comiclrf - Comics(CBZ) to LRF converter

FangornUK · 05-26-2007, 03:10 PM

UPDATE ComicLRF has now been added to kovidgoyal's Calibre. It uses Calibre's GUI as well as a command line utility (comic2lrf). I'll keep this here for now until the code has matured in Calibre.

Command line program to convert Comic Books (CBZ & CBR format) into an LRF file you can load onto the Sony Reader. See Wikipedia

This program extracts and converts the images using ImageMagick into a format suitable for the Reader. The images are resized to match the Reader screen size, white spaces around the edges of the images are cropped and the images are converted to 64 "color" greyscale to look their best on the Reader's grey screen whilst reducing the file size. The images are also sharpened slightly to improve legibility of text.

Install
Install instructions are in the README.txt in the download files.

How to use
Once installed open a command/terminal window in the directory with your Comics, then simply pass it the path of the CBZ/CBR file, e.g.
comiclrf "Simpsons 01.cbz"

(You can pass multiple files to it and use wildcards)

Where to get it
Download Windows version comiclrf-WINDOWS.zip

Download Mac OS X version comiclrf-OSX.tar.gz (it appears to require Leopard)

Download Linux version comiclrf-LINUX.tar.gz

Some samples; first one fills screen, second preserves aspect ratio

kovidgoyal · 05-26-2007, 03:16 PM

Why don't you make this cross platform by using libprs500 as the backend?

FangornUK · 05-26-2007, 03:27 PM

Here's a snapshot

FangornUK · 05-26-2007, 03:31 PM

kovidgoyal, I probably will in future, for now I just used LRS2LRF as it just worked. I haven't figured out how to use libprs500 to compile pure LRS files yet. I've only spent a few hours on this so far.

kovidgoyal · 05-26-2007, 03:44 PM

You can't use libprs500 to compile LRS files. You can use it to generate the LRF/LRS directly, but you'd have to interface with python code for that.

FangornUK · 05-29-2007, 08:05 AM

Updates: Added CBR support. Added Aspect Ratio preserve option. Added user Title and Author options. Added Normalise image option

FangornUK · 05-29-2007, 12:51 PM

Updates: Added Thumbnail generation from first Comic image. Added LRF number of colours option. Trivial clean-up fixes

athlonkmf · 05-29-2007, 02:15 PM

As I'm working on my own tool with imagemagick myself: a few tips.

Remember to use trim and fuzz (15%) to trim out unneeded borders.
Also, you might want to use some filters when resizing too. catzom works great.

My result as far: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11152

FangornUK · 05-29-2007, 06:16 PM

athlonkmf, cheers, I'm already doing that but haven't heard of catzom - can't find anything about it.

FangornUK · 05-30-2007, 02:40 PM

Update: Fixed path to ImageMagick "convert" program

EatingPie · 06-04-2007, 12:07 AM

The samples look great! Good work!

-Pie

FangornUK · 06-04-2007, 05:58 AM

I'm not sure how the Reader does it but I've found images convert best if they use 32 to 64 colours (well, OK shades of grey). The display is only supposed to support 4 colours but either this isn't true or the Reader uses some clever dithering.

JSWolf · 06-04-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FangornUK

I'm not sure how the Reader does it but I've found images convert best if they use 32 to 64 colours (well, OK shades of grey). The display is only supposed to support 4 colours but either this isn't true or the Reader uses some clever dithering.

Clever dithering. And yes it does look like more then 4 shades. I'm impressed.

Tom Swift · 06-07-2007, 05:31 AM

WOW! This works great! Thanks very much for doing this.

Some notes from a first time user of this program.

1. If there is a space in the .cbr or.cbz filename, you have to rename the comic file with underscores or get rid of the spaces or it won't work. If you have a lot of files with spaces, this can be a pain.
2. The completed file outputs to a place where many users may not be able to find. It outputs to a hidden folder. A method to choose where the completed file is sent would be nice.
3. If you could set this up to do batch files, it would be fantastic. You could leave it on all night and have quite a pile finished the next morning.
4. Maybe you could show some examples of the option usage. -c. What is the range of values you should use?

These are not complaints, just suggestions. This is a great program you have written and I thank you for doing so.

FangornUK · 06-07-2007, 05:28 PM

Space is handled in the filenames, you just need to surround the filename with double quotes, which is standard for Windows. I usually just drag the file from Windows Explorer into the command window.
I'll look into the batch processing and the destination directory would probably be better to be the same as the source file. The -c option really doesn't need to be used, you can just reduce the number of colours to save space. The default of 64 colours works about best but you don't need anymore.

05-26-2007, 03:27 PM	#3
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	Here's a snapshot Last edited by FangornUK; 02-02-2008 at 05:39 PM.

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05-26-2007, 03:16 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,546 Karma: 24495948 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Why don't you make this cross platform by using libprs500 as the backend?

05-26-2007, 03:31 PM	#4
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	kovidgoyal, I probably will in future, for now I just used LRS2LRF as it just worked. I haven't figured out how to use libprs500 to compile pure LRS files yet. I've only spent a few hours on this so far.

05-26-2007, 03:44 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,546 Karma: 24495948 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You can't use libprs500 to compile LRS files. You can use it to generate the LRF/LRS directly, but you'd have to interface with python code for that.

05-29-2007, 08:05 AM	#6
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	Updates: Added CBR support. Added Aspect Ratio preserve option. Added user Title and Author options. Added Normalise image option

05-29-2007, 12:51 PM	#7
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	Updates: Added Thumbnail generation from first Comic image. Added LRF number of colours option. Trivial clean-up fixes

05-29-2007, 02:15 PM	#8
athlonkmf Guru Posts: 714 Karma: 1014039 Join Date: May 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500, Sony PRS-505, Kindle 3, Sony PRS350, iPad 64GB	As I'm working on my own tool with imagemagick myself: a few tips. Remember to use trim and fuzz (15%) to trim out unneeded borders. Also, you might want to use some filters when resizing too. catzom works great. My result as far: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11152

05-29-2007, 06:16 PM	#9
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	athlonkmf, cheers, I'm already doing that but haven't heard of catzom - can't find anything about it.

05-30-2007, 02:40 PM	#10
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	Update: Fixed path to ImageMagick "convert" program

06-04-2007, 12:07 AM	#11
EatingPie Blueberry! Posts: 888 Karma: 133343 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500 (RIP); PRS-600 (Good Riddance); PRS-505; PRS-650; PRS-350	The samples look great! Good work! -Pie

06-04-2007, 05:58 AM	#12
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	I'm not sure how the Reader does it but I've found images convert best if they use 32 to 64 colours (well, OK shades of grey). The display is only supposed to support 4 colours but either this isn't true or the Reader uses some clever dithering.

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06-07-2007, 05:31 AM	#14
Tom Swift Addict Posts: 250 Karma: 1232346 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Macau Device: Kindle Oasis (plus lots of older devices)	WOW! This works great! Thanks very much for doing this. Some notes from a first time user of this program. 1. If there is a space in the .cbr or.cbz filename, you have to rename the comic file with underscores or get rid of the spaces or it won't work. If you have a lot of files with spaces, this can be a pain. 2. The completed file outputs to a place where many users may not be able to find. It outputs to a hidden folder. A method to choose where the completed file is sent would be nice. 3. If you could set this up to do batch files, it would be fantastic. You could leave it on all night and have quite a pile finished the next morning. 4. Maybe you could show some examples of the option usage. -c. What is the range of values you should use? These are not complaints, just suggestions. This is a great program you have written and I thank you for doing so.

06-07-2007, 05:28 PM	#15
FangornUK Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 317 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad, Kindle 3	Space is handled in the filenames, you just need to surround the filename with double quotes, which is standard for Windows. I usually just drag the file from Windows Explorer into the command window. I'll look into the batch processing and the destination directory would probably be better to be the same as the source file. The -c option really doesn't need to be used, you can just reduce the number of colours to save space. The default of 64 colours works about best but you don't need anymore.