Which e-book format is best to choose for a smartphone? Choosing the best format for an e-book

Digitization or conversion of analog, paper and other media into digital form, available for recording on electronic media, is becoming an increasingly popular and accessible operation.

Thanks to the latest computer technologies, it is possible to digitize almost any media - photographs, video cassettes, old vinyl records, and of course books.

Agree how convenient this is - there is no need to have extra space for storing books, their pages never turn yellow, they cannot be accidentally stained, digital books will not be torn by naughty children, and most importantly, they are so small that several thousand literary works can be stored on a flash card the size of a thumbnail.
You can easily take such a library with you wherever you go, to work, on a visit or on vacation; all you need is a laptop, mobile phone or a special device for reading e-books, which can be purchased without any problems at any computer store technology.
Creating such an electronic book, or ebook as they say, is very simple. To do this, you will need a high-quality scanner and text recognition software.

The next step is to recognize digital image pages, and the resulting text can be saved both in more familiar formats and in special ones, such as .fb2, .lit or .prc.

Converting a graphic image of text into an editable format is usually done using programs such as Nuance OmniPage Professional, ABBYY FineReader or others like them.

Today, the most common e-book formats are the familiar ones .pdf, .DjVu, .rtf or doc. Other, but also quite well-known to the mass user, formats are a little less common. These include .txt, .docx, .chm, .exe, .odt, .dot, .dotx. Most users, as a rule, do not have problems opening these formats, so let’s move on to considering e-book formats that are used much less frequently. And let's start with the most famous of them.fb2.

FB2

(FictionBook) – A fairly simple, open and convenient format based on XML, created by Russian developers. Books in this format are easily converted, can contain images and are lightweight.

You can open this format using AllReader, AlReader2, ICE Book Reader or Cool Reader. And besides, you can create a book in this format yourself using the htmlDocs2fb2 program. Unfortunately, this program only successfully processes HTML or XML files, so you will need to convert first required file to a web page.

LIT

Closed format from Microsoft. You can open it with a special MS Reader program. To convert into a more convenient format, you can use the Convert LIT program or visit the specialized website www.online-convert.com, where you can convert it into any human-readable format.

R.B.

Quite rare and this moment almost unused format. Was developed for reading Rocket Book e-books.

ePub

Open format of digital books. Essentially it is an archive containing xHTML, HTML, PDF, XML texts, as well as graphic images. You can open this marvel with the programs Cool Reader, AlReader, and, if desired, convert it to another format more suitable for you.

BBeB

Format developed by Sony for Sony Librie and Sony Reader devices. Available in the form .LRF, .LRS, .LRX. Opens with Sony Reader Library, Caliber, Book Designer applications or converted. But as a rule, these formats are very rare.

PRC, TCR

– Also quite rare formats, specially designed for Palm and Psion communicators. On a computer, files of this format can be successfully viewed with the ICE Book Reader Professional program.

PDB (PalmDOC, AportisDoc)

Format developed for Palm OS. Essentially a PDB is a simple database file. Most often it can be found on smartphones running the Symbian 9 operating system. To view it on the phone, use the DC Co iSilo program, but on a PC you can try to open it using ICE Book Reader Professional or DjVuReader, although in this case there may be problems with encoding .

TR (ToRaTRPW)

Another rare format. A distinctive feature of the .TR format is the ability to index text, and therefore the TR format is sometimes used when compiling catalogs of digital books. Files of this format can be opened by Tome Raider.

iSilo

format of electronic books used on pocket computers. By the way, the program with which you can read files with this extension is called iSilo, although it only works on PDAs.

MOBI

Mobipocket e-book files. To view files in .MOBI format, use Mobipocket Reader, Book Designer, Amazon Kindle for PC.

All of the listed formats are quite rare, and by the way this is far from full list. Most of these formats are used to create e-books for mobile devices: phones, smartphones and other “handhelds,” as well as for special portable “readers.”

Such devices (readers), unlike conventional PCs and laptops, are more convenient and practical, “able” to read different formats of electronic books, consume incomparably less energy, and can also have special screens using “E-Ink” technology, i.e. . electronic ink, so reading from such a screen does not tire your eyes.

It is simply impossible not to appreciate the benefits of e-books in our digital age. But even despite such wonderful possibilities, let’s not forget about the paper editions that are still familiar to us; it will still be sad if someday they disappear from store shelves and turn into another antique item.

It is the most popular in the world. It is installed on approximately 85% of all mobile devices and about 60% of tablets. Its openness allows it to be used by many developers of portable electronics. But the lack of uniform standardization has led to the fact that each manufacturer can release slightly modified Android-based firmware. More advanced models are equipped big amount Codecs, accordingly, support more standards. That is why it is not always clear what documents a particular gadget can work with and what video format Android supports. We bring to your attention a hint.

Modern Android tablets work with most video and book formats

Video formats

Most people buy surfing devices during world wide web and watching movies. But sometimes the system displays the error “This video cannot be played on your device.” Even on the most budget tablets with an ancient version of Android, you can use the following formats:

• 263 - 3GPP, MPEG-4, 3gp, mp4 extensions.
• 264 AVC - 3GPP, MPEG-TS, MPEG-4, 3gp, mp4 extensions.
• MPEG-4 SP - 3GPP, extension - 3gp.

Agree, this is quite a bit. If mp4 is a modern format in which you can find enough films, then 3gp is hopelessly outdated. But don't be afraid modern gadgets They can reproduce many more formats. Popular tablet builders guarantee support for the following video formats:

• Samsung - H.263, H.264, MPEG-4, WMV, AVI, 3GP, ASF, WebM, MKV, FLV.
• Nexus - H.264, MP4, H.263.
• HTC - AVI, MPEG4, Xvid, WMV, 3GP, 3G2 H.263, H.264.

In most cases this is quite enough. If you see that your device does not support the downloaded movie, use a free one like Freemake Video Converter or Free MP4 Video Converter to convert the movie to a compatible video format for Android. Just select the Android conversion profile, resolution and file quality from the program menu, and then transfer the finished file to your tablet.

You can always convert videos to the desired format

But it is much more convenient to install a player to watch videos in any format. There are a sufficient number of them, almost all of them are free. The most popular and best are:

• MX Player.
• VLC for Android.
• BSPlayer.
• KMPlayer.

All of them use hardware and multi-core decoding, which allows you to use the full power of multi-core processors; support work with subtitles, both built-in and external, in a variety of video and audio formats; allow you to play network streams. You can also easily control the video using gestures, change orientation, aspect ratio, scale, volume. That is, there will be absolutely no problems watching movies.

Books

In the vast majority of cases, gadgets are not fully equipped. Reading on a tablet is undoubtedly very convenient, thanks to quite big screen and light weight of the device. But then in what format should I download books on Android? Most modern book content is presented in PDF and EPUB formats. Sometimes, especially in the Russian-language segment of the global network, you can find the formats FB2, TXT, RTF, DJVU. Let's take a closer look at them.

• PDF is perhaps the most popular book format for Android. Allows you to decorate your book colorfully, has a built-in table of contents, you can make notes and highlight text different colors. The main drawback is that it is impossible to adjust the text size and fit it to the screen size. In addition, the files are quite large.
• EPUB is an increasingly popular book format. It is essentially an archive of content. The structure of the document resembles a web page. Used in documents where the text is the main one. But you can embed photos, videos, and sounds. Has a table of contents and internal links to the text. A huge advantage is the ability to change the font, its size, hyphens, and page margin width, thus adapting the viewing experience to any screen size.
• FB2 is a somewhat outdated, but still famous format in RuNet. Supports a table of contents, you can change the font size to fit any screen.
• TXT is a plain text document. Does not support tables of contents or text changes. But it has the smallest file size.
• RTF is a text document somewhat reminiscent of a Microsoft Word text document.
• DJVU - scanned image files. Allows you to convey all the authenticity of historical documents. Like PDF, it does not allow you to adjust fonts to fit the screen size.

Android supports all the most popular text formats

What text formats does Android support other than the ones listed? There can be an incredible number of them, for example, UMD, CHM, MOBI, PDB, TCR. They are very rare, but can occur occasionally. How to read them? You can convert them to EPUB or PDF, but there is a chance to install a normal reader and not bother with the conversion. Let's consider popular programs for reading e-books.

• Books is a book store built into Android 4 and older. Allows you to download and buy books from Play Market, and add your own through your phone’s file manager. You cannot change the font size, margin width, screen brightness, you cannot even manually turn on night mode.
• Moon+Reader. Can read epub, pdf fb2, chm, mobi, umd, cbr, cbz, html, txt, rar, zip files.
• Cool Reader. Support fb2, epub, mobi, html, txt, rtf, doc, tcr, prc, chm, pdb, pml.
• FB Reader. Reading books in fb2, fbzip, epub, azw, txt, rtf, html formats. You can install PDF and Djvu modules.

The last three readers can change the size and width of the fields, and have deep appearance settings. There is also a manual night mode switch. Choose the one that you like best.

Conclusion

Now you know what video standards and what book formats Android supports. The system is open; there are many free programs in the Play Market. We recommend installing a universal player and reader. We are also waiting for your advice in the comments about applications not mentioned in the article.

Today you can download books in a huge number of formats, but you need to know in what format to download books on android better?

Features of downloading books to Android in any format

Users who download books to Android often have problems with the ease of reading them. Today there are a huge number of popular formats for downloading e-books, namely: doc, djvu, djvu, txt, fb2, epub, rtf and others. It is quite difficult to understand all their diversity, especially in the absence of a significant visible difference in formats. Many users prefer to use fb2, since this format the best way suitable for reading books. In addition, the pictures are clearly visible, the text is well formatted and easy to flip through. If this format is not available, it is better to download books in doc formats or txt, since some book reading programs cannot support files of this type.

You can install several readers on your mobile device that support different formats (ease of selection).
When downloading texts, some problems may arise, for example, they either do not open or are almost invisible.

Most Android devices have small screens, therefore, it is more rational to choose a format taking into account its scalability. The number of file formats on a mobile phone is not very large (compared to specialized devices).

The most common formats for downloading books on Android

So in what format is it most convenient to download books on Android? There are some common types of files that are available for offline reading and are not accessible to the World Wide Web: epub and pdf.

The advantage of the epub format is automatic setting text for different screen sizes. Epub files can be up to several megabytes in size.
But for individual books on Google Play, only the popular pdf format may be available. Such files are usually larger in size than others; they can reach one hundred megabytes (depending on the volume and content of the e-book). Disadvantages of the format: the text cannot be adjusted to the device on which the book is read. The text of such a file is difficult to read on a small screen.

However, in practice everything is much simpler and, using special applications, other formats can also be read on Android. What they all have in common is that the formats are not suitable for reading on small screens. In addition, to read books you need to install a special application.

MP4 is by far the most popular format played on mobile devices. MP4 came to replace 3GP and became widespread due to the improved degree of video compression, the MP3 track used, and the ability to store various metadata. If you're going to upload video to the Internet, MP4 can be most easily streamed over an Internet connection, and most video storage services support it. The format is also supported by most popular players, and playback codecs are included in the basic package of any operating system and firmware.

The MP4 video file can be played on the computer immediately after reinstalling the operating system. The format can be played on portable players, car video recorders, televisions and any other electronics designed to reproduce images. However, it is worth noting that videos saved in MP4 format may be of slightly lower quality than some other formats, but for mobile devices this fact is an advantage, since due to their small size the files can fit even on small removable media .

AVI is one of the most popular video compression formats. It is supported by any operating system and has gained its popularity thanks to high quality the resulting image. Although the average AVI file is quite large in size, the format is still supported by most players on mobile devices and platforms. The disadvantage of the format is the inability to launch it if there are no codecs preinstalled in the system. However, this problem can be easily solved both on computers and on phones, tablets, players and other portable electronics.

MKV differs from other compression methods in its structure. The format is structurally a container that can store almost any information, various tracks with subtitles, audio tracks, chapters, interactive menus, bookmarks, etc. Wherein MKV video file It has open source and, if desired, can be easily opened and converted in various editors. MKV will be a good choice for professionals who often work with video files both on computers and on modern mobile devices. The format is capable of storing video and audio with virtually no loss of quality. However, due to the low compression ratio of the video track, the final MKV file size is on average larger than other formats, and additional codecs must be installed to play this type of video. However, there are a number of mobile and computer players that allow you to play videos.

Literature lovers often encounter a problem when a downloaded file cannot be opened because its encoding is not supported by the device. To avoid this, let's figure out which format of books for Android will be suitable and most convenient in the reading process.

What book formats exist for Android?

Let's look at what e-book formats each Android device supports. Here is a list of the most popular extensions:

• epub,
• tiff,
• djvu.

Each format actually has its own advantages and disadvantages, which we will touch on below.

This extension is based on XML technology and was developed by domestic programmers. The format is extremely popular in Russia and the CIS countries, but few people have actually heard about it in more distant countries. Readers choose FB2 due to the following advantages:

• This type of text document is easy to structure (add information about the author, table of contents, annotation and table of contents);

• Support for illustrations and images. Editions in FB2 format have a cover and pictures along the narrative (if any);

• This book will not take up much space. At the same time, the only format that can compete with FB2 in this indicator is txt;
• Easy navigation and quick movement through pages;
• There are preset design options.

Files with the FB2 extension are often distributed as ZIP archives. So they borrow less space on the device. Most readers open books directly from the archived source, which is also an advantage of Friction Book.

Epub

Friction Book's main competitor in the domestic market is EPUB. The functionality is slightly different from the format described above. There is also support for illustrations, text structuring, quick page navigation and other essential qualities of a good e-book. EPUB is rarely distributed in ZIP files because... the extension itself is an archive containing text with various markup. This significantly saves space in online storage and user devices.

Which of these two formats to download e-books for your Android device is entirely your choice. FB2 and EPUB are supported by any reader, and you are unlikely to see any differences between them during the reading process.

MOBI

The format was developed by the French company Mobipocket for Amazon. MOBI is used in all Amazon applications and software, so its use is very limited. However, the format is not inferior to EPUВ and FВ2 in functionality, therefore it is often offered as the only one available when downloading a book. Supported by almost all applications.

RTF, TXT, DJVU and other extensions

Such extensions are usually used for highly specialized literature or in cases where using other types of files is simply impossible. For example, DJVU is scanned or photographed pages of a book, converted into accessible form using this encoding. Before downloading files with such extensions, make sure that your program can handle them. Due to their specificity, books of this type are not always supported by “readers” on phones.

Book reading apps

After you have figured out in what format you need to download e-books and text files on Android, it’s time to choose a utility to launch. Here is a list of the most popular reading programs:

• CoolReader. It boasts the widest range of supported extensions (FB2, EPUB, txt, doc, rtf, html, chm, tcr, рdb, рrc, mobi, рml). The program is easy to use and extremely convenient for reading any text documents;

• FBReader. Differs from CoolReader in design style and “lightweight” interface;

• Moon+Reader. Presented on Google Play in paid and free versions. Wide format support, easy-to-use interface and search system - this is distinctive features programs.

Less popular, but not lagging behind the “flagship” in terms of functionality, are the programs Aldiko, ZXReader, Bookmate and others.

The format of books that Android supports (tablet, smartphone, etc.) is determined by the applications installed on the device with this operating system. Nevertheless, there are the most common formats of electronic publications, which, in fact, are what application developers focus on.

In this article we will look at what format of books is supported by Android 4 and other versions of this OS, how these formats are characterized and which one is preferable to download literary works to the device.

FB2

FB stands for FictionBook. This is one of the most popular e-book formats. An Android reader is even named after him - FBReader - which, in addition to the above, opens other files.

Text with the .fb2 extension is formatted using XML markup, that is, it is described with tags. This is what ensures the format’s compatibility with various devices, and also makes it easy to create, transfer and store books. No wonder it is so popular among users.

In addition to the specified reader.fb2 also opens Cool Reader, Monn+ Reader, ALReader without any problems.

EPUB

The Electronic Publication format is actively promoted by Adobe, and quite successfully. It consists of zipped publication data files created based on XML markup of the book text itself (HTML tags or PDF). All Additional materials, such as illustrations, formulas and tables are also stored in separate files. This ensures similar publications on completely different devices. "Android", of course, is among them.

Interestingly, EPUB has copyright protection features. On the Android system, it can be opened by the already mentioned CoolReader, the well-known FBReader and the Aldiko Book Reader program.

TXT

The TXT format is a simple text file (even the name itself is deciphered accordingly). On the Windows operating system, you can create one in Notepad - standard application. This provides the main advantage of the format - it can be opened by almost everyone. But for e-books in TXT format there is a main drawback: the formatting of the publication is lost, since a text file is just a sequence of characters.

But TXT is the absolute answer to the question of what book format Android supports (without installing additional applications). Most likely, such a book will open in the browser by default. But readers like FBReader can handle it too.

HTM

This format is based on HTML markup. In fact, a book in this extension is a hypertext. Unlike TXT, there are more opportunities for including illustrations and insertion of various objects. By the way, this is another format that does not require additional applications (although e-readers are happy to open it). HTML is common when creating web pages, so the *htm book will open in Google Chrome, a standard browser, or any other downloaded program for surfing pages on the Internet.

RTF

The meaning of this format can be literally translated as “rich text”. On Windows it opens using WordPad and regular office Word. The same analogs of programs can be used on Android. However, prudent developers take rtf into account when creating programs, allowing them to open it.

RTF is the next step after TXT, using simple meta tag markup. Most support importing into it.

On Android, this format is opened by CoolReader (users note that the application does not do this quite correctly), Foliant, NOOK for Android.

Finally

As we can see, in essence, when asked what book format Android supports, you can safely answer “any common one.” There are countless readers for this operating system, a certain number are released from time to time, and proven products have support for updates to open more and more diverse formats.

Senior Technology Writer

Someone emailed you a DJVU file and you don't know how to open it? Maybe you've found a DJVU file on your computer and are wondering what it is? Windows may tell you that you cannot open it, or in the worst case, you may encounter a corresponding error message associated with the DJVU file.

Before you can open a DJVU file, you need to find out what kind of file the DJVU file extension is.

Advice: Incorrect DJVU file associations could be a sign of other underlying problems with your Windows operating system. These incorrect entries can also cause other related problems, such as slow Windows startup, computer freezes, and other PC performance issues. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you scan your Windows registry for incorrect file associations and other problems related to registry fragmentation.

Answer:

DJVU files have Files raster images, which is primarily associated with DjVu File (LizardTech Inc.).

Additional types of files may also be using the DJVU file extension. If you are aware of any other file formats that use the DJVU file extension, please contact us so we can update our information accordingly.

How to open your DJVU file:

The fastest and easiest way to open your DJVU file is to double-click on it. In this case, the Windows system itself will select the necessary program to open your DJVU file.

In case your DJVU file does not open, it is very likely that the necessary software is not installed on your PC. application program to view or edit files with DJVU extensions.

If your PC opens the DJVU file, but it's the wrong application, you'll need to change your Windows registry file association settings. In other words, Windows associates the DJVU file extensions with the wrong program.

Software downloads associated with the DJVU file extension:

• FileViewPro*()
• DjVu File (LizardTech Inc.)

*Some DJVU file extension formats can only be opened in binary format.

DJVU Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME):

DJVU File Analysis Tool™

Not sure what type of DJVU file is? Do you want to get precise information about a file, its creator and how it can be opened?

Now you can instantly get all the necessary information about the DJVU file!

The revolutionary DJVU File Analysis Tool™ scans, analyzes and reports detailed information about the DJVU file. Our patent-pending algorithm quickly analyzes the file and provides detailed information within seconds in a clear, easy-to-read format.†

In just a few seconds, you'll know exactly what type of DJVU file you have, the application associated with the file, the name of the user who created the file, the file's protection status, and other useful information.

To begin your free file analysis, simply drag and drop your DJVU file inside the dotted line below, or click "Browse My Computer" and select your file. The DJVU file analysis report will be shown below, right in the browser window.

Drag and drop your DJVU file here to start analysis

View my computer »

Please also check my file for viruses

The .DJVUU format is designed specifically for storing images of various electronic books, documents, drawings, formulas, etc. Those who encounter this for the first time are wondering how to open a DJVU file on a computer or laptop? In fact, everything is simple, there are special programs for this, which have been updated for a long time and are becoming more and more convenient. Now we will look at the two most popular ones for this job.

WinDjView - a program for viewing DjVu format files

STDUViewer - program for viewing electronic documents (DjVu)

1. Run stduviewer.exe and select a language.

2. The installer will ask you to accept the terms of the agreement. Having checked I accept, click next. The next step is to indicate the path where the program will be installed and click next again. After the window where you check the box about creating shortcuts, the installer will ask you to mark which files you want to associate with the STDUViewer program. Do not remove anything from the marked ones and click next and install.

3. The program is installed. After clicking the finish button it will start.

“By double clicking” select the file you want to view and click open.

4. Done. The program opened the djvu file.

Also, in the future, you no longer need to select files through the program, they are already associated and you just need to open the desired file by double clicking to program for readingdjvu She opened the file you needed.

4. Now your computer has than to openDJVU files.

If you have any questions, ask in the comments, we will definitely help.

What is deja vu? No, it's not only psychological condition when it seems to you that you have already seen something similar, or have been in a similar situation. This is also the DjVu file format, a graphic format that is used primarily for saving and compressing scanned books containing color images and text. In the last few years, there has been a boom on the Internet, when books and magazines in this unusual format began to appear everywhere, and entire libraries were opened. What kind of format is this? What are its advantages or disadvantages, for example, over the PDF format? And how to view such files? This article will tell you about all this.

What is DjVu

12 years ago, AT&T Labs first announced the creation of a new format graphic images, which was called DjVu. The initial purpose of its creation was to maintain electronic document management. Despite the fact that the PDF format already existed, it was not satisfactory primarily due to the size of the finished files. To conduct internal document flow, companies needed a format that would have small size and at the same time very good quality, especially good readability of the text and could convey all the details of the document (its texture, abrasions, damage, etc.).
However, gradually new format began to penetrate the Internet, where it gradually began to occupy its niche, pushing aside the PDF giant. For Internet users with a small channel and limited traffic, this was an ideal option.
What is Deja Vu? It is a lossy graphics compression method that supports multi-page documents. Its peculiarity is that before compression the image is divided into two or three layers, text and pictures separately. Then these layers undergo initial compression, the pictures are compressed more, since the loss of their quality does not greatly affect the final result, the text is practically not compressed to ensure maximum quality. Next, the resulting result is compressed using new codecs - IW44 and JB2. IW44 uses wavevets, giving it a size/quality ratio two or more times better than the JPEG format used in PDF.

As a result, an ordinary full-color page with text with a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) has an average size of 50 kb, which allows you to use documents in DjVu format in the internal document flow of companies and on the Internet.
MirSovetov considers it necessary to say separately about the text in DjVu documents. This format supports the ability to add a layer with recognized text (OCR). Despite certain difficulties and labor costs in its creation, as well as the fact that the presence of this layer increases the file size, it provides additional convenience for users. So, if there is an OCR layer, the text can be selected, copied and pasted into a text editor, or the text can be exported to a separate file. In this case, the text has no formatting, that is, when you paste it, for example, into Word, you will get a piece of heterogeneous text, often with various unnecessary elements (various icons, unreadable characters). Also, if there is recognized text, it is possible to search through the text of the document.
Let's summarize a little, calculate the advantages and disadvantages of the DjVu format and see what we can come up with.

Pros:

• the main advantage is, of course, the small size;
• with a small file size, good quality of images and especially text is maintained;
• Only the visible image is processed, which reduces the load on computer resource consumption, which is especially important for large files and for owners of weak machines;
• the ability to use the format for displaying literature and documents containing formulas, diagrams, tables, as well as historical documents, while preserving the texture of the scanned document;
• text remains clear even at high magnification.

Minuses:

• DjVu is lossy image compression. That is, some information is inevitably lost. This mainly applies to pictures.

DjVu now

Initially, this format was open source, thanks to which there is a huge amount of free software for working with it. But in 2000, AT&T Labs transferred the rights to the format to LizardTech, which continued the path of promoting and developing DjVu, while already relying on commercial rails, offering its products for money.

In 2005, using DjVu technology, more than 4,000 issues of The New Yorker magazine over its 80 years of existence were converted into electronic form. They fit on 8 DVD discs.

Recently, DjVu has been spreading across the Internet at a very fast pace. Primarily due to the advantageous file size. But at the same time, many users have not yet learned how to sufficiently work with this type of compression. As a result, DjVu in most cases is significantly inferior to PDF.
A serious obstacle to the development of DjVu is the fact that PDF has been used in various fields for many years, and this format has become the standard for document management. Various user manuals and documents are distributed in PDF format. However, new technology is progressing and is gradually gaining its place in the market and in the hearts of Internet users.
And the latest news from the world of DjVu from MirSovetov. On July 1, 2008, Celartem Technology Inc., a provider of software solutions for storing, viewing and distributing multimedia materials, as well as the parent company of which LizardTech is a division, announced the creation of a new sales and management center for DjVu, which is located in Seattle, Washington. (USA). Accordingly, now the format is supported on the Internet not from the LizardTech company website (http://www.lizardtech.com), but from the Celartem Technology Inc. website. (http://www.celartem.com).

Famous world creation project inexpensive computer for African children - "One Laptop per Child" - also chose the DjVu format for use, which optimally meets the requirements of the project concept with its small size.

Possibility of working with DjVu format

What can we do when working with a document in DjVu format? Of course, everything depends on the specific program chosen, but there are some general features.
When working with the DjVu format you can:

• enlarge/reduce pages, adjust to page width/height. They can be turned over, placed two or four on the screen, flipped or scrolled using scrolling;
• work with text if the file contains a layer with recognized text (OCR). In this case, the text can be selected, copied and pasted in a text editor, and in this case you can also use the search in the text of the document;
• select individual parts of the page and copy to the clipboard;
• print the document or individual pages;
• make bookmarks, use hyperlinks, which leads to good navigation through the book;
• view the page in different modes (color, black and white, background, foreground). MirSovetov advises sometimes (for better text display) to switch from color mode to black and white. The text becomes clearer and brighter, but color pictures are not displayed.

Programs for viewing DjVu

Using what programs can you comfortably view books saved in this format? There are many viewers, we will briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of some of the most common and most importantly free programs.

DjVu Browser Plug-in for Windows

Program page (English): http://www.celartem.com
Language: support for 10 languages ​​(Russian is not on this list, unfortunately)
Platform: Windows, Mac OS X, UNIX
Download: http://www.celartem.com/en/download/djvu.asp
Size: 5.6-7.4 MB (depending on the selected language)

Viewer from LizardTech, which is currently promoting the DjVu format. On the download page, you can choose to either install automatically, or download the file first and then install the program manually.
Standard set of functions. Available various modes viewing, zoom, printing and the ability to save pages in BMP format (for example, for further use in the FineReader program). Simple and convenient interface.
Individual parts of the page can be selected and copied as an image.
When working with a text layer, the search is not very convenient. Although it has a number of settings and successfully copes with its functions, it does not allow you to display all the results found in the form of a series of bookmarks. The results found must be viewed one at a time. But text selection works very well. Unlike other programs presented in the review, LizardTech’s creation copies text with the least amount of “garbage” (various icons, unreadable characters), so the result requires less editing costs in text editor.
Like other programs presented in the review (except for DjVu FancyViewer) it has a useful function - scale by selection. We select this command and select part of the page - in the next moment it will be enlarged.
But the program is not without its shortcomings. There is a significant lack of scrolling within the document (it only works within each page separately), and there is not enough ability to make bookmarks.

WinDjView

Program page (Russian): http://windjview.sourceforge.net/ru/index.html
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003
Language: English (Russian, if you download an additional library)
Spreading: for free
Download: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=114927
Size: 0.5 MB

A convenient, beautifully designed program, small in size and does not require installation. The default language is English. To set Russian, MirSovetov advises immediately downloading the additional library WinDjView-0.5-RU.dll from the download page and placing it in the same folder with the program. Then launch the viewer and select Russian from the menu.
There are various settings, including image correction (brightness, contrast, gamma)
When working with a text layer (OCR), you can select part of the text, copy it, perform a convenient search, and also export all the text to a separate file (txt). You can select part of the text (fill, frame), make bookmarks.
In addition to zooming by selection, WinDjView has another interesting feature related to the zoom mode. In this mode, by pressing the left mouse button, you can see an enlarged image of part of the page, as if you were looking at it under a magnifying glass.
Individual pages can be exported to BMP format.

STDU Viewer

Program page (English): http://www.stdutility.com/
Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
Language: English and Russian
Spreading: for free
Download: http://www.stdutility.com/stduviewer.html
Size: 1.5 MB

Another DjVu viewer. During installation, you can choose one of two languages: English or Russian. It works quickly and is small in size. A very useful feature is creating bookmarks and saving them in the document itself. And the main advantage over the other programs considered is that it supports, in addition to the DjVu format itself, viewing TIFF and PDF documents, thanks to which STDU Viewer also acts as an alternative to Adobe Reader.
This program provides the most comfortable work with text, naturally, in the presence of a text OCR layer. Here you can select a piece of text and copy it to the clipboard, followed by pasting it into a text file. To select all the text in a document, just select a small fragment at the beginning and click “End”. Very convenient system search, having useful settings(case sensitive, whole word only). The search result is displayed in the form of a list with bookmarks: the first column indicates the page number, the second - a piece of text with the searched word. Double clicking on any of the bookmarks takes you to the desired page, the sentence with the searched word is highlighted in color.
There is also the ability to adjust the brightness, contrast and gamma of the image; this option is not very popular, but is extremely useful when viewing documents that are not of the best quality. The downside is the inability to display individual image layers (color, black and white, foreground and background).
My choice is this program. The best combination of compactness, convenience and functionality. And of course – support for the Russian language!

DjVu FancyViewer

Program page: No
Platform: Windows
Language: English
Spreading: for free
Download: http://djvu-inf.narod.ru/djvubookmark.rar
Size: 1.5 MB

A simple and already outdated program that does not require installation. Nothing special, except for the colorful turning of pages in double-page mode. There are several options - it feels like you are leafing through a real book. There is indeed an inconvenience to this. The program displays the book all the time in a two-page format, so to make it convenient to read, you have to constantly use zoom.
There is no ability to work with text at all, and there is no printing. No additional settings. On the other hand, the program is very simple and is quite suitable for a person who does not want to understand large quantities settings and functions, but just wants to open and view a document or book. Since nothing else can be done in this program.

In general, the functionality of the utilities is not much different. Therefore, when choosing a program for viewing books and documents in DjVu format, you should pay attention to the interface language, whether installation is necessary (there is no need to clog up your computer and registry if you have the option not to do this) and the size of the program installation file. Although everything, of course, depends on why a person needs this program, and what exactly he intends to do with it.

Surely, everyone, when working with a computer, has encountered a situation where they encounter an unfamiliar file format and do not know what program should be used to open it. Therefore, this article is for those who do not know what a DjVu file is needed for and how to open it.

DjVu files are electronic documents. But unlike the same PDF files, this format has a slightly different purpose. This format is used to convert various books with a very large number of mathematical formulas and capital symbols into electronic form; historical books or documents, where the background on which they are written is important, all the folds of the paper, all the cracks formed over time, etc. Another feature of DjVu files is that when transferred over the network, the page can be viewed before the file itself is completely downloaded.

One of the popular programs for viewing DjVu files is DjVu Reader.

DjVu Reader is one of the first programs designed to view DjVu files. Although it was released relatively long ago, it is quite easy to use. It does not have a translation into Russian, but it is completely free. You can download DjVu Reader.

Also, there is another program for working with the DjVu format, which is called WinDjView. It is a little newer than DjVu Reader and has more functionality. This program is also absolutely free and can be downloaded from.

How to open a djvu file?

To be able to open a file of this extension, you must install a utility to work with it. Previously, the necessary programs were given, although the principle of working with them is slightly different. There is no need to install the DjVu Reader program, since it is already offered in working order.

But WinDjView needs to be installed. First, you need to download the installation file (link above). After that, run the installer, perform all the specified steps and wait for the installation to complete. That's it, now using WinDjView you can easily open the DjVu file you need.

Now, let's look at how to open a DjVu file, using an example DjVu programs Reader:

After this, you can start working with this file.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments!

Electronic books (readers, readers) have long become common devices for a wide range of users. Their advantages: accessibility of content (you can download the necessary book from the Internet in a matter of minutes), an E-ink screen that does not damage your eyesight, the ability to have a collection of thousands of books in the reader, long work on a single charge, settings for font type and size. Not long ago, e-books with backlit screens appeared - they allow you to read in complete darkness. In general, the advantages of readers can be listed for a very long time.

However, when getting acquainted with e-readers, users often have one problem. People who decide to purchase a reader for the first time, when faced with the concept of “electronic book formats,” often do not understand what we are talking about. The problem is especially relevant for beginners, to whom the abbreviations "FB2", "EPUB" or "MOBI" mean absolutely nothing.

The so-called formats are Various types electronic text files that are supported (reproduced) by one or another. IN electronic libraries The Internet often offers a large set of file types: FB2, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, DOC, RTF, TXT and others. The choice is wide, and this poses certain challenges for beginners. We will describe the main formats of e-books, tell you how they differ from each other, which readers are supported, and which format is better to choose if you have a multi-format reader that reads all formats.

Varieties of formats

1. FB2 (FictionBook)- an e-book format that was created by a group of Russian developers. Books in this file type have a structured appearance (that is, they contain a breakdown by chapter, content, illustrations, cover). In addition, this standard stores information about the file (so-called tags: author, title, genre), which is read by the reader and allows the user to conveniently sort files on the device. This type of file takes up a small amount of space, can be archived, and is also easily converted into other formats. Among the features: due to the fact that the format was originally developed for the Cyrillic alphabet, texts in Russian in FB2 have word hyphens.

The format was originally designed for Russian users, and it is practically not used abroad. That is why FB2 is not supported by the world's popular e-reader manufacturers - Amazon and Barnes & Noble. But this is the main file format for e-readers popular in Russia from Pocketbook, Onyx and Wexler. In addition, Sony readers now support FB2 - after entering the Russian market, the company has developed official firmware for the reader, which allows you to read books in FB2.

2. EPUB (Electronic PUBlication)- the world's most popular electronic format for readers. Barnes & Noble and Sony readers work with it. In terms of layout structure, this type of file resembles an archived web page containing text, graphics, embedded fonts, and illustrations.

In addition to Western brands, the EPUB format is supported by models from manufacturers focused on the Russian market (Pocketbook, Onyx, Wexler) due to the rapid growth of popularity in our country. In addition, this e-book standard is used by iPhone and . Apple's proprietary iBooks reader supports EPUB.

3. MOBI- format of e-book readers. Gaining popularity in Russian online libraries as Kindle becomes more popular in Russia. Other readers support this format “for show”. MOBI is similar in properties to EPUB. Amazon recently introduced another electronic text format, Kindle Format 8 or KF8 (it features richer formatting), with the clarification that Amazon readers new and old will continue to support MOBI.

4. TXT- format of simple text documents. You can convert text from another format to TXT with a simple copy-paste action. Although this type The file is supported by almost all e-readers and takes up very little space in memory; we would not recommend reading books in it on e-readers. TXT lacks formatting, markup, hyphenation, and alignment. It is suitable for short text notes, but not for full-fledged e-books.

5. PDF (Portable Document Format)- an electronic document format created by Adobe Systems. Inconvenient for use on readers for a number of reasons. Firstly, files in this format are very bulky, as they are designed for the power of a computer, and open quite slowly on e-readers. Secondly, if the file is not specifically designed for the screen of a 6-inch reader, which has a format similar to an A6 paper sheet, then reading an A4 PDF on it (and most PDF files are presented in the size of a standard paper sheet) will be very difficult. In PDF, you can only increase the scale, but not the font size, which means that only some part of the page will be able to fit on the screen. You will have to read the pages in parts, and this is very inconvenient.

PDFs are suitable for reading, the screen size of which allows you to reproduce the page on a scale large enough for comfortable reading.

6. DJVU- a format designed for storing scanned documents - books, articles, manuscripts. A book in DJVU is actually a collection of scanned pages. In terms of reading comfort on 6-inch readers, everything is similar to the story with PDF. You won't increase the font size, just the scale. When zooming, the page will extend beyond the screen, and you will have to constantly move the area of ​​the enlarged text to read - there is no need to talk about comfortable reading. To read DJVU, choose readers with a 9-inch screen. However, even on 9-inch readers, the ability to conveniently read DJVU depends on how well the book presented in this format is scanned.

7. LRF- formerly a proprietary format of Sony readers. On new models (starting with PRS-T1) it is no longer used, as it has given way to EPUB. Converts very poorly to other file types. Despite the fact that it is still presented in some libraries, it is recommended to use it exclusively for owners of older Sony models.

8. RTF (Rich Text Format)- format for storing text documents. Belongs to the category of “computer”, not “book”. Reading in RTF on readers is not very convenient - these are large files, and the speed of the reader is reduced by an order of magnitude.

9. DOC(and DOCX) - text documents Microsoft Office. These formats are supported by quite a lot of readers, but specifically for reading documents, not books. Large files in this format can be large in size and difficult to work with on readers. It is better to convert multi-page books in DOC to FB2 or EPUB.

We have listed the main formats of e-books. We will not consider the completely exotic types of files that are sometimes found on the Internet, but rather decide which of the above formats is most convenient for reading books on electronic readers.

Which e-book format to choose

If you have an e-reader that supports all formats, then you can choose a specific file type based on a number of factors. Let's say you buy your first e-book, and you don't have a pre-collected collection of books, for example, in FB2. In this case, choose the file format that is best reproduced by your reader. Traditional “book” formats EPUB or FB2 are more preferable and convenient for the reader (and for the user) than “computer” PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX and RTF.

In the case of 9-inch readers and the need to read DJVU and PDF, all other things being equal, we recommend giving preference to the latter, since PDF is more modern format, and books in DJVU are often of poor quality.

From the point of view of ease of use, the advantages of “book” formats are obvious: EPUB, FB2 or MOBI visually look better in the menu of your reader (book covers are displayed), they are more convenient to sort (there are tags: author, title, genre), they take up much less memory space and speed of the reader with such formats will be significantly higher.

Do you need support for all formats?

In our opinion, it is not at all necessary to choose an all-format reader. Many users who have ereaders that support all formats download books in one or two file types. All e-readers (including multi-format ones), one way or another, have a main format, and in the end you won’t exchange for others. For Pocketbook, Onyx and Wexler the main formats are FB2 or EPUB, for Barnes & Noble () and Sony - EPUB, for Kindle - MOBI.

In the case of Amazon and Barnes & Noble readers, if the book you need is in a format that these readers do not support, you can use a converter (for example, Caliber). This is a program that is installed on your computer and allows you to convert the same FB2 to MOBI or EPUB in a matter of minutes.

Reading books in the reader’s native format is better than using those installed on the reader additional programs. Our advice: take a few minutes to convert a book, for example, from RTF to EPUB using the Caliber converter. This is more convenient than reading it “in the original” using additional installed program(on Sony PRS-T1 or Kindle) or experience slower operation of the device (for example, on Pocketbook readers).

Remember that the main thing is the ease of use of an e-book, and not the number of formats stated in its parameters.

Enjoy reading!

Common e-book formats

TXT- format of ordinary text documents. This format is supported by all e-books. The TXT format does not have any text formatting. Also, documents in this format cannot contain images or graphics.
It is not recommended to choose this format due to the lack of graphics and text formatting.

FB2- the format was developed for Russian users and “tailored” to the Cyrillic alphabet. Books in FB2 format support text formatting, chapter breakdown, books can contain graphics and illustrations. Also in this format, book parameters such as title, author, content, genre can be saved, which are read by electronic readers and allow the user to sort files on the device.
This format is recommended for devices sold in Russia. Devices brought from abroad will most likely not open files of this format.

EPUB- a modern format that is increasingly gaining popularity among users all over the world. Just like the FB2 format, it supports text formatting, chapter breakdown, books can contain graphics and illustrations. This e-book format is used in Apple technology.
This format is also recommended for selection.

MOBI- e-book format used in Kindle readers. It is gaining popularity due to the increasing appearance of Kindle readers in Russia. In terms of its characteristics, the MOBI format is similar to FB2 and EPUB.

These e-book formats are the most common and are supported by almost all modern e-books.

Other eBook formats

RTF- an electronic document format originally developed for Windows. Not very convenient for reading on e-readers due to the large file size.

HTML or HTM- web document format. Sometimes used for e-books.
Books can be opened using a web browser on your computer.

LIT- e-book format developed by Microsoft. It is quite widespread, but it has some problems, since it is read mainly using special software - Microsoft Reader. Somewhat similar to the PDF format, can be scaled, supports bookmarks and annotations.

LRF- an e-book format developed by Sony for its readers. The LRF format is used only in Sony readers. If necessary, you can use a converter to convert this format to any other. The popularity of the LRF format is declining.

MBR- e-book format called MobiPocket. Developed by a French company of the same name. It is used in most cases for reading on communicators and PDAs.

AZW- commercial format of electronic books with protection from copying and conversion. Used only in readers from Amazon Kindle. Amazon monitors books on Kindle devices and can remove books from devices online en masse if copyright infringement occurs.

PDF- an electronic document format created by Adobe. It is inconvenient for use on a reader due to the fact that files in this format are very bulky, as they are designed for the power of a computer. If the file is not specifically designed for the screen of a 6-inch reader, which has a format similar to an A6 paper sheet, then reading an A4 PDF on it (and most PDF files are presented in the size of a standard paper sheet) will be very inconvenient. In PDF, you can only zoom in, but you cannot increase the font size, which means that on the reader’s screen you will see either very small text or only a fragment of the page. Therefore, this format is not recommended for reading e-books.

DJVU- a format designed for storing scanned documents. A book in DJVU format is actually a collection of scanned pages. As a rule, it has low quality. Just like PDF, it is not recommended to choose e-books for reading.

DOC or DOCX- Microsoft Office electronic document formats. These formats are supported by quite a lot of readers, but specifically for reading documents, not books. Large files in this format can be large in size, and not all readers will be able to open such “heavy” files.

These e-book formats can be opened on a computer. But not all e-readers will be able to recognize them.

Which format should I choose for reading e-books?

Let's decide which format is best to use for reading e-books!

If you have a modern reader, modern device to read e-books, then most likely you will open all the above formats on it.

But from the point of view of convenience, we recommend that you opt for FB2 or EPUB formats. The FB2 and EPUB formats, as well as MOBI, were originally created for electronic books. They take up a small amount of memory and are supported by all e-book reading devices.

What other formats do you know? Write in the comments to the article and also ask your questions.