Kindle Previewer ignoring Calibre line-height settings

RonOnThePond · 01-24-2023, 07:09 PM

I've been editing the epub for my book in the Calibre editor (v6.11), doing okay. Three steps forward, two steps back, all the way. But I'm getting there. Somehow I have inadvertently done something that is causing the line spacing in Kindle Previewer to ignore my css line-height settings that were previously working fine. All of the KP lines appear to be nearly double-spaced.

Is there a global line-height setting in an epub that might be responsible for this? If so, where do I find it? Or is there some other misstep I might have made that could cause this behavior?

It's frustrating, because each attempt at a fix requires several minutes of KP's conversion process before I can see the result. My line-heights are fine in the Calibre Editor's viewer, so the only way I can see the effect of a change is to open it in KP, which as I said, is slow and tedious.

If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it, and my wife will be able to take me off suicide watch.

Ron

theducks · 01-24-2023, 08:19 PM

They are not Calibre's line-height . Those are the pervue of W3C

CSS Cascading Style Sheet

Again. Not required Master Control dictating what all books do.
The editor has an Inspector that allows you to examine the selected block and sometime detect if you inherited from further out in the code nest.

jhowell · 01-24-2023, 08:33 PM

The Kindle Previewer attempts to normalize line heights to 1.2em so that books will have a consistent look when published on Amazon. Some think that is too large and would prefer to have more lines per screen.

If you think that the line spacing is coming out greater than that you could post a screen shot for verification. Without seeing your CSS it is difficult to provide further advice.

RonOnThePond · 01-24-2023, 10:21 PM

Here are two screenshots to compare. If you need to see the css or the entire file, I'll scramble the epub and post a link, gladly. The entire file is spaced similarly and is fine in Calibre, not in the Kindle Previewer.

I have clearly done something stupid to make this happen because it is a new development that caught me by surprise. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly when it began. I could go back to an earlier copy, but it would be a lot of work to redo. I imagine there is a simple fix, if only I knew where to look.

Given time, I'd become a Calibre/HTML/CSS/Kindle expert first, and then write a book. Sadly, I got it backwards. So again, thank you for taking the time to help me with this. … Ron

Quoth · 01-25-2023, 04:59 AM

Don't have ANY "line-height" properties anywhere.

RonOnThePond · 01-25-2023, 08:42 AM

Quoth, I'm not sure what you mean. Those are just images, not code snippets. My problem is that when I see the correctly spaced text in the Calibre Editor's viewer, it is totally wrong in the Kindle Previewer, as shown by the screenshots. So I'm wondering if there is some global line-height setting somewhere that I might have affected unintentionally, or if there is some other reason the KP looks so different.

theducks · 01-25-2023, 09:54 AM

I suspect the setting is in the Previewer and not this if it looks OK in Calibre viewer.

Without the real code (can be scrambled), it is hard to tell where.
I'm with Quoth. get rid of any line-height in your code (a COPY) and see what the Kindle version looks like.

Been a while since I bothered with a Kindle (Kobo is now my main read), but Kindles have Kindle (setting) View and Publishers view. The former pretty much does its own thing.

RonOnThePond · 01-25-2023, 12:53 PM

theducks, you might be right. I sent the epub directly to my kindle and it looks much better, other than everything I already mucked up trying to get it to look right in the previewer. I will try to clean it up in Calibre, send it again to my kindle signature edition, and see how close I get. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for sticking with me on this.

theducks · 01-25-2023, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonOnThePond

theducks, you might be right. I sent the epub directly to my kindle and it looks much better, other than everything I already mucked up trying to get it to look right in the previewer. I will try to clean it up in Calibre, send it again to my kindle signature edition, and see how close I get. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for sticking with me on this.

Been down this path (fighting a device that does some, or all IT's WAY)

RonOnThePond · 01-25-2023, 02:39 PM

I guess there should probably be a separate forum here for group therapy.

01-24-2023, 07:09 PM	#1
RonOnThePond Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2023 Device: kindle	Kindle Previewer ignoring Calibre line-height settings I've been editing the epub for my book in the Calibre editor (v6.11), doing okay. Three steps forward, two steps back, all the way. But I'm getting there. Somehow I have inadvertently done something that is causing the line spacing in Kindle Previewer to ignore my css line-height settings that were previously working fine. All of the KP lines appear to be nearly double-spaced. Is there a global line-height setting in an epub that might be responsible for this? If so, where do I find it? Or is there some other misstep I might have made that could cause this behavior? It's frustrating, because each attempt at a fix requires several minutes of KP's conversion process before I can see the result. My line-heights are fine in the Calibre Editor's viewer, so the only way I can see the effect of a change is to open it in KP, which as I said, is slow and tedious. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it, and my wife will be able to take me off suicide watch. Ron

01-24-2023, 10:21 PM	#4
RonOnThePond Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2023 Device: kindle	Screenshots comparing Kindle and Calibre Here are two screenshots to compare. If you need to see the css or the entire file, I'll scramble the epub and post a link, gladly. The entire file is spaced similarly and is fine in Calibre, not in the Kindle Previewer. I have clearly done something stupid to make this happen because it is a new development that caught me by surprise. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly when it began. I could go back to an earlier copy, but it would be a lot of work to redo. I imagine there is a simple fix, if only I knew where to look. Given time, I'd become a Calibre/HTML/CSS/Kindle expert first, and then write a book. Sadly, I got it backwards. So again, thank you for taking the time to help me with this. … Ron Attached Thumbnails

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01-24-2023, 08:19 PM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,782 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	They are not Calibre's line-height . Those are the pervue of W3C CSS Cascading Style Sheet Again. Not required Master Control dictating what all books do. The editor has an Inspector that allows you to examine the selected block and sometime detect if you inherited from further out in the code nest.

01-24-2023, 08:33 PM	#3
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,496 Karma: 84420419 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Tampa Bay, Florida Device: Kindles	The Kindle Previewer attempts to normalize line heights to 1.2em so that books will have a consistent look when published on Amazon. Some think that is too large and would prefer to have more lines per screen. If you think that the line spacing is coming out greater than that you could post a screen shot for verification. Without seeing your CSS it is difficult to provide further advice.

01-25-2023, 04:59 AM	#5
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,092 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	Don't have ANY "line-height" properties anywhere.

01-25-2023, 08:42 AM	#6
RonOnThePond Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2023 Device: kindle	Quoth, I'm not sure what you mean. Those are just images, not code snippets. My problem is that when I see the correctly spaced text in the Calibre Editor's viewer, it is totally wrong in the Kindle Previewer, as shown by the screenshots. So I'm wondering if there is some global line-height setting somewhere that I might have affected unintentionally, or if there is some other reason the KP looks so different.

01-25-2023, 09:54 AM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,782 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I suspect the setting is in the Previewer and not this if it looks OK in Calibre viewer. Without the real code (can be scrambled), it is hard to tell where. I'm with Quoth. get rid of any line-height in your code (a COPY) and see what the Kindle version looks like. Been a while since I bothered with a Kindle (Kobo is now my main read), but Kindles have Kindle (setting) View and Publishers view. The former pretty much does its own thing.

01-25-2023, 12:53 PM	#8
RonOnThePond Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2023 Device: kindle	theducks, you might be right. I sent the epub directly to my kindle and it looks much better, other than everything I already mucked up trying to get it to look right in the previewer. I will try to clean it up in Calibre, send it again to my kindle signature edition, and see how close I get. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for sticking with me on this.

01-25-2023, 02:39 PM	#10
RonOnThePond Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2023 Device: kindle	I guess there should probably be a separate forum here for group therapy.