65 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
# Mangle
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Mangle is a cross-platform image converter and optimizer built for reading Manga on the Amazon Kindle and other E-ink
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devices written in Python. With this application you can easily:
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* Sort and organize images from different directories; bulk rename feature exists for output to the Kindle.
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* Optionally re-save images in a format Kindle will be sure to understand with no visible quality loss.
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* Downsample and rotate images for optimal viewing on Kindle, convert to grayscale to save space and improve contrast.
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* Automatically generate book meta-data so that your Manga is always properly detected and viewable in-order.
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[](img/kindle1.png)
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[](img/kindle2.png)
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[](img/kindle3.png)
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[](img/kindle4.png)
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## Motivation
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Many years ago I received an Amazon Kindle as a gift. I immediately began playing around with it and reading about
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certain undocumented features that the Kindle has to offer. After a couple of hours I discovered it to be the perfect
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device for reading Manga is almost always grayscale, and the aspect ratio fits the Kindle's 600x800 pixel screen almost
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perfectly. Better yet, the Kindle's undocumented image viewer actually keeps track of the last image you viewed and thus
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you are always able to return to the page you left off on when you power on your Kindle. The device supports several
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popular image formats (jpeg, png, gif, etc), and is able to dither and downscale images to fit the screen.
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However... The Kindle's image viewer does have certain shortcomings:
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* The Kindle is very picky about file format; any additional embedded data (thumbnails, comments, possibly even EXIF
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data) can confuse it. As a result, images may not display properly or even not at all (which actually prevents you
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from reading the given book, as one bad panel will prevent you from viewing subsequent images).
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* The first image that you view in a Manga (until the Kindle first writes the "bookmark" file) seems to be arbitrary
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even when files are named sequentially. About half the time it will correctly pick the first file in the batch, at
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other times it will pick out some other image seemingly at random.
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* Normally for Kindle to find your Manga scans you have to press <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>Z</kbd> on the home screen. I
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haven't always had luck with it correctly identifying image directories. At other times, after finding an image
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directory the Kindle will appear to hang while trying to access it (forcing you to return to the home screen).
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* The Kindle image viewer has no functionality to rotate images. So if there is a horizontally large image (such as
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what often happens with dual-page scans), it can be difficult to make out the text because the image is simply
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scaled to fit (consequently leaving a lot of wasted space at the bottom of the screen).
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* Scanlation images are oftentimes much larger than the 600x800 screen; not only does this make them take more space
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on your memory card but it also slows down image loading (the Kindle has to read more data off of the slow SD card
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and scale the image). Scanlations often also include color scans of covers and inserts which take up more space than
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a grayscale equivalent (which is would be fine for the Kindle's limited display).
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* Kindle's image viewer provides no way to sort images (to determine in which order they are shown). This can be very
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problematic especially considering that scanlation groups have differing naming conventions, and as a result files
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from later chapters may appear before earlier ones when you are reading your Manga (spoilers ftl).
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Mangle was born out of my annoyance with these issues. The program name is a portmanteau of "Manga" and "Kindle"; I
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thought it was pretty clever at the time.
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## Usage
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1. Add the desired images and image directories to the current book.
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2. Re-order the images as needed (files pre-sorted alphabetically).
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3. Configure the book title and image processing options.
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4. Create a root-level directory on your Kindle called `pictures` (case sensitive).
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5. Export your images, selecting the `pictures` directory you just created.
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6. Enjoy your Manga (if it doesn't show up, press <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>Z</kbd> while on the home menu).
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## Dependencies
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* [PyQt4](https://riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt/download)
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* [Python 2.7](http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.7/)
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* [Pillow (PIL)](https://pypi.org/project/Pillow/)
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* [ReportLab](https://pypi.org/project/reportlab/)
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