Customize Your Reading on Kindle (2nd Generation)

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Customize Your Reading on Kindle (2nd Generation)

Content Formatting

The layout in a Kindle book is as much like the printed book as possible. Each page has a header showing the content's title and the author or issue date.

At the bottom of each page, there are battery and wireless status indicators as well as a progress bar and location numbers.

Set Text Size, Screen Rotation, and Words per Line

You can choose from multiple font sizes while reading on your Kindle. The text size of menus and other screens is fixed and cannot be modified. You can also change your screen rotation and set your preferred words per line.

To change your text formatting options:

  1. Press the Text key .
  2. Select the desired text size, words per line, or screen rotation.

Use the Progress Indicator

At the bottom of every page of your reading material, a progress indicator bar shows you how far you've read. The progress indicator also shows structural marks within content such as chapters, articles, or bookmarks.

In books, the progress indicator shows you the percentage of the book you have read and a numeric location. Locations are the digital alternative to page numbers. Changing the text size on Kindle changes the page numbering, but locations allow you to return to the same place every time regardless of the text size.

Annotations: Highlights, Bookmarks, Clippings, Notes

Bookmarks, highlights, notes, and clippings you make in a Kindle book are stored in your Kindle library on Amazon.com. Your location and annotations sync across all devices registered to your account.

To view your annotations, open a title, press the Menu button, and select My Notes & Marks.

Add Bookmarks

You can place a bookmark at any location in a book. Select My Notes & Marks from the Menu to return to any bookmarked location.

To place a bookmark:

  1. Go to the page that you want to bookmark.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Select Add a Bookmark.

Tip: You can create a bookmark by holding down the Alt key and pressing the B key, or by moving the 5- way up or down to go into cursor mode and then pressing the 5-way controller twice.

To view a bookmarked location:

  1. Press the Menu button and select My Notes & Marks.
  2. Select the desired location from the list.

To remove a bookmark:

  1. Go to the bookmarked page.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Select Delete Bookmark.

To remove several bookmarks at one time:

  1. Press the Menu button and select My Notes & Marks.
  2. Underline the bookmark you want to remove with the 5-way controller.
  3. Press the Delete key.
  4. Select Close Notes & Marks.

Highlight Passages

You can highlight text in Kindle content. To view your highlights, press the Menu button and select My Notes & Marks. The text that you highlight appears with a gray underline.

To highlight text:

  1. Use the 5-way controller to position the cursor where you want to start highlighting.
  2. Press the 5-way controller to anchor the cursor.
  3. Move the 5-way controller to select the desired text. Use Next Page or Prev Pages to highlight text across multiple pages.
  4. Press the 5-way controller at the place where you want the highlight to end.

To remove a highlight:

  1. Press the Menu button and select My Notes & Marks.
  2. Underline the bookmark you want to remove with the 5-way controller.
  3. Press the Delete key.
  4. Select Close Notes & Marks.

Amazon displays Popular Highlights by combining the highlights of all Kindle customers and identifying the passages with the most highlights. Some books don't have enough highlighting in them to have Popular Highlights. Popular highlights are marked with a gray dashed underline in your reading.

  1. Open a Kindle book.
  2. Press the Menu key and select View Popular Highlights.
  1. Press the Home button, then press the Menu button.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Select the desired option next to Popular Highlights.

You can turn off having your highlights in popular highlights by turning off Annotations Backup in Settings. Annotations Backup backs up your annotations and last page read and syncs them across devices. You can also remove highlights you made previously from Popular Highlights.

To turn off Annotations Backup:

  1. Press the Home button, then press the Menu button.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Select the desired option next to Annotations Backup.

Add Notes

Kindle allows you to add comments, make notes, and mark up passages.

To add a note:

  1. Move the cursor to where you want to place a note using the 5-way controller.
  2. Type your note.
  3. Select save note.

A superscripted number appears where you inserted your note. Notes are numbered in the order they appear in the content and update automatically if you add more.

To edit or delete a note:

  1. Select the note's number using the 5-way controller so the note appears at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Press the Return key to edit the note or the Delete key to delete the note.
  3. Use the keyboard to edit.
  4. Select save note.

Make Clippings

You can clip an entire periodical article and save it to the My Clippings file.

To clip an article:

  1. Go to the article you want to clip.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Select Clip this Article.

To view your clippings:

  1. Press the Home button to display the Home screen.
  2. Select My Clippings.

Edit the My Clippings file

All of your bookmarks, highlights, notes, and clippings are stored in the My Clippings TXT file on your Kindle. You can transfer and copy the file to share and use your clippings.

To transfer the My Clippings file and open it on your computer:

  1. Connect your Kindle to your computer using the USB cable.
  2. Use your computer's file browser to view the Documents folder on Kindle.
  3. Transfer the My Clippings file from Kindle to your computer.
  4. Open the My Clippings file on your computer using an application that can read or import a .TXT file.

You can make changes to the file and transfer it back to your Kindle. Changing your My Clippings file does not affect any notes, bookmarks, or highlights you've made in the content.

To remove the My Clippings file from your Kindle:

  1. Press the Home button to display the Home screen.
  2. Underline My Clippings on the Home screen.
  3. Move the 5-way controller to the left.
  4. Select Delete.

Kindle adds a new My Clippings file the next time you add a clipping or annotation to content.

Share via Social Media

Select "Tweet/share that you've finished this book" to let everyone know you've read it. You can enter or update a message before sharing. A link to the book is also included in your message.

If you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account associated with your Kindle, you are prompted to manage your social network registration before your message is posted.

To manage your social networks:

  1. Press the Home button, then press the Menu button.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Select the manage option next to Social Networks on the Settings page.
  4. Follow the instructions on the screen to link or unlink an account.

Note: In order to share passages from Kindle books through social media, you must set the country of residence on the device. Go to Manage Your Content and Devices, to set your country of residence.

Rate This Book

Select Rate this book. Select the number of stars you'd use to rate the book, then select save & share.

Note: You can only rate Kindle books purchased from the Kindle Store.

Book Recommendations

When you're finished reading a Kindle book, recommendations for similar books appear on the last page of the book. Recommendations are based on what other customers who bought this book also purchased.

Text-to-Speech

Your Kindle can read aloud your content, when allowed by the rights holder, using the Kindle Experimental application Text-to-Speech.

To turn on Text-to-Speech:

  1. Press the Text key .
  2. Select turn on next to the Text-to-Speech option.
  3. Press the Text key again to adjust the speaking voice and rate.

By default, content is spoken with a male voice, but you can select a female voice. You can also slow down or speed up the rate of speech as well as pause or turn off Text-to-Speech. While Text-to-Speech is playing, the screen updates to the corresponding page of text.

Text-to-Speech starts reading at the beginning of the page currently displayed. To start reading at a particular spot, move the cursor where you'd like the reading to begin before starting Text-to-Speech.

If the Text-to-Speech option is grayed and you're not able to select it, the rights holder does not allow use of Text-to-Speech for their content.

Tip: You can also play or stop Text-to-Speech by holding down the Shift key and pressing the Symbol key . You can pause and resume Text-to-Speech by pressing the space bar.

Listen to Audiobooks

To listen to an audiobook:

  1. Select an audiobook from your Home screen.
  2. Select the desired action to start, skip through, and stop playback.
  3. Progress Indicator: indicates how far you have come in the audiobook, the elapsed time, and the section you are in.
  4. Pause/Play: pauses or plays the audiobook (there is no Stop control).
  5. Forward 30 Seconds: moves ahead thirty seconds from the current location.
  6. Beginning: takes you back to the beginning of the audiobook.
  7. Previous Section: moves backwards in the audiobook to the previous section.
  8. Back 30 Seconds: moves backwards thirty seconds from the current location.
  9. Next Section: moves ahead to the next section in the audiobook, which is usually the next chapter.

    10. Tip: To pause the playing of Audible, press the space bar on the keyboard. Press the spacebar again to resume.

    Use the Built-in Dictionary

    While reading a book or periodical, you can see a brief definition of a word using the Lookup feature. The Lookup feature uses The New Oxford American Dictionary.

    To see the definition of a word:

    1. Move the 5-way controller up or down to display and place the cursor in front of the word.
    2. If the word is found in the dictionary, a definition extract appears at the bottom of the screen.
    3. To see the complete definition, press the Return key.
    4. Press the Back button to return to your reading.

    Choose your default dictionary

    You can choose the dictionary you want to use when you look up words. The default is "The New Oxford American Dictionary" included on your Kindle. You can change your dictionary by purchasing a supported dictionary from the Kindle Store.

    To change your default dictionary after you’ve completed your purchase:

    1. Press the Home button.
    2. Press the Menu button.
    3. Select Settings.
    4. Press the Menu button.
    5. Select Change Primary Dictionary.
    6. Select the dictionary you want to use.

    Zoom on Images and PDF Documents

    You can zoom in on sections of a PDF document or to see a larger size of a picture or image.

    To zoom on an image in a book, magazine or newspaper:

    1. Position the cursor over the picture using the 5-way controller. A magnifying glass icon appears.
    2. Press the 5-way to zoom the image.
    3. Press the 5-way to return to your content.

    When Kindle increases the image size, your view may change from portrait or landscape if necessary.

    To zoom on a PDF document:

    1. Press the Text key .
    2. Select the zoom percentage from the available options.
    3. Select the section you'd like to view.

    Scroll bars at the edges of the page indicate what section you're viewing. Use the 5-way controller to move across the page and view different sections. To return to the previous view, press the Text key and select fit-to-screen.