mirror of
https://github.com/wezm/wezm.net.git
synced 2024-12-21 03:39:54 +00:00
85 lines
4 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
4 KiB
Markdown
+++
|
|
title = "Fixing Monospace Text in Kobo eReaders"
|
|
date = 2022-04-10T09:14:50+10:00
|
|
|
|
[extra]
|
|
updated = 2024-11-14T18:10:31+10:00
|
|
+++
|
|
|
|
After verifying with friends that eBook readers do a decent job of rendering
|
|
technical content I purchased a [Kobo Libra 2] this week. I loaded up some books
|
|
and started reading… but something was off. Sure enough, after verifying the
|
|
[EPUB] with [Calibre] on my computer I confirmed that the Kobo was not rendering
|
|
text with CSS rules like `font-family: monospace` in a monospace font.
|
|
|
|
<!-- more -->
|
|
|
|
**Update Nov 2024:** Oliver Fink wrote in to tell me that the issue is that
|
|
the font now has to have the font family name "Courier", not just have a
|
|
file name of Courier. [Check out their write-up][olifink] for all the details.
|
|
|
|
Additionally Roman Frołow wrote in with a tip for a tool that can turn off
|
|
behaviour that overrides the font family in KePub books, which could also
|
|
result in monospace fonts not showing up in books. [Visit this Reddit
|
|
thread][rofrol] for the details.
|
|
|
|
[olifink]: https://memos.mountmerlin.com/m/Gy8venDj6xej3vabw2idwx
|
|
[rofrol]: https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/comments/12kgo49/comment/jg4p6gj/
|
|
|
|
**Update Aug 2022:** I was told and have confirmed myself that the workaround
|
|
described in this post no longer works with the latest firmware. I tested
|
|
version 4.33.19759. If anyone knows how to restore the behaviour please get in
|
|
touch.
|
|
|
|
[Skip to Instructions ⮷](#instructions)
|
|
|
|
I quickly discovered this is a known issue with Kobo readers dating back years:
|
|
for reasons I can't comprehend they do not include a monospace font on the
|
|
device. I read many forum posts about how to add fonts but these were centred
|
|
around adding fonts to the font selector for the body text. Eventually I found
|
|
the solution via a [summary of the release notes for a firmware update in
|
|
2019][fw]:
|
|
|
|
> Path for monospace font changed to match other fonts and name is "Courier".
|
|
> This should mean that any correctly sideloaded font whose name starts with
|
|
> "Courier" will be used when the monospace font face is specified.
|
|
|
|
With this knowledge in hand I was able to make it render monospace text in the
|
|
one true monospace font, [PragmataPro]:
|
|
|
|
{{ figure(image="posts/2022/monospace-kobo-ereader/kobo-monospace.jpg", link="posts/2022/monospace-kobo-ereader/kobo-monospace.jpg", resize_width=600, alt="Kobo Libra 2 rendering monospace text in PragmataPro", caption="Kobo Libra 2 rendering monospace text in PragmataPro.") }}
|
|
|
|
## Instructions
|
|
|
|
1. Connect the Kobo to your computer.
|
|
2. Create a folder in the root of the device named `fonts`.
|
|
3. Put your chosen monospace font in the `fonts` folder.
|
|
4. Rename the fonts to follow this naming convention: `Courier <Font Family>-<Font Weight>.ttf`.
|
|
* The leading `Courier` is required for the eReader to use the font for
|
|
monospace text in books and not just show the font as an option in the
|
|
reading settings.
|
|
|
|
For example I renamed the PragmataPro font files to:
|
|
|
|
* `Courier PragmataPro Mono-Regular.ttf`
|
|
* `Courier PragmataPro Mono-Bold.ttf`
|
|
* `Courier PragmataPro Mono-Italic.ttf`
|
|
* `Courier PragmataPro Mono-BoldItalic.ttf`
|
|
|
|
I read in [a forum thread][forum-thread] that it's important that the fonts be
|
|
named like this with the actual font family name and the font weight names for
|
|
them to work. [GNOME Font Viewer][gnome-fonts] in freedesktop.org environments
|
|
or [Font Book] on macOS, or [allsorts-tools] on all platforms can show you the
|
|
font family name for a font.
|
|
|
|
Happy reading!
|
|
|
|
[Kobo Libra 2]: https://au.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-libra-2
|
|
[EPUB]: https://www.w3.org/publishing/epub/
|
|
[Calibre]: https://calibre-ebook.com/
|
|
[fw]: https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2019/12/12/new-kobo-firmware-update-4-19-14123-released/
|
|
[PragmataPro]: https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/
|
|
[forum-thread]: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204363
|
|
[gnome-fonts]: https://apps.gnome.org/en/app/org.gnome.font-viewer/
|
|
[Font Book]: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/font-book/welcome/mac
|
|
[allsorts-tools]: https://github.com/yeslogic/allsorts-tools
|