I manage my digital comics with Komga, a media server for comics, and it works great with CBZ files. I prefer the format because it’s simple, portable, and works with a ton of devices.

Getting digital comics is pretty easy with Humble Bundle, Fanatical, Image Comics, and other places. I’ve noticed sometimes the books are only offered as PDF or EPUB without CBZ being an option.

Even though my favorite reading devices, like the BOOX Go 7, BOOX Tablet Note Air, or Apple iPad can handle these various formats, I prefer reading comics in comic reader apps that work best with CBZ formatted files.

The Tools

To solve this problem, I created a set of Python tools for converting PDF, EPUB, and CBR files to CBZ (Comic Book Zip).

⬇️ Download CBZ Python Tools

There are 3 tools:

• EPUB ➡️ CBZ: epub2cbz.py
• PDF ➡️ CBZ: pdf2cbz.py
• CBR ➡️ CBZ: cbr2cbz.py

Here’s a demo of the scripts in use on MacOS.

Optimize for an E-reader Device

When reading on an e-ink device, I also like to run my CBZ files through KCC (Kindle Comic Converter) before copying to the device. This app downsizes the files to fit your e-ink screen, saving storage space on the device and loading books faster. It also does a lot of other handy things like splitting double pages, and reducing the “rainbow effect” color e-ink has with screen tones commonly used in manga. Give it a try!