[David Bussell]

Hi,

I've had a hunt around the boards for a thread that covers this but I can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for. I've written my book in Word (yes, yes, I know, but it's too late to go back now!) and I'm having trouble getting an image to centre on the page after I convert it to mobi. To be clear, I'm talking about all the way centred, not just horizontally justified. This is what I'm after:



...except right now the image hovers at the top of the page. Is there a way I can change this using Word? And if there isn't, is rewriting the HTML my only recourse? And if that's the case, can someone please give me step by step instructions on how to do that?

Thanks for your time.

 

[555aaa]

I'm not sure that you can even do this in html. There are different reader devices with different screen sizes and aspect ratios, and also, in a reflowable book, there really is no page height concept.  The book is effectively repaginated every time the reader changes the font size. In a fixed layout book you can do it, but not all devices can handle fixed layout.  You can push the image down from the top simply by adding a top margin to its paragraph style (the style of the containing paragraph).

 

[mrforbes]

You can try using flex box, but I don't know if Kindle supports it.

http://philipwalton.github.io/solved-by-flexbox/demos/vertical-centering/

 

[David Bussell]

You can push the image down from the top simply by adding a top margin to its paragraph style (the style of the containing paragraph).

Thanks for the tip. Could you please explain how I go about doing this though? And how many points would I need to push it down?

 

[555aaa]

Thanks for the tip. Could you please explain how I go about doing this though? And how many points would I need to push it down?

In Word, you just make a new paragraph style with "spacing before" set to a larger than normal value. You'd have to experiment with your image and how much white space there is in the image. You can do this with the downloadable previewer, which has emulators for most Kindle devices. Don't use the online previewer.

So one other problem you might run into is with users changing to night mode or sepia mode. In night mode, the background image of your image will still be white, and if you make white transparent, you won't be able to see the image. In sepia mode, the same problem occurs where you have white on sepia. Transparency only works with gifs, and not with pngs unfortunately.

 

[David Bussell]

In Word, you just make a new paragraph style with "spacing before" set to a larger than normal value. You'd have to experiment with your image and how much white space there is in the image. You can do this with the downloadable previewer, which has emulators for most Kindle devices. Don't use the online previewer.

Thanks. I tried that and it had no effect though.

 

[Daniel Cane]

With all the different reading devices out there, I think the best you can do is add a few returns between the "new page" and the image. It all depends on the image size and the screen size.
It wouldn't be centered on most screens, but it may be closer to what you want.
If you have access to several devices, then test them out.

 

[David Bussell]

Thanks, Daniel. The only solution I've found that actually works is to create an item of text (such as a single character in white) then add lines between that and the item I want 'centred'. It's not perfect by any means (the white text won't be invisible on all settings and neither will the spacing be correct on all devices) but it's a decent enough fix without learning to program HTML.

 

[EB Mazza]

Oh man. It's so easy. Put the image on the page -> Right click on it -> Select Size and Position -> Click the position tab -> Use the horizontal and vertical alignment options to center it. BAM! 

 

[EB Mazza]

Oh, and you may have to click on the text-wrapping tab and select in front of text to get access to all of the options under the position tab. 

 

[David Bussell]

Oh man. It's so easy. Put the image on the page -> Right click on it -> Select Size and Position -> Click the position tab -> Use the horizontal and vertical alignment options to center it. BAM!

Oh that it were so simple!

Positioning was my first port of call, except all of the settings on that tab are greyed out when I try it...



Besides, I've heard this tactic won't make a difference once the file converts to mobi. Or is that wrong?

 

[David Bussell]

Oh, and you may have to click on the text-wrapping tab and select in front of text to get access to all of the options under the position tab.

I've read again and again that images need to be set to In Line With Text. Is that not true either?

 

[David Bussell]

I've read again and again that images need to be set to In Line With Text. Is that not true either?

I've since tested your theory using KDP's device emulator. As I'd been informed elsewhere, setting the image In Front of Text was not a winning solution...

 

[EB Mazza]

Ah, I didn't realize when you first posted that you also had text on the page. Where exactly are you trying to position it? Above the top asterisks?

 

[David Bussell]

Ah, I didn't realize when you first posted that you also had text on the page. Where exactly are you trying to position it? Above the top asterisks?

The text actually belongs to the following page (which is broken up with a page break). Putting the image in front of the text on the page before throws everything out of whack though.

I've heard from multiple sources that you can't use the tactic you recommend to centre text vertically on Kindle devices. Is this something you've had success with personally or are you theorising?

 

[EB Mazza]

Yea, it works fine for me, unless I'm misunderstanding what you're doing.  When there is text on the page, I use the In Line With Text Option, but it's always automatically centered. When it's just an image I do the above. What are you converting to mobi from?

 

[David Bussell]

Yea, it works fine for me, unless I'm misunderstanding what you're doing. When there is text on the page, I use the In Line With Text Option, but it's always automatically centered. When it's just an image I do the above. What are you converting to mobi from?

I'm converting from Word 2013.

No worries, I'll stick to using the method I mentioned above, it does the job okay.

 

[EB Mazza]

No, I mean, I save mine as an html and zip it up, then convert it. If you're just converting from a doc, that could be the problem. That's the only thing I can think of. Sorry I can't be more helpful. :/