kepub: why does it exist?

[Jane Eyre]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem (as it looks to me) is that you have the weight turned up too high in the ePub. Turn it down until it look like the KePub's weight.

I can't, it is the minimum size. Don't you find that amazing?

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

It seemed to me that WebKit was a bit snappier than RMSDK, but it might have been my imagination.

And kindle readers? What engine do they have?

[repilo]

I edit ePub with Sigil to add drop caps, for example. They look fine in Sigil, they look fine in Calibre viewer, they look fine in Kindle (converted to azw3 by Calibre). In Kobo however I have to convert to kepub to see it the same as in the other viewers. Kobo ignores some css codes when displaying epub. For example these:

.sc { font-variant:small-caps; text-shadow:.5px .5px 1px #808080; }

.pDropCap { text-indent:0; } /* Use: <p class="pDropCap"> */
.pDropCap:first-letter {
	float:left; font-size:2.98em; margin:-.216em .1em -.3em 0;
	/*float:left; font-size:4.64em; margin:-.254em .08em -.35em 0;*/
	text-shadow:1.5px 1.5px 4px #808080; }
.pDropCap:first-line {
	font-variant:small-caps; text-shadow:.5px .5px 1px #808080; }

This automatically adds drop caps to the p following each h1, and small caps to the first line of said p:

h1:not([class]) ~ p:first-of-type:first-letter {
	float:left; font-size:2.98em; margin:-.216em .1em -.3em 0;
	text-shadow:1.5px 1.5px 4px #808080; }
h1 ~ p:first-of-type:first-line {
	font-variant:small-caps; text-shadow:.5px .5px 1px #808080; }

This converts the text of h2 to uppercase:

h2 { margin:2.8em 0 1.2em; font-size:.945em; font-weight:normal;
		text-transform:uppercase; }

This uses hr for scene breaks, automatically adding three asterisks as separator:

hr { /* Scene break: <hr/> */
    width:0; margin:0; height:2.5em; border:none; background:none; }
hr + p { text-indent:0; }
hr.asteriskS { /* Scene break with ***: <hr class="asteriskS"/> */
	width:100%; height:2.2em; text-align:center; padding-top:.5em; }
hr.asteriskS:before {
	content:"\2217\2217\2217"; letter-spacing:.5em; font-size:1.5em; }

All this, and other figure/figcaption related things, plus footnotes, do not display well or not at all in epub format in Kobo, but display correctly in kepub (and in Sigil, Calibre and Kindle).

[Jane Eyre]

The truth is, these kobo are disappointing and lacking.
I'm ready to go back to my old Paperwhite. Without any regret.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It IS a fact that epubs do some things better than kepubs - word spacing and typography. That most users don't notice or care doesn't make this fact nonexistent. I care nothing for kerning and ligatures either, but I do know that epubs are better in this regard. This is not JSWolf's personal opinion, it's a fact.

Kepubs also do some things better than epubs, so it's the matter of personal preference which format to use.

A fact that most users don’t notice. Hmm.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

When I had my Kobo, I stoped using patches a while ago, years? My daughter and spouse both have a Kobo, they never touch anything. I just set their Calibre to transfer epub to kepub. That’s it. You have to realize that your knit picking is not something most people do. So, yeah, the way you obsessed with the looks of your ebook is based on your opinion. Facts for you, nothiing important for others.

It's not nit-picking. KePub looks terrible out of the box. The spacing between words is large and there is no microspacing like RMSDK. There is no kerning and no ligatures.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It IS a fact that epubs do some things better than kepubs - word spacing and typography. That most users don't notice or care doesn't make this fact nonexistent. I care nothing for kerning and ligatures either, but I do know that epubs are better in this regard. This is not JSWolf's personal opinion, it's a fact.

Kepubs also do some things better than epubs, so it's the matter of personal preference which format to use.

KePub does ePub 3 (ePub 3 specific features) much better then the version of RMSDK Kobo is using.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

I can't, it is the minimum size. Don't you find that amazing?

That is odd. Unless for whatever reason, it's using the bold variant. Do you have a link to the font please?

As for KePub being faster, that used to be true, but not any longer.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by repilo

I edit ePub with Sigil to add drop caps, for example. They look fine in Sigil, they look fine in Calibre viewer, they look fine in Kindle (converted to azw3 by Calibre). In Kobo however I have to convert to kepub to see it the same as in the other viewers. Kobo ignores some css codes when displaying epub. For example these:

.sc { font-variant:small-caps; text-shadow:.5px .5px 1px #808080; }

.pDropCap { text-indent:0; } /* Use: <p class="pDropCap"> */
.pDropCap:first-letter {
	float:left; font-size:2.98em; margin:-.216em .1em -.3em 0;
	/*float:left; font-size:4.64em; margin:-.254em .08em -.35em 0;*/
	text-shadow:1.5px 1.5px 4px #808080; }
.pDropCap:first-line {
	font-variant:small-caps; text-shadow:.5px .5px 1px #808080; }

This automatically adds drop caps to the p following each h1, and small caps to the first line of said p:

h1:not([class]) ~ p:first-of-type:first-letter {
	float:left; font-size:2.98em; margin:-.216em .1em -.3em 0;
	text-shadow:1.5px 1.5px 4px #808080; }
h1 ~ p:first-of-type:first-line {
	font-variant:small-caps; text-shadow:.5px .5px 1px #808080; }

This converts the text of h2 to uppercase:

h2 { margin:2.8em 0 1.2em; font-size:.945em; font-weight:normal;
		text-transform:uppercase; }

This uses hr for scene breaks, automatically adding three asterisks as separator:

hr { /* Scene break: <hr/> */
    width:0; margin:0; height:2.5em; border:none; background:none; }
hr + p { text-indent:0; }
hr.asteriskS { /* Scene break with ***: <hr class="asteriskS"/> */
	width:100%; height:2.2em; text-align:center; padding-top:.5em; }
hr.asteriskS:before {
	content:"\2217\2217\2217"; letter-spacing:.5em; font-size:1.5em; }

All this, and other figure/figcaption related things, plus footnotes, do not display well or not at all in epub format in Kobo, but display correctly in kepub (and in Sigil, Calibre and Kindle).

You cannot use pseudo classes with RSMDK (the version Kobo uses). You have to stop using psuedo classes and use a span instead.

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not nit-picking. KePub looks terrible out of the box.

Come on… That is just not true. Period.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by GrandNeko40

i suppose i don't have a "real" reason for asking this question, other than to satisfy my curiosity. but i know that people generally seem to prefer reading kepubs on a Kobo, over the standard epub. i know that Kobo's reader parses or renders kepubs differently than it does epubs. kepub enables features like inline or popup footnotes/annotations, chapter length estimations, and so on. so my question is this:

what's the technical reason for this? is it that Kobo handles epubs poorly or incorrectly? that is to say, do other devices support such additional features on a bog-standard epub, where Kobo has made a decision not to, in favor of their own extension to the format?

i'm just sort of wondering what's the point of the kepub in the first place. is it an anachronistic relic, left over from a time when the epub format specification was deemd lacking, and Kobo created an enhancement that they just haven't gotten around to abandoning?

I did stop using Kobo devices after I had to convert official epubs to be able to use them. What a waste of a device.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Jane Eyre

The truth is, these kobo are disappointing and lacking.

That's why I patch mine. With patches, I like them much more than I ever did Kindles. Without patching I wouldn't want to read on them. But then I no longer want to read on Kindles either, which are also lacking and you can't even patch them like Kobos.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

A fact that most users don’t notice. Hmm.

So? Most users don't notice many things; doesn't mean they don't exist. Humans can't hear ultrasound either, does that mean it doesn't exist?

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by Quoth

None of the dedicated ereaders other than Amazon's natively support azw3/KF8 or KFX. They all support epub, which Amazon doesn't support on their ereaders.

PocketBook devices support azw3 files. IIRC, the software update from last year enabled this feature.

[Jane Eyre]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That is odd. Unless for whatever reason, it's using the bold variant. Do you have a link to the font please?

As for KePub being faster, that used to be true, but not any longer.

Here

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ght=andika+ink

[deleted2]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

So? Most users don't notice many things; doesn't mean they don't exist. Humans can't hear ultrasound either, does that mean it doesn't exist?

So, an invisible fact. Cool.