Kobo Sideloaded Font Weights

MRC01 · 10-24-2016, 11:09 AM

So I got my Kobo Glo HD working perfectly: syncing Calibre tags as collections, syncing notes & annotations, Kobo full screen mode, creating KEPUBs to open some of the extra features, and side loaded a couple of fonts I like.

Thanks to the open source community for Calibre and these great plugins!

However, the Kobo rendered my side-loaded fonts a bit on the light side and didn't have a UI to adjust the weight like it does for the built-in fonts. But I found a way to make the Kobo render sideloaded fonts with any weight - it's just not in the UI.

Connect the Kobo to your PC via USB, open it like a drive and edit the .conf file in the Kobo directory. Find the section listing font weights and sharpness. Add a line specifying a weight for your side-loaded font, following the format of the surrounding lines. The default weight Kobo uses seems to be around 0.06; the range 0.1 to 0.2 seems ideal for most fonts, but you can go up to around 0.8.

PS the config file also has a sharpness setting for each font. There is no UI for this, so it looks like something the Kobo sets automatically based on the weight. I added lines to the config file to try different sharpnesses for sideloaded fonts. I didn't see any difference, even under a magnifying glass, so I removed these lines. Perhaps the sharpness setting might make a difference on other fonts, or at more extreme size or weight settings?

drjd · 10-24-2016, 12:56 PM

Perhaps you may like to patch the firmware with Metazoa Patches by GeoffR for Freedom to advanced fonts control instead. See all of them Here.

chrisridd · 10-24-2016, 02:15 PM

"Sharpness" was exposed in the UI in earlier versions of the 3.x firmware. I don't know why it was removed.

JSWolf · 10-24-2016, 02:17 PM

Instructions for patching firmware 3.19.5761 does have the Freedom to advance fonts control. So have a read and you'll b able to patch the firmware to allow the weight of side loaded TTF fonts to be adjusted to your liking.

If you are not on firmware 3.19.5761, you'll have to update in order to use the patches for that firmware version.

MRC01 · 10-28-2016, 10:48 AM

That's super cool - thanks for the reference.

GERGE · 10-28-2016, 01:14 PM

Keep this in mind: if the added weight is large, use Fontforge to do it.

JSWolf · 10-28-2016, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GERGE

Keep this in mind: if the added weight is large, use Fontforge to do it.

If you use the Advanced Font Control to do it and you want to back down, you can. If you want to go up, you can. If you ue Fontforge, you're stuck with that weight at the minimum.

MRC01 · 10-29-2016, 02:07 PM

I just patched my GloHD firmware 3.19.5761. Works great. Thanks again for the tip.

10-24-2016, 11:09 AM	#1
MRC01 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 80308 Join Date: Oct 2016 Device: Kobo, Android Mantano, Linux PC, Kindle	Kobo Sideloaded Font Weights So I got my Kobo Glo HD working perfectly: syncing Calibre tags as collections, syncing notes & annotations, Kobo full screen mode, creating KEPUBs to open some of the extra features, and side loaded a couple of fonts I like. Thanks to the open source community for Calibre and these great plugins! However, the Kobo rendered my side-loaded fonts a bit on the light side and didn't have a UI to adjust the weight like it does for the built-in fonts. But I found a way to make the Kobo render sideloaded fonts with any weight - it's just not in the UI. Connect the Kobo to your PC via USB, open it like a drive and edit the .conf file in the Kobo directory. Find the section listing font weights and sharpness. Add a line specifying a weight for your side-loaded font, following the format of the surrounding lines. The default weight Kobo uses seems to be around 0.06; the range 0.1 to 0.2 seems ideal for most fonts, but you can go up to around 0.8. PS the config file also has a sharpness setting for each font. There is no UI for this, so it looks like something the Kobo sets automatically based on the weight. I added lines to the config file to try different sharpnesses for sideloaded fonts. I didn't see any difference, even under a magnifying glass, so I removed these lines. Perhaps the sharpness setting might make a difference on other fonts, or at more extreme size or weight settings? Last edited by MRC01; 10-24-2016 at 11:54 AM.

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10-24-2016, 12:56 PM	#2
drjd The Couch Potato Posts: 34,509 Karma: 230999999 Join Date: Aug 2015 Device: Kobo Glo, Kobo Touch, Archos 9, Onyx Boox C67ML Carta	Perhaps you may like to patch the firmware with Metazoa Patches by GeoffR for Freedom to advanced fonts control instead. See all of them Here.

10-24-2016, 02:15 PM	#3
chrisridd Guru Posts: 972 Karma: 2209358 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Kobo Aura, Kobo Aura ONE, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	"Sharpness" was exposed in the UI in earlier versions of the 3.x firmware. I don't know why it was removed.

10-24-2016, 02:17 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,008 Karma: 134368292 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Instructions for patching firmware 3.19.5761 does have the Freedom to advance fonts control. So have a read and you'll b able to patch the firmware to allow the weight of side loaded TTF fonts to be adjusted to your liking. If you are not on firmware 3.19.5761, you'll have to update in order to use the patches for that firmware version.

10-28-2016, 10:48 AM	#5
MRC01 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 80308 Join Date: Oct 2016 Device: Kobo, Android Mantano, Linux PC, Kindle	That's super cool - thanks for the reference.

10-28-2016, 01:14 PM	#6
GERGE Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 5797160 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Istanbul Device: Kobo Libra	Keep this in mind: if the added weight is large, use Fontforge to do it.

10-29-2016, 02:07 PM	#8
MRC01 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 80308 Join Date: Oct 2016 Device: Kobo, Android Mantano, Linux PC, Kindle	I just patched my GloHD firmware 3.19.5761. Works great. Thanks again for the tip.

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