KePub Output vs KoboTouchExtended

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by DevilsTell

Can I ask why you favour ePub over KePub? Personally, I've encountered some issues with adjusting line spacing in ePub, and I find the accurate page count feature in KePub to be super handy.

Basically, RMSDK/epub handles typography better than the WebKit based renderer/kepub.

[rant mode]
Accurate page counts in a reflowable ebook?

To me, that is a joke.Even using page maps, you are looking at page counts for a specific physical edition. The only page counts that I've ever found useful was Adobe's synthetic page map algorithm since that gives the same page numbers for the same epub file on any size of device regardless of playing with line spacing, margins, font size, etc.

Page counts that vary with font size, margins, line spacing, line height, etc. are not transferable and so, to me, of no use.
[/rant mode]

Out of a perhaps morbid curiosity, is there a reason that you are modify the font size on your messages?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

Why wouldn't one get page numbers or time to read.

Isn't their another way to get series?

I suspect that Jon meant page counts and estimated time to read showing in the book details.

And yes, there are other ways to get series. There is Patrick Gaskin's NickelSeries which will parse series and subtitle from an epub file. Though generally since many epubs lack that information in the .opf file, you need to massage the epub's opf file to add the information. Time for calibre and Sigil.

For the real enthusiast, you could directly edit the KoboReader.sqlite file.

Personally, I find using calibre, either of the Kobo Touch drivers and the Kobo Utilities plugin allows me to manage the metadata with relative ease. Being able to search ebooks on my computer based on almost any search query is a nice lagniappe.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Basically, RMSDK/epub handles typography better than the WebKit based renderer/kepub.

[rant mode]
Accurate page counts in a reflowable ebook?

To me, that is a joke.Even using page maps, you are looking at page counts for a specific physical edition. The only page counts that I've ever found useful was Adobe's synthetic page map algorithm since that gives the same page numbers for the same epub file on any size of device regardless of playing with line spacing, margins, font size, etc.

Page counts that vary with font size, margins, line spacing, line height, etc. are not transferable and so, to me, of no use.
[/rant mode]

Out of a perhaps morbid curiosity, is there a reason that you are modify the font size on your messages?

Debatable that RMSDK gives better typography. Personally I preferred the Webkit renderer. Last time I checked Kobo's RMSDK version lacked support for things like RTL and vertical writing and MathML which limits utility. It's also just really annoying and confusing frankly to have this dual system based on file extension. They really need to rethink how it's done as naive sideloading can lead to unusable results.

Page counts are only useful in stuff like courses and book clubs.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Debatable that RMSDK gives better typography. Personally I preferred the Webkit renderer. Last time I checked Kobo's RMSDK version lacked support for things like RTL and vertical writing and MathML which limits utility. It's also just really annoying and confusing frankly to have this dual system based on file extension. They really need to rethink how it's done as naive sideloading can lead to unusable results.

The WebKit based renderer does not do well with ligatures, kerning and other common bits of typography and word spacing when justifying text can get odd especially on smaller screens. You can play with OptimizeSpeed, OptimizeLegibility and GeometricPrecision but they all seem to have tradeoffs that I prefer to avoid. I'm not certain what Auto does since it seemed to have little effects in my testing.

This was testing by adding one of the following lines under the [Reading] heading in the Kobo eReader.conf file and seeing what if any changes it made in the visual appearance of my test file:

webkitTextRendering=auto
webkitTextRendering=geometricprecision
webkitTextRendering=optimizelegibility
webkitTextRendering=optimizespeed

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I suspect that Jon meant page counts and estimated time to read showing in the book details.

...

I'm looking at the book details for a kepub and there is no page count or estimated time to read. This is with the latest firmware and a relatively recent version of calibre.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

I'm looking at the book details for a kepub and there is no page count or estimated time to read. This is with the latest firmware and a relatively recent version of calibre.

You need to add the Count Pages plugin for calibre to generate the page and word count columns and set up either of the Kobo Touch Drivers to update the word and page counts as well as to generate the estimated hours to read.

See the attached images for my setup and a sample of the details page on my Sage.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The WebKit based renderer does not do well with ligatures, kerning and other common bits of typography and word spacing when justifying text can get odd especially on smaller screens. You can play with OptimizeSpeed, OptimizeLegibility and GeometricPrecision but they all seem to have tradeoffs that I prefer to avoid. I'm not certain what Auto does since it seemed to have little effects in my testing.

This was testing by adding one of the following lines under the [Reading] heading in the Kobo eReader.conf file and seeing what if any changes it made in the visual appearance of my test file:

webkitTextRendering=auto
webkitTextRendering=geometricprecision
webkitTextRendering=optimizelegibility
webkitTextRendering=optimizespeed

Also, there is the patch to reduce the space between words for KePub. You may have to play around with it to get it to a value you prefer with your chosen font. It does make a difference and KePub does look better. Not better then ePub with RMSDK but better then KePub would look otherwise.

Another advantage to ePub is that the Count Pages plugin does the page numbering for ePub but it cannot do the page numbering for KePub.

[Aleron Ives]

I've given up on the concept of page counts at this point and just stick with word counts. Even in paper books, the page count doesn't really tell you how long the book is, since different books have different physical page dimensions and font sizes.

[DNSB]

For me, the only use for page counts is much the same as word counts to give me an idea of how long the book is and, generally, words counts are a better guide.

OTOH, I do admit to getting a chuckle out of the endless search for the holy grail of accurate page numbers for reflowable ebooks.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For me, the only use for page counts is much the same as word counts to give me an idea of how long the book is and, generally, words counts are a better guide.

OTOH, I do admit to getting a chuckle out of the endless search for the holy grail of accurate page numbers for reflowable ebooks.

I use a customized page count (characters per page) as an indicator for length. Works pretty well, as most books I read are ordinary novels without pictures or other fancy bits. An "accurate" page count doesn't exist for ebooks, of course.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Another advantage to ePub is that the Count Pages plugin does the page numbering for ePub but it cannot do the page numbering for KePub.

That's if you want Adobe page numbers, which I personally don't want and don't use in the plugin.

[Aleron Ives]

How does the word count generated by the Calibre plugin compare to the word count shown on the Kobo website? I suspect depending upon the algorithm you use you could get different results if formatting words get mistaken for book content.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You need to add the Count Pages plugin for calibre to generate the page and word count columns and set up either of the Kobo Touch Drivers to update the word and page counts as well as to generate the estimated hours to read.

See the attached images for my setup and a sample of the details page on my Sage.

Thank you for the explanation.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

How does the word count generated by the Calibre plugin compare to the word count shown on the Kobo website? I suspect depending upon the algorithm you use you could get different results if formatting words get mistaken for book content.

I've found the two numbers are very close. Good enough for my uses which are pretty minimal. The book in the images was downloaded and de-kepubified and the cover image set to my standard size.

[Aleron Ives]

That's good to know. I've been relying on the Kobo store word count for my records, rather than trying to do my own word count of each book.