Kobo's fallback fonts

radius · 05-23-2024, 03:50 PM

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knew what fonts a Kobo (Aura One specifically) chooses for its fallback fonts? The reason I ask is I'm assembling some books for my kid and I find that using bare "monospace" as a font-family doesn't seem to work for me.

In the sample code below, I see the first paragraph in a serif font, the second in a sans font, and the third paragraph looks like the first one.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <title></title>
</head>

<body>
  <p style="font-family: serif">This paragraph is in serif font.</p>

  <p style="font-family: sans-serif">This paragraph is in sans-serif font.</p>

  <p style="font-family: monospace">This paragraph is in monospace font.</p>
</body>
</html>

DNSB · 05-23-2024, 04:36 PM

Kobo doesn't ship with a monospaced font but if you place a monospaced font in the fonts directory and make sure it is named Courier. There is a KoboPatcher patch to use other fonts but the name is limited to 7 characters. I just found it easier to change the font filenames and edit the font information in FontForge. I used HP's Dark Courier font for this since I liked it's extra weight.

The fonts directory (the name is case sensitive is created in the root of the exposed storage when your Kobo is connected to your computer. Unzip the attached .zip file and copy the 4 .ttf files into the font directory.

This works with ePub but have not tested with kepub.

Quoth · 05-23-2024, 05:18 PM

It's also tricky to get monospace to work on mobi, but it does exist on all the old mobi only Kindles.

I used a monospace embedded in the ebook on epub but checked that it was OK without it. Some epub apps don't support embedded fonts.

Amazon has over 95% of English Language ebooks.
The majority of ebooks are read on phones.

Testing is a pain.

JSWolf · 05-23-2024, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radius

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knew what fonts a Kobo (Aura One specifically) chooses for its fallback fonts? The reason I ask is I'm assembling some books for my kid and I find that using bare "monospace" as a font-family doesn't seem to work for me.

In the sample code below, I see the first paragraph in a serif font, the second in a sans font, and the third paragraph looks like the first one.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <title></title>
</head>

<body>
  <p style="font-family: serif">This paragraph is in serif font.</p>

  <p style="font-family: sans-serif">This paragraph is in sans-serif font.</p>

  <p style="font-family: monospace">This paragraph is in monospace font.</p>
</body>
</html>

Monospace does not work out of the box. You can get monospace to work with KePub by embedding a monospace font. But you can do it even easier if you use ePub.

The first thing to do it find a Courier font. name the font files...
Courier-Regular.ttf
Courier-Bold.ttf
Courier-Italic.ttf
Courier-BoldItalic.ttf

Put them in the fonts directory. Then in the CSS, use the following code.

Code:

@font-face {
font-family:monospace;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/fonts/Courier-Regular.ttf);
}
@font-face {
font-family:monospace;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/fonts/Courier-Bold.ttf);
}
@font-face {
font-family:monospace;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/fonts/Courier-Italic.ttf);
}
@font-face {
font-family:monospace;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/fonts/Courier-BoldItalic.ttf);
}

Now when you have font-family: monospace; you will have a monospace font displayed.

DNSB · 05-23-2024, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Monospace does not work out of the box. You can get monospace to work with KePub by embedding a monospace font. But you can do it even easier if you use ePub.

Spoiler:

Now when you have font-family: monospace; you will have a monospace font displayed.

In my testing, if you have the font named Courier, you do not need to add the font-face declarations in the CSS for an ePub. Just adding <code> around the text that you want to be monospaced is all that is needed.

JSWolf · 05-24-2024, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

In my testing, if you have the font named Courier, you do not need to add the font-face declarations in the CSS for an ePub. Just adding <code> around the text that you want to be monospaced is all that is needed.

Interesting. I recall that just having Courier in fonts worked and then it didn't. Now it seems to work. Good to know that I don't need the @font-face bits.

Quoth · 05-24-2024, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Interesting. I recall that just having Courier in fonts worked and then it didn't. Now it seems to work. Good to know that I don't need the @font-face bits.

It depends. It might be less editing to add a CSS @font-face bit than find all the source occurrences and add code tags.
Also some apps/devices might ignore indents & justification with code tags?

radius · 05-24-2024, 10:40 AM

Ah thank you all!

I'm shocked that this doesn't work out of the box. I guess Kobo is trying to save on licensing fees and assumes anyone serious will embed the font instead.

If "Courier" is the only acceptable name for a monospace font I think I will just go the embedding route as I don't like Courier and I'm not crazy about hacking up a font to give it the "wrong" name.

Thanks for the help.

Quoth · 05-24-2024, 02:28 PM

I don't why they do it. It's not the money. There are loads of decent free monospace fonts.

DNSB · 05-24-2024, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radius

Ah thank you all!

I'm shocked that this doesn't work out of the box. I guess Kobo is trying to save on licensing fees and assumes anyone serious will embed the font instead.

If "Courier" is the only acceptable name for a monospace font I think I will just go the embedding route as I don't like Courier and I'm not crazy about hacking up a font to give it the "wrong" name.

Thanks for the help.

As mentioned, the name can be anything as long as it is no more than 7 characters. The KoboPatch allows you to change Courier but is limited by only having 7 characters available.

Courier is not my favourite font but among the other monospaced fonts I've tried, Dark Courier, Courier New, Courier Prime, IBM Plex Mono and Source Code Pro are nothing to write home about either. Since I only use them for computer output, it's not a big deal to me. Some of them come in a semi-bold or font weight 500 variant which I prefer. I also prefer the Courier variants due to my preference for serif fonts but for computer output either works well.

05-23-2024, 03:50 PM	#1
radius Lector minore Posts: 655 Karma: 1738720 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Aura One, Paperwhite Signature	Kobo's fallback fonts Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew what fonts a Kobo (Aura One specifically) chooses for its fallback fonts? The reason I ask is I'm assembling some books for my kid and I find that using bare "monospace" as a font-family doesn't seem to work for me. In the sample code below, I see the first paragraph in a serif font, the second in a sans font, and the third paragraph looks like the first one. Code: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title></title> </head> <body> <p style="font-family: serif">This paragraph is in serif font.</p> <p style="font-family: sans-serif">This paragraph is in sans-serif font.</p> <p style="font-family: monospace">This paragraph is in monospace font.</p> </body> </html>

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05-23-2024, 05:18 PM	#3
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 12,342 Karma: 92073397 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	It's also tricky to get monospace to work on mobi, but it does exist on all the old mobi only Kindles. I used a monospace embedded in the ebook on epub but checked that it was OK without it. Some epub apps don't support embedded fonts. Amazon has over 95% of English Language ebooks. The majority of ebooks are read on phones. Testing is a pain.

05-24-2024, 10:40 AM	#8
radius Lector minore Posts: 655 Karma: 1738720 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Aura One, Paperwhite Signature	Ah thank you all! I'm shocked that this doesn't work out of the box. I guess Kobo is trying to save on licensing fees and assumes anyone serious will embed the font instead. If "Courier" is the only acceptable name for a monospace font I think I will just go the embedding route as I don't like Courier and I'm not crazy about hacking up a font to give it the "wrong" name. Thanks for the help.

05-24-2024, 02:28 PM	#9
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 12,342 Karma: 92073397 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	I don't why they do it. It's not the money. There are loads of decent free monospace fonts.

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