KOBO Rocks!!!

[JSWolf]

I'm hoping someone will install the new hyphenation dictionary and show us how War of the Worlds v4 looks. Thanks.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

There is only one useful way to compare, and that would be the following:

- Put a book onto the two readers that does not force fonts, margins or spacings.
- Set each reader in such a way that you would like to read the book using that settings. (If both readers support custom fonts, you can use your own font.) If one reader can have smaller spacings than the other, or more precise font sizes, then that's just lucky for that specific reader.
- After setting the readers up the way you'd like them most, count the lines and characters on a page.

But what if I like setting my own styles? Default font size to 1.0em just so every book starts with the same font size, line height to 1.1 so I get a bit of gap without the ascenders and descenders meeting, bottom margin to 0.2 so I get a bit of a gap between paragraphs,margins to 0 save when I want them changed, etc. That way, I get what I want on any standards compliant ereader. The only control twiddling is to make the body font size readable to these old eyes.

Regards,
David

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Here is the CSS used in v4.

Is there anything that should have been done differently? I did expect to get more text on the Aura's screen. I set the font size in p to 1em and H2 to x-large and h3 to large. Line height is set to 1.0em in p, h2, and h3. So if I can fix things to get more text on the Aura screen, please tell me how and I'll make the changes in v5 and post that.

<nit pick mode: on>
Don't use em with line-height -- it is relative to the font-size. Line-height can be set with absolute measurements such as pt, px, cm, etc. but use 1.1 or 110% when you are going relative to the font-size in an element.
<nit pick mode: off>

I looked at the size of the h in Chapter in your image with the image height set to 12.24cm (matches the vertical size of a 6" eInk screen), I matched the Aura to the same font size as near as my trusty calipers could measure and got 1 extra line per screen with a 1.1 line height.

Regards,
David

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

<nit pick mode: on>
Don't use em with line-height -- it is relative to the font-size. Line-height can be set with absolute measurements such as pt, px, cm, etc. but use 1.1 or 110% when you are going relative to the font-size in an element.
<nit pick mode: off>

If you set the line height to be an absolute value, then when someone who needs a larger font increases the size, then you could get the lines overlapping. That's why em works best.

I looked at the size of the h in Chapter in your image with the image height set to 12.24cm (matches the vertical size of a 6" eInk screen), I matched the Aura to the same font size as near as my trusty calipers could measure and got 1 extra line per screen with a 1.1 line height.

So are you saying that 1em on the Aura is a different size then 1em on a 650? What size did you set that you think matched 1em on the 650?

[jackie_w]

@JSWolf,

A bit of background info re font-sizing, Kobo vs. Sony. Firstly they don't work quite the same, luckily that won't usually matter.

Kobos don't have a default font-size. Kobo font-sizing works very much like its line-height, i.e. when you set the font-size with the slider bar it's the same as adding body {font-size: xx} to your css, where xx is one of 24 values in the range 12-58. The units are not ems, probably they're points. The reason that it probably won't matter is because, if all your other css font-size settings are set in ems or %s (as I'm guessing yours are) then all elements below body will scale as expected. So anywhere, below body, where you've coded font-size:1em just multiplies xx by 1.

I don't think you would have quite the same objections to Kobo font-sizes as you have to their line-heights because 12 is really tiny and 58 is whopper. Nevertheless, be aware that there are gaps in the 12-58 range and the size that you prefer for one font won't necessarily be the size you prefer for another. If all else fails you can still re-tweak your Charis font till it's perfect for you.

On the Sonys, as far as I can tell, changing the font-size is more akin to applying a scaling factor to the epub's body font-size.

[JSWolf]

But when you load in an ePub and no font size is specified and no tweaking of the settings are done, what size is the font?

[taming]

Kobo (usually successfully) will have the new book inherit from the previous one. I don't know if there is a difference kepub v. epub on this. I have not paid much attention.

[Lyn2012]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Nevertheless, be aware that there are gaps in the 12-58 range.

Is it possible to change this in any way? To have, say, a range of 20-40 but no gaps. I only have 8 font sizes on my Kindle but have them set to increase at 1 point intervals. After all I will never use either the very large or very small fonts. Yes, I had to jailbreak to get this functionality, is it possible to tweak the Aura in this way?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But when you load in an ePub and no font size is specified and no tweaking of the settings are done, what size is the font?

When you first open an epub (at least a standard one) the font settings are read from a single config file in internal memory which, as taming said, contains the last settings you set in the font settings pop-up. If you later open the font settings for any particular book any changes you make are stored, for that book only, in the database. Any changed value is also copied as the new config file value.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

When you first open an epub (at least a standard one) the font settings are read from a single config file in internal memory which, as taming said, contains the last settings you set in the font settings pop-up. If you later open the font settings for any particular book any changes you make are stored, for that book only, in the database. Any changed value is also copied as the new config file value.

So if you take an Aura and load the first ePub on it and do not change the font size, what is the size you get? What is the default size?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you set the line height to be an absolute value, then when someone who needs a larger font increases the size, then you could get the lines overlapping. That's why em works best.



So are you saying that 1em on the Aura is a different size then 1em on a 650? What size did you set that you think matched 1em on the 650?

And yes, since em is a relative measurement after all -- 1 em for a 28 point type is different from 1 em for a 6 point type. The numbers used by Kobo seem to have little to do with any real world measurement hence my measuring with a caliper and matching the displayed sizes.

Regards,
David

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So if you take an Aura and load the first ePub on it and do not change the font size, what is the size you get? What is the default size?

I would get Georgia font with the font slider set in the middle. Once I make changes to the font and size, those changes become the default until I make another change. This is carried over to the next ebook. Once a book is opened and then closed, as far as I recall, there is a record of the information for that book in the database (Davidfor could confirm this) which will be used when the book is next opened.

Regards,
David

[samhy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So if you take an Aura and load the first ePub on it and do not change the font size, what is the size you get? What is the default size?

The factory set one, but don't ask which one it is. I played with the settings as soon as the Kobo logged into my account

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Line height unless set with absolute units is just a number. Setting line height to 1.1 or 110% sets the line height relative to the current font size and does not need a unit. Adding em doesn't hurt but neither does it do anything worthwhile.

And yes, since em is a relative measurement after all -- 1 em for a 28 point type is different from 1 em for a 6 point type. The numbers used by Kobo seem to have little to do with any real world measurement hence my measuring with a caliper and matching the displayed sizes.

Regards,
David

In my testing, when I increase the font size, the line-height stays the same relative to the font size.

Doing it your way of using a fixed value, when I increased the font size, the lines overlapped. em is the best value to use.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by samhy

The factory set one, but don't ask which one is it. I played with the settings as soon as the Kobo logged into my account

What is the factory set default font size?

I think this is a bug to not have a default font size once the font size slider has been moved. It means you lose a fixed value which is a good place to start.