This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Reading NOOK Books on Your NOOK Tablet
If you open a NOOK Book or sideloaded EPUB file for the first time, after you select it, you are taken to the starting point that the publisher has chosen for that item. This might or might not be the first page. For example, some ebooks open on the first page of Chapter 1. Other ebooks open on the cover or title page. The publisher of the book decides which page is visible when you first open an ebook.
If you are opening a NOOK Book that you have read on the NOOK Tablet before in any of the NOOK Apps, NOOK Study™, or original NOOK, you are taken to the last location you were reading. If you open a sideloaded EPUB file you have read on the NOOK Tablet before, it opens to the last page you were on in the NOOK Tablet. In other words, non-B&N content does not sync across applications.
As you’re reading, swipe right across the page to go to the previous page or swipe left across the page to go to the next page.
Of course, there’s more to reading books than just reading, right? Figure 3.16 shows the reading screen and the Reading Tools available. To see the Reading Tools, quickly tap the reading screen.
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Figure 3.16 The reading interface.
Following are features of the Reading Tools:
- Bookmark: Tap this to add a bookmark. Chapter 6, “Using Highlights, Bookmarks, and Annotations,” covers using bookmarks in detail.
- Scroll Bar: Drag this to quickly slide through the book.
- Go to Page: Tap this to enter a specific page number to go directly to that page.
- Go Back: When you use the Go to Page option, after you have advanced to that page, you can tap Go Back to take you right back to the location where you just were—kind of like flipping back and forth between two channels on your TV remote.
- Reading Tools Bar: This bar has six buttons: Content, Find, Share, Text, Brightness, and Discover. You see each of these buttons in action in the following sections.
To exit the Reading Tools, tap anywhere on the reading screen without those tools appearing.
Finally, while reading, you can press and hold on a word. The Text Selection toolbar appears (see Figure 3.17). If you want to select more than that single word, drag the selection highlight to the end of the block of text you want to select. For the Highlight, Notes, and Look Up buttons, see Chapter 6. For the Share button, see Chapter 10. Looking up and finding words is discussed in the “Looking Up Words” section of this chapter.
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Figure 3.17 The Text Selection toolbar.
Fixing Reading Orientation
With your NOOK Tablet, you can read in either portrait or landscape mode. The NOOK Tablet switches between these two modes depending on how you hold the NOOK Tablet—flip it sideways to have it shift to landscape, or flip it upright to display in portrait mode. However, if you want to fix the mode so that even if you flip the NOOK Tablet on its side or upright it remains in the same mode, when you flip the NOOK Tablet, you see a small Lock icon when you shift it back and forth (see Figure 3.18). Tap the Lock icon to lock reading in that mode. Note that this applies to all NOOK Books. To unlock, just rotate the NOOK Tablet until you see the Unlock icon and tap that icon.
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Figure 3.18 Tap the Lock button to keep reading this book in portrait mode, even if you place the NOOK Tablet on its side.
Changing the Text Font and Text Size
Your NOOK Tablet enables you to easily change the text font and text size while reading. To change the font or the text size, tap the reading screen, and then tap Text on the Reading Tools bar (see Figure 3.19).
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Figure 3.19 Use this screen to adjust the font size among other things.
Your NOOK Tablet supports eight text sizes, represented by the A. The current text size A is colored teal. Tap the A for the size you want. You can see the text size adjust behind the text menu. Adjust the text size to whichever size you want.
The current font selected is highlighted in teal and has a small arrow to the left of the font name. To change the text font, tap the Font you want. The text adjusts to the new font behind the text menu. You have six fonts to choose from, and you can see a representation of them in the Font selection. (Scroll to see all the fonts.)
- You cannot change the text font if the publisher created the content with a specific font embedded in it.
- You cannot change the text font for PDF files. If the creator of the PDF file embedded a particular font, your NOOK Tablet uses that font. Otherwise, it uses the default font.
- Some ebooks consist of pages scanned as images, usually as PDF files. You cannot change the text font for these ebooks.
Changing the Color Theme, Line Spacing, Margins, and Brightness
Your NOOK Tablet enables you to change the color scheme, space between lines, and margins while reading. To change these, tap the reading screen, and then tap Text on the Reading Tools bar. The current theme selected is highlighted in teal and has a small arrow to the left of the theme name.
Tap the Theme box to change the color settings for the background and text. You have six options ranging from Day (black on white) to Night (white on black). Tap your choice. The reading screen changes to reflect that, so choose any you like.
The Line Spacing options are similar to using single-space or double-space. The current selection is in a teal color, and you have three options. Tap the option you want. The reading screen adjusts.
The Margin options determine the amount of white space on the right and left sides of the text. The current selection is in a teal color, and you have three options. Tap the option you want. The reading screen adjusts.
To adjust the Brightness of the screen, tap Brightness. You see the familiar scrollbar that you can tap and drag to the desired brightness.
Looking Up Words
One of the most convenient features of your NOOK Tablet is to quickly look up the definitions of words you don’t know. If you’re reading a book and encounter a word you don’t know or are curious about, press and hold on that word until the Text Selection toolbar appears. Tap Look Up. A window appears with a dictionary entry (see Figure 3.20). You can also tap Wikipedia or Google. Tapping either takes you to the browser, opens up the corresponding website, and enters that word as the search criteria. (Tap the Keep Reading link Status bar to return quickly to your book.) If you want, you can look up another word by tapping in the Edit Your Search box and editing the word and tapping Search.
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Figure 3.20 Your dictionary goes wherever your NOOK Tablet goes.
To search your ebook for a specific word or phrase, tap the Search button, and then type the text you want to search. A keyboard and text entry box appear. Type your search words and tap Search. If it finds your word, your NOOK Tablet displays the locations of that word in a scrollable window (see Figure 3.21). The scrollable window provides a bit of context. Tap the location of the word you want to go to. You are taken to that location, the word is highlighted, the scrollable window disappears, but you still see the search text box. You can tap the bottom-left button to re-display the scrollable window, or you can tap the left or right keys next to the search word to go to and highlight the next appearance of that word. Tap the X or tap the reading screen to exit search mode. If you want to search for a different word or phrase, tap in the box that contains your original search term.
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Figure 3.21 Searching your ebook is easy.
Finally, if you select a word while reading, from the Text Selection toolbar, you can tap Find. Your NOOK Tablet performs a search for that word or phrase in that ebook, displaying the results like any other search.
Reading Enhanced NOOK Books
Enhanced NOOK Books feature video and audio directly within the ebook. When shopping for these ebooks at BN.com, look for the NOOK Book enhanced™ designation. The cover of the NOOK Book also has a tag with video or audio showing.
When reading one of these enhanced NOOK Books, you will encounter the enhanced material, as shown in Figure 3.22.
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Figure 3.22 Here’s a page with enhanced content.
Tap the Play button on the content. Once you do, you’ll notice the controls as they appear here change up a bit to account for the rest of the actions you can take. Tap the Play button again to pause the video, and tap the Pause button to restart the video. Use the scrollbar to scroll to a specific location. Tap the Expand button (four arrows pointing away from each other) to make the video full screen; then you can switch between portrait and landscape mode for viewing if you want.