CBZ2ScribeColor: Easy CBZ-to-KFX conversion for Kindle Scribe Color

[vertiman]

I recently got a Kindle Scribe Color and discovered that my large library of CBZ comics just didn’t work quite the way I wanted. In particular, I wanted reliable virtual-panel navigation, proper double-page spreads, good use of the display, and files that the Kindle consistently recognized as comics. I’m a bit OCD, and I couldn’t stand that the comics I’d sideload didn’t support virtual panels and the double-panel preview that Kindle-native comics did.

After a lot of experimenting, I (actually Codex...) built CBZ2ScribeColor: an open-source command-line tool designed to make the conversion as easy and predictable as possible.

It converts individual CBZ files—or entire folders—into well-formed KFX comics optimized for the Scribe Color. It supports:

- Kindle virtual-panel navigation (currently 4-panel, excluding margins)
- Proper facing-page handling for double-wide spreads
- Landscape double-page display (via the kindle Double Panel Preview)
- Black letterboxing while preserving the artwork’s aspect ratio
- ComicInfo metadata
- Left-to-right and right-to-left reading
- Fast batch conversion of large libraries (not super fast, but it is automated).
- Support for the full Scribe Color resolution (not limited by kindlegen’s max resolution issues).

This isn’t intended to be a highly configurable, all-purpose tool like KCC, which is awesome and remains a great choice for many devices and workflows. CBZ2ScribeColor is deliberately more focused: I wanted the ultimate easy conversion tool for creating high-quality Kindle Scribe Color KFX files without having to work through a large number of settings.

The resulting files should also work very well on the regular Kindle Scribe.

You can install it from npm:

npm install --global cbz2scribecolor
cbz2scribe "My Comic.cbz"

Or run it without installing:

npx cbz2scribecolor "My Comic.cbz"

It requires Node.js 22.5 or newer, Calibre, the Calibre KFX Output plugin, and Kindle Previewer 3. Full installation and usage instructions are available on GitHub:

https://github.com/vertiman/CBZ2ScribeColor

I’d really appreciate it if other Scribe Color or Scribe owners tried it and shared their results. Bug reports, sample edge cases, feature requests, and general feedback are all welcome.

I’m also open to enhancing it for other Kindle models or devices. If KCC already handles your device perfectly, that’s great—but if there’s a particular workflow or output that could make this tool a better solution for you, let me know what you need and how you think it should behave.