Clara HD Supplemental fonts not working as expected

jcotton42 · 03-26-2023, 01:35 AM

I've been reading a lot of fanfic on my Clara HD, and some authors will use "zalgo text" for spooky dialog, but it doesn't render right on my device. Typically I use Palatino as my reading font, but the rendering is an absolute mess despite having Noto Serif set as a supplemental font (see the first attachment). When I set my reading font to Noto Serif it renders just fine (see the second attachment). For reference the third attachment is how it looks in Firefox (original work is at https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092402).

Any ideas on how to fix this?

JSWolf · 03-26-2023, 06:20 AM

It could be that your main font has these characters but that they are blank. What us your main font? I suggest trying another font such as Georgia and see what happens.

jcotton42 · 03-26-2023, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It could be that your main font has these characters but that they are blank. What us your main font? I suggest trying another font such as Georgia and see what happens.

The font I use is Palatino, which iirc I ripped out of a Kindle Voyage update image then sideloaded onto my Kobo.

As for using a font like Georgia, same result unfortunately. I tried both Georgia and Gil Sans, and as you can see in the attached images it didn't work any better.

DNSB · 03-26-2023, 07:03 PM

How are you embedding "zalgo text" in your fanfic to allow your epubs to access it? As far as I am aware, zalgo text is generated by munging characters and multiple diacritical marks together and requires a Unicode font that supports all the needed glyphs and is not an actual font that can be downloaded or embedded. Those blank blocks are generally the result of a glyph that is not defined in the font you are using to display the text.

You might want to try installing the code2000 font on your Kobo and selecting it as the document font.

jcotton42 · 03-26-2023, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

How are you embedding "zalgo text" in your fanfic to allow your epubs to access it? As far as I am aware, zalgo text is generated by munging characters and multiple diacritical marks together and requires a Unicode font that supports all the needed glyphs and is not an actual font that can be downloaded or embedded. Those blank blocks are generally the result of a glyph that is not defined in the font you are using to display the text.

You might want to try installing the code2000 font on your Kobo and selecting it as the document font.

The epub is assembled by FanFicFare.

As for using an alternate document font, I did do that. As shown in the first post it renders correctly when using Noto Serif as the document font. But I don't really like how Noto Serif looks, I much prefer Palatino, so I have Palatino set as the document font, and Noto Serif as a supplemental font, but it still renders incorrectly. That's where my confusion is from.

DNSB · 03-26-2023, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcotton42

The epub is assembled by FanFicFare.

As for using an alternate document font, I did do that. As shown in the first post it renders correctly when using Noto Serif as the document font. But I don't really like how Noto Serif looks, I much prefer Palatino, so I have Palatino set as the document font, and Noto Serif as a supplemental font, but it still renders incorrectly. That's where my confusion is from.

Are you sending the book to your Kobo as a kepub? I don't think the RMSDK renderer used to epub supports using the secondary font.

jcotton42 · 03-26-2023, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Are you sending the book to your Kobo as a kepub? I don't think the RMSDK renderer used to epub supports using the secondary font.

I'm using kepbus, via the KoboTouch Extended driver.

Quoth · 03-27-2023, 08:02 AM

This is another example of how being too fancy in ebook creation limits use. Also periodically over last 100 years some authors have used a special font for dialogue of certain characters. It's always been a failure. It reduces readability and only works well on paper.

If I was wanting to read this I'd edit it to make it more plain.

ams · 10-16-2023, 04:55 AM

I have a similar issue (Libra 2 with 4.38.21908) with kepub books that contain some pali or sanskrit words with diacritics. Noto Serif Devanagari is forced as supplemental font (needs to be downloaded from Kobo) even though it doesn't have all of the glyphs needed. This happens even if the selected side-loaded reading font or the publisher font included in the book does have all the glyphs needed (and the words with diacritics are shown correctly without the need for a supplemental font)

Several issues with that:
1) An annoying pop-up "Noto Serif Devanagari has been turned on as a supplemental font for this book" pops up not just the first time the book is opened, but also sometimes (not always) when the book is opened again although the supplemental font has already been turned on before.
2) The Noto Serif Devanagari font doesn't make sense as supplemental font because it doesn't have the glyphs needed
3) Setting another supplemental font (side-loaded) instead that does have all the glyphs needed doesn't have any effect. (But this font does show all the glyphs correctly when selecting it as the reading font).

It seems that the supplemental font feature doesn't work at all and just creates problems with annoying pop-ups.

Has anyone come across a book where this supplemental font feature actually works? Is there any workaround to get rid of the anyoing pop-up or to disable the whole supplemental font feature (other than using epub instead of kepub)?

star-soup · 10-11-2024, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ams

3) Setting another supplemental font (side-loaded) instead that does have all the glyphs needed doesn't have any effect. (But this font does show all the glyphs correctly when selecting it as the reading font).

I'm having the same issue with my Libra 2 Colour. Checking boxes to include supplemental fonts that cover needed special characters does nothing - I have to set it as the main reading font for the special characters to render. Sometimes this is fine but often the font that includes the required characters has problems rendering the main text. I've been looking for information on how to force the kepub to actually apply the supplemental fonts alongside a default font but there's not much out there, at least that I've been able to dig up so far.

DNSB · 10-11-2024, 05:09 PM

I've reported this issue to Kobo along with a couple of sample files.

03-26-2023, 01:35 AM	#1
jcotton42 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2022 Device: Kobo Clara HD	Supplemental fonts not working as expected I've been reading a lot of fanfic on my Clara HD, and some authors will use "zalgo text" for spooky dialog, but it doesn't render right on my device. Typically I use Palatino as my reading font, but the rendering is an absolute mess despite having Noto Serif set as a supplemental font (see the first attachment). When I set my reading font to Noto Serif it renders just fine (see the second attachment). For reference the third attachment is how it looks in Firefox (original work is at https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092402). Any ideas on how to fix this? Attached Thumbnails Last edited by jcotton42; 03-26-2023 at 01:37 AM. Reason: Files didn't attach first time

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03-26-2023, 06:20 AM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,480 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	It could be that your main font has these characters but that they are blank. What us your main font? I suggest trying another font such as Georgia and see what happens.

03-26-2023, 07:03 PM	#4
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 40,588 Karma: 157444382 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	How are you embedding "zalgo text" in your fanfic to allow your epubs to access it? As far as I am aware, zalgo text is generated by munging characters and multiple diacritical marks together and requires a Unicode font that supports all the needed glyphs and is not an actual font that can be downloaded or embedded. Those blank blocks are generally the result of a glyph that is not defined in the font you are using to display the text. You might want to try installing the code2000 font on your Kobo and selecting it as the document font.

03-27-2023, 08:02 AM	#8
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 12,376 Karma: 92073397 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	This is another example of how being too fancy in ebook creation limits use. Also periodically over last 100 years some authors have used a special font for dialogue of certain characters. It's always been a failure. It reduces readability and only works well on paper. If I was wanting to read this I'd edit it to make it more plain.

10-16-2023, 04:55 AM	#9
ams Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 26326 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo: Mini, Glo HD, Libra H2O	I have a similar issue (Libra 2 with 4.38.21908) with kepub books that contain some pali or sanskrit words with diacritics. Noto Serif Devanagari is forced as supplemental font (needs to be downloaded from Kobo) even though it doesn't have all of the glyphs needed. This happens even if the selected side-loaded reading font or the publisher font included in the book does have all the glyphs needed (and the words with diacritics are shown correctly without the need for a supplemental font) Several issues with that: 1) An annoying pop-up "Noto Serif Devanagari has been turned on as a supplemental font for this book" pops up not just the first time the book is opened, but also sometimes (not always) when the book is opened again although the supplemental font has already been turned on before. 2) The Noto Serif Devanagari font doesn't make sense as supplemental font because it doesn't have the glyphs needed 3) Setting another supplemental font (side-loaded) instead that does have all the glyphs needed doesn't have any effect. (But this font does show all the glyphs correctly when selecting it as the reading font). It seems that the supplemental font feature doesn't work at all and just creates problems with annoying pop-ups. Has anyone come across a book where this supplemental font feature actually works? Is there any workaround to get rid of the anyoing pop-up or to disable the whole supplemental font feature (other than using epub instead of kepub)?

10-11-2024, 05:09 PM	#11
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 40,588 Karma: 157444382 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I've reported this issue to Kobo along with a couple of sample files.

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