spacing problem in Kindle AZW3 converted from rtf file

[Anne Marie Weiss]

Please forgive this newby question, which I'm sure has been discussed before.

My goal is to transfer my manuscript of quotes for distribution via Kindle.

I first formatted the text and created a pdf that can be used for viewing on the computer.

Following suggestions read on this forum, I then used CALIBRE to convert the rft manuscript to AZW3. The problem is line spacing. Attached you can see:
a. sample from the pdf, with proper line spacing
b. sample from the reformatted rtf, still respecting the line spacing design
c. photo of Kindle screen that shows wrong line spacing.

I do read in the forums that I need to play with the CSS codes for text height and line height to create the design I desire. My questions at this point are:
1. where are these codes in the rtf file? how can I view them? I can see the pilcrows but nothing more than that.
2. what program should I use to try to edit those?

thank you.

[retiredbiker]

What you really want here is paragraph styles, and I don't think rtf is smart enough to support them. If you were using LibreOffice Writer (or Word) you could apply styles there, in the manuscript, and let Calibre convert the odt or docx file. It looks like your azw3 is getting the same style for each paragraph in conversion, at least for spacing.

For the html in the azw3, you want to end up with something like this:

For the main paragraph, something like

<p class="mainpara">your text</p>

With the CSS code

.mainpara {
text-align: left;
margin-top: 1.5em;
margin-bottom: 0;
}

Then for the subsequent lines,

<p class="subpara">your text</p>

With CSS code

.subpara {
font-style: italic;
text-align: left;
margin: 0;
}

There can be other codes in there for fonts, or font-size or whatever you want, but the above should make the spacing right. And you don't want empty paragraphs for any spacing, which is likely how the rtf is doing it--the styles will take care of that. And you shouldn't have to mess with line heights for this.

[theducks]

The term is Paragraph breaks.
Line spacing ( applies to many lines within a paragraph block) is controlled by line-height: 1.2 (is normal)

Make sure your conversion settings do not have remove blank lines.
(also, your device may need to use Publishers Stylesheet unless you hard encode blank lines )
FWIW I gave up trying to get a 'perfect' conversion between formats. I hand edit my EPUB/AZW3 to add the FINAL polish

[Anne Marie Weiss]

Thank you. Actually, the very large collection of quotes was created in ACCESS, which was ideal for tracking and sorting the many different fields of text. Access also allows very detailed formatting options for export as pdf, and the resulting book is beautiful.

The problem is how to convert this for Kindle. Everyone seemed to agree that the pdf produced through ACCESS can't be converted for Kindle, and they recommended exporting as rtf. I had to hand edit that 140 page document, removing the pilcrows that messed up the spacing when the rtf was converted for Kindle. (Access does not have an option to export the text as a Word document.)

1. Is there a better option than rtf for exporting from ACCESS, that would be less problematic when converted for Kindle?

2. I think I can manually insert the CSS codes you suggested into the rtf but this newby does not know what program to use, or how to see the CSS codes.

Your further suggestions would be much appreciated.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Anne Marie Weiss

Thank you. Actually, the very large collection of quotes was created in ACCESS, which was ideal for tracking and sorting the many different fields of text. Access also allows very detailed formatting options for export as pdf, and the resulting book is beautiful.

The problem is how to convert this for Kindle. Everyone seemed to agree that the pdf produced through ACCESS can't be converted for Kindle, and they recommended exporting as rtf. I had to hand edit that 140 page document, removing the pilcrows that messed up the spacing when the rtf was converted for Kindle. (Access does not have an option to export the text as a Word document.)

1. Is there a better option than rtf for exporting from ACCESS, that would be less problematic when converted for Kindle?

2. I think I can manually insert the CSS codes you suggested into the rtf but this newby does not know what program to use, or how to see the CSS codes.

Your further suggestions would be much appreciated.

Not into the RTF
AFTER it was converted. Making conversions look beautiful depends on the version. so edit the version, not the source.

BTW If the PDF is good, why make a AZW3? Make an AZW4 (I think the Kindle Previewer will do this for you)

[BetterRed]

The red and blue underlines in your 2nd image suggest it's an image of Word, or maybe Writer (can't recall if it underlines 'errors' in red and blue) - if so save the file as DOCX and try converting that.

And as previous responders have suggested if you use Styles in Word/Writer you'll get much a better result.

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Anne Marie Weiss

Thank you. Actually, the very large collection of quotes was created in ACCESS, which was ideal for tracking and sorting the many different fields of text. Access also allows very detailed formatting options for export as pdf, and the resulting book is beautiful.

The problem is how to convert this for Kindle. Everyone seemed to agree that the pdf produced through ACCESS can't be converted for Kindle, and they recommended exporting as rtf. I had to hand edit that 140 page document, removing the pilcrows that messed up the spacing when the rtf was converted for Kindle. (Access does not have an option to export the text as a Word document.)

1. Is there a better option than rtf for exporting from ACCESS, that would be less problematic when converted for Kindle?

2. I think I can manually insert the CSS codes you suggested into the rtf but this newby does not know what program to use, or how to see the CSS codes.

Your further suggestions would be much appreciated.

If you have a recent version of Word (I think you need 2013 at least, not sure about 2010) open the PDF that Access created in Word, it may take a while to open (convert) it, save it as a DOCX and try converting that into AZW.

BR

[Anne Marie Weiss]

Hi BR. I was hopeful about your suggestion to use the Word program to create a 'docx' document that could be converted on Calibre for viewing on Kindle.

The result is very interesting and I've attached three samples, along with the original pdf (which shows the correct design for text). When I use the path you suggested, prose text is generally (not always) properly produced.

But poetry and the two or three lines after each quote are frequently messed up - as you can see in the attached photos of my Kindle

Thank you!.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If you have a recent version of Word (I think you need 2013 at least, not sure about 2010) open the PDF that Access created in Word, it may take a while to open (convert) it, save it as a DOCX and try converting that into AZW.

BR

[Anne Marie Weiss]

The PDF is great. But Calibre does not convert to AZW4. Only to AZW3.

Originally Posted by theducks

Not into the RTF
AFTER it was converted. Making conversions look beautiful depends on the version. so edit the version, not the source.

BTW If the PDF is good, why make a AZW3? Make an AZW4 (I think the Kindle Previewer will do this for you)

[Anne Marie Weiss]

Hi The Ducks.

Sorry but I don't know what you mean.

a. There is no AZW4 option on the Calibre converting program.

b. If you are suggesting to convert the AZW3 file produced by Calibre, how to do that? What program to use? How to edit? CSS? something else?

Originally Posted by theducks

Not into the RTF
AFTER it was converted. Making conversions look beautiful depends on the version. so edit the version, not the source.

BTW If the PDF is good, why make a AZW3? Make an AZW4 (I think the Kindle Previewer will do this for you)

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Anne Marie Weiss

Hi The Ducks.

Sorry but I don't know what you mean.

a. There is no AZW4 option on the Calibre converting program.

b. If you are suggesting to convert the AZW3 file produced by Calibre, how to do that? What program to use? How to edit? CSS? something else?

Not Calibre;
Kindle Previewer from a source that is correct (PDF?)
That is a Amazon publishing tool

[BetterRed]

What happens if you just send the PDF you got out of Access to Amazon, maybe they wrap it in their magic paper and string and turn it into an AZW4 ==>> MobileRead Wiki - AZW4

BR

[BetterRed]

Moderator Notice

@Anne Marie Weiss - I just noticed you have another read running in the Kindle formats forum on the same issue ==>> spacing problem in Kindle Mobi converted from rtf file

Please read Guideline #3.

I'm closing this thread.

BR