Overdrive Margin Problem

TrendyGuy · 02-25-2011, 08:15 PM

Hello all,

I am a public librarian and just bought a Kobo to use personally and help show off the library's ebook loaning through Overdrive. I have been doing this for the last year with my Nook but decided I wanted something else to show patrons when they come in.

I downloaded three books today from Overdrive and the margins seem to be huge! There seems to be an inch on the left, top, and right. The bottoms seems to have about 1 1/2". Is there a way to fix this? I am transferring the books from Adobe Digital Editions.

Thanks in advance for any help.

pholy · 02-25-2011, 11:33 PM

Your profile only mentions a Sony PRS-600. Since you seem to have a Nook and a Kobo as well, try putting the same book on all three and comparing your results. This assumes you have all three authorized to the same ADE account, otherwise you will have to check with Apprentice Alf, and heed his advice (but not in your official librarian capacity, of course...). I have looked at the style sheets of many of my books and found margins up to 30 points, and similar idiocies committed by people who don't think about their conversions to epub. I've got a couple of books I will be fixing up soon - just for my own use, although I may drop a note to the publishers.
Another possibility is to put in a firmware request to Kobo to ignore publisher supplied margins which are larger than 6 points...

TrendyGuy · 02-26-2011, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pholy

Your profile only mentions a Sony PRS-600. Since you seem to have a Nook and a Kobo as well, try putting the same book on all three and comparing your results. This assumes you have all three authorized to the same ADE account, otherwise you will have to check with Apprentice Alf, and heed his advice (but not in your official librarian capacity, of course...). I have looked at the style sheets of many of my books and found margins up to 30 points, and similar idiocies committed by people who don't think about their conversions to epub. I've got a couple of books I will be fixing up soon - just for my own use, although I may drop a note to the publishers.
Another possibility is to put in a firmware request to Kobo to ignore publisher supplied margins which are larger than 6 points...

Thanks for the reply. I have tried the 3 books on my Nook. The margins are much smaller than the kobo, almost to the edge of the screen on my books. There is a slight variation on the Nook but no where near as large as the kobo.

zoran · 02-26-2011, 12:43 AM

The difference might be that kobo shows exactly what css asks.
People mostly don't expect us to read on the small screen. If
one has a will, he simply changes values in css.
I guess that other readers have an option to run over native css
and format the page to the need.

TrendyGuy · 02-26-2011, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoran

The difference might be that kobo shows exactly what css asks.
People mostly don't expect us to read on the small screen. If
one has a will, he simply changes values in css.
I guess that other readers have an option to run over native css
and format the page to the need.

Is there any way to fix this on a book with DRM from Overdrive?

pholy · 02-26-2011, 05:06 PM

The DRM from Overdrive is much like Adobe's DRM, and the tricks Apprentice Alf teaches will work on both; you just have to remember to delete the book yourself when the borrowing period expires. Once the DRm is unlocked, the expiry date is removed as well. Then you can open up the epub file, edit the style sheet to your heart's content, and rezip it before transferring it to your reader.

3d0g · 02-26-2011, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pholy

The DRM from Overdrive is much like Adobe's DRM, and the tricks Apprentice Alf teaches will work on both; you just have to remember to delete the book yourself when the borrowing period expires. Once the DRm is unlocked, the expiry date is removed as well. Then you can open up the epub file, edit the style sheet to your heart's content, and rezip it before transferring it to your reader.

I kinda doubt a librarian wants to break DRM.

My suggestion is to drop kobo a note. The more that complain, the more likely it'll get fixed. I've been griping about it since the 1.4 firmware and raised the issue repeatedly while I was in the beta. I just think not enough people have complained to get it moved up the developer's priority list. The fix would be trivial.

pholy · 02-26-2011, 10:41 PM

Quote:

I kinda doubt a librarian wants to break DRM.

Oh, yes, I noted that in my earlier post...

I've decided that I'm not breaking the the DRM, I'm just unlocking it using the key they stored on my computer - my computer, my data...

Of course, I am not a lawyer, and my decision has not been tested in a court of law...

TrendyGuy · 02-27-2011, 07:08 PM

So I did whatever to my book and brought it into calibre and converted it for the kobo. After doing this I am still getting large margins. I even went a step further and went into the css and set all margins on everything to 0, got rid of the text-indent and everything. Transfer it and there are still the margins. I am thinking the kobo itself is adding it and there is nothing I can do about it. Since everything is takin out, the page numbers that show up on the right side of the page are being placed in to the text on the page.

Is there a way to set this up right in calibre so I can get rid of these margins?

edit: When I look at the book in calibre the only thing on the margins is 5pt on the left and right. While on the device there is at least a half an inch on the left, top, and right and around a full inch or more on the bottom.

JSWolf · 02-27-2011, 07:15 PM

What I can do is take a few ePub eBooks I have that I know I've properly set for 0 margins and put them on an SD card and next time I am near Borders, I can take a look on a Kobo and see what happens.

TrendyGuy · 02-27-2011, 07:18 PM

What I am after is to have the page number that is on the right side of the screen the be as close as possible to the edge of the screen. Then have the text be around 5pts from the edge. The epub seems to be set that way and it shows that way in calibre but not on the kobo.

JSWolf · 02-27-2011, 07:26 PM

But if the text runs into the page number on the side, then it will be easy enough to change the margins. I find that if you want to be 100% sure of not running into the side page number a right margin of 20px is good.

Do you want a 20px margin on just the right or the right and the left? I can edit a couple of ePub for some slight margins as well.

TrendyGuy · 02-27-2011, 07:39 PM

I would like the margin to be on the left and right. Also a very small margin on the top and bottom.

JSWolf · 02-27-2011, 07:42 PM

I find top/bottom margins are a waste of screen space.

TrendyGuy · 02-27-2011, 07:44 PM

Then nothing at all. Is there a way to got the right page number to be as close to the edge? It seems like the kobo is forcing it to move over and then using the margins I set based off that.

02-25-2011, 08:15 PM	#1
TrendyGuy Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS-600, Nook 3G, Kobo	Overdrive Margin Problem Hello all, I am a public librarian and just bought a Kobo to use personally and help show off the library's ebook loaning through Overdrive. I have been doing this for the last year with my Nook but decided I wanted something else to show patrons when they come in. I downloaded three books today from Overdrive and the margins seem to be huge! There seems to be an inch on the left, top, and right. The bottoms seems to have about 1 1/2". Is there a way to fix this? I am transferring the books from Adobe Digital Editions. Thanks in advance for any help.

02-27-2011, 07:08 PM	#9
TrendyGuy Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS-600, Nook 3G, Kobo	So I did whatever to my book and brought it into calibre and converted it for the kobo. After doing this I am still getting large margins. I even went a step further and went into the css and set all margins on everything to 0, got rid of the text-indent and everything. Transfer it and there are still the margins. I am thinking the kobo itself is adding it and there is nothing I can do about it. Since everything is takin out, the page numbers that show up on the right side of the page are being placed in to the text on the page. Is there a way to set this up right in calibre so I can get rid of these margins? edit: When I look at the book in calibre the only thing on the margins is 5pt on the left and right. While on the device there is at least a half an inch on the left, top, and right and around a full inch or more on the bottom. Last edited by TrendyGuy; 02-27-2011 at 07:16 PM.

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02-25-2011, 11:33 PM	#2
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	Your profile only mentions a Sony PRS-600. Since you seem to have a Nook and a Kobo as well, try putting the same book on all three and comparing your results. This assumes you have all three authorized to the same ADE account, otherwise you will have to check with Apprentice Alf, and heed his advice (but not in your official librarian capacity, of course...). I have looked at the style sheets of many of my books and found margins up to 30 points, and similar idiocies committed by people who don't think about their conversions to epub. I've got a couple of books I will be fixing up soon - just for my own use, although I may drop a note to the publishers. Another possibility is to put in a firmware request to Kobo to ignore publisher supplied margins which are larger than 6 points...

02-26-2011, 12:43 AM	#4
zoran himself Posts: 576 Karma: 11226 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo	The difference might be that kobo shows exactly what css asks. People mostly don't expect us to read on the small screen. If one has a will, he simply changes values in css. I guess that other readers have an option to run over native css and format the page to the need.

02-26-2011, 05:06 PM	#6
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	The DRM from Overdrive is much like Adobe's DRM, and the tricks Apprentice Alf teaches will work on both; you just have to remember to delete the book yourself when the borrowing period expires. Once the DRm is unlocked, the expiry date is removed as well. Then you can open up the epub file, edit the style sheet to your heart's content, and rezip it before transferring it to your reader.

02-27-2011, 07:15 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What I can do is take a few ePub eBooks I have that I know I've properly set for 0 margins and put them on an SD card and next time I am near Borders, I can take a look on a Kobo and see what happens.

02-27-2011, 07:18 PM	#11
TrendyGuy Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS-600, Nook 3G, Kobo	What I am after is to have the page number that is on the right side of the screen the be as close as possible to the edge of the screen. Then have the text be around 5pts from the edge. The epub seems to be set that way and it shows that way in calibre but not on the kobo.

02-27-2011, 07:26 PM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	But if the text runs into the page number on the side, then it will be easy enough to change the margins. I find that if you want to be 100% sure of not running into the side page number a right margin of 20px is good. Do you want a 20px margin on just the right or the right and the left? I can edit a couple of ePub for some slight margins as well.

02-27-2011, 07:39 PM	#13
TrendyGuy Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS-600, Nook 3G, Kobo	I would like the margin to be on the left and right. Also a very small margin on the top and bottom.

02-27-2011, 07:42 PM	#14
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I find top/bottom margins are a waste of screen space.

02-27-2011, 07:44 PM	#15
TrendyGuy Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: PRS-600, Nook 3G, Kobo	Then nothing at all. Is there a way to got the right page number to be as close to the edge? It seems like the kobo is forcing it to move over and then using the margins I set based off that.

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