A quick question - Implemented

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BackwardsHazard
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Joined: Sun 31. Mar 2013, 02:41

A quick question - Implemented

Post by BackwardsHazard »

Hello, this is the first time for me posting on this forum but I'd like to ask a question.

Recently I've been using FFDL to download fanfics from various sites and I was quite content to use the 6.7 version of the downloader because at one point I had downloaded the 7.2 version and the font changed and was almost unreadable it hurt my eyes so badly. I switched back to 6.7 and I've been using it ever since. However with the newest update to 7.3 my downloader stopped rendering the layout of chapters correctly. The stories would be saved without an author or story name and would show up as "-" in my download folder. I updated the FFDL to 7.3 to see if I could fix it and it thankfully did. However I noticed that the font had changed yet again in this new update to something, while not entirely unreadable like the 7.2 version I had updated to but it is still a bit hard on the eyes.

Compare the before and after 6.7 to 7.3 font in this image

http://i.imgur.com/EXzvCve.png

You can see the differences clearly. Not only has the font changed but the spacing between sentences and paragraphs grew larger making it harder to read and enjoy, the spacing between words and letter grew as well and it's just much much harder on the eyes. The font is just too...jagged is all I can explain it as, it's just too sharp for comfortable reading.

Now My question is this. How can I change the font for saved files without having to go through and use a PDF editor to change them? Is there a file I can edit in the FFDL folder or in calibre that will allow me to change the font back to something that doesn't hurt my eyes as much? And if not would it be too much to ask you to use a different font in your updates. I've shown the before and after image to all the people I know in the fanfiction community and they all agreed that the after font isn't the best when you spend a lot of your time reading, which I read a lot and it's starting to become noticeably harder to read these new stories I've saved in this font.

So again, is there any way to change the font, if not on your end then some way to change how it saves the font on my end?

And if you do change the font on your end I could recommend something to add to the options UI. Maybe add the ability to save in a different font, to choose the font you want to save in from a drop down menu in configuration settings of FFDL? It's a nice idea so people can choose a font style that they prefer.

Other than that I'd like to thank you guy/s who made this downloader, it's made things much easier for me to download my favorite fics and read them on the go, thanks for making this thing so easy to use and thanks for just being awesome :D
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Raimond
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Re: A quick question

Post by Raimond »

Hi,

this modification wasn't done by me. Looks like the standard font type of calibre changed (I've updated the included version to improve the pdf layout).

I've started to work on including a preference to change it.
I expect a working version (at least for my tests) tomorrow evening - depending on the length of the Friday evening movie session.

I'm still not sure if I'll add a option to the existing preferences or if I change the preferences window to registers.... Suggestions?

Rai
BackwardsHazard
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Joined: Sun 31. Mar 2013, 02:41

Re: A quick question

Post by BackwardsHazard »

Raimond wrote:Hi,
I'm still not sure if I'll add a option to the existing preferences or if I change the preferences window to registers.... Suggestions?

Rai
Hmm, I'm not sure honestly. I'm not real tech savvy but I'm assuming that using registers would use fonts that are already on the computer and not built into the downloader itself, correct?

Tbh each have their advantages and disadvantages if that's the case. If it's built in it'll most likely be harder for you or whoever does the modifications for those things to code it, correct?. But that would also mean it'd be alot easier by just going through an options menu and picking what you want.

But if you're using preexisting fonts on a computer it would be more versatile and alot easier to code, but at the same time a tad bit more difficult for the user since the program would no longer be "plug and play" as it were, you'd have to go through a few more hoops to find the database of fonts that your computer uses and choose what you want from there, correct?

I personally don't mind having to go through a few hoops if it means more customizable features for something. I usually prefer quality over quantity anyway but hey, that's just me.
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Raimond
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Re: A quick question

Post by Raimond »

No, I'm talking about the layout of the configuration dialog:

http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/qtabwi ... ml#details

Rai
BackwardsHazard
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Joined: Sun 31. Mar 2013, 02:41

Re: A quick question

Post by BackwardsHazard »

Raimond wrote:No, I'm talking about the layout of the configuration dialog:

http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/qtabwi ... ml#details

Rai

Oh.... Well I'm an idiot then :| So do you just want suggestions on the design of the tab thing... Or do you want suggestions on what kind of tabs you want in the configuration menu and what should go under those tabs?

Well...as for what KIND of tabs... eh I'd say keep the "Dialogue" tab that pops up when you hit the configuration button in the MENU bar as it's own tab, then maybe add a font tab that can allow you to change font style, size and maybe even be able to change the layout of how the chapter is downloaded from that tab. I wonder if it would be hard to code to get the layout.html to open up as a text doc through a "Change layout" button from one of those tabs. It would save people time having to dig through their folders looking for the layout.html to change it and you could probably have layout presets if you really wanted to get fancy with it. Maybe even add something that would allow you to set certain parameters for how those chapters are downloaded... or something like that

But that's all basically a design and ease of use sort of thing though :/

And if I'm still completely off for what kind of suggestions you want... Well I'm sorry if I'm not getting, I'm technologically challenged :| I really need to take a course in programming or something because I hate being the only idiot in a room full of smart people...
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Raimond
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Re: A quick question

Post by Raimond »

Hi,

that's the way the file would look like with the different options:
PDF Font style
PDF Font style
pdfFont.PNG (49.03 KiB) Viewed 36048 times
What do you think? OK?

Rai
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Raimond
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Re: A quick question

Post by Raimond »

Implemented, will be published with the next version

Rai
BackwardsHazard
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Joined: Sun 31. Mar 2013, 02:41

Re: A quick question

Post by BackwardsHazard »

Raimond wrote:Implemented, will be published with the next version

Rai
O___O Dude, you are the boss sauce and that looks awesome so no worries, cant wait to see it in the Dl'er


So keep doin what you do broham, because you are doing some excellent work to help keep fanfiction nazi's from ruining fanfiction. :D
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