Feature Request - Font Preview

Vanguard3000 · 03-02-2020, 11:05 AM

I tend to find a lot of books have fonts embedded in them that are either unused entirely, or are very "generic" sans- or serif fonts. I typically like to strip these from my books before putting them on my Kobo (often reducing the filesize significantly). Because of this I find myself often wishing I could double-click a font to view a sample, like you can in Windows or MacOS.

Obviously there are several ways to view the font, like unpacking it from the epub or creating css styles to preview, but it would be great to just be able to double-click the font to view it. Is that something that could be (feasably) done?

In any case, thanks from a long-time user!

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 11:59 AM

I might be able to whip up a pretty basic Sigil plugin that would allow a user to view a sample of the font that's currently selected in Book Browser.

I thought a simple "open with" using the Windows built-in fontviewer program would work, but it doesn't seem to like opening fonts from Sigil's scratch directory. Doesn't think they're valid outside of the system fonts directory or something. *shrug*

BeckyEbook · 03-02-2020, 12:06 PM

For me, the default system application fontview.exe works (Windows 10).
Of course, this does not work for encrypted fonts.

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeckyEbook

For me, the default system application fontview.exe works (Windows 10).
Of course, this does not work for encrypted fonts.

Hmmm. Pretty sure the fonts I tried it with weren't encrypted. I don't usually have any epubs with encrypted fonts, actually. I was trying with Windows 10 as well. I'll have to do some snooping.

We ARE talking about the same thing, right? Right-clicking on a font in Book Browser and using the "Open With" context menu item to configure fontview.exe to open font files externally.

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 12:30 PM

Yep. They work fine with Fontview.exe when I open the font files from Sigil's scratch directory manually, but none of them will work using the Open With feature from within Sigil. I get the message that FontView doesn't think they're valid font files.

BeckyEbook · 03-02-2020, 01:04 PM

Proof in the form of screenshots.
Image 1 -- Open With -- fontview
Image 2 -- after click

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 01:08 PM

Huh. Not sure what's up with my Windows machine, then. I've tried all kinds of different epubs with all kinds of different embedded fonts. No joy with any of them.

BeckyEbook · 03-02-2020, 01:21 PM

I found a EPUB file where the font is not displayed.
I get the impression that this problem occurs when the font is obfuscated in such a way (subsets?) that Windows stops treating the file as a font. That's why the system fontview says "this is not a valid font file".

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 01:27 PM

But none of the fonts I'm trying it with are obfuscated in any way. They open fine with FontView when I manually browse to Sigil's temp directory and open them directly. It's only when using "Open With" that they fail.

DNSB · 03-02-2020, 02:32 PM

I just checked and after adding c:\windows\system32\fontview.exe to the open with menu, it opens the font file happily.

Win 10 x64.

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 02:41 PM

I haven't found a single embedded font in any epub I have that it will work with yet on Windows 10 x64

But the fact that it's working for others should come as good news to the OP!

BetterRed · 03-02-2020, 04:13 PM

Shell extension perhaps? It's happened before.

In my case it was Open With on image files rather than font files. All good now. I found replacements for the rogue program with the problematic shell extensions. It was already on the skids, being both abandoned and licensed to a specific MAC address. That was several years ago.

No problems with OW since, I use it frequently on images and text, and it's how I use Page Edit.

BR

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 04:16 PM

I don't use shell extensions. They're the devil.

BetterRed · 03-02-2020, 04:32 PM

Oh well, try SFC /scannow.

At least Sigil's Open With got a free plug.

My experience is that shell extensions originally developed for XP are more likely to cause problems than those developed later. Something changed with Vista, I forget what, probably related to Column handlers being replaced by Property Handlers <grrrh>

BR

DiapDealer · 03-02-2020, 05:05 PM

Open With works fine in general. The fonts from all of the epubs work fine in Fontview.exe outside of Sigil (even when manually opened directly from the temp scratch directory of the epub currently open in Sigil). It just doesn't work when launched via Sigil's Open With.

And yet it works as expected on a virtual Windows 10 machine at home. So something is clearly wrong with the machine at work that it doesn't work on.

03-02-2020, 11:05 AM	#1
Vanguard3000 Groupie Posts: 168 Karma: 474196 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra 2	Feature Request - Font Preview I tend to find a lot of books have fonts embedded in them that are either unused entirely, or are very "generic" sans- or serif fonts. I typically like to strip these from my books before putting them on my Kobo (often reducing the filesize significantly). Because of this I find myself often wishing I could double-click a font to view a sample, like you can in Windows or MacOS. Obviously there are several ways to view the font, like unpacking it from the epub or creating css styles to preview, but it would be great to just be able to double-click the font to view it. Is that something that could be (feasably) done? In any case, thanks from a long-time user!

03-02-2020, 01:04 PM	#6
BeckyEbook Guru Posts: 839 Karma: 2657572 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Poland Device: Various	Proof in the form of screenshots. Image 1 -- Open With -- fontview Image 2 -- after click Attached Thumbnails

03-02-2020, 01:21 PM	#8
BeckyEbook Guru Posts: 839 Karma: 2657572 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Poland Device: Various	I found a EPUB file where the font is not displayed. I get the impression that this problem occurs when the font is obfuscated in such a way (subsets?) that Windows stops treating the file as a font. That's why the system fontview says "this is not a valid font file". Attached Thumbnails Last edited by BeckyEbook; 03-03-2020 at 07:14 AM. Reason: Added information about subsets fonts.

03-02-2020, 02:41 PM	#11
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I haven't found a single embedded font in any epub I have that it will work with yet on Windows 10 x64 But the fact that it's working for others should come as good news to the OP! Last edited by DiapDealer; 03-02-2020 at 02:48 PM.

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03-02-2020, 11:59 AM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I might be able to whip up a pretty basic Sigil plugin that would allow a user to view a sample of the font that's currently selected in Book Browser. I thought a simple "open with" using the Windows built-in fontviewer program would work, but it doesn't seem to like opening fonts from Sigil's scratch directory. Doesn't think they're valid outside of the system fonts directory or something. shrug

03-02-2020, 12:06 PM	#3
BeckyEbook Guru Posts: 839 Karma: 2657572 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Poland Device: Various	For me, the default system application fontview.exe works (Windows 10). Of course, this does not work for encrypted fonts.

03-02-2020, 12:30 PM	#5
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Yep. They work fine with Fontview.exe when I open the font files from Sigil's scratch directory manually, but none of them will work using the Open With feature from within Sigil. I get the message that FontView doesn't think they're valid font files.

03-02-2020, 01:08 PM	#7
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Huh. Not sure what's up with my Windows machine, then. I've tried all kinds of different epubs with all kinds of different embedded fonts. No joy with any of them.

03-02-2020, 01:27 PM	#9
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	But none of the fonts I'm trying it with are obfuscated in any way. They open fine with FontView when I manually browse to Sigil's temp directory and open them directly. It's only when using "Open With" that they fail.

03-02-2020, 02:32 PM	#10
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 46,181 Karma: 168983734 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I just checked and after adding c:\windows\system32\fontview.exe to the open with menu, it opens the font file happily. Win 10 x64.

03-02-2020, 04:13 PM	#12
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,722 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Shell extension perhaps? It's happened before. In my case it was Open With on image files rather than font files. All good now. I found replacements for the rogue program with the problematic shell extensions. It was already on the skids, being both abandoned and licensed to a specific MAC address. That was several years ago. No problems with OW since, I use it frequently on images and text, and it's how I use Page Edit. BR

03-02-2020, 04:16 PM	#13
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I don't use shell extensions. They're the devil.

03-02-2020, 04:32 PM	#14
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,722 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Oh well, try SFC /scannow. At least Sigil's Open With got a free plug. My experience is that shell extensions originally developed for XP are more likely to cause problems than those developed later. Something changed with Vista, I forget what, probably related to Column handlers being replaced by Property Handlers <grrrh> BR

03-02-2020, 05:05 PM	#15
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Open With works fine in general. The fonts from all of the epubs work fine in Fontview.exe outside of Sigil (even when manually opened directly from the temp scratch directory of the epub currently open in Sigil). It just doesn't work when launched via Sigil's Open With. And yet it works as expected on a virtual Windows 10 machine at home. So something is clearly wrong with the machine at work that it doesn't work on.

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