Reading
Everything for reading a book. Names in bold are the names on the reader's screen.
Turning pages
On a reader with buttons, use the two keys on the side: the upper one goes back, the lower one goes forward. In a book, Left goes back and Right goes forward too.
On a touch screen, tap the left of the page to go back and the right to go forward, or swipe. Tap the middle or the top to open the reading menu.
If the keys feel the wrong way round, turn on Swap the page buttons in the settings under Controls.
In lists and grids, the arrows go on to the next page when you pass the last entry. If you would rather they go round on the page you are on, turn on Arrow keys stay on the page under Controls. It is off at first. It does not change how pages turn in a book.
The reading menu
Press Select (or tap the middle of the page). A bar opens with these entries:
- Font and layout: text size, font and spacing.
- Contents: go to a chapter.
- Search: find words in this book.
- Bookmarks and highlights: your marks in this book.
- Night mode: light text on a dark page.
- Bookmark this page.
- More: Skim through the book, Go to page, Go to a percentage, Turn pages automatically, Select text and Settings.
- Home: back to the home screen.
Text size and font
Open Font and layout. You can change the Font, Font size, Font weight, Line spacing, Margins, Justify text and Hyphenate words. Choose Only this book to change them for this book alone. The same settings are in the settings under Books, Reading: font, size and weight under Text, the rest under Layout and Hyphenation.
The font size goes from 6 to 40 points and starts at 11 (on the X4 and X4 Pro at 9). Each step is one point. Very large sizes need more letters: Discover fonts, under Font size, adds fonts for them.
The font starts as Book's font, which is Literata. On the X4 and X4 Pro, bold and italic Literata come as a small add-on called Literata bold and italic; the install page and More plugins can add it. Without it, bold and italic words look regular.
The text of menus and lists is separate. Its size is Menu text size in the settings under Appearance. It starts at 8 points. A size you chose yourself stays.
Sharper or softer letters
Sharpness decides how crisp letters look: Soft, Normal or Sharp. It starts at Normal. Sharp letters are sturdier and cleaner; soft ones are lighter. You find it in the settings under Reading, Display, and you can set it for one book.
Text contrast (Lighter, Normal, Darker, Darkest) makes the letters paler or blacker.
Smooth text gives letters soft grey edges. On a black and white screen, such as the X4's, every page then flashes and turns slower, so it is off there.
Page refresh and ghosting
E-ink screens can keep a faint ghost of the last page. Full refresh flashes the screen after a number of page turns to wipe it: 6 at first, and 0 means never. It is in the settings under Reading, Display.
Bookmarks, highlights and notes
To set a bookmark, hold Select, or choose Bookmark this page in the reading menu. On a touch screen, tap the top right corner of the page. Do the same on a marked page to remove it.
To highlight, hold a word on a touch screen. On a reader with buttons choose More, Select text: Left and Right move by word and the page keys move by line. Then choose Highlight, Note, Look up, Copy or Translate.
Open Bookmarks and highlights in the reading menu to see them. Export as Markdown saves them in the folder Notes next to your library.
The quick panel
Hold Right (or, on a touch screen, swipe down from the top edge) to open the quick panel, from any screen. It holds:
- Night mode, Lock touch, the Front light and its warmth (X4 Pro), Power mode, Turn the screen, Refresh the screen, a screenshot, Sleep and Settings.
Which books it opens
PaperPaw opens EPUB, FB2, Markdown, HTML, comic archives (CBZ), plain text and XTC files. More formats can come as plugins.
The first time you open a book, PaperPaw lays it out for your screen, which takes a moment. After that it opens fast.
Not answered here? Ask us