KDP stripping custom fonts

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

Ha, still going here, don't know why I don't just put myself out of my misery.

I have done a revision of the stylesheet for each book and have found a few anomalies which have been corrected.

For the record I had my images with two conflicting classes which still managed to show up OK in the public books all the same.

I had for some reason: list-style: none; instead of list-style-type: none;

I've switched that around.

My recent background is web development so my ebooks are very simple with the CSS, my file is just over 1k, there are not many classes, I have a basic seven. I see some of the automatically generated CSS files clock in at 30k. Having a look at how all over the place other people's markup is, a new class for each paragraph almost, I wonder how they troubleshoot that barrel of odds and ends.

The CSS looks like this with a few working classes left out.



The only things not working are the font-family, neither the "Abel" nor the sans-serif are seen, and the a{text-decoration: none;}.

Sorry to go on about this but I'd love to work it out.

Remember this all looks just fine when previewed using Book Preview and in the file downloaded on the Edit Book Details page of KDP.

It seems to me that you have made a mistake here:

p.title {
color: #e65c00;
font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;
font-size: 1em;
margin-top: 0.25em;
margin-bottom: 0.125em;
page-break-before: always;
text-align: center;
text-indent: 0; /*----> here you didn't close the style with "}" */
.toc {
font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;
font-size: 1em;
line-height: 1.4;
margin-left: 1em;
text-indent: 0;
}

Also I have seen that you are using <p class="title"> as your header paragraphs. Take in count that some Kindle models (i.e. Kindle Fire) only allows custom fonts in <h> tags so, it would would be a good idea for you to replace p.title with h1 (or h2, h3, etc.). Just replace p.title with (for example):

h4 {
color: #e65c00;
font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;
font-size: 1em;
margin-top: 0.25em;
margin-bottom: 0.125em;
page-break-before: always;
text-align: center;
text-indent: 0; 
} /* Here don't forget to close the style :D */

And also would be a good idea to start anything with that <h4> tag in a new .xhtml file instead of using the property "page-break-before: always;". By using that property you'll find that sometimes your top margins are omitted (if you still are going to use "page-break-before: always;" then would be better to use "padding-top" instead of "margin-top").

Regards
Rubén

[GJ Coop]

Rubén thanks for your interest.

It seems to me that you have made a mistake here:

text-indent: 0; /*----> here you didn't close the style with "}" */

Sorry, that is a cut and paste error, my style sheet is correct.

Also I have seen that you are using <p class="title"> as your header paragraphs. Take in count that some Kindle models (i.e. Kindle Fire) only allows custom fonts in <h> tags so, it would would be a good idea for you to replace p.title with h1 (or h2, h3, etc.).

My Kindle Fire emulator has had no problem with the p style headings and I have seen many dissected ebooks that cope with this no problema.

I changed to p because when I initially used h headings KDP would not accept the font size, they had it at 3 em or whatever some default.

I have never heard this custom font in only h tag suggestion before, could you tell me where you heard about this.

And also would be a good idea to start anything with that <h4> tag in a new .xhtml file instead of using the property "page-break-before: always;".

Yes I do have a separate .xhtml file for each chapter. I have between 16 and 20 chapters per ebook. I can't remember why I introduced that but I'll get rid of it and see what happens.

+ + +

I'm on to KPD support as to what their view is but so far it has responses have been of the you-shouldn't-use-pdf-files type, ie, something generic and irrelevant.

Remember these ebooks are completely checking out in every preview. In any way you can look at the file.

It's when it goes public that the issue occur.

There has been another two kooky things happening with one book on KDP. This book is not updating from the newly uploaded file. I can see the correct edition has loaded in the KDP Preview. An old version prevails in the store, even after they told me it has been updated. When I go back and check the preview there is the new version.

Also, a separate issue, the entire book is able to be previewed, not just the first 10% as is usual.

I'm thinking it might be ending up a KDP issue.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

JS

Thanks for that.

But I'm pretty sure that isn't my issue, I've tried that and every other combination conceivable.

The file I download from Book Preview on the upload page looks correct in the Kindle Paperwhite Previewer app, in

The online previewer also looks good.

It's the Amazon Previewer screen, one on the public side, that looks not so good, the fonts stripped.

Here's a few screen shots. There's three that show what I want and one that shows what I get.

Coop:

I assume that the "Cloud Reader" is the view you don't want, is that right? I'd understood you to previously say that it was the KDP-Preview view you didn't want; can you clarify? When I look at these, the reader/view isn't clear to me now.

ETA: Also, when you say:

There has been another two kooky things happening with one book on KDP. This book is not updating from the newly uploaded file. I can see the correct edition has loaded in the KDP Preview. An old version prevails in the store, even after they told me it has been updated. When I go back and check the preview there is the new version.

Can you please be more specific? You say that you can see that the new edition is loaded via the KDP-preview, but then you say "an old version prevails at the store," how are you checking this? Are you re-downloading the file to your account, which has previously purchased the file? If you are, you will NOT see the new version. You will see the old version, unless/until you get KDP to "push" the new version to all prior purchasers. This is a deliberate thing, to discourage the scourge of "I've revised by book for the nth time to remove typos" plague. Or are you having someone else buy the book for the first time?

Hitch

[GJ Coop]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Coop:

I assume that the "Cloud Reader" is the view you don't want, is that right?

Hitch

Spot the difference.

Yes, the last of the images, Kindle public cloud reader, doesn't have the embedded font showing, the first three do.

But it doesn't have the sans-serif backup showing either.

As in:

font-family: "Abel", sans-serif;

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

Spot the difference.

Yes, the last of the images, Kindle public cloud reader, doesn't have the embedded font showing, the first three do.

But it doesn't have the sans-serif backup showing either.

As in:

Coop:

is THAT how you've been checking fonts? With Cloud reader?

Hitch

[GJ Coop]

Yes.

I can't work out how, being 2014 and all, the Look Inside doesn't show embedded fonts.

Now I guess that you are about to tell me that the Cloud reader, previewing what you are about to buy, doesn't show embedded fonts either, although it shows the color and size.

And that the uploading Previewer does.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

Yes.

I can't work out how, being 2014 and all, the Look Inside doesn't show embedded fonts.

Now I guess that you are about to tell me that the Cloud reader, previewing what you are about to buy, doesn't show embedded fonts either, although it shows the color and size.

And that the uploading Previewer does.

Yes, Coop.

That's what I'm going to tell you. No fonts in Cloud Reader. Not now, not ever. So: ping me the name of the freaking book, and I'll dl a sample to my real device, and with any luck, you can put this behind you. AND US. I wish I'd thought to ask you this earlier, but honestly..it never occurred to me that you were using Cloud Reader as your testing and proofing platform.

Hitch

[GJ Coop]

Hitch

Now that would be an entirely useful explanation.

I did, to my way of looking at it, think that when Amazon has two ways for the public to preview a book that maybe one of them would have a preview of what you actually are about to buy.

I know there are many different devices but the Kindle Previewer and Kindle app on my desktop don't seem to have any issue.

Hope this puts everyone out of their misery.

GJ

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

Hitch

Now that would be an entirely useful explanation.

I did, to my way of looking at it, think that when Amazon has two ways for the public to preview a book that maybe one of them would have a preview of what you actually are about to buy.

I know there are many different devices but the Kindle Previewer and Kindle app on my desktop don't seem to have any issue.

Hope this puts everyone out of their misery.

GJ

Coop:

For everyone else who's been playing the home game: yes, of course there's a way for people to see what they'll actually get--they download the SAMPLE. To a real device, which displays whatever their reader is capable of doing--KF8 if it's a Fire/HD/HDX/PPW, or KF7 if it's an older e-ink or the DX. But if the only "registered device" a person has is Cloud Reader, they don't see fonts, because it doesn't display fonts, either--like the K2's, for example.

That's all. Glad to have been of service--more or less.

Hitch

[GJ Coop]

Yowser!

Just to do a wrap up of this saga so anyone who follows in these footsteps will know what the ending is. Umm, happiness, at least for me. Hitch has sorted me out.

The CSS and markup of the last day actually have not had any error.

The problem is that I do not have a dedicated ebook reader to check the status of the downloaded files, I can only read them in the Cloud Reader, which does not read custom fonts. Even when I downloaded my own book and read it online the fonts appeared missing. Apparently they had been there all along for anyone with a dedicated reader.

The KDP Previewer reads custom fonts when up loading, they show up, the Amazon Cloud Reader does not show them on the public side.

It appears that if the custom font is showing as expected on the Kindle Previewer when you upload your ebook then it will appear in the final ebook available to the public.

Many thanks to everyone who chipped in with thoughts but particularly to the irrepressible Hitch who figured it all out. I wish I'd sent her one of my books on Day 1. That would have saved a lot of effort fixing this problem that actually didn't exist.

Man, isn't this internet thing handy.

GJ

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

My Kindle Fire emulator has had no problem with the p style headings and I have seen many dissected ebooks that cope with this no problema.

I changed to p because when I initially used h headings KDP would not accept the font size, they had it at 3 em or whatever some default.

Curious. Did you style the <h> selector? That is, did you include in your .css stylesheet something like:

h2 { /* or whatever the h selector you used */
...
font-size: 1em; /* or whatever the font size you you like */
...
}

If you wrote that, then KDP should respect the font size for your selector.

I have never heard this custom font in only h tag suggestion before, could you tell me where you heard about this.

That was spoken in this forum; do a search and you'll find some info about that. But also you can watch that with your Kindle Previewer; when you select (in Kindle Previewer) for example Kindle Paperwhite you have the option to choose a custom font but when you select Kindle Fire that option doesn't appear.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

Curious. Did you style the <h> selector? That is, did you include in your .css stylesheet something like:

h2 { /* or whatever the h selector you used */
...
font-size: 1em; /* or whatever the font size you you like */
...
}

If you wrote that, then KDP should respect the font size for your selector.



That was spoken in this forum; do a search and you'll find some info about that. But also you can watch that with your Kindle Previewer; when you select (in Kindle Previewer) for example Kindle Paperwhite you have the option to choose a custom font but when you select Kindle Fire that option doesn't appear.

I admit, I'm a bit boggled by this; we use fonts in p styles all the time. (No, we don't use p classes for headers, though, of course). I don't think I remember reading this, either?

We've had a LOT of books that have come in, with "discussions" between characters in chats, texts, emails, etc., in which the publisher wants differing fonts, so...yeah. We have p classes (and divs, etc.) that have custom fonts. They seem to work.

Hitch

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GJ Coop

Yowser!

Just to do a wrap up of this saga so anyone who follows in these footsteps will know what the ending is. Umm, happiness, at least for me. Hitch has sorted me out.

The CSS and markup of the last day actually have not had any error.

The problem is that I do not have a dedicated ebook reader to check the status of the downloaded files, I can only read them in the Cloud Reader, which does not read custom fonts. Even when I downloaded my own book and read it online the fonts appeared missing. Apparently they had been there all along for anyone with a dedicated reader.

The KDP Previewer reads custom fonts when up loading, they show up, the Amazon Cloud Reader does not show them on the public side.

It appears that if the custom font is showing as expected on the Kindle Previewer when you upload your ebook then it will appear in the final ebook available to the public.

Many thanks to everyone who chipped in with thoughts but particularly to the irrepressible Hitch who figured it all out. I wish I'd sent her one of my books on Day 1. That would have saved a lot of effort fixing this problem that actually didn't exist.

Man, isn't this internet thing handy.

GJ

Well, gosh, thanks, but seriously: I didn't do ANYTHING, other than be pigheaded. I didn't SOLVE anything. There wasn't actually anything to solve; the issue was that Coop was using Kindle Cloud Reader. That's it! Ah, irrepressible. Yupperdoodle, that's me. Poor Coop doesn't know that for two years all you guys thought I was a cranky old mean guy. ;-)

Hitch

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, gosh, thanks, but seriously: I didn't do ANYTHING, other than be pigheaded. I didn't SOLVE anything. There wasn't actually anything to solve; the issue was that Coop was using Kindle Cloud Reader. That's it! Ah, irrepressible. Yupperdoodle, that's me. Poor Coop doesn't know that for two years all you guys thought I was a cranky old mean guy. ;-)

Hitch

But we still know you are cranky.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But we still know you are cranky.

Dude!!

I'm SHOCKED! You forgot "...and old and mean." I feel positively DISSED, I tell you. DISSED!

Hitch