# Embedding Fonts with Calibre



## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Here's how to add a different font choice to your books using Calibre. You can only make this type of change to a book that has no DRM - and of course DRM-removal directions are not allowed here.

You'll be converting your book to the AZW3 format - it's been a while since I started doing this so I can't remember, but if I'm remembering correctly it's the only format that will allow the change. (And conveniently it's also the only format that the FONT_RAMP "hack" for changing font sizes works with, so lucky for me!)

When you convert a book using Calibre, you can make all kinds of changes to that book - most of which are totally over my head! - but among those are changing the font.

Highlight the book that you want to convert, then click on "Convert" up at the top. Select AZW3 as your "Output Format". 
Then in the left-hand column, click on "Look & Feel". One of your choices will be "Embed Font Family". You'll have lots of choices there when you click in that box - if I'm not mistaken, I think I'd seen somewhere that it's all the fonts you have installed on your computer, but I'm not sure whether that's correct. At any rate, you can choose whichever font you want. Below the box with the list of fonts, you'll also see the option to "Add Fonts". More on that in a bit.*

Once you've chosen your font (and you can make other changes here - one thing I change is under "Layout" I tell it to add a blank line between paragraphs, because I like that blank line. Under "Styling", I also tell it to strip all fonts that are in the book, that way, only the font I'm choosing will be there.) - you can hit "OK" at the bottom right to start the conversion process. When you load the book to your Kindle, the font you've embedded will be the "Publisher Font".

*Now, regarding adding other fonts. Over on mobileread, as I was looking for info on how to do this, I found where a couple of users there had tweaked a couple of different fonts to make them a bit heavier/bolder, and more suited to eInk. They'd posted links to those fonts files and I tried a couple of them, liked them both, but found that I liked one a bit better than the other.

Downloaded one called Charis SIL here: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2659308&postcount=69

The other, Deja Vu Serif, is here (and includes some directions for downloading and installing fonts, although I just used the "Add Fonts" feature in Calibre after I'd downloaded the font files and put them on my desktop so I could find them easily): http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2648493&postcount=1 There's some good general info on this thread, and you can see the entire thread by clicking on the name of the thread at the top right corner. But the entire thread is from 2013, I think, so some things may look a bit different in Calibre these days.

By the way, if you don't have Calibre, you can download it free here: http://calibre-ebook.com/

Hope this info helps, and if you have questions, feel free to ask away either here on the thread or by a PM.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Yes!!!! This is incredible. Just put some amazing fonts on the three books i'm currently reading on and it took five minutes. Phenomenal. Thank you for this great find, Meemo. I've always used Calibre but always output EPUB to MOBI. I had no idea that this AZW3 would do this at all. My Oasis now feels even more luxurious. Older fonts and contemporary fonts now one happy family!!!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

And, as a side note, the developer of Calibre takes donations if you've found his software useful. . The link is on the website, and I believe also within the software.  Just sayin'.  He does a really good job of keeping it updated.

Betsy


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Good reminder, Betsy. Started using Calibre since my baby Kindle and it's the best donation you'll ever make.


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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)

Ann in Arlington said:


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


Thanks Ann - I should've thought to put it there!


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

northofdivision said:


> Yes!!!! This is incredible. Just put some amazing fonts on the three books i'm currently reading on and it took five minutes. Phenomenal. Thank you for this great find, Meemo. I've always used Calibre but always output EPUB to MOBI. I had no idea that this AZW3 would do this at all. My Oasis now feels even more luxurious. Older fonts and contemporary fonts now one happy family!!!


Yay! It was someone here on Kboards who first put me into this, I wish I could remember who so I could give credit. There'd been a way for the PW similar to the FONT_RAMP thing but when a software update killed that before I ever got a PW, a post here sent me off to mobileread to learn more.

And thanks to Betsy for the reminder about donations to Calibre - it really is an amazing tool, especially if you're like me and have books from lots more sources than Amazon. (Darn all these smartphone apps!). And like I said, I've barely scratched the surface of what it can do.


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## Eilene (Oct 29, 2008)

I'm the one that asked you Meemo...but I'm having a hard time with all of this.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Eilene said:


> I'm the one that asked you Meemo...but I'm having a hard time with all of this.


Do your books have DRM? Embedding fonts definitely won't work on books with DRM. Try downloading a book from Gutenberg to test to see if it's working. And like I said, feel free to PM or email me. &#128521;


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## Eilene (Oct 29, 2008)

Meemo said:


> Do your books have DRM? Embedding fonts definitely won't work on books with DRM. Try downloading a book from Gutenberg to test to see if it's working. And like I said, feel free to PM or email me. &#128521;


Thanks...I'll try


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## Readirect (May 9, 2016)

The downside to this is that it duplicates the font for every ebook and that adds up to a *lot* of wasted space. Back in the good old days before Auntie Amazon declared war on her users, it was possible to simply add the font to a fonts folder and apply it to any book you chose.

Just one more way that Auntie makes it difficult to love her.


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