

...Plus, plaintext is flexible enough that I can read it on any device I want.

That's the key, isn't it? Being able to read whatever we want on any device of OUR choosing...

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

I also miss bold and italic in plaintext, especially since italic can be so critical in pointing out emphasis or noting internal thoughts of characters.

Do any of you bother to replicate some of that formating in plaintext?

Normally the use of _ or / indicates italic (_italic_ or /italic/) while * indicates bold (*bold*).

When I'm converting from another format like RTF, I save it to HTML, then open up my html editor and do an automated search and replace to change the <i> and </i> to _ and the <b> and </b> to * before saving to txt.

It gives me some idea of the original formatting when reading in plain text and while not as direct as actually having italic and bold, I find it to be close enough that my mind interprets it without having to stop and think about it. Plus, plaintext is flexible enough that I can read it on any device I want.

In a related note, in my own stories in addition to using italics to indicate a character's thoughts, I also surround the thought text with "[" and "]" (I treat them the same as I would quotation marks). This makes it easy to identify the thought text even without the italics and those marks carry over into other formats. It also has the advantage that is the only time that I make regular use those punctuation marks so they stand out.

I like the idea of using HTML tags to indicate the character formatting in plain text files. It avoids possible confusion. For example, when I see "_" in a plain text file, to me that means underlining begins/ends at that point rather than italics. It also has the advantage that converting it into a proper HTML file is just a matter of adding a few tags, especially if you include all of the other HTML tags (such as the "p" tags) except for the opening and closing tags.

[DaleDe]

A trick that can be used in plain text is the tab key. This gets passed through and even if just used as a space it can be a paragraph marker. (CTRL-L) can also be used as a forced page break but that isn't so common. Most people just use four empty lines in a row.

Dale

[idraw22]

I'm ok with text as a last resort. They're easy to convert for my palm and I can read it on a jetbook or in Word format or in Mobipocket. Plus I like to write stories myself, so it's a quick way to check it out and edit.