iPhone, cbr files and WinRAR
The most common format for comic book scans in the .cbr archive. Right now there’s no iPhone app available that can directly read .cbr files, but with a few little tweaks, you can convert all your .cbr files and read them on the iPhone.
CBR files are simply archives…a batch of image files (usually jpegs) that are wrapped up into one file with everyday archiving software like WinRAR or 7zip. They can be UNarchived and converted into jpegs by renaming the “.cbr” extension at the end of the file name into .rar, and then using WinRAR or 7zip open up the archived file into a folder full of jpeg images.
To do this, right-click on any .cbr file and choose Properties from the menu that pops up. Within the Properties dialog box, change the name of the extension to .rar, and then close the dialog box. Now right-click on your renamed file and choose Extract Files from the context menu. The archiving software will create a folder full of the individual pages that comprised the .cbr file.
If you take that folder of unarchived images and put it in your Pictures folder, you can sync it up with your iPhone and view the image files anytime.
Here’s a good article explaining .cbr and .cbz files and the various solutions for reading them on different computer, gaming and tech platforms. http://www.geekrodeo.com/2008/05/what-is-cbr-and-cbz-file.html
Just want to give you a heads up that the new iphone app, Files, can read large JPGs without issues. I extract the .CBR, resize to max 1200 x X, and you can transfer issues by folder and read them that way. You can’t flip through images, you have to go back and select the next but it’s good enough for now.
@Ash A: Thanks Ash…I’m going to try it out this weekend and report the results!
I can confirm what Ash A posted, FileMagnet is the best solution at the moment for reading your comics. It does not degrade the JPGs or GIFs at all so zooming in is a sharp as your original image. You cannot flip through the images but have to go back and reselect but I have to say this is the almost the best solution. Only problem is that FileMagnet runs out of memory after opening many images. I opened about 60 before it ran out. It also cannot handle big PDFs (I tried a 12Mb one) which a problem native to the iPhone itself anyway.
I have been using iComic and the similar ComicViewer native iphone apps and haven’t found a better solution, although I’ll try FileMagnet.
If your iphone is jailbroken there is now a beta ComicViewer app for firmware 2.x – look for it on google code. It works for me on my 2.0.1 3G iphone.
Forget wasting money on Caravan, FileMagnet or Files, none of them work well for reading comics on the iPhone. Only Annotater works well and is very stable, even while handling very large PDFs. Plus it remembers exactly where you were (page + zoomed-in area) when you quit. The app is only $5 and requires a little service running on your PC that sinks the comics over WiFi. It’s a very similar and reliable system.
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@Erik Erickson: Thanks Erik. I would try Annotater, but it only works with Mac OSX Leopard. If it comes out for Tiger or Windows I’d love to give it a shot. Right now I’m writing my coverage of Datacase, which is the best thing I’ve tried so far.
Does Datacase work well for reading comics in PDF format? Is the syncing easy? And can you flow straight from one page to the next without a noticeable delay? Just curious, I’m loving Annotater…
Erik Ericksons last blog post..Rob Gruhl – How to Buy a New Car
Hi Erik…with Datacase the syncing is fast and easy, but there is still the sticky delay when you move from page to page in the pdf. How does Annotater handle big PDFs? My comic book pdf’s are usually 25-30MB, and they do load slowly. If annotater can help me read those without the delay, I just might have to upgrade to Leopard in order to try it.
There’s no delay between pages, you could flick through a few at once, it’s just as smooth between pages as it is within any page. I just tried reading 4 comics on it, from 7MB to 63MB and they all seem to be working just fine. The only thing is, you should just set a zoom level that’s good for you, and then just pan around the rest of the comic. Constantly zooming in and out would probably result in too much time waiting for the graphics to re-draw (which it does do fairly quickly, and you can still move around while waiting for the brief moments). I would hate for you to upgrade to Leopard ($120!) for what may end up being a minor improvement for you. Then again, it might be the difference that’s totally worth it. I’m not sure. The developer is planning some upgrades to Annotater based that may have some tricks to get the images to load even quicker between zoom levels/panning far.
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Hi, I just wanted to let you guys know in case you hadnt found it yet that there is an app called fileapp (previously fileaid) that will read .cbr and .cbz. You can flip the pages, zoom, and it holds your place. You can turn memory management off so as not to crash it when you go to read a large file, and keep it from trying to back up your comic everytime you sync. You transfer wirelessly by searching your iphones address in your home computer and then dropping your files into the window for your phone. The app gives you the address to use and has a very simple pictorial on how to do it. Works perfectly! I got the app almost a year ago and it was free then, but I dont know how much it is now because it only shows installed when I pull it up. I hope this helps.Good luck!
thx Kollette, between dropbox and fileaid, it should be easy peezy to have a pool of comics and pull to phone to view as needed. sweet!
Check out MeeeeP which is a very good CBR CBZ PDF comic reader with crisp display and intuitive/responsive controls (+also free!); hadnt heard of Fileaid before so will also give that a try
Naw, haven’t you tried ComicZeal? There’s not really a debate any more, ComicZeal is it.
ComicZeal is well liked, I know, but I would
never use it becaus. It converts cbrs to a lossy proprietary format. With the power of iPhone 4, 3gs, and iPad there is no reason for this. On iPad the free CloudReaders is a awesome reader for cbr, cbz, and PDF. It is from the developer who was the chief architect of windows 5 and IE. For iPhone Im still happy with the AppStore iComic app.
I do appreciate the tips and suggestions on this cool site. My favorite readers may not be your thing and vice versa. I think we all can agree that digital comic books are cool!!