AZW3 Manga to KEPUB

[RZetlin]

I have made several attempts to convert a kindle manga to kepub for my Kobo Aura One with limited success.

The constant problem I keep running into after the kepub conversion are:

• Smaller image size (The panel should fill the entire screen).
• Header and Footer keeps showing up on each page.

So what I need is:

• Comic panel should fill up the entire screen.
• The removal of the header and footer.

I have attached screenshots of what Kindle and Kobo conversions.

I would appreciate any help to solve my issue.

[davidfor]

Sorry, the things you are having problems with are inherent in the kepub format. The header and footers are part of the design of the kepub renderer on the device. Hence the space for the page is smaller and the image is smaller.

But, there is a unsupported fullscreen mode. Add the following lines to the "Kobo eReader.conf" file:

[FeatureSettings]
FullScreenReading=true

There are problems with this mode, but I don't know how they will affect an image only kepub.

Is there any reason not to use CBR or CBZ? The Kobo devices support both formats including zoom on and rotate on the images.

[RZetlin]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Sorry, the things you are having problems with are inherent in the kepub format. The header and footers are part of the design of the kepub renderer on the device. Hence the space for the page is smaller and the image is smaller.

But, there is a unsupported fullscreen mode. Add the following lines to the "Kobo eReader.conf" file:

[FeatureSettings]
FullScreenReading=true

There are problems with this mode, but I don't know how they will affect an image only kepub.

Is there any reason not to use CBR or CBZ? The Kobo devices support both formats including zoom on and rotate on the images.

Kepub offers better organization on the ereader. I like the use of its metadata.

The FullScreenReading setting does not work. I still get the header and footer.

I was able to figure out how to get full screen mode in this two step process.

I don't know if there is an easier way.

Step 1: Covert the AZW3 to zip or PDF

Convert AZW3 to ZIP (all images will be extracted)

1. In Calibre, choose Convert Books > Convert Individually option.
2. Choose the output file as ZIP.
3. Convert to ZIP.
4. Unzip the ZIP file.
5. Go to ZIP file folder > nyyekl_files
6. Copy the cover.jpeg.
7. Go to go nyyekl_files > images
8. Copy the cover jpeg image.
9. Rename the cover.jpeg to 0000.jpeg

or

Convert AZW3 to PDF

1. In Calibre, Convert Books > Convert Individually option.
2. Choose the output file as PDF.
3. PDF output:
   • Check use the paper size as output file (make sure paper size is letter).
   • All page margins (left, right, top and bottom) is set to zero.
   • Convert to PDF.

Step 2: Use Kindle Comic Converter

1. Download and install Kindle Comic Converter (https://kcc.iosphe.re/).
2. Open Kindle Comic Converter.
3. Choose manga mode.
4. Choose colour mode as optional.
5. Choose ereader (Aura One).
6. For zip conversion, choose add directory and point to the directory where the images are.
7. For pdf conversion, choose add file and point to the directory where the PDF is.
8. Choose convert.

[salamanderjuice]

Use kindleunpack. Make sure you set it to ePub3. Then send over the ePub3 as a kepub with KoboTouchExtended. There is even a kindleunpack calibre plugin. But it must be set to ePub3! Otherwise you run into the same problems you had before.

This is the absolute easiest way I found. Metadata is intact and table of contents still work.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Sorry, the things you are having problems with are inherent in the kepub format. The header and footers are part of the design of the kepub renderer on the device. Hence the space for the page is smaller and the image is smaller.

But, there is a unsupported fullscreen mode. Add the following lines to the "Kobo eReader.conf" file:

[FeatureSettings]
FullScreenReading=true

There are problems with this mode, but I don't know how they will affect an image only kepub.

Is there any reason not to use CBR or CBZ? The Kobo devices support both formats including zoom on and rotate on the images.

The CBR and CBZ modes don't support right to left page flipping I don't think(or I could never find a way). You have to flip a manga backwards. It's a little weird and annoying especially if you have ones from the store that flip properly.

The header and footer on the kepub come from the converted epub being version 2 with no support for fixed layouts. The kepub renderer can do full screen images with a properly created epub3. Any graphic novel from the kobo store that works on ereaders will properly fill the screen. Also AZW3 manga unpacked to epub3 will also work properly.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Kepub offers better organization on the ereader. I like the use of its metadata.

How? I can't think of a single difference between how sideloaded epubs and kepubs are handled on the devices. Same goes for metadata.

The FullScreenReading setting does not work. I still get the header and footer.

Sorry, I forgot to mention going into the reading settings and choosing the option to hide the header and footer.

I was able to figure out how to get full screen mode in this two step process.

Yes, KCC is an alternative. I'm not a fan of it as I don't like the code it produces. Or at least didn't like it the last time I looked. I doubt you will do better than those steps as you need to have the comic in a format that it can read.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

The CBR and CBZ modes don't support right to left page flipping I don't think(or I could never find a way). You have to flip a manga backwards. It's a little weird and annoying especially if you have ones from the store that flip properly.

You can set the direction with a small change in the database. The table "content" has a row for each book. If you set the value of the column "PageProgressDirection" to "rtl", it will page as you want. From memory, This will get set for epubs and kepubs based on the direction set in the OPF. I'll look at adding an option in my Kobo Utilities plugin to set it.

The header and footer on the kepub come from the converted epub being version 2 with no support for fixed layouts. The kepub renderer can do full screen images with a properly created epub3. Any graphic novel from the kobo store that works on ereaders will properly fill the screen. Also AZW3 manga unpacked to epub3 will also work properly.

Can you point to something in the Kobo store? I'd like to look at what they do. A free book would be best, but I should be able to get it from the sample.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You can set the direction with a small change in the database. The table "content" has a row for each book. If you set the value of the column "PageProgressDirection" to "rtl", it will page as you want. From memory, This will get set for epubs and kepubs based on the direction set in the OPF. I'll look at adding an option in my Kobo Utilities plugin to set it.


Can you point to something in the Kobo store? I'd like to look at what they do. A free book would be best, but I should be able to get it from the sample.

Here's a free example. Basically any graphic novel/manga works the same way.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by davidfor

How? I can't think of a single difference between how sideloaded epubs and kepubs are handled on the devices. Same goes for metadata.

Sorry, I forgot to mention going into the reading settings and choosing the option to hide the header and footer.


Yes, KCC is an alternative. I'm not a fan of it as I don't like the code it produces. Or at least didn't like it the last time I looked. I doubt you will do better than those steps as you need to have the comic in a format that it can read.

Well the different renderer makes some pretty huge differences...

Metadata wise I don't think there's a huge difference. Does KoboTouchExtended make changes to the cover image? I find sideloaded ePubs will often have too small a cover.

But sideloaded ePubs are also garbage at comic books/manga. I don't think Kobo's ePub renderer can handle RTL page flips AT ALL. Regardless of what the file says. I have purchased ePubs from Google Play Japan that work perfectly in ADE 4.5, and in the kepub renderer that don't work properly in the epub renderer. You also end up with margins on the image too, even if the file is correctly made.

This is why my mentioned method using Kindleunpack to get an ePub3 needs it to be transferred as a kepub.

[AcidWeb]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Yes, KCC is an alternative. I'm not a fan of it as I don't like the code it produces. Or at least didn't like it the last time I looked.

Could you elaborate? I'm not hiding that EPUB generator was fine-tuned as input provider for KindleGen but AFAIK it still work correctly on Kobo.

I don't have Kobo myself so I'm open to suggestions.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Well the different renderer makes some pretty huge differences...

Yes, the renderer is different. But, you used the word "organisation". That implied to me you saw there was a difference in how kepubs were managed on the device.

Metadata wise I don't think there's a huge difference.

Well there is zero difference that I know of. I'm happy to be told that I'm wrong.

Does KoboTouchExtended make changes to the cover image? I find sideloaded ePubs will often have too small a cover.

No the extended driver doesn't make any changes in the cover. If epub covers are to small, it is related to how the covers are produces on the device, but it is largely the fault of the person producing the epub. For a kepub, the cover image is marked in the OPF and the device extracts that and sizes it appropriately. For epubs, the first page of the book is rendered and that becomes the cover image. If the cover image is properly displayed on that, there shouldn't be any real difference between the two versions.

The drivers can send the covers separately so that the device doesn't generate them. In this case, the covers will be identical as they use exactly the same code.

But sideloaded ePubs are also garbage at comic books/manga. I don't think Kobo's ePub renderer can handle RTL page flips AT ALL. Regardless of what the file says. I have purchased ePubs from Google Play Japan that work perfectly in ADE 4.5, and in the kepub renderer that don't work properly in the epub renderer. You also end up with margins on the image too, even if the file is correctly made.

This is why my mentioned method using Kindleunpack to get an ePub3 needs it to be transferred as a kepub.

I'm not sure about RTL and the epub renderer. I thought it did do this, but my quick test last night didn't work. I'll have to find the test book I've used in the past.

For the margins, I can easily produce an epub full of images with no side margins. But, I wouldn't. To do this, I would either have to only use images that were exactly the same size as the display area used for the book, or I would have to let it resize automatically to fill the area. And that would mean the image was distorted. If I assumed the epub was going to be read in full screen mode, it would be easier as it just means I would needed images of the correct aspect ratio.

You are probably right that the kepub render handles manga better than the epub renderer. I'll have a look at the sample you pointed to when I have a chance. I'll be interested in the difference. But, personally, the few times I have looked at comics on my devices, I have found the CBR/CBZ formats more than adequate.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by AcidWeb

Could you elaborate? I'm not hiding that EPUB generator was fine-tuned as input provider for KindleGen but AFAIK it still work correctly on Kobo.

I don't have Kobo myself so I'm open to suggestions.

It's been a while since I looked at KCC. I remember looking at the code generated and thinking it was weird and couldn't work out why you chose to do it that way. I'll have to look at it again

The other issue I had was that there was no way to produce non-resized output. As I have multiple Kobo devices with different size and resolutions, I didn't want to have to produce a version for each device. One version that didn't resize the images but let the device handle it, was what I would want. Sure, the image processor that KCC uses will probably do a better job than the Kobo, but, I would like to have the choice.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Yes, the renderer is different. But, you used the word "organisation". That implied to me you saw there was a difference in how kepubs were managed on the device.

Well there is zero difference that I know of. I'm happy to be told that I'm wrong.

No the extended driver doesn't make any changes in the cover. If epub covers are to small, it is related to how the covers are produces on the device, but it is largely the fault of the person producing the epub. For a kepub, the cover image is marked in the OPF and the device extracts that and sizes it appropriately. For epubs, the first page of the book is rendered and that becomes the cover image. If the cover image is properly displayed on that, there shouldn't be any real difference between the two versions.

The drivers can send the covers separately so that the device doesn't generate them. In this case, the covers will be identical as they use exactly the same code.


I'm not sure about RTL and the epub renderer. I thought it did do this, but my quick test last night didn't work. I'll have to find the test book I've used in the past.

For the margins, I can easily produce an epub full of images with no side margins. But, I wouldn't. To do this, I would either have to only use images that were exactly the same size as the display area used for the book, or I would have to let it resize automatically to fill the area. And that would mean the image was distorted. If I assumed the epub was going to be read in full screen mode, it would be easier as it just means I would needed images of the correct aspect ratio.

You are probably right that the kepub render handles manga better than the epub renderer. I'll have a look at the sample you pointed to when I have a chance. I'll be interested in the difference. But, personally, the few times I have looked at comics on my devices, I have found the CBR/CBZ formats more than adequate.

I didn't use term organization. OP did. The whole cover thing kinda suggests a difference though...and I've stumbled on to quite a few. My O'reilly ePub's have that issue for instance.

I just manually changed a book to rtl in the database as you described above. It changes the flipping direction in a non-kepub. But I don't think it'll pick it up on it's own or it requires a different method from kepubs and what works in ADE 4.5. That's probably another difference in handling.

With fixed layouts and what epub comics do you don't need to be in full screen mode or have it enabled, nor to do you need to do anything to the image file itself to ensure the correct aspect ratio. It basically just creates a viewport the size of the image and then places it there. Sometimes they will shift it left or right depending on if it's a left or right hand page. It's pretty simple HTML-wise.

CBZ/CBR is okay, but there is no metadata,no TOC. There is no way to easily do RTL. And it's annoying to extract the image folder from a AZW3 and fiddle with it.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

I didn't use term organization. OP did.

Sorry, getting the posts mixed up.

The whole cover thing kinda suggests a difference though...and I've stumbled on to quite a few. My O'reilly ePub's have that issue for instance.

If they do what I think they do, they put a smallish cover image on the first page at a fixed size. It doesn't stretch to fill the page. The device renders that and you get a small image surrounded by white. If you convert to kepub, the device will extract that image and display it at the sizes needed. Yes, the covers are handled differently, but, if the book is put together properly, it won't be noticeable.

I just manually changed a book to rtl in the database as you described above. It changes the flipping direction in a non-kepub. But I don't think it'll pick it up on it's own or it requires a different method from kepubs and what works in ADE 4.5. That's probably another difference in handling.

No, I don't think the reading direction is pulled from the OPF for epubs. It might need a later version of the RMSDK, or it could be a bug they haven't fixed. Reporting it might get some action.

The reading direction can also be specified for parts of the book. I'm pretty sure I have a test book where different chapters page in different directions. I don't remember which this worked for.

With fixed layouts and what epub comics do you don't need to be in full screen mode or have it enabled, nor to do you need to do anything to the image file itself to ensure the correct aspect ratio. It basically just creates a viewport the size of the image and then places it there. Sometimes they will shift it left or right depending on if it's a left or right hand page. It's pretty simple HTML-wise.

And that will work for an epub. Wrap the image in the right SVG code and it can fill the screen as much as possible depending on the aspect ratio and the area taken by the controls. What you can't do with epub is to get rid of the footer. Hence if you display an image with the same aspect ratio as the screen, you will get margins on the side. I'm not saying that kepub doesn't do it better, but, your original comments about epubs and images didn't fit with my experience.

CBZ/CBR is okay, but there is no metadata,no TOC. There is no way to easily do RTL. And it's annoying to extract the image folder from a AZW3 and fiddle with it.

Those are good reasons and kepubs probably the simplest way to achieve them.

But...

Populating the metadata can be done via my Kobo Utilities. I'll probably add the direction as well as soon as I have time and work out the best method.

There is a ToC for CBR/CBZ on the device but it defaults to just "Page x". Fixing that would be "easy". The hardest part would be getting the actual ToC entries from somewhere.

[AcidWeb]

@davidfor - I understand your point of view. KCC is definitely not very convenient tool if you have multiple devices.

Issues you describing are caused by different approach used by KCC. You say that you want to let e-reader handle images and KCC was designed to do something exactly opposite.

For long time letting Kindle mess with images was best way to just annihilate any scraps of quality. Even now some official manga releases have quality problems because they are created to support multiple devices.

And if we talking about EPUB code itself. It is single template that support Kindle, Kobo and other EPUB e-readers at once. It might not be very clean, it have some workarounds but it is fully valid EPUB 3.0.1 and most importantly - it works :-)

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.