Content Kindle Comic Converter - Convert comics/manga to MOBI/EPUB

[pumpkinwhite]

I wanted to report an issue I'm seeing with the latest version (version 5.6.2). I'm using the new Kindle Scribe profile. The conversion is not scaled properly on every page. There is an empty border - sometimes on the top and left, sometimes on top and right etc. Sometimes there is no border and it's perfectly scaled. The end result is that image 'jumps' from left to right or changes in scale depending on whether it is scaled to full screen or not, or which side has the empty border. However, if you use the 'Other' setting and with 1440x1920 resolution, each page is scaled perfectly. (I'm not using the native Scribe resolution since Kindlegen will downscale it anyway). In either case, it doesn't matter whether the 'Stretch/Upscale' setting is ticked or not. The output remains the same (i.e. the 'Kindle Scribe' setting version is not scaled properly, which the Other 1440x1920 resolution is scaled properly).

Also, not sure if it matters - I'm starting with a 188.2MB CBZ file. The Kindle Scribe setting version gets converted to a 118.6MB file, while the Other 1440x1920 version gets converted to a 158.2MB file.

Conversion using the 'Kindle Scribe' version is indeed slightly faster (but not by much). It seems like the 'Kindle Scribe' preset has some issue where the image is not getting scaled perfectly.

Edit: Note - In case anyone is not aware, I'm using 1440x1920 resolution since that's the maximum resolution that Kindlegen outputs to. Using the native resolution will downscale the image to this size anyway, and it is extremely slow (Takes 15-20min instead of the typical 1-2min).

[axu2]

You better provide more information, like OS, screenshot of KCC settings, folder structure, image dimensions, etc.

Also try a beta build exe. There's on linked in one of the active PRs.


And where did you get kindlegen?

I feel.like youay have activated panel view by mistake which is buggy with certain resolutions. Disable it by double tapping image.

GitHub issue is probably easier for images.

[ryuji35]

Hi guys, I have searched this forum and I did see some answers but it didn't help me >.< so I am asking again and apologies if it has been repeated.

I have jpeg manga and converted them into cbz using winrar. I converted them to mobi via KCC and uploaded in Calibre for metadata editing and uploaded in my Kindle but to no avail.

I now learned that mobi's metadata is uneditable so I read here that when you convert the jpeg files to cbz, just use comic rack or the simple metadata editor of KCC. However, Comic Rack cannot open my file (it's just has a huge X marks on my files) and KCC says that my CBR Metadata is read only. I don't understand. Tried converting the files via Calibre for EPUB to AZW3 but it messes up the size of my Manga.

Is there anything else I can do to edit the metadata of this or am I stuck with the Author" KCC"?

[axu2]

Calibre messes up my files so I don't bother. It also made my kindle unstable, so I deleted any calibre edited files from my kindle.

Do not use CBR. You can drag the image folder directly into kcc. If that doesn't work you should use CBZ.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by axu2

Calibre messes up my files so I don't bother. It also made my kindle unstable, so I deleted any calibre edited files from my kindle.

Weird. I have never seen calibre messing up files on a Kindle unless you are counting Amazon wiping out the covers that calibre transfers to the Kindle. Or are you referring to the files that calibre stores in it's library? And exactly what instability did you see on your Kindle due to calibre ebooks transferred to your Kindle.

Originally Posted by axu2

Do not use CBR. You can drag the image folder directly into kcc. If that doesn't work you should use CBZ.

Again weird. I haven't seen issues caused by CBR, CB7 or CBZ and ghod knows, I worked with enough of those files for my daughter's manga collection. Admittedly, I only used 7-Zip not WinRAR to create the files.

[axu2]

To give context I have a Kindle Scribe, which doesn't wipe covers when I upload via File Explorer, so there's no need for Calibre, just leave the Kindle plugged in during the conversion process to upload the cover.

When I tried to use Calibre, I felt the need to update the author metadata of the KCC MOBI files. After uploading these edited files via Calibre, my Kindle became really unstable and crashing a lot. When I tried to upload further files to the Kindle Scribe the file transfer would frequently fail or freeze or crash the Kindle. It was really bizarre. All the problems went away when I deleted all the Calibre uploaded files from my Kindle. This was a weird occurrence, maybe it happened since I tried to change the author metadata. I think I was using Calibre 6.14.1 or somewhere around there.

So now I just use File Explorer to upload files directly.

And CBR/RAR/WinRar just give me issues in many context even outside of KCC.

[axu2]

Yea, looking at the Calibre changelogs, looks like author metadata changes have been causing issues. https://calibre-ebook.com/whats-new

And OP should use 7zip and CBZ instead of WinRar and CBR.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by axu2

Yea, looking at the Calibre changelogs, looks like author metadata changes have been causing issues. https://calibre-ebook.com/whats-new

Sorry but those change had nothing to do with author metadata changes but rather with the data directory which was introduced to allow storage of files that are not ebook/metadata/cover images without the games playing that was required in earlier calibre versions.

[manotroll]

How do you enable the zoom feature in comics?
I can see the whole page but I would like to see it frame by frame like the amazon program does
is it possible to do that ?

[axu2]

You can double tap to zoom into a corner. But anything panel by panel is only from Amazon.

[ryuji35]

Originally Posted by axu2

You can double tap to zoom into a corner. But anything panel by panel is only from Amazon.

I will consider buying Digital Manga from Amazon if this is the case. I thought they don't have extra features. But if they made efforts in doing things like panel by panel then the money is worth it.

[pumpkinwhite]

Originally Posted by axu2

You better provide more information, like OS, screenshot of KCC settings, folder structure, image dimensions, etc.

Also try a beta build exe. There's on linked in one of the active PRs.


And where did you get kindlegen?

I feel.like youay have activated panel view by mistake which is buggy with certain resolutions. Disable it by double tapping image.

GitHub issue is probably easier for images.

Thanks for replying. Sorry, it took me some time to get back to this, and take images. I've now tried multiple manga comics - 4 of them. All of them show the same behavior. The 'Kindle Scribe' preset does seem to be behaving incorrectly. This is also seen in the file sizes. The 'Kindle Scribe' preset file size for the .mobi output is about 25% to 30% smaller than the 'Other' preset with 1440x1920 resolution. I've tried transferring the files directly and via Calibre to see if Calibre is causing any issue. The behavior remains the same in every case.

Here are some relevant details that you had asked for -
1) I'm using Mac OS (Ventura 13.4.1) on an Intel Mac Mini
2)I've not tried a beta build. I'll try it later and let you know if I see any changes.
3) I was using kindlegen extracted from Kindle Previewer. But then since the latest version supports Kindle Previewer directly, I simply removed the kindlegen files from the /usr/bin folder. From the update notes for KCC I figured that the latest version simply picks it up from Kindle Previewer 3. So I installed that software in my Applications folder, and then KCC started working as usual.
3) Pretty sure I didn't activate panel view. In fact on Kindle Scribe I can't even get it to activate on any of the converted mobi's. Both versions of the converted comic were simply opened and could immediately tell the difference within a few pages.
4) The only settings I am using are -- Manga Mode (ticked), Strech/Upscale (ticked; fully ticked, not the partial hyphen). No other setting for either Kindle Scribe preset, or the 'Other' preset. In case of other, I'm setting Custom width 1440; Custom height 1920. Images for settings for both modes are attached.

I've attached a few images showing the issue. Same pages for two different manga. You can see how for the 'Kindle Scribe' preset the images are not filling the entire page. On some other pages, the whole page is filled, but the image is not centered. There is a wider gap on the left or right.

[axu2]

Ah, you are on Mac, that changes things. There are only windows betas for now in that PR. My advice:

1) Try updating to Kindle Previewer 3.72 and moving kindlegen to /usr/bin/local. I feel like a slightly older version (3.71?) had some formatting issues that were fixed. Might be mis-remembering though.
2) Leave Stretch/Upscale unchecked.
3) I personally use MozJpeg and partially check split. Not sure if it will change anything but worth trying.

Maybe try running the latest master, instructions here: https://github.com/ciromattia/kcc/wi...l-from-sources

I've had zero issues running KCC on either Windows or Mac, but I only run from source to get all the latest features and bug fixes.

[axu2]

You can also try forking the repo and running the GitHub Action to generate a dmg

[pumpkinwhite]

Originally Posted by axu2

Ah, you are on Mac, that changes things. There are only windows betas for now in that PR. My advice:

1) Try updating to Kindle Previewer 3.72 and moving kindlegen to /usr/bin/local. I feel like a slightly older version (3.71?) had some formatting issues that were fixed. Might be mis-remembering though.
2) Leave Stretch/Upscale unchecked.
3) I personally use MozJpeg and partially check split. Not sure if it will change anything but worth trying.

Maybe try running the latest master, instructions here: https://github.com/ciromattia/kcc/wi...l-from-sources

I've had zero issues running KCC on either Windows or Mac, but I only run from source to get all the latest features and bug fixes.

So, some minor updates.

On the Mac side, I was already on the latest version of Kindle Previewer. I did move kindlegen to /usr/local/bin and tried again (deleted Kindle Previewer from the computer). It did not make any difference.

I then logged into Windows (I have a windows partition on my Mac). Downloaded KCC, and tried it in windows. Tried all various combinations of check-boxes - with and without upscale, mozjpeg. Whatever the case, the behavior remains the same in windows as well.

I did play around with settings quite a bit. At this time, I'm convinced that the 'Kindle Scribe' preset does not work as well as the 'Other' preset set to 1440x1920.

I did not try downloading the beta versions. The instructions seemed like it would take time for me to figure out, and frankly it's not needed. The Other preset works quite well. Just want to report to the community here that the 'Kindle Scribe' preset doesn't work perfectly. Better to use the 'Other' preset with the custom resolution set to 1440x1920.

That being said, I'm curious to know if the preset works perfectly for others. I have now tried 4 different manga, and tried in both Mac and Windows, and played around a lot with the settings. The 'Kindle Scribe' preset doesn't scale the pages full screen perfectly. Anyone just reading this post, see the images I attached a few posts above. You'll know what I mean.

Not sure what's the best way to inform the developers, but if someone can point this to them, it might help.