Foreign Language Issue

EditorOne · 12-30-2014, 10:49 AM

I'm working on a book that is primarily in English with some parts in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Polish. Epub conversion with Calibre (to derive expanded CSS for good display on Nook) works fine for my Nook device and for Nook reader (as well as Kobo and Google Play) on the tablet. Everything looks perfect.

My client (who did the print version of the book and contracted me to do the e-version), does not have a device to review the files so she downloaded Nook reading software for her computer. She is getting errors that do not show up on my device or in any of my software based epub readers. Specifically, certain Polish letters (those with language-specific diacritical marks) are replaced with a question mark.

I'm thinking it is a computer-specific problem or that she should uninstall the Nook reader and re-install. I need her to be confident that I have provided her with a good epub file. Any other thoughts?

Toxaris · 12-30-2014, 11:51 AM

That is a font issue. Apparently the font used by the reading software uses a font that does not contain those characters. Besides using a different font, another solution might be including a free font that does contain those characters. You could try Charis... Be aware that books can grow considerably in size due to fonts if you do not subset the fonts.

EditorOne · 12-30-2014, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

That is a font issue. Apparently the font used by the reading software uses a font that does not contain those characters. Besides using a different font, another solution might be including a free font that does contain those characters. You could try Charis... Be aware that books can grow considerably in size due to fonts if you do not subset the fonts.

Thanks. I checked the device and reading software and found that some fonts recognize them and others don't. So it will depend on what font the reader/software is using as a default. Learned this on the Adobe Typography forum:

Among Adobe's fonts you should be looking at the ones with a "Pro" designation. According to Adobe:
"All Adobe OpenType fonts include the standard range of Latin characters used in the Western world, and several international characters, including the "estimated," litre, and euro currency symbols. Adobe's OpenType Pro fonts add a full range of accented characters to support central and eastern European languages, such as Turkish and Polish. Many of the Pro fonts also contain Cyrillic and Greek character extensions in the same font."

Good to know.

HarryT · 12-30-2014, 03:33 PM

The only way to ensure that your book will render correctly on all devices is to embed an appropriate font into the book. You can't assume that all reading devices will have fonts that contain the less common glyphs.

Toxaris · 12-30-2014, 06:01 PM

Be careful though, most fonts require a license to be embedded. The Adobe ones do. That is why I suggested Charis, that one can be embedded according to the license and has the required characters for sure.

Tex2002ans · 01-01-2015, 10:20 PM

There is also a large list of Open Source Unicode fonts here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-s...code_typefaces

My preference lately has been leaning towards the fonts used in Android. Droid Sans and Roboto are released under the Apache license, and the .ttf files can be downloaded directly here:

https://github.com/android/platform_...ter/data/fonts

EditorOne · 01-02-2015, 03:14 PM

Thanks, everyone for your ideas. I will check out the open source unicodes along with charis.

JSWolf · 01-02-2015, 09:54 PM

But you will need to put in a note that the reader will need to turn publisher settings on when using a Kindle or Kobo eInk Reader.

Freeshadow · 01-03-2015, 02:53 PM

Especially older devices lack fonts containing Ą, ą Ę, ę and Ł, ł. (Ż, ż) While the accented ones like ń, ó, ś, ć and ź (and their capital equivalents) have a higher probability of being available the ogonek-letters are not. I wouldn't make a Polish ebook without embedded fonts.

EditorOne · 01-09-2015, 10:14 AM

Thanks, all. I had embedded the fonts and I did put in a note to the reader that if the foreign characters did not display properly to change the font in the e-reader settings. I researched the fonts in a number of readers and they all do a fine job. I guess the problem is largely with the Nook reader for PC.

Problem solved. Thanks for all of your advice.

12-30-2014, 10:49 AM	#1
EditorOne Jus' Learnin' Posts: 50 Karma: 5618 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Tucson, AZ Device: none	Foreign Language Issue I'm working on a book that is primarily in English with some parts in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Polish. Epub conversion with Calibre (to derive expanded CSS for good display on Nook) works fine for my Nook device and for Nook reader (as well as Kobo and Google Play) on the tablet. Everything looks perfect. My client (who did the print version of the book and contracted me to do the e-version), does not have a device to review the files so she downloaded Nook reading software for her computer. She is getting errors that do not show up on my device or in any of my software based epub readers. Specifically, certain Polish letters (those with language-specific diacritical marks) are replaced with a question mark. I'm thinking it is a computer-specific problem or that she should uninstall the Nook reader and re-install. I need her to be confident that I have provided her with a good epub file. Any other thoughts?

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12-30-2014, 11:51 AM	#2
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	That is a font issue. Apparently the font used by the reading software uses a font that does not contain those characters. Besides using a different font, another solution might be including a free font that does contain those characters. You could try Charis... Be aware that books can grow considerably in size due to fonts if you do not subset the fonts.

12-30-2014, 03:33 PM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The only way to ensure that your book will render correctly on all devices is to embed an appropriate font into the book. You can't assume that all reading devices will have fonts that contain the less common glyphs.

12-30-2014, 06:01 PM	#5
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Be careful though, most fonts require a license to be embedded. The Adobe ones do. That is why I suggested Charis, that one can be embedded according to the license and has the required characters for sure.

01-01-2015, 10:20 PM	#6
Tex2002ans Wizard Posts: 2,297 Karma: 12126329 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kobo Forma, Nook	There is also a large list of Open Source Unicode fonts here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-s...code_typefaces My preference lately has been leaning towards the fonts used in Android. Droid Sans and Roboto are released under the Apache license, and the .ttf files can be downloaded directly here: https://github.com/android/platform_...ter/data/fonts

01-02-2015, 03:14 PM	#7
EditorOne Jus' Learnin' Posts: 50 Karma: 5618 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Tucson, AZ Device: none	Thanks, everyone for your ideas. I will check out the open source unicodes along with charis.

01-02-2015, 09:54 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 75,815 Karma: 134321338 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But you will need to put in a note that the reader will need to turn publisher settings on when using a Kindle or Kobo eInk Reader.

01-03-2015, 02:53 PM	#9
Freeshadow temp. out of service Posts: 2,795 Karma: 24285242 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Duisburg (DE) Device: PB 623	Especially older devices lack fonts containing Ą, ą Ę, ę and Ł, ł. (Ż, ż) While the accented ones like ń, ó, ś, ć and ź (and their capital equivalents) have a higher probability of being available the ogonek-letters are not. I wouldn't make a Polish ebook without embedded fonts.

01-09-2015, 10:14 AM	#10
EditorOne Jus' Learnin' Posts: 50 Karma: 5618 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Tucson, AZ Device: none	Thanks, all. I had embedded the fonts and I did put in a note to the reader that if the foreign characters did not display properly to change the font in the e-reader settings. I researched the fonts in a number of readers and they all do a fine job. I guess the problem is largely with the Nook reader for PC. Problem solved. Thanks for all of your advice.

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