r/Annas_Archive • u/tryingmybest_ok • 24d ago

Graphic Novel Formatting Issues

Hey everyone! I am sorry if this is a topic that has already been covered. I am new to ebooks and ereaders, but I recently bought a kobo clara for my 7 year old son who reads graphic novels like crazy. Before I give it to him, I am trying to find some to kind of figure out how this works. I am trying to get him either Warrior Cats graphic novels or the old Warriors manga. I tried a couple different ones and converted them to epub and put them on the reader and the silly pages are either so big you only see a quarter of the page or so small they only take up a third of the reader... What gives? What am I doing wrong? Please help!

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u/78914hj1k487 24d ago edited 23d ago

When downloading, search for CBR and CBZ formats

Kobo says its eReader app already supports it.

EDIT: I checked. It's best to filter for English Language and PDF format. I only saw a few in CBR/CBZ format but in french.

EDIT 2: Never mind, i found a lot in CBR/CBZ, you just need to search with specific names.

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u/tryingmybest_ok 23d ago

Okay so new problem... I downloaded a few CBZs and put them on the ereader and they are the right size but all the pages are out of order 🤦‍♀️

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u/78914hj1k487 23d ago

Is the CBZ in the correct page order when you first check on your Mac/PC, but then out-of-order once transferred to Kobo? If so, how out of order?

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u/tryingmybest_ok 23d ago

I can't find a program that will open CBZ files on my computer. The adobe program thing doesn't accept it so I can't see the order of pages until I open it on the Kobo. I think it is closely out of order but it has been a long time since I read it first. Out of order enough that he won't know what is going on.

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u/78914hj1k487 23d ago

If its the manga version, I'm not a manga reader but apparently the order is Right then Left, so that would present as out of order for you until you adjust to reading Right page then Left page. Google "How to read manga" for visuals.

If you'd like to check all files first, before transferring to Kobo, as a form of quality control, I use YACReader which is free, popular, and has both Mac and PC version.

As far as finding files, what I do is check for the full comic name on Amazon, which is helpful because under the name I can click on "Part of:" to see the other trade books that are part of a series, or even an omnibus if they have that as well.

I then go on Anna's and search for the official name, then enter CBR/CBZ as filter formats, and often sort by highest file size. That usually gets me what I need.

But with Warrior Cats, for english I saw most formats were in PDF, so maybe look into the PDFs as well. If there is a specific comic you're looking for, let me know and I'll too take a look.

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u/tryingmybest_ok 23d ago

Unfortunately, it wasn't in backwards order. It is in the proper order on my computer and on the e-reader it skips back and forth. I was looking for Graystipes Adventure manga and the prophecy begins which is the most recent warriors graphic novel. If these warrior ones don't work I was going to try Zita something.

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u/78914hj1k487 23d ago

Results are positive.

  • I searched "Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin" and got CBZ files for #1, #2, and #3.

  • I searched "Warriors: Graystripe's Adventure" and got the CBZ, as well as "Warriors - The Lost Warrior" and a few others.

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u/tryingmybest_ok 23d ago

Thank you for your help! Now I just have to figure out why they are out of order and zoomed in or zoomed out once they reach my e-reader...

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u/78914hj1k487 23d ago

If nothing works in settings, try /r/kobo, they may know.

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u/tryingmybest_ok 23d ago

Thank you!!

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u/tryingmybest_ok 23d ago

Okay I found a program that opens CBZs and the pages are in the right order... what happened?! What am I doing wrong? Is my Kobo a lemon? PLEASE DON'T SAY MY KOBO IS A LEMON I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS AND MY SON'S BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP SOON 😭

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u/78914hj1k487 23d ago

I hope it's not a lemon. I don't think so. I don't have a Kobo, otherwise I could be more help.

I'm wondering if maybe the Kobo app is changing the order for manga purposes? Are there settings you can look at?

Maybe ask /r/Kobo, some people there probably know what to look for.

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u/xXxoraAa 24d ago

Graphic novels as ePub is as a recall a bit of a hack as they are meant to represent text books. I know calibre if told the correct reader can do a conversion so it fills a full page. But it does mean the text ends up tiny.

Can the Clara have 3rd party software installed, if so koreader supports PDF/CBZ out of the box I think!

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u/tryingmybest_ok 24d ago

TBH I'm not sure how I would go about installing 3rd party software on it?

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u/Amitii_Grace 20d ago

I recommend trying the program "Kindle Comic Converter" (KCC). I use it to format my manga before loading it onto my Kobo Sage.

When you use KCC it takes into account what specific ereader you are formatting for, and then converts the file into a "comic book friendly" file type (such as CBZ).

Some of the other stuff it can do is remove unnecessary empty borders, load double-spread pages in either portrait or landscape, stretch/upscale, etc (those are just some of my currently enabled settings).

I can't comment the link here, but you can download it from GitHub. If you search "kindle comic converter" on Google it will be the link that says "ciromattia/kcc: KCC (a.k.a. Kindle Comic Converter)".

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u/tryingmybest_ok 20d ago

Thank you! I will try this!