ePub-Sigil-Calibre-Sony PRS505

dicknskip · 06-08-2010, 06:00 PM

I run Kubuntu 10.4 and have a Sony PRS505. I recently decided to move to ePub for some of my self published stuff. I use Open Office to get a clean text file, use Sigil to save it as an ePub and do MetaData and TOC. I like a slightly larger font and indented paragraphs, old eyes you know. I created a good .css file that I properly import to the ePub in Sigil. My .css formats show up in Sigil-book view, in the Calibre ebook-viewer, under view in Calibre, and then disappear once I move the book to my Sony. It goes back to small font and no indent. What am I doing wrong or am I just stuck with the Sony and ePub?

TIA

DoctorOhh · 06-08-2010, 06:58 PM

Put your css up here so we can take a look or better yet attach a sample epub file we can check out.

slantybard · 06-08-2010, 07:17 PM

Another small point to think about is whether your css has any @font-face or calls for different fonts. If so, then the device, ie your sony, will also need the fonts installed. If they aren't, then the devices sometimes do strange things with the appearance to handle the epub as best as possible.

dicknskip · 06-08-2010, 07:23 PM

Here it is. It came from when I used html and then into lrf.

Spoiler:

DoctorOhh · 06-08-2010, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dicknskip

Here it is. It came from when I used html and then into lrf.

Spoiler:

I thought we were talking about an ePub file having problems. Are you saying the ePub looks fine on your reader but once you convert it to LRF it loses the indent?

Please clarify your problem.

On the surface the 15pt indent seems fine considering you're using larger fonts for your old eyes. I have old eyes too and set my indent at 1.1em. Maybe the Sony reader translates 1.1em better then 15pt, worth a try.

dicknskip · 06-08-2010, 07:56 PM

The ePub book shows up fine on my Sony. It just drops the indent, the larger type size, and the centered headings. The type size and indent are significant for me, the other stuff is just nice fluff. I am trying a new approach dropping the font name tag on the body definition. I'll see what that does.

DoctorOhh · 06-08-2010, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dicknskip

The ePub book shows up fine on my Sony. It just drops the indent, the larger type size, and the centered headings. The type size and indent are significant for me, the other stuff is just nice fluff. I am trying a new approach dropping the font name tag on the body definition. I'll see what that does.

You can do a ePub to ePub conversion in Calibre. I set up my settings for a larger font with an indent and a space between paragraphs.

I attached an image of the settings I use.

If the above conversion doesn't work attach an ePub your having trouble with and I'll take a closer look.

dicknskip · 06-08-2010, 08:23 PM

I did make two small changes to the css. I removed the font-name tag and did remove an unncessary font-style tag. No change on the Sony. The view in Calibre shows the bigger font and the indent. The Sony doesn't. I'm on firmware 1.1.01 26200 on the Sony. That's what was on at purchase. I couldn't find an upgrade on the Sony site so I guess I'm current.

Spoiler:

JSWolf · 06-08-2010, 09:03 PM

I dislike paragraph spaces. Looks nothing like a book.

DoctorOhh · 06-08-2010, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I dislike paragraph spaces. Looks nothing like a book.

Love the way you stepped in to help out with this informative post.

@dicknskip if you don't like spaces between paragraphs just uncheck insert blank line, but since you and I both have older eyes I left it checked because it makes reading easier for me.

slantybard · 06-08-2010, 11:48 PM

Ok, I know you are getting a lot of different ideas here. I would try the following:

1. delete the css file from the epub/html folder for books already made, otherwise just don't use a css at the sigil step in your workflow. You can even skip the sigil step and simply save your book as clean html in open office for calibre to use.
2. import the book into calibre
3. in calibre's pref screen under conversion, select a bigger base font size. you may have to play with this a bit.
4. use the indent box to insert your indents into your converted epub.
5. use the css box on the conversion prefs screen to add any other css you want.
6. convert the book and try it on your device.

Looking at your css code, most of it will not work very well on the sony device. The sony device can't use the 120% font size very well imo. It only has a limited amount of sizes it produces. IIRC, when the sony looks at the font sizes, it rounds up or down to the size it thinks best fits your css or text based on the font key sizing. You can take a look at this post if you want to try and sort out some of the complexities of the font key in sony and calibre.

thafrogggg · 06-09-2010, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Love the way you stepped in to help out with this informative post.

What he said.

dicknskip · 06-09-2010, 11:11 AM

Some very interresting input. Thanks guys. That .css file worked very well when I used .lrf as a target. I did some cleanup work with Quanta plus and regular html commands and then converted from html to .lrf through Calibre. All the css tags worked well in that workflow.

I decided to try the open format ePub. Being a Linux guy I thought that was a good idea and Sigil appeared much easier to use for Meta-data and TOCs than raw html. Calibre appeared to handle both formats well. The Sony device handled the font sizes and such well in the .lrf format, but I guess they use different code to display lrf than they do for ePub as the ePub did not handle the font size, indent and such well at all.

I'm going find a small file, or create one, and then do a wokflow ending in an .lrf and the same text into an .ePub and look at differences. I'll also try ePub with no css and using the Calibre conversion settings. It might take or day or so, but I'll get back here and tell my experiences when I'm done.

A question, importing to Calibre always creates a new copy of the book file. Is this simply a copy or is it always put through the Calibre conversion process? I'm not sure if that's critical to this discussion as the view feature of Calibre shows the ePub file with my css settings applied. They only appear to be replaced when it gets download to the Sony.

I mentioned the firmware version of my Sony above. Do you know if their is a newer one and how I might get it and load it from Linux? If there's a thread about that you could point me to I'll do the reading and the work.

slantybard · 06-09-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dicknskip

Some very interresting input. Thanks guys. That .css file worked very well when I used .lrf as a target. I did some cleanup work with Quanta plus and regular html commands and then converted from html to .lrf through Calibre. All the css tags worked well in that workflow.

I decided to try the open format ePub. Being a Linux guy I thought that was a good idea and Sigil appeared much easier to use for Meta-data and TOCs than raw html. Calibre appeared to handle both formats well. The Sony device handled the font sizes and such well in the .lrf format, but I guess they use different code to display lrf than they do for ePub as the ePub did not handle the font size, indent and such well at all.

lrf is handled different from epub on the sony device. This may be controversial, but I would simply eliminate lrf entirely from your workflow or use.

Quote:

I'm going find a small file, or create one, and then do a wokflow ending in an .lrf and the same text into an .ePub and look at differences. I'll also try ePub with no css and using the Calibre conversion settings. It might take or day or so, but I'll get back here and tell my experiences when I'm done.

good idea.

Quote:

A question, importing to Calibre always creates a new copy of the book file. Is this simply a copy or is it always put through the Calibre conversion process? I'm not sure if that's critical to this discussion as the view feature of Calibre shows the ePub file with my css settings applied. They only appear to be replaced when it gets download to the Sony.

When you import a book into calibre, calibre creates a new copy and puts it into the the calibre library folder under its own filing schema. Then all conversions and modifications are done on that copy. Your original is left alone for you to store it where/how you want and also saves it from being modified in case you want to step back in your workflow.

Quote:

I mentioned the firmware version of my Sony above. Do you know if their is a newer one and how I might get it and load it from Linux? If there's a thread about that you could point me to I'll do the reading and the work.

I believe that is the latest firmware. There was at some point, 2 versions of the firmware based on a geographical "where you bought your device", but that may have changed. You can always ask in the "sony reader dev corner" forum for a definitive answer.

jackie_w · 06-09-2010, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dicknskip

It goes back to small font...

I'm not sure whether this is relevant but I'll pass on these observations anyway.

When I first started using calibre and my PRS505 I experimented by converting the same books to both EPUB and LRF.

I found that a conversion Base Font Size of 10 produced an LRF which was comfortable for me to read at zoom-size Small on the 505.

However, with EPUB, I needed a bigger Base Font-size of 11 and zoom-size Medium on the 505 to achieve a similar viewing experience.

(I'm afraid why the CSS you specified didn't give you a proper paragraph indent has me stumped).

06-08-2010, 06:00 PM	#1
dicknskip Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada Device: iPad V-3	ePub-Sigil-Calibre-Sony PRS505 I run Kubuntu 10.4 and have a Sony PRS505. I recently decided to move to ePub for some of my self published stuff. I use Open Office to get a clean text file, use Sigil to save it as an ePub and do MetaData and TOC. I like a slightly larger font and indented paragraphs, old eyes you know. I created a good .css file that I properly import to the ePub in Sigil. My .css formats show up in Sigil-book view, in the Calibre ebook-viewer, under view in Calibre, and then disappear once I move the book to my Sony. It goes back to small font and no indent. What am I doing wrong or am I just stuck with the Sony and ePub? TIA

06-08-2010, 06:58 PM	#2
DoctorOhh US Navy, Retired Posts: 9,867 Karma: 13806776 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: North Carolina Device: Icarus Illumina XL HD, Kindle PaperWhite SE 11th Gen	Put your css up here so we can take a look or better yet attach a sample epub file we can check out. Last edited by DoctorOhh; 06-08-2010 at 07:24 PM.

06-08-2010, 07:23 PM	#4
dicknskip Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada Device: iPad V-3	Here it is. It came from when I used html and then into lrf. Spoiler: <style type="text/css"> /<![CDATA[/ /* Special characters: “ ” — … / / body setting over rides / body {font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 120%; margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%;} / Main title of the book / h1 {font-size:150%; text-align:center; font-weight:700; page-break-before:always;} / Section or part heading / h2 {font-size:130%; text-align:center; font-weight:700; page-break-before:always;} / Chapter heading / h3 {font-size:120%; text-align:center; font-weight:700; page-break-before:always;} / Non-page break heading/ h4 {font-style: normal; font-size: 120%; text-align: center; font-weight: 700;} / Highlight a quote or section / blockquote {font-size:100%; text-align:center; font-style:italic; font-weight:700; line-height:100%;} / Highlight a quote or section - left / cite {font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: 500; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 1px;} / Normal paragraph / p {margin-top:0.25em; margin-bottom:.60em; line-height:1.2em; text-indent:15pt;} / set for sup and sub characters / sup,sub {font-size: 75%;} /]]>*/ </style>

06-08-2010, 08:23 PM	#8
dicknskip Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada Device: iPad V-3	I did make two small changes to the css. I removed the font-name tag and did remove an unncessary font-style tag. No change on the Sony. The view in Calibre shows the bigger font and the indent. The Sony doesn't. I'm on firmware 1.1.01 26200 on the Sony. That's what was on at purchase. I couldn't find an upgrade on the Sony site so I guess I'm current. Spoiler: <style type="text/css"> /<![CDATA[/ /* Special characters: “ ” — … / / body setting over rides / body {font-size: 120%; margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%;} / Main title of the book / h1 {font-size:150%; text-align:center; font-weight:700; page-break-before:always;} / Section or part heading / h2 {font-size:130%; text-align:center; font-weight:700; page-break-before:always;} / Chapter heading / h3 {font-size:120%; text-align:center; font-weight:700; page-break-before:always;} / Non-page break heading/ h4 {font-size: 120%; text-align: center; font-weight: 700;} / Highlight a quote or section / blockquote {font-size:100%; text-align:center; font-style:italic; font-weight:700; line-height:100%;} / Highlight a quote or section - left / cite {font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: 500; line-height: 100%; text-indent: 1px;} / Normal paragraph / p {margin-top:0.25em; margin-bottom:.60em; line-height:1.2em; text-indent:15pt;} / set for sup and sub characters / sup,sub {font-size: 75%;} /]]>*/ </style>

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06-08-2010, 07:17 PM	#3
slantybard my parent's oops... Posts: 485 Karma: 1477572 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Vx->Handera->Clie-> Axim->505->650->KPW/Aura ->L2->iOS/CBW	Another small point to think about is whether your css has any @font-face or calls for different fonts. If so, then the device, ie your sony, will also need the fonts installed. If they aren't, then the devices sometimes do strange things with the appearance to handle the epub as best as possible.

06-08-2010, 07:56 PM	#6
dicknskip Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada Device: iPad V-3	The ePub book shows up fine on my Sony. It just drops the indent, the larger type size, and the centered headings. The type size and indent are significant for me, the other stuff is just nice fluff. I am trying a new approach dropping the font name tag on the body definition. I'll see what that does.

06-08-2010, 09:03 PM	#9
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,491 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I dislike paragraph spaces. Looks nothing like a book.

06-08-2010, 11:48 PM	#11
slantybard my parent's oops... Posts: 485 Karma: 1477572 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Vx->Handera->Clie-> Axim->505->650->KPW/Aura ->L2->iOS/CBW	Ok, I know you are getting a lot of different ideas here. I would try the following: 1. delete the css file from the epub/html folder for books already made, otherwise just don't use a css at the sigil step in your workflow. You can even skip the sigil step and simply save your book as clean html in open office for calibre to use. 2. import the book into calibre 3. in calibre's pref screen under conversion, select a bigger base font size. you may have to play with this a bit. 4. use the indent box to insert your indents into your converted epub. 5. use the css box on the conversion prefs screen to add any other css you want. 6. convert the book and try it on your device. Looking at your css code, most of it will not work very well on the sony device. The sony device can't use the 120% font size very well imo. It only has a limited amount of sizes it produces. IIRC, when the sony looks at the font sizes, it rounds up or down to the size it thinks best fits your css or text based on the font key sizing. You can take a look at this post if you want to try and sort out some of the complexities of the font key in sony and calibre.

06-09-2010, 11:11 AM	#13
dicknskip Zealot Posts: 134 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada Device: iPad V-3	Some very interresting input. Thanks guys. That .css file worked very well when I used .lrf as a target. I did some cleanup work with Quanta plus and regular html commands and then converted from html to .lrf through Calibre. All the css tags worked well in that workflow. I decided to try the open format ePub. Being a Linux guy I thought that was a good idea and Sigil appeared much easier to use for Meta-data and TOCs than raw html. Calibre appeared to handle both formats well. The Sony device handled the font sizes and such well in the .lrf format, but I guess they use different code to display lrf than they do for ePub as the ePub did not handle the font size, indent and such well at all. I'm going find a small file, or create one, and then do a wokflow ending in an .lrf and the same text into an .ePub and look at differences. I'll also try ePub with no css and using the Calibre conversion settings. It might take or day or so, but I'll get back here and tell my experiences when I'm done. A question, importing to Calibre always creates a new copy of the book file. Is this simply a copy or is it always put through the Calibre conversion process? I'm not sure if that's critical to this discussion as the view feature of Calibre shows the ePub file with my css settings applied. They only appear to be replaced when it gets download to the Sony. I mentioned the firmware version of my Sony above. Do you know if their is a newer one and how I might get it and load it from Linux? If there's a thread about that you could point me to I'll do the reading and the work.

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