MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - To CBZ, or not to CBZ: that is the question

tomsem · 01-02-2024, 10:41 PM

I recently got the Pocketbook InkPad Color 3. Naturally I would like to read color content on it.

Most of my comics/graphics novels were purchased from Amazon. Except for those in Print Replica format, I have added these to my calibre library, and they are ready to convert (some have been converted to ePub3).

The PIC3 supports AZW3 in some fashion, but also ePub3, PDF, and CBZ/CBR. For maximum portability I prefer the latter 3.

My experience with CBZ up to this point has been very limited. Calibre does not offer a direct conversion to it (is there no demand for a plugin for this?). None of my present content is in that format.

So the question is 'what are the merits of it' vs ePub or PDF? Is it worth taking the time to do so?

My conversion workflow currently is:

Run Kindle Unpack plugin to produce a folder of images
Use Finder Compress to generate a ZIP of the images
Open that with ComicTagger to add metadata and save to CBZ file
Add CBZ to calibre and merge with the original AZW3/ePub record.

One thing that is missing from CBZ is ability to navigate directly to Issues within a CB collection. I assume Pocketbook does not support CBC (collection) format or they would mention it, but I guess I can try that to make sure.

I have yet to see an AZW3 comic collection that has a ToC, so said navigation would need to be added manually as well: you need to preview the content from start to finish to determine where the issue boundaries are.

In this regard, PDF seems preferred as it is easy to add page links and bookmarks relative to ePub with any PDF editing tool. Can you save PDF content for right to left language (and page order), e.g. for manga? (I tried creating one with 'Right binding', but it didn't behave as I would expect.)

I have tried all 3 formats on my PIC3. It's not yet clear any is superior to any other.

In closing, is there any good reason to prefer CBZ to ePub or PDF? Especially given the need to manually convert to it, and add it to calibre.

01-02-2024, 10:41 PM	#1
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,515 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	To CBZ, or not to CBZ: that is the question I recently got the Pocketbook InkPad Color 3. Naturally I would like to read color content on it. Most of my comics/graphics novels were purchased from Amazon. Except for those in Print Replica format, I have added these to my calibre library, and they are ready to convert (some have been converted to ePub3). The PIC3 supports AZW3 in some fashion, but also ePub3, PDF, and CBZ/CBR. For maximum portability I prefer the latter 3. My experience with CBZ up to this point has been very limited. Calibre does not offer a direct conversion to it (is there no demand for a plugin for this?). None of my present content is in that format. So the question is 'what are the merits of it' vs ePub or PDF? Is it worth taking the time to do so? My conversion workflow currently is: Run Kindle Unpack plugin to produce a folder of images Use Finder Compress to generate a ZIP of the images Open that with ComicTagger to add metadata and save to CBZ file Add CBZ to calibre and merge with the original AZW3/ePub record. One thing that is missing from CBZ is ability to navigate directly to Issues within a CB collection. I assume Pocketbook does not support CBC (collection) format or they would mention it, but I guess I can try that to make sure. I have yet to see an AZW3 comic collection that has a ToC, so said navigation would need to be added manually as well: you need to preview the content from start to finish to determine where the issue boundaries are. In this regard, PDF seems preferred as it is easy to add page links and bookmarks relative to ePub with any PDF editing tool. Can you save PDF content for right to left language (and page order), e.g. for manga? (I tried creating one with 'Right binding', but it didn't behave as I would expect.) I have tried all 3 formats on my PIC3. It's not yet clear any is superior to any other. In closing, is there any good reason to prefer CBZ to ePub or PDF? Especially given the need to manually convert to it, and add it to calibre. Last edited by tomsem; 01-02-2024 at 10:54 PM.