Kindle Touch Tips and Tricks

dwallersv · 12-01-2011, 03:49 PM

Couldn't find a thread like this, so I started one.

Several of the tips I'm beginning this with are documented in the User Guide that comes preloaded on the KT, but many (most?) don't read such things in detail, so I'm trying to be helpful to you all (and you know who you are :-))

However, I'm going to start with an undocumented (as far as I could find) feature, that was driving me batty accidentally invoking it, that I finally found the answer.

Text Size
While reading, the classic iPhone/Android pinch-zoom action will pop up a mini font menu, and change the font size one increment with each "pinch". pinching fingers together reduces font size, spreading fingers apart increases size.

Or, you can use the mini font dialog to make more detailed changes.

NOTE: This is NOT the same menu that appears when you tap the top of the screen, then hit the aA button on the bottom menubar. This shortcut menu is just font-related controls.

Quick Bookmark

Tap the top-right corner, and the KT will create a bookmark for the current page. It will show a small "dog-ear" folded down in the top right corner. Much quicker than going through the menu to do it!

Chapter Forward/Back
Swipe you finger up or down on the page, and if the book has chapter marks included, the KT will advance forward or back to the next/prev chapter. This is the same as clicking the 5-way left/right on the K3.

Swipe Page Turns
Probably don't need to include this one, but just in case. Pages can be turned forward/back by swiping right/left across the screen. If the layout of the touch regions annoys you ( it does me), this is a nice navigation alternative. The touch region layout doesn't seem to matter for this -- swiping right to left anywhere on the screen turns the page -- even in the top menu touch region.

People, please add others as you find them! This is just a start...

jpcapili · 12-01-2011, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwallersv

Couldn't find a thread like this, so I started one.

Swipe Page Turns
Probably don't need to include this one, but just in case. Pages can be turned forward/back by swiping right/left across the screen. If the layout of the touch regions annoys you ( it does me), this is a nice navigation alternative. The touch region layout doesn't seem to matter for this -- swiping right to left anywhere on the screen turns the page -- even in the top menu touch region.

here's one: swiping up and down will take you to the previous or next chapter, respectively.

tomsem · 12-01-2011, 06:29 PM

Screenshot
Hold the Home button down and tap the screen. Continue holding Home for a second or two. The screenshot files are saved to the root of USB storage when tethered to a computer.

New PDF Features
TTS
PDF hyperlink support
PDF bookmark navigation ('TOC')
Double tap to zoom to fit to width mode. Then tap to autoscroll to bottom and to next page or column. This works with layouts with multiple columns also (note that tables seem to confuse the navigation, so it is not perfect).

Navigation on Home screen
In addition to swiping to move to the next or previous page, tapping on the 'Page x of y' label brings up a dialog that lets you jump directly to a given page, or to titles starting with the letter(s) you type in (ignores articles like 'a' and 'the'). In the latter case it changes the sort order to By Title. If sort Order is By Author, the dialog lets you specify the starting letter(s) of the Author.

Workaround for Highlighting
Currently, you can only highlight text that appears on the screen when you create the highlight, so if what you want to select begins or ends on an adjacent 'page', you have to repaginate the content in such a way that everything you want to select is on screen. None of the ways of doing so are very pleasant, but at least it is something you can do (Nook Touch has the same limitation, but there are fewer options for addressing it)
- Select a smaller text size. With the start of the desired text displayed, select successively smaller text until everything you want to highlight is displayed is shown. Then select it. Obviously this will not always work, depending on how much text you want to 'pull,' but it is the easiest tactic if you have a couple of sizes smaller than what you typically read with, and you don't need to pull much text.
- Make a guess at the location where your text begin, and use Go To to jump there. Note the current location, go to the next page and note that location, the location to jump to will be between these two and just make a rough guess. This will repaginate to bring more or hopefully all of your text onto one screen. You can of course temporarily reduce the text size to enhance this effect.
- derive the exact starting location. Select the word just before the text you want to select. When the popup appears, choose Add Note and type in any letter. Then use View Notes & Marks, find the note you just created, and select it. This will repaginate so that the Note is the very first thing on the page, followed by the text you want to select. Delete the Note by tapping on the little number and choosing Delete Note. Then create your highlight, again reducing text size if necessary. See, that was simple!

I have a couple more but need to add them later.

12-01-2011, 03:49 PM	#1
dwallersv Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: Kindle Touch	Kindle Touch Tips and Tricks Couldn't find a thread like this, so I started one. Several of the tips I'm beginning this with are documented in the User Guide that comes preloaded on the KT, but many (most?) don't read such things in detail, so I'm trying to be helpful to you all (and you know who you are :-)) However, I'm going to start with an undocumented (as far as I could find) feature, that was driving me batty accidentally invoking it, that I finally found the answer. Text Size While reading, the classic iPhone/Android pinch-zoom action will pop up a mini font menu, and change the font size one increment with each "pinch". pinching fingers together reduces font size, spreading fingers apart increases size. Or, you can use the mini font dialog to make more detailed changes. NOTE: This is NOT the same menu that appears when you tap the top of the screen, then hit the aA button on the bottom menubar. This shortcut menu is just font-related controls. Quick Bookmark Tap the top-right corner, and the KT will create a bookmark for the current page. It will show a small "dog-ear" folded down in the top right corner. Much quicker than going through the menu to do it! Chapter Forward/Back Swipe you finger up or down on the page, and if the book has chapter marks included, the KT will advance forward or back to the next/prev chapter. This is the same as clicking the 5-way left/right on the K3. Swipe Page Turns Probably don't need to include this one, but just in case. Pages can be turned forward/back by swiping right/left across the screen. If the layout of the touch regions annoys you ( it does me), this is a nice navigation alternative. The touch region layout doesn't seem to matter for this -- swiping right to left anywhere on the screen turns the page -- even in the top menu touch region. People, please add others as you find them! This is just a start...

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12-01-2011, 06:29 PM	#3
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,766 Karma: 26974049 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Screenshot Hold the Home button down and tap the screen. Continue holding Home for a second or two. The screenshot files are saved to the root of USB storage when tethered to a computer. New PDF Features TTS PDF hyperlink support PDF bookmark navigation ('TOC') Double tap to zoom to fit to width mode. Then tap to autoscroll to bottom and to next page or column. This works with layouts with multiple columns also (note that tables seem to confuse the navigation, so it is not perfect). Navigation on Home screen In addition to swiping to move to the next or previous page, tapping on the 'Page x of y' label brings up a dialog that lets you jump directly to a given page, or to titles starting with the letter(s) you type in (ignores articles like 'a' and 'the'). In the latter case it changes the sort order to By Title. If sort Order is By Author, the dialog lets you specify the starting letter(s) of the Author. Workaround for Highlighting Currently, you can only highlight text that appears on the screen when you create the highlight, so if what you want to select begins or ends on an adjacent 'page', you have to repaginate the content in such a way that everything you want to select is on screen. None of the ways of doing so are very pleasant, but at least it is something you can do (Nook Touch has the same limitation, but there are fewer options for addressing it) - Select a smaller text size. With the start of the desired text displayed, select successively smaller text until everything you want to highlight is displayed is shown. Then select it. Obviously this will not always work, depending on how much text you want to 'pull,' but it is the easiest tactic if you have a couple of sizes smaller than what you typically read with, and you don't need to pull much text. - Make a guess at the location where your text begin, and use Go To to jump there. Note the current location, go to the next page and note that location, the location to jump to will be between these two and just make a rough guess. This will repaginate to bring more or hopefully all of your text onto one screen. You can of course temporarily reduce the text size to enhance this effect. - derive the exact starting location. Select the word just before the text you want to select. When the popup appears, choose Add Note and type in any letter. Then use View Notes & Marks, find the note you just created, and select it. This will repaginate so that the Note is the very first thing on the page, followed by the text you want to select. Delete the Note by tapping on the little number and choosing Delete Note. Then create your highlight, again reducing text size if necessary. See, that was simple! I have a couple more but need to add them later.

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