Kobo-compatablie upside-down text

[Vanguard3000]

I'm editing a book that contains some upside-down text, and I'm having issues getting it to show correctly on my Kobo Libra 2. Here is my current CSS class:

.anclrg-ud {
  transform: scale(-1, -1);
  -ms-transform: scale(-1, -1);
  -webkit-transform: scale(-1, -1);
  -o-transform: scale(-1, -1);
  -moz-transform: scale(-1, -1);
}

Even without the -ms, -webkit, -o, and -moz compatabilities it shows just fine in Sigil, and, at least with them, it works in Calibre, but on my Kobo it's not working. Is there an additional version of the transform element I can add, or is it just something Kobo won't play nice with?

My Kobo is at the latest stock firmware. I should mention I'm using ePub 2. I'd rather not go to 3 because I don't use any of its other features and hate seeing the nav file in Sigil, but if that's what's necessary then it is what it is.

Thanks in advance!

[DNSB]

As an experiment, kepubify your epub and send it to your Kobo to use the webkit based renderer rather that the Adobe RMSDK renderer. The simplest way for a quick and dirty test would be to rename the epub from filename.epub to filename.kepub.epub otherwise you can use kepubify or the KoboTouchExtended plugin for calibre to do the conversion.

[KevinH]

FWIW, under epub3, the nav does not have to be in the spine at all. You just need to not have the nav landmarks point to the nav itself as you can not include a non-spine item in the nav landmarks.

If you go that way the nav is treated exactly like the old ncx under epub2 and is not seen by the user as part of the text.


And if it helps, afaik CSS transform was added in CSS 1 and updated in CSS 2, so it should work properly in decent epub 2 readers even those using older Adobe Reader sdks.

Perhaps some readers bail on the css when they see the older platform specific versions in the css?

[Vanguard3000]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As an experiment, kepubify your epub...

That seems to work, even with just renaming it. So is there an Adobe-compatible version of the property or is this the only way? I'd rather not have a mixture of formats in my library if possible.

As a sidenote, I have the same issue with smallcaps not working on my Kobos as well - I often change the tags to 80% sized caps as long as it's not a mix of upper- and lowercase.

Originally Posted by KevinH

Perhaps some readers bail on the css when they see the older platform specific versions in the css?

Initially, I had gone with just the basic transform property (without the fallbacks) for that reason.

As to your epub3 comment, I'm not sure I understand; Sigil can't remove the nav file, and craps out if I try any funny business like blanking it out. Is the "spine" the file structure as visible in Sigil, WinRar, etc? Or is it within an eReader?

[KevinH]

Sigil does not default to "hiding" the nav from the reader. Sigil assumes that setting linear="no" is enough for real epub3 readers but not all follow that part of the spec.

So to do this inside Sigil requires manually editing the nav and manually editing the opf as the very last step.

In the nav landmarks section you remove the epub-type toc link that points to the nav itself.

In the opf, you remove the nav's entry from the spine.

This must be done last thing before saving to prevent Sigil from reverting things the next time is rebuilds the opf.

The nav will still show in Sigil's BookBrowser but will not show in the e-reader as a "text chapter" and will only show via the TOC just like the ncx.

FYI, The spec states the nav itself can only link to resources listed in the spine. If you manually remove the nav from the spine, then the nav can't link to itself, or it violates the spec.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Vanguard3000

That seems to work, even with just renaming it. So is there an Adobe-compatible version of the property or is this the only way? I'd rather not have a mixture of formats in my library if possible.

As a sidenote, I have the same issue with smallcaps not working on my Kobos as well - I often change the tags to 80% sized caps as long as it's not a mix of upper- and lowercase.

The Adobe RMSDK renderer does not handle smallcaps. I ended up adding a smallcaps version of my favorite font to the fonts directory on my Kobos and adding the CSS to use that font for the occasions when I use smallcaps. This works for my personal files but not a solution that will work unless I get enthused about embedding fonts. Forcing someone to use my font choice is not a good choice, IMHO.

I've never tried using transform but very likely, not supported in RMSDK.

Originally Posted by Vanguard3000

As to your epub3 comment, I'm not sure I understand; Sigil can't remove the nav file, and craps out if I try any funny business like blanking it out. Is the "spine" the file structure as visible in Sigil, WinRar, etc? Or is it within an eReader?

You can hide the nav document from being seen in a renderer ASSUMING it complies well enough with the epub spec to handle this. I've seen too many renderers that will display the nav document no matter how you try to hide it.

You can't remove the nav document since like the ncx document in epub2, it's a required element.

[Vanguard3000]

Oog. I tried converting to epub3, but my Kobo still won't render the text upside down, with or without the fallbacks. But I appreciate the info on hiding the nav file from you both.

Incidentally, I've change the code to

.anclrg-ud {
  font-family: hv-AncientRunes;
  text-align: center;
  font-size: 150%;
  transform: rotate(180deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(180deg);
  -webkit-transform: rotate(180deg);
  -o-transform: rotate(180deg);
  -moz-transform: rotate(180deg);
}

since rotating seems a lot simpler/more readable than mirroring it in both dimensions via scale.

As far as I can tell, the only thing I can do is rename it to be a kepub file (using kepubify changes the code, and I don't use Calibre to sync my devices - I strictly sideload manually, for better or worse). It's my one kepub in my ~3500-epub library, which is going to drive me nuts.

So is this my only good option, aside from making the upside-down text an image (I don't want to do this)? I briefly looked into svg images but this seems like a totally different headache.

On a side-note, my kepub file has a much smaller default (per Kobo) font than my epubs. is there a way to synchronize this so I don't have to adjust my device for one book?

Also, I realize a lot of this is just me being cranky about irrelevant issues. I take reat care of my epub library and am very particular when something goes awry,

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Vanguard3000

On a side-note, my kepub file has a much smaller default (per Kobo) font than my epubs. is there a way to synchronize this so I don't have to adjust my device for one book?

Also, I realize a lot of this is just me being cranky about irrelevant issues. I take reat care of my epub library and am very particular when something goes awry,

If you look at the An index of all patch threads, one of the patches Unify font sizes comes close to matching the font size between epub and kepub. Click on the patch thread that matches your firmware.

Note that the list in those messages may not be completely up to date though I think geek1011 has been attempting to keep it up to date in the second message.

[Turtle91]

Just curious... can you post an image of what result you are going for? There might be an alternate css method to achieve it.

[Vanguard3000]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Just curious... can you post an image of what result you are going for? There might be an alternate css method to achieve it.

Here's a sanitized version of what I'm trying to do. It's pretty straightforward - just centred, 150% size, and upside-down, with a custom .ttf font. On the Kobo itself it looks exactly as pictured except the text isn't upside-down. The font, size, and justification are correct.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Vanguard3000

Here's a sanitized version of what I'm trying to do. It's pretty straightforward - just centred, 150% size, and upside-down, with a custom .ttf font. On the Kobo itself it looks exactly as pictured except the text isn't upside-down. The font, size, and justification are correct.

I don't know if you already have solved your issue but if not, then I think the cause if the custom font you are using. I say this because I didn't have any trouble to get the effect you are seeking. Try to exclude your custom font and only use:

.anclrg-ud {
   text-align: center;
   font-size: 1.5em;
   transform: rotate(180deg);
   -webkit-transform: rotate(180deg);
}

Watch the .kepub I attach.
Regards

[Vanguard3000]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

I don't know if you already have solved your issue but if not, then I think the cause if the custom font you are using.

Hey, it turned out to be the kepub conversion was no good - I used the file I had simply renamed to kepub.epub instead of doing a full conversion. Using a properly converted kepub works as expected, even with the font installed.

I've been avoiding this because I'm a simple-minded old crank who likes to just drag and drop things, but I'm looking into using Calibre to sync my book to my device. I hate it. I hate it so much. But with the KoboTouchExtended plugin it lets me keep my library in epub format on my PC, while using kepub on my device.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the help!