0xh4ku/manga-pdf-to-epub

This project is a specialized converter for turning manga PDF files into EPUB or CBZ ebook files, aimed at readers who use Apple Books on iPad or Mac. It is not a general PDF compressor. The README is clear that it assumes the source PDF already contains the manga pages as images, and the goal is to copy those images into the ebook losslessly while tidying up the reading order. The core problem it solves is described early on. Manga is usually read right to left, with art that spans two facing pages. Apple Books has a quirk where it can stick an invisible blank page next to the cover, which throws off every spread after it and splits double-page artwork down the middle. Most converters produce a valid file but give you no way to see or fix this. This tool gives you that control. It can preview where Apple Books will insert the virtual blank, let you add or delete real blank pages anywhere, and adjust which image is treated as the cover. The project ships both a graphical interface built with Tkinter and a command-line script. The GUI workflow walks the reader through opening a PDF, keeping the Apple Books cover-gap preview on, inspecting spreads, inserting blanks where needed, deleting unwanted pages with an undo option, setting title, author, language, and cover image, and finally exporting and testing the file in Apple Books. There is also a series mode that imports many volumes at once, gives each a generated Volume number title, lets you review each one individually, mark volumes as ready, and export only the ready ones. Layout choices can be saved as version 2 preset files that record spine order, blanks, deleted pages, inserted external images, and metadata defaults. Presets can be applied to a chosen subset of volumes using a scope syntax like 1,2,7 or 1-7 or all, while each volume keeps its own auto-generated series title. The command line covers the same ground. The README shows examples for single PDFs, multiple PDFs into an output directory, setting metadata, choosing a specific source page as cover-only art, applying a preset, deleting page ranges, inserting an external PNG before a chosen spine position, and tagging series volumes. Installation needs Python 3.11 or newer and a make setup command that creates a virtual environment and installs requirements.