Font Forum

Hi, I am looking to install and embed a font into ebooks.
I am modifying an existing font, but putting a 'dot' over certain characters as they are for a mathematical equation.
This has been tried in the past (with an older program), but the font has to be converted to a graphic in InDesign as the font cannot be embedded into a pdf, therefore cannot be scaled in the ebook.
So, is this possible by creating a font in Font Creator.
Thanks

I was able to produce an epub from PagePlus using my own fonts, which include several characters with dot above in the Latin Extended Additional character set.

I don't have an e-reader to test it with, but it displays OK in Calibre reader. The font is embedded in the epub.

So if there's a problem, it may be with InDesign, rather than with the font.

It depends on the format of ebook: epub, kindle, mobi, etc.

I've been trying it with Kindle but either Amazon is ridiculously picky with what they will accept or I'm doing something wrong because I can't get them to take custom fonts to save my life.

senathesquid wrote:It depends on the format of ebook: epub, kindle, mobi, etc.

I've been trying it with Kindle but either Amazon is ridiculously picky with what they will accept or I'm doing something wrong because I can't get them to take custom fonts to save my life.

I was able to publish a *.mobi using Kindlegen from Serif PagePlus X8 and embedded the Pali fonts that I needed.

I have had success embedding fonts into epubs created by Jutoh. This ability is absolutely necessary because ADE and e-readers do not have native support for foreign scripts or even every glyph in the Latin set.

there is a separate permission for embedding, and unless the font has that permission, Amazon will strip it out of the MOBI file.
I have embedded fonts successfully in both ePub abd MOBI files, made in InDesign and then code revised by hand to fix various problems, but you have to be very careful with rights.

elipsett wrote:there is a separate permission for embedding, and unless the font has that permission, Amazon will strip it out of the MOBI file.

To ensure the font has correct embedding rights, open it in FontCreator and open the Font Properties dialog. The Legal tab will show and allows you to modify the font embedding license rights. Needless to say, if you are not the font designer/ font vendor, then you need to be sure you have permission to make changes to the font.

Erwin,

I'm looking into embedding a little more deeply, and wonder if you can tell me what flag you are looking at for this?
It isn't explicitly mentioned here:
https://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/os2.htm#fst

Edward Lipsett

We've explained the settings in the manual. Which part needs clarification?

Hello again,

Well, the newest version of the standard uses explicit flags so that "least restrictive rights" interpretation doesn't become a problem.
In theory, it is only possible to select a single flag now for embedding rights.

Do you know which flags are accepted by Amazon and other ebook etailers?
You list "Installable" as the least restrictive... which bit is this, and is it the only one accepted?
Basically, while your program shows me the flags in human-readable form and allows me to edit them, there is very little information on specifically which flag is required by any of these companies.
Would they accept bit=2 or =3, for example?
This isn't something you would be expected to know much about, but I'm hoping you have more information stashed away somewhere.

Incidentally, it is possible to check the properties of a font quickly using the Adobe FDK and
spot -t OS/2 <path to font file>
under OSX, which is what I use for layout.

Edward

The part about font embedding is indeed outdated, as prior version of FontCreator allowed you to set multiple embedding rights. Since it is no longer allowed to do so, we changed the user interface, but forgot to update the manual.

I'll make sure this is fixed with the next upcoming release of FontCreator.

I'm not aware of the specific embedding settings required for eBooks, but it would be great if you could look into this and let us know your results.

Well, the chances of me getting a meaningful reply from either Amazon or Apple are slim to none, and those are the two that matter the most.
If I do manage to pry anything intelligent from their computers I'll pass it on, though.

The problem is, as other people have pointed out, that they arbitrarily delete fonts from ebooks without specifying why, or giving you an opportunity to upload new data that rectifies the problem. There doesn't seem to be a human being in the loop at all.

Thanks!

Edward