04-13-2009, 10:42 PM | #1 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 52
Karma: 152
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 2
|
Using Unicode Fonts for darker text
One of the many uses of the nice unicode font tool is the ability to load fonts on your Kindle 2 that you find more readable than the default font. I like the default K2 font more or less, but with a little experimentation, I was able to update my Kindle with just the right font for my needs. Using Font Creator 5.6, I made a font that is a little bit bigger and a fair amount darker. Now, my smallest size is just ever so slightly smaller than the default size 2 and noticeably darker. I also added support for all the languages in which I was interested. Font Creator is nice, because you can copy the glyphs for Chinese from one unicode font and the Greek glyphs from another unicode font and so forth and combine it all into one custom unicode font. It also has easy-to-use tools for enlarging and darkening fonts. The 30-day trial version is fully-functional. Here are my results ...
|
04-13-2009, 10:46 PM | #2 |
I'm Super Kindle-icious
Posts: 6,734
Karma: 2434103
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia
Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis
|
Wow! This is great! I haven't tried the font hack yet but you've just inspired me to step it up. Thanks for sharing.
|
Advert | |
|
04-13-2009, 11:15 PM | #3 |
Addict
Posts: 320
Karma: 2257942
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Kindle Oasis 2 and 3, Scribe
|
Those dark fonts do look great. I just tried the Unicode Font Hack and ended up uninstalling it because the fonts were still too light.
I'm a total newbie when it comes to fonts and would like to learn how you accomplished what you did. I checked out the site you pointed to but have no idea where to begin. |
04-13-2009, 11:45 PM | #4 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 52
Karma: 152
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 2
|
Once you have downloaded and installed Font Creator, you can open up font files (*.ttf) and edit them. If you want, you can directly edit the 4 serif*.ttf fonts that come with the hack (in the /src folder) to make them darker. Or you can replace those files with your favorite base unicode font. (Do not modify the Mono*.ttf or Sans*.ttf files.) To make a font bolder, select the characters that you want to modify (you can select and shift-click to select multiple characters - for example, from the exclamation mark to the tilde), then from the pull-down menu select Tools | Glyph Transformer ... and expand "+Effects" and select "Bold" and click OK. To make a font larger, select the characters that you want to modify, then from the pull-down menu select Tools | Glyph Transformer ... and expand "+Outlines" and select "Scale" and increase both the Horizontal & Vertical percentage to somewhere between 105 and 110% around "Center of bearings" and click OK. You will want to make the same changes to all 4 font files. Once you are ready to try it on your Kindle, you need to run the "build-updates.cmd" in the /src directory to output the new *.bin files. To be safe, you should try the *install_browser.bin first to ensure that the font works in the browser before applying it to the reader as well.
|
04-14-2009, 12:14 AM | #5 |
Addict
Posts: 320
Karma: 2257942
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Kindle Oasis 2 and 3, Scribe
|
Thank you! I'm going to give this a try.
|
Advert | |
|
04-15-2009, 05:39 AM | #6 |
Groupie
Posts: 190
Karma: 326
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Baltimore
Device: Amazon Kindle 2
|
Amazon's developers could not see the trees (readability) for the forest (new features). Mine gets this tonight.
|
04-17-2009, 05:27 AM | #7 | |
Groupie
Posts: 190
Karma: 326
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Baltimore
Device: Amazon Kindle 2
|
Damaetus, would you make your font set available to the board?
Quote:
|
|
04-17-2009, 07:41 AM | #8 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 52
Karma: 152
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 2
|
I'd love to but am restricted from doing so. Unlike the Droid font which comes with the hack, the "base" font that I used (Verdana) is not public domain. Even though I slightly darkened and enlarged it to create my own custom font, I believe it would be a copyright violation and against board rules to distribute it. However, if you already own this font, it is an easy process to make the modifications following the simple steps above. Bona fortuna!
|
04-17-2009, 03:32 PM | #9 |
Groupie
Posts: 190
Karma: 326
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Baltimore
Device: Amazon Kindle 2
|
You are correct re: copyright. Thanks anyway. It does look great - enjoy.
|
04-17-2009, 04:56 PM | #10 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 74,620
Karma: 130140792
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
A really nice font that's had a good darkness to it but not too dark is Fontin. It is a serif font. But it's not as serif as the font that comes with the Kindle. And it even has a sans serif font. I think it would do quite well. I'll take some photos of my 505 using Fontin.
|
04-19-2009, 02:47 PM | #11 |
Zealot
Posts: 108
Karma: 112
Join Date: Nov 2007
Device: Kindle
|
OK - I must be doing something wrong. Here are the steps I followed:
1. Changed my own copy of Verdana to meet my needs (more bold) 2. Replaced the fonts in the src folder with Verdana copies renamed to fit all the fonts in the three different categories (Mono, Sans, and Serif) so that Verdana would now replace them all. 3. Ran build-updates.cmd 4. Used the update file to update my Kindle Some fonts seem changed, but the serif font used to display the home menu is some serif font and not the modified Verdana, as is the fonts in my books. What am I missing? |
04-19-2009, 03:44 PM | #12 |
Zealot
Posts: 108
Karma: 112
Join Date: Nov 2007
Device: Kindle
|
OK - I figured out where my problem is. I can modify the fonts fine. I don't understand how to use the build-updates.cmd to generate the new update files. I do have Python installed on my Mac and know how to get it running in the Terminal - but don't know enough to get beyond that.
Any help? Or someone could post a version of the patch with darker Android fonts for total idiots like me? UPDATE: Running the script through terminal I get: File "/Users/schulzmc/Kindle/kindle_font_hack_v01_droid/src/build-updates.cmd", line 1 python kindle_update_tool.py m -k2 unicode_fonts_droid_install install.sh Mono_Bold.ttf Mono_BoldItalic.ttf Mono_Italic.ttf Mono_Regular.ttf Sans_Bold.ttf Sans_BoldItalic.ttf Sans_Italic.ttf Sans_Regular.ttf Serif_Bold.ttf Serif_BoldItalic.ttf Serif_Italic.ttf Serif_Regular.ttf ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax Last edited by schulzmc; 04-19-2009 at 04:00 PM. |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
User report of darker PDF fonts in K3? Contrast feature | guiyoforward | Amazon Kindle | 12 | 09-10-2010 07:50 AM |
Classic Can I make text darker? | PG4003 | Barnes & Noble NOOK | 1 | 06-28-2010 11:38 PM |
Hacks 2.52 with unicode-fonts-hack? | yuenslhk | Amazon Kindle | 4 | 06-17-2010 07:00 PM |
Unicode fonts in menus | cartman | Sony Reader Dev Corner | 1 | 06-09-2009 10:53 AM |
Some trouble with PRS-500 (enlarge text and darker) | Jary | Sony Reader | 7 | 04-11-2007 03:43 PM |