# Using FONT_RAMP "Hack" to Change Font Sizes Choices



## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

**Note that unless something has changed, this will only work on AZW3 files, at least according to the folks on mobileread. They say it won't work on KF8, .mobi or AZW files. All my book files are AZW3, thanks to Calibre, so I tried to download a few from my Kindle library direct from Amazon - one was AZW, didn't work - another was, I think, AZW3, also didn't work. It's possible that DRM may interfere with this working although the mobileread folk didn't indicate that it would. I'll see if sseverus knows anything about that (since he's the one that put me onto this whole thing to begin with.

Anywho...for folks interested in using the FONT_RAMP "hack" to make changes to the 8 sizes of fonts on the Kindle, here's the basic info. What this does is make the 8 sizes of fonts on the Kindle, which on my PW2 and Oasis go from tiny to crazy huge, change on the upper end to be less ginormous. I tend to keep my font on the 5th from the left except at night in the dark, then I go up one more size, but the default sizes make that next size much bigger than I need.

So when sseverus posted the basic information about the FONT_RAMP hack here in the Oasis First Impressions thread, I was very interested - I tried to do it by following his directions but creating my own file didn't work, so I went to the mobileread forum and read through the thread on it (much of which made my head hurt - they get in the weeds there!). I still couldn't make it work by creating the FONT_RAMP file myself, so I ended up downloading the file that one of the users there had uploaded and linked to. If downloading something from an online stranger seems scary, it did to me too until I noticed that the link had been up for over a year now, and knowing those folks there, if there'd been an issue with it, that post would've been long gone.  I downloaded & unzipped it, followed the directions and restarted the Kindle & voila! No more ginormous fonts - the jump from size 5 to size 6 feels like a much more natural progression. Now if you want to make other changes, you can change the numbers, and if you read through the thread you'll see where folks have tried different combinations. But this one worked for me.

So here are the essential directions for making the change.

1. Create 2 plain text files named FONT_RAMP and CJK_FONT_RAMP (*the latter only needed if using Chinese characters*). Be sure to delete any extension if one is created - no .txt, .doc, etc.

2. Type in the following values: 7.49 8.43 9.37 10.31 11.25 12.19 13.13 14.07

The text files should contain only 8 numbers and nothing else.
You can adjust the above numbers until you get the font sizes you desire.
The default values used on a stock Kindle are (allegedly): 7.13 7.81 8.49 9.17 10.53 12.56 16.98 29.2
So you can make your changes with those numbers in mind.

3. Connect Kindle to computer via USB and copy into root/main directory. Do not add them to any folder on the Kindle.

4. Restart Kindle.

Here's a link to the message that I downloaded the FONT_RAMP file from. It didn't look anything like what I thought it would when I unzipped & opened it, and I'm glad whatever numbers he'd used worked for me, because I see no way to change them. But when I put it in the main directory of the Kindle and restarted, it did in fact work. Just remember to unzip the file first. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3088641&postcount=24

This worked both on my PW2 and on my Oasis. Hope this helps!


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

That's a really thorough walk-through. Thank you for taking the time to write all this through. Will try it this weekend.


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## Eilene (Oct 29, 2008)

Thanks so much for doing this.
What did you use to unzip the file?


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

northofdivision said:


> That's a really thorough walk-through. Thank you for taking the time to write all this through. Will try it this weekend.


Yeah, I'm pretty wordy  - got me in trouble on more than a couple of papers in college.



Eilene said:


> Thanks so much for doing this.
> What did you use to unzip the file?


Hmmm, good question! Whatever my Mac uses? I double-click on it and it magically unzips it. Sorry I'm not more helpful on that score!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Eilene said:


> Thanks so much for doing this.
> What did you use to unzip the file?


Pretty sure that both Mac and Windows machines, the ability to unzip files is built into the OS these days. I know it is in Windows.

Betsy


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

That was much easier than I thought. New fonts and a few tweener sizes between 3,4, and 5. So nice to take those gigantosaurus fonts out of my sizing. Thanks, Meemo!!!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

This is an Excellent Topic -- perfect, in fact, for our "Tips Tricks and Troubleshooting" section . . . . so I'm going to move it there.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks Ann!  

And yay, Stanley - glad it worked!


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## Eilene (Oct 29, 2008)

For some reason...I'm having a hard time with this & I'm usually very good with this kind of stuff. I've never used Calibre before. Should I import all my books first in it?


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## Eilene (Oct 29, 2008)

Mine did not unzip. It opened up the Terminal. Oh boy!


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## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

Eilene said:


> For some reason...I'm having a hard time with this & I'm usually very good with this kind of stuff. I've never used Calibre before. Should I import all my books first in it?


I'm in the same boat as Eilene. I both created a file and downloaded the linked file. I then tried it with several .azw3 books, both Overdrive library borrows and purchased Amazon books. Still see the ginormous font options.

I don't use Calibre, so they're all original as provided by Amazon, presumably with DRM. Anybody having luck with books not processed by Calibre?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Note first paragraph of Meemo's post (my bolding added):



Meemo said:


> **Note that unless something has changed, this will only work on AZW3 files, at least according to the folks on mobileread. They say it won't work on KF8, .mobi or AZW files. All my book files are AZW3, thanks to Calibre, so *I tried to download a few from my Kindle library direct from Amazon - one was AZW, didn't work - another was, I think, AZW3, also didn't work. It's possible that DRM may interfere with this working although the mobileread folk didn't indicate that it would.* I'll see if sseverus knows anything about that (since he's the one that put me onto this whole thing to begin with.


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## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

I found this in the mobileread thread:

"It works perfectly, although the size of the characters in the font menu (where one taps to select the size) do not change, they stay the same."

When I said mine "didn't work," it was based on looking at the font menu. I might have to remove the FONT_RAMP file temporarily to go back and check for sure, but I'm pretty sure that it does indeed work! Excellent, thanks, Meemo. (This almost makes up for the ear worm that continues to haunt me EVERY...SINGLE...DAY!!!  )


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks Betsy - was about to post that. And Eilene, yes that's the file I used. It scared me a bit too but like I said, since no one had said "Hey, that didn't work!" Or "Hey, you bricked my Kindle!" on that thread after a year, I'd give it a shot on my PW2. First. Trust but verify, y'know?!

Sorry 'bout that ear worm, Gbear!    And yes, to check you have to change the font size - the selection panel doesn't change.


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## sseverus (Aug 15, 2014)

Meemo said:


> It's possible that DRM may interfere with this working although the mobileread folk didn't indicate that it would. I'll see if sseverus knows anything about that (since he's the one that put me onto this whole thing to begin with.


Meemo, I tried the FONT_RAMP hack on an AZW3 book with and without DRM removed. It worked on both. Don't know if this is typical of all AZW3 books. I also tried it on a MOBI book and it did not work.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for checking , sseverus, I tried downloading a couple of books directly from Amazon to my Oasis and it didn't work on either of them - I downloaded the same books to the computer for transferring via USB, one was AZW and one was AZW3. So I'm not sure, there may be some other factors involved. And thanks again for posting about FONT_RAMP - I really like this tweak!


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## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

Okay, it's definitely working. I'll add that it works on my PW2, on both Overdrive library books and purchased books, complete with DRM and not Calibre-processed. AZW3 books work and the AZW book I tried still had the ginormous fonts.

Initially, I was successful with the file extracted from the downloaded ZIP file, because I thought my "homemade" file didn't work. (It didn't change the font selection menu.) After learning that you have to actually change the fonts to see if the hack works, I re-loaded my homemade text file and restarted the PW2. Everything still worked great.

For anyone still having issues, I'll make two suggestions:
1) Make sure that you check whether the hack is working by actually changing the font in a book - the font size in the selection menu doesn't change; and
2) If you're using Windows, make sure that your File Explorer (or whatever it's called these days) isn't hiding a .TXT extension on the FONT_RAMP file you create. That extension has to be removed.


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## Readirect (May 9, 2016)

It's just a question of time before Amazon realizes how useful this is and blocks it in a firmware update; just like they've done with *every* helpful hack.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

I've kept wifi off for a long time because I'd seen a rumor that a software update messed with the embedded fonts. Turned out not to be true. I didn't miss it much - so I can start leaving it off again.


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