Jetbook Color and Comics

Hi,

I just picked up a Jetbook Color and am starting to wonder if it is going to do what I was hoping for. I wanted to read epubs, and that is fine, but I also very much wanted to be able to read my digital comics. I don't see cbr or cbz as a native format so I've tried using Calibre to convert the comics to epub, and the images display but are not sized to fit the screen. Even at the 50% zoom they are too big.

Can anyone help with settings for Calibre - or suggestions on how best to view comics?

Thanks,

Shawn

MobileRead Forums has an active forum that supports Calibre and you will often
see replies from the program's author. I would expect that there, you would be
most likely to find the most lively discussion on the type of conversion you mention.

They also have a forum for Ectaco jetBooks where a couple of jetBook Color (JBC)
users have commented that they enjoy reading color comics on their JBC. They
may be a good source for tips & tricks.

Luck;
Ken

Thanks Ken, I'll try asking over there. I think I've got it working fairly well now, but it could be better. Using Calibre to convert the CBZ or CBR files to PDF seems to be the answer.

I can understand why there might be some resistance, in the academic community, for adding a
comic reading function to a device they acquired as a dedicated "Educational Reader". So, it
would not have been a priority with the initial programming/development team.

I don't know if the JBC has sufficient CPU power to run an implementation of the current 10.2
version of Adobe Reader Mobile, but there is a great Android app available. I do know that
the device is capable of at least some SVG graphic support, but I understand that it has not
been implemented in the firmware yet. If/when it is implemented, that might the best way
to make comics display well on all devices.

Luck;
Ken

For others that may be looking for the same info: I'm using Calibre to convert from cbr/cbz to PDF - with settings for Pocketbook Pro 900. Seems to give me the best result so far. Then copy the PDF to the folder of your choice on My Books on the Jetbook Color.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 05/21/2012 22:07:49

There are 2 or 3 ways to read comic books on the Jetbook.
As you may know it does not support the CBZ/CBR format (yet), but it has all the ingredients necessary to be able to read it present in the firmware.
CBZ at least, is a simple zipped archive of some images (most of the time JPeGs,but for black and white anime they could be GIF or TIFF too).

Method 1: CB to viewer
Unpack the archive directly to the Jetbook or Jetbook's microSD card in a folder within the 'My Books' section.
Read the book by opening each picture individually.
With a firmware update the slideshow function will work (on the April update it still does not work), or hope that in the future the device will allow to skip to next pictures with the buttons on the bottom

Method 2: CB to PDF
Install PDF creator on your computer, organize the pictures, and give them filenames like:
Thor - 01.jpg
Thor - 02.jpg
Thor - 03.jpg
...

or:
10.jpg
11.jpg
12.jpg
...
in order of file name they will be sorted

Print these pictures in windows, and select 'PDF creator' as printer.
select printing preferences, 'rotated landscape' (I know you'll be printing portrait), ok, advanced, and select for paper size the paper size of the original pictures (eg: 800x600, or 1024x768.). If the right paper size is not amongst them, you can set a custom size. (postscript custom size, select point, in width and height type in the pixel values.
I do have to say I have best results by choosing one of the standard paper sizes, instead of custom paper size, as custom paper size always adds a border.
Test it with one or two pages first to save you some time.
Play around with some values and resolutions.
Usually you get best results by using the original resolution.
Sometimes you can reduce the resolution of a scanned text book with large letter types, to save on size.
Increasing resolution to beyond the resolution of the scanned documents or image sizes, will not magically make them look better. they will only increase filesize, and at worst make the image blurry and less sharp.

Method 3: CB to Epub
Simply unpack the pictures from the comic book,
install epubpack,
and follow some tutorials on how to use epubpack to create an epub file. (I don't know this well enough).

Using Calibre to convert your comics from cbz / cbr format to PDF will simplify the process. Load the comic of your choice into Calibre, select PDF as output format, choose Pocketbook Pro 902 for page layout (this is the best I've found so far but you can play around with custom output size as well - generic eink large seems to create too large an image), and let it run. Calibre does a decent job of cropping most comics - including automatically splitting double page scans. You can then upload to the Jetbook with Calibre or simply copy the PDF file to your reader. Size is about the same as the original cbr/cbz file.

Sorry,

I did not read you had issues with displaying images on the screen
though I think you probably have already figured it out.
PDF and regular images you can fit to screen.
Epub I haven't tried yet, as the largest picture I have for an epub book is at ~800x600 pixels.