trying to get text to justify

Clio · 08-14-2022, 10:02 AM

Hello,

I am using Calibre 5.40, and I am trying to convert a book which is in the form of a Word document.

I think I have mostly managed to get it to work and to look the way I want it to, except for one thing. I can not get the text to justify.

In the conversion, I select the option which says justify text. When I view the results in Calibre, the text appears justified. But when I load it on to my Kobo, and open it, the text is not justified.

I tried converting the Word file to epub and to kepub, and got the same result with both - the text wasn't justified.

Is there anything else I should be doing to get the text to justify?

Thank in advance for any help!

JSWolf · 08-14-2022, 10:03 AM

Check the CSS code using the eBook editor and see if you see if it's supposed to be justified.

Clio · 08-14-2022, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Check the CSS code using the eBook editor and see if you see if it's supposed to be justified.

Hello,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I don't even know how to check the CSS code. I'm guessing it might be the bit under Styles, where it says 001.css and 002.css and so on? Is that it? I tried looking at that, but none of it was very meaningful to me. I can see a few places where it says text-align: justify. And a few places where it says text-align: center. I don't know what to make of that, and because I don't really understand this code, I'm wary of making changes to it.

theducks · 08-14-2022, 11:07 AM

@Clio If you are using the Calibre editor...
Locate a 'misbehaving' paragraph: hold the control key down and click on 'Style= '
That should jump you to the CSS controlling that P
Text-align: is what you are looking for.

Note CSS classes can inherit from a outer block. So the alignment might be controlled by a surrounding <div> or even the <body>

Clio · 08-14-2022, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

@Clio If you are using the Calibre editor...
Locate a 'misbehaving' paragraph: hold the control key down and click on 'Style= '
That should jump you to the CSS controlling that P
Text-align: is what you are looking for.

Note CSS classes can inherit from a outer block. So the alignment might be controlled by a surrounding <div> or even the <body>

Thank you. Nothing happens when I hold the control key down.

Now I'm really confused.

retiredbiker · 08-14-2022, 01:16 PM

You say it looks OK in the Calibre viewer, but not on the Kobo. The Kobo has it's own justification controls. Just for giggles, go to the Aa menu on the Kobo and check to see if Justification is turned off there, or set to Left. The book itself may be fine...

Clio · 08-14-2022, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredbiker

You say it looks OK in the Calibre viewer, but not on the Kobo. The Kobo has it's own justification controls. Just for giggles, go to the Aa menu on the Kobo and check to see if Justification is turned off there, or set to Left. The book itself may be fine...

Hi,

Thank you, that was the first thing I did. The Kobo is definitely set to justify. I was hoping it would be something simple like that, but it's not, unfortunately.

JSWolf · 08-14-2022, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clio

Hi,

Thank you, that was the first thing I did. The Kobo is definitely set to justify. I was hoping it would be something simple like that, but it's not, unfortunately.

Set the Kobo to off. That way you can see what the justification is in the eBook. The problem is that using the justification setting either won't work or will cause problems for center and right justified text.

Clio · 08-14-2022, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Set the Kobo to off. That way you can see what the justification is in the eBook. The problem is that using the justification setting either won't work or will cause problems for center and right justified text.

Thanks. I just tried this. The text didn't look any different, whether it was on or off. Paging through the book, I notice that there are occasional random bits which are justified, amongst the bits which aren't. But they don't change, whether the Kobo justification settings are on or off. And it's just random bits here and there. I've just noticed one paragraph where the first half of the paragraph is justified, and the second half isn't. This has me completely confused.

JSWolf · 08-14-2022, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clio

Thanks. I just tried this. The text didn't look any different, whether it was on or off. Paging through the book, I notice that there are occasional random bits which are justified, amongst the bits which aren't. But they don't change, whether the Kobo justification settings are on or off. And it's just random bits here and there. I've just noticed one paragraph where the first half of the paragraph is justified, and the second half isn't. This has me completely confused.

Install the ScrambleEbook plugin, scramble the eBook and see if you still see the problem. If you do, point out where you see it and attach the scrambled eBook when you replay and we can have a look at the code.

Clio · 08-14-2022, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Install the ScrambleEbook plugin, scramble the eBook and see if you still see the problem. If you do, point out where you see it and attach the scrambled eBook when you replay and we can have a look at the code.

Thank you. I have done as you suggested. And in the result, the text is scrambled, but the justification looks the same. I'm attaching the scrambled book.

The chapters which in the scrambled version are titled QQJAN 2 and GORIQ 3 look particularly unjustified. Chapters after that seem to be a random mix of bits which are justified and bits which are not.

Thank you again!

JSWolf · 08-14-2022, 04:42 PM

I think I see what may be the problem. Load the eBook into Calibre's editor. Have a look at stylesheet.css. delete the styles .calibre8 and .tab. That should fix the problem.

retiredbiker · 08-14-2022, 05:53 PM

That is kind of a strange one. I wonder how something in a Word file can come across as pre-wrap:

Code:

.calibre8 {
  line-height: 1.2;
  white-space: pre-wrap;
}

Yeah, probably silly question, most anything can hide in a word doc.

Clio · 08-15-2022, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think I see what may be the problem. Load the eBook into Calibre's editor. Have a look at stylesheet.css. delete the styles .calibre8 and .tab. That should fix the problem.

Thank you! I managed to do this, and it has worked!
I'm so glad it worked, and grateful for your help!

JSWolf · 08-15-2022, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clio

Thank you! I managed to do this, and it has worked!
I'm so glad it worked, and grateful for your help!

Happy to help. I've seen that before. But as I edit my ePub before loading it, I get rid of that code as it's not needed.

08-14-2022, 10:02 AM	#1
Clio Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: UK Device: Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Libra2, Kindle	trying to get text to justify Hello, I am using Calibre 5.40, and I am trying to convert a book which is in the form of a Word document. I think I have mostly managed to get it to work and to look the way I want it to, except for one thing. I can not get the text to justify. In the conversion, I select the option which says justify text. When I view the results in Calibre, the text appears justified. But when I load it on to my Kobo, and open it, the text is not justified. I tried converting the Word file to epub and to kepub, and got the same result with both - the text wasn't justified. Is there anything else I should be doing to get the text to justify? Thank in advance for any help!

08-14-2022, 04:42 PM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,498 Karma: 129668758 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I think I see what may be the problem. Load the eBook into Calibre's editor. Have a look at stylesheet.css. delete the styles .calibre8 and .tab. That should fix the problem. Last edited by JSWolf; 08-14-2022 at 04:46 PM.

08-14-2022, 05:53 PM	#13
retiredbiker Addict Posts: 389 Karma: 1638210 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kindle KB, Oasis, Pop_Os!, Jutoh, Kobo Forma	That is kind of a strange one. I wonder how something in a Word file can come across as pre-wrap: Code: .calibre8 { line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap; } Yeah, probably silly question, most anything can hide in a word doc.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Customizing recipes - justify text	Leonatus	Recipes	5	02-06-2022 03:44 AM
Justify Text causes Search function to fail	HFM1101	Conversion	4	07-10-2018 01:00 PM
How to automatically justify text?	cptnemo	Recipes	9	11-27-2013 08:42 PM
Can you left justify text with the 360?	maxbookworm	PocketBook	11	05-31-2010 10:49 AM
Problems getting text to justify	ficbot	Calibre	4	01-13-2010 02:27 PM

08-14-2022, 10:03 AM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,498 Karma: 129668758 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Check the CSS code using the eBook editor and see if you see if it's supposed to be justified.

08-14-2022, 11:07 AM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,926 Karma: 55705602 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	@Clio If you are using the Calibre editor... Locate a 'misbehaving' paragraph: hold the control key down and click on 'Style= ' That should jump you to the CSS controlling that P Text-align: is what you are looking for. Note CSS classes can inherit from a outer block. So the alignment might be controlled by a surrounding <div> or even the <body>

08-14-2022, 01:16 PM	#6
retiredbiker Addict Posts: 389 Karma: 1638210 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kindle KB, Oasis, Pop_Os!, Jutoh, Kobo Forma	You say it looks OK in the Calibre viewer, but not on the Kobo. The Kobo has it's own justification controls. Just for giggles, go to the Aa menu on the Kobo and check to see if Justification is turned off there, or set to Left. The book itself may be fine...

Advert

Advert