Comic book archive
| Filename extension |
.cbr, .cbz, .cbt, .cba, .cb7 (containers) |
|---|---|
| Internet media type |
application/x-cbr |
| Type of format | Multimedia, archive file |
| Container for | Images |
| Standard | None |
A comic book archive or comic book reader file (also called sequential image file) is a type of archive file for the purpose of sequential viewing of images, commonly for comic books. The idea was made popular by the CDisplay sequential image viewer;[1] since then, many viewers for different platforms have been created.
Design
Comic book archive files mainly consist of a series of image files, typically PNG (lossless compression) or JPEG (lossy compression) files, stored as a single archive file. Occasionally GIF, BMP, and TIFF files are seen. Folders may be used to group images.
The file name extension indicates the archive type used:
Comic book archive files are not a distinct file format; only the file name extension differs from a standard file of the given archive type.
The file names inside an archive are usually numbered in ascending order according to the original page number, including the use of preceding zeros for all positions (example: using 001 rather than 1) to force the proper display of images by viewers across all operating systems. Otherwise files can be displayed out of order (example: 1, 10-19, 100-199, 2, 20-29, 3, etc.) due to differences in how file name characters are handled by each operating system.
Comic book archive viewers typically offer various dedicated functions to read the content, like one page forward/backwards, go to first/last page, zoom or print. Some applications support additional tag information in the form of embedded XML files in the archive or use of the ZIP comment to store additional information.[4] These files can include additional information like artists, story information, table of contents or even a separate text layer for comic book translations.[5] Efforts, such as the Comic Metadata (CoMet) Format, have been made to define an open standard.[6]
Adoption
Windows
- ACBF Viewer/ACBF Editor can view (edit metadata) for CBZ/CBR comic books
- Calibre can view and convert to different formats. Does not handle .cbz or .cb7 formats.
- CDisplay was the first application to support the CBR format.
- CDisplayEx inspired by CDisplay with additional viewing features.
- ComicRack is one of the most popular readers and collection management tools.
- Comic Seer (Desktop) is a comic book archive viewer and organizer for the desktop.
- Comics++ is a free comic book reader written in C++/CX available on the Windows app store.[7]
- Gonvisor is a comic reader simple to use with some features to improve image quality.
- MComix is a fork of Comix.[8]
- STDU Viewer
- SumatraPDF
- YACReader, it stands for Yet Another Comic Reader. It comes with YACReaderLibrary, which is a comic manager.[9]
Mac
- Calibre can view and convert to different formats.
- Sequential, originally designed for opening a folder of images and displaying them in order. It works for viewing comics and manga.[10]
- Simple Comic, an open source comic viewer with many features including archive reading support.
- YACReader, it stands for Yet Another Comic Reader.[9]
iOS
- Chunky Comic Reader, an iPad only app that handles CBZs, CBRs, CBTs and PDFs. It will also support any contained CBI/ComicbookLover or ComicRack information.[11]
- ComicFlow is a free comic viewer app that supports .cbr, .cbz and pdf files.
- Comic Landscape is a paid comic viewer app that supports .cbr, .cbz, .zip, .rar and .pdf files and shows them in landscape mode
- Comic Glass, a paid comic viewer app can read these formats.
- Comic Viewer, a paid app that supports, .cbr, .cbz, .rar, and .zip files.[12]
- Comic Zeal handles CBZs, CBRs and PDFs.
- Comics by Comixology, a reader/marketplace combination for comic books.
- Manga Storm CBR, a free comic/manga viewer app for iOS that supports CBRs, CBZs and PDFs. Also supports importing content directly from various cloud services and contains many useful features.[13]
- Marvel Unlimited, is an online service by Marvel Comics which distributes thousands of past issues of their comics.
- YACReader supports ZIP, RAR, CBZ, CBR and PDF files. It also support several cloud services and can browse, remotely read and import from Macs/PCs using YACReaderLibrary.[14]
Android
- ACBF Viewer for Android can view .cbz comic books, supports metadata, panel by panel viewing, translation layers
- Challenger Comics Viewer supports scrolling and network drives. Supported files types are: CBZ, CBR, CBT, CB7, PDF, and image files.[15]
- ComicRack is a comic viewer app that supports .cbr, .cbz and pdf files.
- Comics by Comixology, a reader/marketplace combination for comic books.
- FBReader supports CBZ/CBR files on android with the comic book plugin available from the website.
- Komics is a free comic viewer app that supports .cbr, .cbz and pdf files.
- Marvel Unlimited is a service by Marvel Comics which distributes thousands of past issues of their comics.
- Perfect Viewer is a comic viewing app that supports .cbz, .cbr, .cb7, .pdf, and a folder of files, with an emphasis on customization and display settings.
- Open Comic Reader is a open source CBZ/CBR viewer with a (currently) limited set of features due to it being in the beta stage of development.
Unix-like
- ACBF Viewer/ACBF Editor can view (edit metadata) for .cbz and .cbr comic books
- Calibre can view and convert to different formats.
- Comic Seer (Desktop) is a comic book archive viewer and organizer for the desktop.
- Comix is a full featured comic book viewer and organizer.
- Evince document viewer, includes support for the format.
- MComix is a fork of Comix.[8]
- Okular can view many formats, including PDF and CBR, and is included in the KDE Software Compilation.
- YACReader[9]
E-readers
- The Kobo e-reader supports .cbz and .cbr files.[16]
Web Browser
See also
References
- ↑ CDisplay Image Display Download.com
- ↑ "CBR file extension". Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ↑ "CBZ file extension". Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ↑ "Metadata for Digital Comics".
- ↑ "Advanced Comic Book Format project page".
- ↑ CoMet - DenVog Retrieved 18 November 2015
- ↑ . Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- 1 2 "MComics Project Page".
- 1 2 3 YACReader. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ↑ Sequential 2, retrieved February 3, 2016.
- ↑ Chunky Comic Reader for iPad. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ↑ Comic Viewer - Denvog. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ↑ Manga Storm CBR - Comic Book Reader for CBR/CBZ/PDF Files. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ↑ YACReader for iOS. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ↑ "Challenger News".
- ↑ "File formats you can open on your Kobo eReader". Kobo.
- ↑ "Comic Book Reader".
- ↑ "Kthoom Googlecode".
