Unable to install fonts on Kindle Voyage

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Maybe, but the ebook needs specially formatted.

True it needs all those bold bits.

I could not read it. It looks awful.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by HFM1101

Tried to install the font Bionic Reading, a font that is designed with the first few letters of each word to appear in bold. The developer sent me both .otf and .ttf files, neither have worked.

The only way this can work is if the font has alternate glyphs that are bold, and uses an OpenType substitution that converts a glyph sequence like " start" to " start". In other words, the second text isn't "\s\t\a\r\t" (the OpenType representation of a glyph sequence), but rather "\s-alt\t-alt\a-alt\r\t", where the "-alt" are glyphs in the font without code points, and are only accessible by glyph name. In addition, that substitution would have to be set as a default in the font, as there is no way to enable it in most (any?) e-reader software using CSS.

The software on Kindle hardware readers does support such a default OpenType substitution (an example is some of the Adobe "Premier" fonts with features like ligatures and swashes), but those are small tables. To bold only the first few letters after a word break would be an incredibly complicated and large substitution table compared to the ones I have seen that do work. So, the software might just not be able to support it.

As for other software, I have no idea what OpenType features each one supports, but I wouldn't be surprised to see many limits for such support on hardware readers.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

The only way this can work is if the font has alternate glyphs that are bold, and uses an OpenType substitution that converts a glyph sequence like " start" to " start".

It can also work by HTML. By the actual text using a different code point.
It doesn't need alternate glyphs.

But we agree you can't make an existing ebook be "bionic reading" simply by adding a font.

And the Elephant is that it's simply an unproven theory.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It can also work by HTML. By the actual text using a different code point.
It doesn't need alternate glyphs.

But we agree you can't make an existing ebook be "bionic reading" simply by adding a font.

And the Elephant is that it's simply an unproven theory.

This is just like using OpenDyslexic. It may work for some, but in more cases it won't work.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by Quoth

But we agree you can't make an existing ebook be "bionic reading" simply by adding a font.

No, we don't agree.

I don't think most e-reader software is up to this, but any software that sits on top of the Windows font system (like Calibre viewer or Sigil) would work fine if the font used an OpenType substitution table.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

No, we don't agree.

I don't think most e-reader software is up to this, but any software that sits on top of the Windows font system (like Calibre viewer or Sigil) would work fine if the font used an OpenType substitution table.

You should agree. Your solution is NOT the same as simply using a font. You can't do Bionic Reading with just the font. You need software to do the hocus pocus to edit the eBook to work with the font.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

No, we don't agree.

I don't think most e-reader software is up to this, but any software that sits on top of the Windows font system (like Calibre viewer or Sigil) would work fine if the font used an OpenType substitution table.

Who reads ebooks on Windows? Almost nobody.

We don't agree on solutions*, but we do agree simply adding a font to a Kindle won't work.

[* I do agree that your idea is a plausible solution, though I'm sceptical]

So for practical purposes simply adding a so called Bionic font is unlikely to work on iOS, Android and any eink reader. It is possible to have "bionic reading" on a Kindle, Kobo or app with specially crafted source text. If a text has no DRM a conversion tool could do it.


But it's pointless anyway.

[Quoth]

I looked closer.
You do need to install a Bionic Reading font. BUT ALSO the source text has to be converted to use it!

You can't enable it just with a font and suitable font support.

Bionic Reading also offers a free converter tool for TXT, RTF, RTFD, EPUB, and DOCX files. That means you can convert eBooks and use Bionic Reading on your Kindle devices and other eReaders. Simply upload the file to the web converter.

It's not just initial letters, but can be the initial part of a word.
See
https://www.howtogeek.com/807981/wha...do-you-use-it/
and
https://bionic-reading.com/

At the time of writing, there's no evidence to suggest Bionic Reading is any better than regular text.

In theory you don't actually need the Bionic Reading font at all. It's just icing, cosmetic.

[JSWolf]

I just tried one of the online Bionic converters. It totally messed up the ePub. It was no longer properly formatted with the Bionic mess added to it.

[Quoth]

Going where angels fear to tread
Maybe it works better with docx?

I remain unconvinced.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by Quoth

In theory you don't actually need the Bionic Reading font at all. It's just icing, cosmetic.

Well, that's just stupid then. Why have a "special" font?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Well, that's just stupid then. Why have a "special" font?

Marketing

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Well, that's just stupid then. Why have a "special" font?

The reason for the font is so you can have the specific sans-serif font that they use.

If Bionic Reading actually worked, it would be out there a lot more then it is.

[HFM1101]

Sorry to have gone awol. I appreciate the support, thanks.
To answer some questions I should have previously stated... OS is Windows 11. I never use .mobi. All my files are AZW3.

I hear you about BR font being a sham, I've heard that too. But the jury is still out on it, and my limited experience with it helped me to zoom through text that would usually take twice as long. I'm ADHD.

When I did a dummy-run of having books sent straight from Amazon, the font did work, so it is possible that a font can load with the first few letters of each word in bold. But my entire library is sideloaded and I don't want to have Amazon send all my books because I have zero control on editing look/feel of books.

What I cannot make it do is have custom fonts (any custom fonts, not just BR font) affect any book. I can see the font in the library on the Kindle, but it will not change it.

I don't want to embed the font as permanently assigned to specific books. I'd like the freedom to choose between different fonts as I want.

Has anyone seen a solution to this problem? Is it a Voyage issue?

Thanks.

[Sirtel]

It's not a Voyage issue. I had a Voyage years ago and custom fonts worked just fine on it, with sideloaded AZW3 files.