# "Send To Kindle" problems - non-adjustable fonts & files not opening



## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I've been using 'Send To Kindle' on my PC for some time to send my personal docs to my devices and have them in my archive on my Manage Your Kindle page. Everything has been fine until today.

I think it's been a few weeks  since I last used it and to begin with today, it asked me to log in when I tried to use it - normally you only have to do that when you first install it and that's it. Anyhow, I sent a Word doc to my PW, nothing different to dozens I've sent before. It arrived OK, but the font was fixed to the same san serif font of the original doc, not my Kindle default of Caecilia. I could change the word spacing, the margins and the font size, but not the font face.

I wondered if this was a problem with the PW specifically. I've downloaded previously archived docs to it with no problem, but this was the first time I'd sent something to the PW first. I tried downloading it from MYK to my Fire HD and my KTouch. Fire - same problem, KT - wouldn't open at all, kept getting an error message and told to re-download.

So, I removed the file from all my devices, deleted it from MYK and started again. This time, I sent it to the KT first. Same results. Error on the KT, fixed font on the others.

Wondering if the problem was with the document, I took a previously uploaded document that was on all the devices and working correctly, deleted it from the devices and MYK re-sent it via STK then re-downloaded it from MYK - same results.  

I removed everything again, rebooted my PC, and uninstalled and then reinstalled STK from the file I originally downloaded when I first used it.

Sent the doc again and .... same results.  

I suppose I can change the font on the original doc before I upload it and see if it arrived fixed at that, or still arrives fixed on the san serif font. Even if that does work and solves one problem, it doesn't explain why the KT can't even open the files, even after a restart.

It's not MYK - downloading previously uploaded files works.
It's not the file - old ones that worked before no longer work if I re-send them with STK
It must be STK - anything I upload causes the same problems.

I suppose the only way to rule out a problem with STK is to send it the old fashioned way via an email to Amazon, which I haven't have time to try yet.

Any other ideas, or anyone having the same problem, let me know.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hmmm. . . .

I'm sure I've used StK to send things to my PW directly with no problems.  

You might try deleting the StK program from your computer and then re-downloading and re-installing it.  And I'll do some testing here and see if I notice anything. . . .


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Curiouser and curiouser.

I sent the doc to my free kindle email address for the PW. Nothing. Nada. Never turned up, no email from Amazon. 

Sent it to the non-free one, got an email saying there was a problem with it (but very unhelpfully not actually saying what the problem was). Check, they said, if it's in a compatible format (it is - it's a .docx) and that it's not too large a file (it's not - it's 688kb).

Is there something obvious here I'm just not seeing? I think I need to sleep on this and come back to it later.... much later.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Just to check, I went and got  prc type file that I sent via StK to my PW. . . .came and opens and works as expected.  

I haven't lately tried any doc or docx files. . . . I'll do some playing when I get a chance and let you know what/if I figure out.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I managed a work-around for this problem, though I still have no idea why it isn't working as before.

Before I used StK I used to open my Word files in MobiPocket Reader - which automatically caused a .mobi file to be created - and then I would transfer that file via USB to my Kindle. So I took the Word file I was having problems with, made the .mobi version and sent it via StK and it worked. I now have adjustable fonts and the file opens and works correctly on my KT as well as the PW.

What is it that Amazon are doing when converting the .docx file that no longer works (at least for me) I don't know, but it seems I can convert it OK myself and still use StK - a much better option than transferring via USB - so I'm going to call that a win.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Huh. . . . .odd, that.  I admit the files I've been sending are prc . . .haven't tried a docx. . . . let me experiment. 



Later. . . .
O.k. I just made a file using Word 2010 and sent it via Send to Kindle to my PW.  It started out in Century Schoolbook as a docx file and showed up in a sans serif font. And I can't change it.  Acceptable for what I sent, which was basically a list of info I like to have with me, but not for something that I wanted to sit and read as I'm not a fan of sans serif fonts. 


And, a little later again. . . . .
Sent it to my no frills Kindle and it came across and used the default serif font and I can change to the condensed or sans serif.  So there's something, definitely, about how it gets formatted on the PW. . .it was the same file. . .I'd sent it to the cloud and then to the other kindle, so it's not like it got converted twice.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I think this is the same problem authors have been having with the new type of Kindle software (firmware?) - KF-8 or something like that?

If they specify a font in their HTML before uploading to Amazon, the newer Kindles are stuck with that font, so they have to specifically _not_ specify one - and I'm not sure how one would do that when uploading something like a .docx file.

Well, I'm not going to trouble too much about it, it's a little past my understanding, so I'll settle for the fix I've come up with for now. 

Thanks for your experiments, Ann!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think you're right. . . . . I do think, though, that I'll send feedback to Amazon.  Seems like StK should be designed to strip font specifications and put it in the default. 

Or, if not, I guess I'd have expected it to keep something close to what it started out; if, for instance, it stayed stuck at Baskerville or Palatino, that would have sort of made sense.

But that's not what happened:  in my case, it removed the lovely Century Schoolbook serif font, and substituted a much more condensed sans serif font.    What's that about?


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

I suspect that Amazon have "improved" the conversion routines and their "improvements" have caused this problem.

You may remember that a while ago they "improved" the conversion routines, and as a result the author field went missing to be replaced by your email address (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,81461.0.html).

I spent some time with Amazon CS, and they eventually worked out what was wrong and fixed it.

It sounds like this needs to be raised to Amazon CS as well. I don't use StK or the personal document facility at all any more, so I'm not planning to raise it... but I suppose if enough people bully me into it then I might be persuaded


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Well, Morf, I would never dream of bullying you,    but I certainly think it needs someone who can converse with the Amazon tech people in their own language to get across what the problem is. 

The trouble with us 'amateurs' speaking to CS people who are often working from a script or trained only to talk customers through specific known problems is that we can't properly explain the problem and the CS rep probably wouldn't understand it anyway!  

So, you know, if you have a half hour to spare, feel free ......


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I was confused by your reference to email address as, with the first Kindle, that was the default. . .but from the link you were addressing something that was happening when you converted via Calibre, which I never used.

I do think that all of us that use StK should provide feedback.  It seems like it's something that could be fixed.  And, for the record, I also checked the documents I was testing with on my HD7 and it, too, has a 'stuck' sans serif font rather than than using what I define.  So, I'm fairly confident it has to do with the KF8 but it makes the StK applet that much less valuable.


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

I'll try and find some time in the next few days to investigate this and once I'm clear on the problem I'll raise it with Amazon.

Nag me sometime next week if I've not posted anything!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

You're a peach.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Thanks, Morf, what a star ...


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

OK, a summary of this evening...

Firstly, having read the above I came to the conclusion that the problem isn't in StK, it's actually in Amazon's conversion routines. So I didn't use StK at all (not even installed), I did all my testing by emailing to my free.kindle.com address.

I created a number of test documents, and emailed them to my Kindle. The results were:

File 1) .docx file with a single font - Kindle document was fixed font - I think it's Helvetica.
File 2) .docx file with several font changes - Kindle document was a single fixed font.
File 3) .rtf version of 2 - just the same result.
File 4) Plain text (.txt) version of 2 - Kindle document was not a fixed font, I could change it.

Interestingly, the Kindle documents were .azw3, so, it looks like Lin and Ann are correct and this is to do with KF8. I think Amazon have changed their conversion routines to generate KF8.

----------------------------------------------
Quick sidetrack here. If you already know what KF8 is, skip this bit.

KF8 is the new document format that Amazon brought in with the Fire and are now including in all other Kindles. There's a good summary here http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000729511 - so good that I'm not going to summarise it!

.azw3 is the file extension that is _normally_ associated with KF8 files. It doesn't have to be, you can have KF8 in .mobi files, or the old format in .azw3 files, but generally it's a good indication. 
----------------------------------------------

Now, one of the key features of KF8 is that it allows embedded fonts. So, I think that the Amazon conversion routine is putting a fixed font in the document it generates.

So, I raised this in a chat with Amazon support. My question was:

"When I send a Microsoft Word document as a personal document to my Kindle Paperwhite via email, and use the convert option, the resulting document on the Kindle has a fixed font (I believe it is Helvetica) and I cannot change the font to any other font.
The font is not the font in the original word document, and font changes in the word document are ignored.
If the original document is a text file, I can select any font I want.
How do I get a Word document converted so that I can change the font on my Kindle?"

We then went through a number of questions but the final answer was:

"i have checked and can confirm that it is not possible to change the font."

I then asked:

"I know I could change the fonts in the past, but that was when I had a Kindle Keyboard. Is the change a result of a new conversion routine, or is it a difference between the Keyboard and the Paperwhite?"

The reply was:

"There is no difference between the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle paperwhite.
They are same in the personal documents.
I will forward your comments to our technical team."

I don't know how much further we want to take this one. There is an easy workround, which is to convert the document on your PC (Calibre or Mobipocket) and send the converted files. Personally, I much prefer the control that you get with a local conversion so I would do this anyway.

However, if we want to take it further, I guess the approach would be for other people to raise it with CS and ask for it to be fed back to the technical team, or maybe via kindle-feedback.

Hope this helps!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for that, Morf... I think I'll send some similar feedback. I don't mind so much that the font sticks, I just wish it were closer to the original. 

Sent from my Kindle Fire  HD via tapatalk


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Thanks for that, Morf... I think I'll send some similar feedback. I don't mind so much that the font sticks, I just wish it were closer to the original.


I agree - it's odd that the Kindle has always had Caecilia as it's default and yet these docs are arriving with a san serif font - you'd think if it were going to fix the font it would be the default one. 

Let's hope our feedback does some good down the line - it's no real issue to open the doc in Mobipocket reader first and create a .mobi file, but still, it's a shame that StK made that step unnecessary and now it's back again. 

And yes, thank you, Morf!


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

If you raise this, the key think is to emphasise that as far as you are concerned it used to work fine and now it doesn't.

The techies may have (very valid) reasons to think that what they are doing now is better (ie they're generating KF. They need to be told that from a user point of view, it is worse (ie you can't choose the font).

It does worry me that as more books start to be produced as KF8, we're not going to be able to choose our preferred font anything like as often.

Just the other day, I bought Mark Russinovich's book "Trojan Horse" when it was Daily Deal - this is clearly a KF8 book.

It's a double-edged sword, so to speak: the appearance of the book is particularly good - dropped capitals scale properly, and there are various uses of fonts in the book (emails, screen messages etc) which are handled very nicely - but the font for the body text is fixed and I can't change it.

More like a real book - yes, undoubtedly   ... but it takes away the flexibility that we're used to with Kindles.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I agree, Morf. And I further think the problem is that publishers don't quite realize yet that things have changed. Example: JKR's "not kids" book was initially released with a non changeable font in a teeny tiny size. They quickly fixed the size issue, but not the font style issue. When it was tiny, the problem was that, while you could scale it up, you had to put it on one of the largest choices for it to be 'average sized'. Which isn't going to work at all for those who _need_ the largest sizes to read!

As I understand it, it's supposed to be that you can use one of the kindle font choices OR you can use the font the publisher chose -- but you're still supposed to have the choice and, so far, I've not see one book where that option was there: Either you have the usual kindle choices OR you're stuck with what the publisher picked.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I have seen 2 books now where the publisher font option is properly done. Its nice as you first see what the publisher wants and in the case of the 2 books, it was very nicely formatted. But I could still use any of the other 6 font options on my PW. 
I wish all ebooks looked like that.


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