[File Type Plugin] Zip to cbz

[Saumee]

Simple plugin that will convert all ZIP / RAR format books in the active library to CBZ /CBR automatically each time a book is added / imported / converted.

A word of introdution:
I made this plugin because I was annoyed at the very low resolution of comics / manga that were converted (from kindle / AZW) to EPUB through calibre. Whenever I zoomed on an image, the text was unclear and on my Kobo Clara HD I couldn't even zoom on it because it seems to only allow zooming on CBZ / CBR files. Calibre already had an output profile for ZIP, but not CBZ, and there didn't seem to be any utility to quickly switch the extension before sending to a device. As such I did a quick plugin to make the process of converting comics / manga and sending them on devices smoother.

TDLR:
Convert all your non-cbz and non-cbr comics / manga to ZIP through calibre. This plugin will copy it and rename the extension to CBZ / CBR. You can then export these to your CBZ / CBR compatible e-readers / tablets / phones to read them and be able to get a nicer resolution when zooming in.

How-to:
Simply convert your comics / manga to ZIP output through calibre.
After it is installed, each time a book is added or converted in your active library, this plugin will parse all books in your active library (THE WHOLE LIBRARY) and check for all books that have either a ZIP or RAR format. If such books are found and there is no corresponding CBZ or CBR file, it will create it.

IMPORTANT:

• THERE IS NO UI FOR THE PLUGIN. YOU CAN'T FORCE IT TO RUN MANUALLY, YOU HAVE TO ADD OR CONVERT A BOOK.
• TO CONVERT AMAZON / KOBO COMICS / MANGA TO ZIP YOU WILL NEED THE APROPRIATE KFX INPUT / OBOK PLUGIN / WHATEVER PLUGIN YOU USE TO REMOVE DRM.
• For some reason, the formats are not added immediatly in the UI in calibre, to see them show up you will need to reboot calibre. The CBZ / CBR file is there immediatly, however, and you can see it if you right-click a book with a ZIP format and click "Open containing folder".

More technicalities:

• The first time this plugin runs, it could take a while for your jobs to complete (if you have a lot of ZIPs / RARs).
• This plugin performs no destructive action, as such, ZIPs (or RARs) are not deleted after being copied and renamed, if you want to delete them afterward, simply CTRL+A in the library and hit "Remove Books" -> "Remove files of a specific format from selected books" and select ZIP / RAR.
• If a book already has CBZ and / or CBR, it will do nothing. The long process will only be on your first run if you have a lot of ZIPs / RARs with no matching CBZ / CBR version.
• Only the current library is processed, if you want to process books from a different library, you will need to switch to it.

Installation:
1. Download the attached zip, but don't extract.
2. In calibre, select Preferences -> Plugins -> Load plugin from file.
3. No configuration is required.
4. To disable the plugin simply toggle it through calibre (Preferences -> Plugins -> Enable/disable plugin).

Uninstall:
1. Go to Preferences -> Plugins.
2. Type "Zip-" in the search bar without the quotes then hit Enter.
3. Click "Remove plugin".

[kovidgoyal]

Set your output profile to tablet in the conversion dialog and calibre will not resize images when converting.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Saumee

I made this plugin because I was annoyed at the very low resolution of comics / manga that were converted (from kindle / AZW) to EPUB through calibre. Whenever I zoomed on an image, the text was unclear and on my Kobo Clara HD I couldn't even zoom on it because it seems to only allow zooming on CBZ / CBR files.

To zoom on images in an epub on a Kobo, you need to use kepub rather than epup (kepub uses the ACCESS NetFront renderer while epub uses the Adobe RMSDK). You can either use the KoboTouchExtended driver to convert epub to kepub when you send an epub to your Kobo or you can use geek1011's kepubify utility to batch convert before sending. You can do a simple test by renaming your test file from test.epub to test.kepub.epub but there are other changes that the KTE driver or kepubify will take care of.

My daughter will be giving your plugin a try as it looks like fewer steps than her current setup using KindleComicConverter (she's the manga reader in the family).