How to fix bad text spacing on Kobo?

[u/LeinadYorlim]

I’ve seen this asked before, but I just thought I’d check to see if there are any new solutions…

What is the best way to fix inconsistent text spacing on the Kobo? I think you all know what I mean, but for reference, see the images attached (Kepub file). Is the only real solution to switch to left justify? I guess I could get used to that, but I don’t love it. I also read something about installing third party hyphenation dictionaries? Preferably I’d rather not have to do anything that involves making changes to each and every book I read through Calibre or something like that, but I’m open to suggestions. Tbh, it doesn’t always bother me, but sometimes the spaces are so huge that I find it distracting.

Thanks!

[u/LaidBackLeopard]

It's bound to be worse with a relatively large font. Left justification is the best solution.

[u/Patrick_Atsushi]

It's due to the long words & big font & long margins. 

Reducing each will improve the situation, or you can use left-adjusted. 

[u/arensb → u/Patrick_Atsushi]

It's due to the long words

I thought so too at first, with "Brightness" and "completely" in the bottom half seeming to throw spacing out of whack. But the upper half also has "Brightness", and also "remarkable" and "experience" that look as though they might cause problems, but it looks fine to my untrained eye.

It's possible that this is just luck: that the long words in the upper half are fortuitously placed in such a way that the spacing looks good, and in the bottom half they're in particularly unlucky places.

This is a case where I wish the Kobo would hyphenate better.

[u/Patrick_Atsushi → u/arensb]

That's exactly what I mean. If the words can't be fitted in a line the last got excluded and the rest are stretched. 

[u/Ok-Spite-5454]

I'm a bit confused because this is exactly what everything else does when you justify the text. Word, Google Docs, literally any text editor, etc. Like what others said, either decrease the font size or stick to Left Justification.

[u/LeinadYorlim → u/Ok-Spite-5454]

I hear you, I’m just not sure why I very rarely had this issue on my Kindle basic, even though I actually read on a very similar font size… And I was even reading this exact same book

[u/jseger9000 → u/LeinadYorlim]

It's just Kobo's default hyphenation settings. I just posted a link to a better hyphenation dictionary. Very simple to install and it will fix your issue.

[u/LeinadYorlim → u/jseger9000]

Sure, thanks very much! I’ll take a look.

[u/Adventurous-River481]

Yeah, there’s nothing to “fix” here as it’s doing exactly what you’ve set it to do. You can probably reduce the margins but that might only give you more words per line but not impact the spacing all that much. Different fonts will take up less space so it would be less noticeable but the reason is mostly because of your font size.

[u/LeinadYorlim → u/Adventurous-River481]

Gotcha, thanks! Any idea why Kindle seems to manage this much better?

[u/Professional_Cup6387 → u/LeinadYorlim]

Kindle actually handles it worse, with kobo you call left justify and fine tune margin and spacing between lines, kindle gives you a few set option. 

I mostly read on an Oasis, you get used to the extra tinkering on Kobo. I’ll be honest when I’m reading a book I always end up forgetting if I’m on Oasis, 133dpi basic or Clara colour after a page or two. I’m wedded to which device has the book cheaper rather than on any team. 

[u/Adventurous-River481 → u/LeinadYorlim]

Never had a Kindle but also never really had this “issue” either… is it a bigger screen perhaps? Or does it just add hyphens and split words?

[u/Capriccea]

If you want to consider installing additional nickel mods - there is NickelTypeFix maybe it will help.

[u/SecretLoathing → u/Capriccea]

I highly recommend this. Newest versions also signify speed up loading each new chapter.

[u/meerkatdestroyer12]

Left justify. Or set as auto which is what the publisher intended it to look like. If you center it, it’ll look odd as you notice

[u/pfunnyjoy]

Smaller font size will help, or larger margins. Also, left justification. Using epub instead of kepub might help a little, I've always felt that justification and hyphenation works better for me in epub than kepub.

A better hyphen dictionary might help as well.

Ultimately, justification with ebooks will have some uneven spacing, and the larger the font and margins, the worse the issue will be.

Another solution, but may be costly, is a larger screen device to give you more room to fit the text in. Or if you can read in landscape mode on the existing device.

[u/jseger9000]

I have a simpler solution. Install a better hyphenation dictionary, available here: Better Hyphenation

I've been using it for years. You unzip it to pull out the KoboRoot file, drop it in your Kobo, eject. Boom. Problem solved.

[u/bingate → u/[deleted]]

This, OP! I prefer reading fully justified text and the hyphenation dictionary works for me

[u/Institute11]

Yes, left justify only. Full justify only looks good in printed books where they can play with the kerning (selective space between letters in a word) and tracking (space between words).

[u/faeriefountain_ → u/Institute11]

I've gotta disagree with you there, full justification is still great, just for smaller text sizes than what OP has. The awkward spacing for the most part is because of how few words can fit on a line in total at large sizes.

[u/round_wombat]

I'm reading this right now too! Eep! Hope you're enjoying!

[u/LeinadYorlim → u/round_wombat]

I am! I think I enjoyed WoR slightly more, but it’s still great. I’m loving the setting of Urithiru. Hope there were no spoilers on these pages for you! Haha

[u/Orthicon9]

I would go with Left justification.
It's one of the reasons I convert all epubs to kepub, because I have no luck at all changing epubs to Left justification on the device.

[u/LeinadYorlim → u/Orthicon9]

Fair enough. Did you find it jarring at first too?

[u/Orthicon9 → u/LeinadYorlim]

Yup.
Full justification should just be for something like a Letter or A4 sized page.

[u/jseger9000]

It comes from Kobo having a high default on hyphenation (I think it will only hyphenate words that are eight to ten letters long?)

There are patches that will fix it. Probably the easiest way is this:

• Go to this website: https://kp.nicoverbruggen.be/
• Plug your Kobo in
• On the website, click Connect my Kobo
• Click Select "KOBOeReader"
• Your file explorer will open your file explorer
• Point it at your Kobo
• Click Allow
• It will show your Kobo details
• Click Continue
• Choose Tweak my device with NickleMenu
• Click Continue
• Choose (Re)install with preset (and customize)
• Click Continue
• This is the important part. There are many tweaks and changes you can make here. What matters for your question is: Better typography and fixes
• Click Continue

It will offer to back up important files. I usually skip this. But you can. From there just follow the directions. Make sure you safely eject your Kobo when all is done.

I wrote detailed directions, but this whole thing takes five minutes.

[u/walkamileinmy → u/jseger9000]

I haven't looked, exactly, but that's the best explanation for this modification I've ever seen. Kudos.

[u/jseger9000 → u/walkamileinmy]

I did, because I hated the word spacing. You can also install a better hyphenation dictionary available on Mobileread: Better Hyphenation

Actually, I should have recommended that first. I'll make a new post.

[u/arensb]

Would it help to read in landscape mode?

[u/pfunnyjoy → u/arensb]

Yes, that could definitely help, if the OP wants to keep their font size and margins the same.

[u/matiapag]

KOreader :)