Author Topic: Release: Comic Book Archive Creator (Read 78288 times)

skwire · « **on:** July 06, 2012, 08:34 PM »

Title	Comic Book Archive Creator
Description	An application for quickly creating Comic Book Archive files for use in such readers as Comic Rack or CDisplay. Features: Input formats: pdf, jpg, png, gif, tif, & bmp Output formats: cbz, cb7, cbt, & cbr Due to the WinRAR license, I am not allowed to distribute the Rar.exe file necessary for .cbr support. Therefore, if you want .cbr support, you must provide your own Rar.exe file. If you don't have your own Rar.exe file, don't worry, you can still create cbz, cb7, and cbt files. Thanks to lanux128 for the idea.
Supported OS	Windows XP or later
Website:	http://skwire.dcmembers.com/fp/?page=comic-book-archive-creator
History	Changelog
Download	Portable zip
PAD file	pad.xml
Screenshot	Release: Comic Book Archive Creator Release: Comic Book Archive Creator

lanux128 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 06, 2012, 08:38 PM »

thanks Skwire, for coming up with this! i find it handy to read comics/graphic novels on my tablet.

skwire · « **Reply #2 on:** July 06, 2012, 08:41 PM »

You're very welcome. It was a really neat idea. =]

barney · « **Reply #3 on:** July 07, 2012, 02:09 PM »

Martin Brinkman over at gHacks has a nice little blurb about it.

skwire · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2012, 02:56 PM »

Very nice! That man is quick on the draw. =]

barney · « **Reply #5 on:** July 07, 2012, 03:34 PM »

I think he mines DC once in a while

.

mouser · « **Reply #6 on:** July 07, 2012, 05:54 PM »

Mentioned on ghacks today:

http://www.ghacks.ne...ook-archive-creator/

skwire · « **Reply #7 on:** July 07, 2012, 05:59 PM »

Look up there about four posts. ^^^^

* skwire sets up mouser with an appointment with the eye doctor.

mouser · « **Reply #8 on:** July 07, 2012, 06:27 PM »

damn it.

skwire · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2012, 06:38 PM »

damn it.
-mouser (July 07, 2012, 06:27 PM)

Don't worry! I bet you'll look great with glasses.

DeVamp · « **Reply #10 on:** July 13, 2012, 05:17 AM »

You got mentioned in the makeuseof.com daily directory mail. :-)

http://yfrog.com/nt6bnp
http://yfrog.com/ocku9fp

gratz :-)

skwire · « **Reply #11 on:** July 13, 2012, 09:16 AM »

You got mentioned in the makeuseof.com daily directory mail. :-)

http://yfrog.com/nt6bnp
http://yfrog.com/ocku9fp

gratz :-)
-DeVamp (July 13, 2012, 05:17 AM)

Cool.

Thanks for the heads up.

superboyac · « **Reply #12 on:** July 13, 2012, 09:42 AM »

Sweet program!

skwire · « **Reply #13 on:** July 13, 2012, 09:51 AM »

Thanks. I should really point out that the key features of this app are:

PDF as an input format. This means that CBAC will take a PDF and convert each page to an image file.
The ability to change the order of images and PDFs in the list before actually creating the CBR/Z/7 file.

I will soon be adding the ability to use CBR/Z/7 files as an input format, too.

PhotoComiX · « **Reply #14 on:** July 16, 2012, 06:45 AM »

Cool
but why the dependency with winrar (more exactly the need to get winrar.exe to make it work)?

Can't be integrated instead some other free or open source (if the license allow) app as 7zip, IZArc ( a cool chinese unzipper ) or similar ?

skwire · « **Reply #15 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:05 AM »

Cool but why the dependency with winrar (more exactly the need to get winrar.exe to make it work)?
-PhotoComiX (July 16, 2012, 06:45 AM)

As I explained above, the WinRAR/RAR license does not allow me to distribute the Rar.exe file. Here is an excerpt from the license:

5. The RAR/WinRAR unlicensed trial version may be freely distributed, with exceptions noted below, provided the distribution package is not modified in any way. a. No person or company may distribute separate parts of the package with the exception of the UnRAR components, without written permission of the copyright owner. b. The RAR/WinRAR unlicensed trial version may not be distributed inside of any other software package without written permission of the copyright owner. c. Hacks/cracks, keys or key generators may not be included on the same distribution.

Can't be integrated instead some other free or open source (if the license allow) app as 7zip, IZArc ( a cool chinese unzipper ) or similar ?
-PhotoComiX (July 16, 2012, 06:45 AM)

The Comic Book Archive Creator application does use the 7-zip commandline exe to create CBZ, CB7, and CBT files. You only need to provide your own Rar.exe file if you want to create CBR files. Does that make things clearer?

jgpaiva · « **Reply #16 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:13 AM »

The Comic Book Archive Creator application does use the 7-zip commandline exe to create CBZ, CB7, and CBT files. You only need to provide your own Rar.exe file if you want to create CBR files. Does that make things clearer?
-skwire (July 16, 2012, 08:05 AM)

Just to clarify something which I hadn't understod and I believe PhotoComiX also hasn't:
The program already includes 7zip to do some stuff (cbz, cb7 and cbt), however, 7zip can't create CBR files; that's what you need winrar.exe for (which, presumably is the only one which does support the creation of CBR files?)

skwire · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:23 AM »

Just to clarify something which I hadn't understod and I believe PhotoComiX also hasn't:
The program already includes 7zip to do some stuff, however, 7zip can't create CBR files; that's what you need winrar.exe for (which, presumably is the only one which does support the creation of CBR files?)
-jgpaiva (July 16, 2012, 08:13 AM)

To clarify, it's the Rar.exe file that Comic Book Archive Creator will look for...not the WinRAR.exe file. However, you're correct in that 7-zip cannot create RAR files. In fact, without a license, no third-party can create RAR files. They can all unpack RAR files because, as per the license, you can distribute and use the UnRAR components freely. In other words:

1) Creating RAR files means you must have a license.
2) Unpacking RAR files is free.

So, to reiterate, Comic Book Archive Creator includes everything you need to create CBZ, CB7, and CBT files. If you want to create CBR files, you will have to provide your own copy of the Rar.exe file.

Renegade · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2012, 09:21 AM »

1) Creating RAR files means you must have a license.
-skwire (July 16, 2012, 08:23 AM)

Unless they've changed, nobody can create RAR files because they do not license creating RAR files to anyone. Are you sure about that?

Or do you mean that the USER must have a license for WinRar so that you can call their licensed version from your program?

skwire · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2012, 09:32 AM »

Or do you mean that the USER must have a license for WinRar so that you can call their licensed version from your program?
-Renegade (July 16, 2012, 09:21 AM)

Yes, I meant the user must have a licensed copy of WinRAR in order to be able to create CBR files. The Rar.exe file, that CBAC can use, comes with the WinRAR package.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2012, 09:34 AM »

In fact, without a license, no third-party compression app, e.g., 7-zip, PeaZIP, IZarc, etc., can create RAR files.
-skwire (July 16, 2012, 08:23 AM)

I think that's the detail that is missing in this whole conversation: .cbr is just a renamed .rar file, and no program other than winrar can create that kind of archives (see explanation above).

skwire · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2012, 09:37 AM »

I think that's the detail that is missing in this whole conversation: .cbr is just a renamed .rar file, and no program other than winrar can create that kind of archives (see explanation above).
-jgpaiva (July 16, 2012, 09:34 AM)

Correct. All that said, CBZ, CB7, and CBT support should be enough for anybody. I included CBR support for the zealots, you know?

fdwojo · « **Reply #22 on:** July 17, 2012, 02:32 PM »

In the process of creating the comic, you make each page from a PDF into a JPG. I know that when creating a JPG, it is possible to indicate the 'compression quality' of the image, and I believe it can be set between 1 and 100 (1 is least compression and 100 is most compression). What do you use for a setting? Can it be added on the Options page so that we can squeeze (or not) the size of our comic book files?

FDWojo

skwire · « **Reply #23 on:** July 18, 2012, 09:27 AM »

Hi, FDWojo, and welcome to the site.

In the process of creating the comic, you make each page from a PDF into a JPG. I know that when creating a JPG, it is possible to indicate the 'compression quality' of the image, and I believe it can be set between 1 and 100 (1 is least compression and 100 is most compression). What do you use for a setting? Can it be added on the Options page so that we can squeeze (or not) the size of our comic book files?
-fdwojo (July 17, 2012, 02:32 PM)

In the latest build, I added the ability to specify the output type (JPG or PNG) when converting PDFs. I also included your request to specify the quality of a jpg and the compression of a png. Some things to keep in mind:

The JPG quality value is 0-100 where 0 is the worst quality and 100 is the best quality. The default is 85.
The PNG compression value is 1-10 where 1 is the least compression and 10 is the most compression. The default is 6.

Website | Download v1.0.4 - 2012-07-17 + When converting PDFs, added ability to specify image output type and quality/compression settings. (Thanks, fdwojo) v1.0.3 - 2012-07-15 + Last used folders are now saved when adding files. v1.0.2 - 2012-07-13 + Added ability to cancel during the creation process. * Changed the "Clear list" toolbar icon.

skwire · « **Reply #24 on:** July 23, 2012, 04:35 PM »

Website | Download v1.0.5 - 2012-07-23 * Improved the accuracy of the progress bars.