Bookerly & Bumping Italics

pozzo · 02-23-2017, 05:04 PM

Currently preparing my first book for Kindle, I've noticed that when read in Kindle for PC using Bookerly font, sometimes the italics unattractively bump up against punctuation immediately following, e.g. close quotes, colon, close parenthesis, exclamation, question marks. Evidently, the more recent styleguides advise running italics through the end punctuation, differing from earlier guides. But it looks to me that most ebooks close the italic before the punctuation (ie. are confined to the word itself). Everything looks perfectly well in Caecilia & Georgia, but I'm thinking that, since Bookerly seems to have a lot of fans (and is perhaps taking over?), it might be best to go back through and move all the necessary closing tags to behind the punctuation. Has anyone noticed the issue in Bookerly?
Grateful for any thoughts & advice.

JSWolf · 02-23-2017, 06:37 PM

What version Kindle for PC are you using? I know Bookerly has been updated since it was released and maybe the version of Bookerly in the version of Kindle for PC you are using is an old version.

Notjohn · 02-24-2017, 07:20 AM

Not quite the same thing, but I have noted in my favorite news/opinion site that hyperlinks seem to cause a problem when they run up against punctuation.

I think Bookerly is the default font on Kindle devices now, so it is certainly a font you want to work well. I generally make an effort to avoid italicizing punctuation unless it is actually part of the italicized phrase, but I can imagine cases where that would be impossible.

AlanHK · 06-19-2017, 02:52 PM

I've been italicising abutting punctuation for print layout for about 25 years. Especially for better constructed fonts, they are designed to kern together, But if there is a font change this can't work. Especially shows up for close quotes, exclamation and question marks which can collide with the last letter of the italic word, and open quotes, which can be too widely spaced.

02-23-2017, 05:04 PM	#1
pozzo Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2017 Device: Kindle	Currently preparing my first book for Kindle, I've noticed that when read in Kindle for PC using Bookerly font, sometimes the italics unattractively bump up against punctuation immediately following, e.g. close quotes, colon, close parenthesis, exclamation, question marks. Evidently, the more recent styleguides advise running italics through the end punctuation, differing from earlier guides. But it looks to me that most ebooks close the italic before the punctuation (ie. are confined to the word itself). Everything looks perfectly well in Caecilia & Georgia, but I'm thinking that, since Bookerly seems to have a lot of fans (and is perhaps taking over?), it might be best to go back through and move all the necessary closing tags to behind the punctuation. Has anyone noticed the issue in Bookerly? Grateful for any thoughts & advice. Last edited by pozzo; 02-23-2017 at 06:27 PM. Reason: typos

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02-23-2017, 06:37 PM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,841 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What version Kindle for PC are you using? I know Bookerly has been updated since it was released and maybe the version of Bookerly in the version of Kindle for PC you are using is an old version.

02-24-2017, 07:20 AM	#3
Notjohn mostly an observer Posts: 1,515 Karma: 987654 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kindle	Not quite the same thing, but I have noted in my favorite news/opinion site that hyperlinks seem to cause a problem when they run up against punctuation. I think Bookerly is the default font on Kindle devices now, so it is certainly a font you want to work well. I generally make an effort to avoid italicizing punctuation unless it is actually part of the italicized phrase, but I can imagine cases where that would be impossible.

06-19-2017, 02:52 PM	#4
AlanHK Guru Posts: 668 Karma: 929286 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: PW-3, iPad, Android phone	I've been italicising abutting punctuation for print layout for about 25 years. Especially for better constructed fonts, they are designed to kern together, But if there is a font change this can't work. Especially shows up for close quotes, exclamation and question marks which can collide with the last letter of the italic word, and open quotes, which can be too widely spaced.