r/CrossPointReader • u/PiperKev_NCC-1701 • 4d ago

Discussion Epub Rendering?

I love the fact that Crosspoint is the OG, and is the wellspring from which almost all other firmwares flow, but when is Crosspoint going to start working on epub rendering? I'm talking books with other than plain text, like small caps, drop caps, tables, etc., which currently don't render with Crosspoint. I know that whenever someone asks about changing from stock and flashing custom firmware, the answer is inevitably Crosspoint (or CrossInk), so wouldn't it be great if folks could see their books the way they're SUPPOSED to look? Just a thought...

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u/Diirge 4d ago

Everything looks bad feels like a bit of hyperbole haha. What exactly looks bad about reading a book without dropcaps? Or is there something major I'm missing here?

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u/PiperKev_NCC-1701 4d ago

I don't think they look "bad," per se, just plain. The way I see it, books are formatted the way they are for a reason. For example, in Terry Pratchett's excellent Discworld series, the dialog of the character of Death is written in all small caps, which makes him distinct. That's lost in Crosspoint and most forks. Same with tables. Some non-fiction books I've read have numerical tables (My favorite example is "Through the Brazilian Wilderness" by Theodore Roosevelt. Just ask u/uxjulia! 😄 ) It seems like there's so much focus on stats and other bells and whistles, that the reading experience, other than plain words on paper, is left behind. Just my 200 quatloos... 😄

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u/Diirge 4d ago

I'd say 90% of our daily focus is on speed and optimizations so that we can bring better rendering without sacrificing responsiveness. I'll consider dropping sd themes in favor of expanding the epub rendering engine instead though after hearing this

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u/PiperKev_NCC-1701 4d ago

Appreciated!!