Calibre Viewer Doesn't Display Books Properly

PricklyApoSpider · 12-08-2023, 08:46 PM

Hello, I'm new to Mobileread and Calibre. The only issues I've been having is with Calibre's viewer. For some reason, by default the books are not displayed in their original font, style, and formatting. They're over ridden with the default viewer font. I can't see seem to find the setting that would fix that. Please help.

DNSB · 12-08-2023, 08:59 PM

A trifle odd. The only font overrides I see in the viewer preferences are for unstyled text (right click on the book page in the viewer => Preferences => Fonts). The style and formatting is even odder since every ePub I've read in calibre's viewer is pretty much an exact match for the ePub's internal styling. Unlike some bits of crap such as Moon+, calibre does not override the style/formatting. I do read in paged mode since, to me, flow mode is not intended for reading books.

By original font, do you mean a font set in the ePub's CSS using a font-family declaration for a font that is installed on your Windows computer? If you are reading on another device and wanting to match the font used on that device, you will have to make sure that font is available on your Windows computer.

Sirtel · 12-08-2023, 08:59 PM

Properly formatted ebooks don't have any "original" body font - the reader is free to choose whatever font they like. You can select the font the viewer uses from Preferences -> Fonts (viewer preferences, not general Calibre preferences).

PricklyApoSpider · 12-08-2023, 10:21 PM

I mean whatever font that the book or document was originally written in.

PricklyApoSpider · 12-08-2023, 10:35 PM

I mean, the book looks the same in every other PDF reader and e pub reader except Calibre.

Sirtel · 12-08-2023, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PricklyApoSpider

I mean, the book looks the same in every other PDF reader and e pub reader except Calibre.

What format is the book in? Calibre viewer is not meant for viewing PDF files, it's an epub reader.

DNSB · 12-08-2023, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PricklyApoSpider

I mean, the book looks the same in every other PDF reader and e pub reader except Calibre.

A PDF reader displays the page as written. The calibre viewer converts to ePub before reading which is a fairly major change and PDF sucks as a source format. See the many discussions in this forum on conversion from PDF being a very bad idea. You can set calibre to open a PDF with an external programs such as one of Adobe's PDF applications.

As for ePub, I find that calibre comes close to to ADE, Thorium, my Kobo ereaders, the Pocketbook & Kobo apps on iOS when displaying content. Which ePub readers are you trying to use? If Android, that may be your problem.

PricklyApoSpider · 12-08-2023, 11:04 PM

Is there anyway I can replace the viewer that comes with the software? Are there any viewer plugins?

DNSB · 12-08-2023, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PricklyApoSpider

I mean whatever font that the book or document was originally written in.

A PDF has it's fonts specified but since using the calibre viewer requires a PDF to ePub conversion, it's not the best tool for viewing a PDF.

As for an ePub, most ePubs do not specify a font, letting the user select the font they want to use. For me, if an ePub says to use Times New Roman, that reference is removed since Times New Roman is not a great font for reading on eInk.

Sirtel · 12-08-2023, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PricklyApoSpider

Is there anyway I can replace the viewer that comes with the software? Are there any viewer plugins?

Preferences -> Behavior -> Use internal viewer for...
Uncheck all formats you want to read with an external application.

DNSB · 12-08-2023, 11:25 PM

To continue from what Sirtel wrote, this will use the operating system default applications for any unchecked formats.

12-08-2023, 08:46 PM	#1
PricklyApoSpider Prickly Spider Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Windows Computer	Calibre Viewer Doesn't Display Books Properly Hello, I'm new to Mobileread and Calibre. The only issues I've been having is with Calibre's viewer. For some reason, by default the books are not displayed in their original font, style, and formatting. They're over ridden with the default viewer font. I can't see seem to find the setting that would fix that. Please help.

12-08-2023, 08:59 PM	#3
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 10,414 Karma: 225537496 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	Properly formatted ebooks don't have any "original" body font - the reader is free to choose whatever font they like. You can select the font the viewer uses from Preferences -> Fonts (viewer preferences, not general Calibre preferences). Last edited by Sirtel; 12-08-2023 at 09:02 PM.

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12-08-2023, 08:59 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 36,607 Karma: 146499190 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	A trifle odd. The only font overrides I see in the viewer preferences are for unstyled text (right click on the book page in the viewer => Preferences => Fonts). The style and formatting is even odder since every ePub I've read in calibre's viewer is pretty much an exact match for the ePub's internal styling. Unlike some bits of crap such as Moon+, calibre does not override the style/formatting. I do read in paged mode since, to me, flow mode is not intended for reading books. By original font, do you mean a font set in the ePub's CSS using a font-family declaration for a font that is installed on your Windows computer? If you are reading on another device and wanting to match the font used on that device, you will have to make sure that font is available on your Windows computer.

12-08-2023, 10:21 PM	#4
PricklyApoSpider Prickly Spider Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Windows Computer	I mean whatever font that the book or document was originally written in.

12-08-2023, 10:35 PM	#5
PricklyApoSpider Prickly Spider Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Windows Computer	I mean, the book looks the same in every other PDF reader and e pub reader except Calibre.

12-08-2023, 11:04 PM	#8
PricklyApoSpider Prickly Spider Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Windows Computer	Is there anyway I can replace the viewer that comes with the software? Are there any viewer plugins?

12-08-2023, 11:25 PM	#11
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 36,607 Karma: 146499190 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	To continue from what Sirtel wrote, this will use the operating system default applications for any unchecked formats.

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