Comic book archive

Comic book archive file

Filename extension	.cbr, .cbz, .cbt, .cba, .cb7 (containers)
Internet media type	application/x-cbr
Type of format	Multimedia, archive file
Container for	Images
Standard(s)	None

A comic book archive or comic book reader file is a type of archive file for the purpose of sequential viewing of images, especially comic books. The idea was made popular by the CDisplay image viewer; 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. The file name extension indicates the archive type used:

• .cbr → RAR^[1]
• .cbz → ZIP^[2]

Rare:

• .cb7 → 7z
• .cbt → TAR
• .cba → ACE

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.

Occasionally GIF, BMP, and TIFF files are seen. The file names inside an archive are usually numbered in ascending order according to the original page number. Folders may be used to group images.

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.^[3] These files can include additional information like artists or story information.

Adoption

CDisplay was the first application to support the CBR format.

Applications for Windows include:

• CDisplay
• CDisplayEx, based on CDisplay
• ComicRack, which also includes cataloging functionality ^[4]
• Comical
• Coview, designed with the comic as the most important element.
• Evince document viewer, includes support for the format ^[5]
• GonVisor
• Roboreader
• HoneyView
• MangaMeeya
• STDU Viewer ^[6]
• Sumatra ^[7]
• maxcomic
• CBR Reader
• C.B.R. or Comic Book Reader

For WINE users:

• HoneyView

For Linux users:

• Comix is a full featured comic book viewer and organizer
• Comical
• Evince document viewer, includes support for the format ^[8]
• HoneyView
• Okular can view many formats, including PDF, all Comic Book Archive formats, DjVu and is included in the KDE desktop.
• QComicBook

For Mac OS X users:

• ComicBookLover
• FFview, updates are currently on .
• Simple Comic
• Xee
• Sequential (though not originally designed to this end, is able to display .cbz and .cbr archives.)
• DrawnStrips Reader

See also

• Comparison of image viewers
• DjVu

References

1. ^ "CBR file extension". http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/cbr. Retrieved 15 June 2011. 
2. ^ "CBZ file extension". http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/cbz. Retrieved 15 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Metadata for Digital Comics". https://code.google.com/p/comicbookinfo/. 
4. ^ PCWORLD: ComicRack Lets You View and Organize Digital Comics
5. ^ Evince Offical Site
6. ^ STDU Offical Site
7. ^ Sumatra Offical Site
8. ^ Evince Offical Site

External links

• Comic book archive at the Open Directory Project