Which format is best for Comics

TheSmitty · 04-08-2025, 08:44 AM

So KOReader has a panel view ability much like the Kindle has. In using Calibre, I simply had converted those comics to epub which are now what is on my Kobo (they might be converted to kepub). Anyway, in looking at the documentation for KOReader it says the panel view is for PDF, DJVU, CBZ or CBT. Before I go and create a new format within Calibre for my comics I was curious if there is one format that works best?

mergen3107 · 04-08-2025, 04:37 PM

CBZ
Also see https://koreader.rocks/user_guide/#L1-manga

TheSmitty · 04-08-2025, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mergen3107

CBZ
Also see https://koreader.rocks/user_guide/#L1-manga

Yes, that is where I got the list of possible formats and was curious which of those was best. I have my comics from my kindle in Calibre but they are epub. Unfortunately there is not a conversion option for CBZ in calibre. I tried PDF but it would either crash KOReader or just simply not work.

ps67 · 04-08-2025, 05:10 PM

I am using calibre 8.2.1 and there is the possibility of converting books in CBZ. I have just done it for a comic book.

Frenzie · 04-08-2025, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSmitty

So KOReader has a panel view ability much like the Kindle has.

I'm not sure if that's true. Or at least on Izneo I know it's done by humans, regardless if it's done partially by machines. A simple matter of a machine not being able to figure out the correct order.

Unless Kindle only has panel-autodetect the same way KOReader has.

pazos · 04-08-2025, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frenzie

Unless Kindle only has panel-autodetect the same way KOReader has.

Nah. They use a spec called "guided view" which is a sorted list of viewports per image, where authors specify how images are sorted, how many views for image and the region of the image to show on the viewport.

See https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/to...MRD9F78MS9F43R

pazos · 04-08-2025, 10:05 PM

Maybe some day somebody releases a "GuidedComicBook" spec, which is just a container with images and a text file listing views per image.

I'm not sure how difficult will be to support something like that in KO but it should be trivial to do it with a webview on regular OSes.

With the plus it fallbacks to regular cbz/cbt/cbr if the text file isn't found.

The hardest part would be to convince people to use the new format, as always: https://xkcd.com/927/

Frenzie · 04-09-2025, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pazos

Nah. They use a spec called "guided view" which is a sorted list of viewports per image, where authors specify how images are sorted, how many views for image and the region of the image to show on the viewport.

See https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/to...MRD9F78MS9F43R

Yes, that's what I'd have expected.

There's a ticket about it here btw: https://github.com/koreader/koreader/discussions/10442

TheSmitty · 04-09-2025, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ps67

I am using calibre 8.2.1 and there is the possibility of converting books in CBZ. I have just done it for a comic book.

Unless I am missing it, I suspect I was not clear and you may have misunderstood what I am wanting. I have a EPUB and I want to convert it to a CBZ. In the output format dropdown there is not an option for CBZ. I have looked to see if there is a plug-in to create a CBZ but did not see one.

vishae · 04-09-2025, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSmitty

Unless I am missing it, I suspect I was not clear and you may have misunderstood what I am wanting. I have a EPUB and I want to convert it to a CBZ. In the output format dropdown there is not an option for CBZ. I have looked to see if there is a plug-in to create a CBZ but did not see one.

Yep, there is a plugin for converting to CBZ: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=352045

The resulting CBZ file works great for Calibre and Calibre-Web. It can be hit or miss for Kindle running KOReader (or at least I found it so for manga that uses strange page sizes).

Frenzie · 04-14-2025, 04:02 AM

You might not even need to convert anything depending on what's in the source file. EPUB is a zip file, as is CBZ, so simply renaming it from .epub to .cbz might just work if the image filenames are in the correct order.

(But a "real" conversion is safer, for EPUB the order's defined in metadata.)

04-08-2025, 08:44 AM	#1
TheSmitty Addict Posts: 317 Karma: 1181422 Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: DFW, TX area Device: Kindle Colorsoft, Libra Colour, Voyage, iPad Pro 11, iPad Mini 7	Which format is best for Comics So KOReader has a panel view ability much like the Kindle has. In using Calibre, I simply had converted those comics to epub which are now what is on my Kobo (they might be converted to kepub). Anyway, in looking at the documentation for KOReader it says the panel view is for PDF, DJVU, CBZ or CBT. Before I go and create a new format within Calibre for my comics I was curious if there is one format that works best?

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04-08-2025, 04:37 PM	#2
mergen3107 Wizard Posts: 1,506 Karma: 5000046 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Cape Canaveral Device: Kindle Scribe	CBZ Also see https://koreader.rocks/user_guide/#L1-manga

04-08-2025, 05:10 PM	#4
ps67 Guru Posts: 755 Karma: 7025494 Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Italy Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Elipsa, Pocketbook Inkpad 4, Inkpad Color	I am using calibre 8.2.1 and there is the possibility of converting books in CBZ. I have just done it for a comic book.

04-08-2025, 10:05 PM	#7
pazos cosiñeiro Posts: 1,406 Karma: 2451781 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: BQ Cervantes 4	Maybe some day somebody releases a "GuidedComicBook" spec, which is just a container with images and a text file listing views per image. I'm not sure how difficult will be to support something like that in KO but it should be trivial to do it with a webview on regular OSes. With the plus it fallbacks to regular cbz/cbt/cbr if the text file isn't found. The hardest part would be to convince people to use the new format, as always: https://xkcd.com/927/

04-14-2025, 04:02 AM	#11
Frenzie Wizard Posts: 1,751 Karma: 730681 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Antwerp Device: Kobo Aura H2O	You might not even need to convert anything depending on what's in the source file. EPUB is a zip file, as is CBZ, so simply renaming it from .epub to .cbz might just work if the image filenames are in the correct order. (But a "real" conversion is safer, for EPUB the order's defined in metadata.)

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