CBZ/CBR → FB2
Going from Comic book archive (.cbr, .cbz, .cbt, .cb7) to FictionBook (.fb2) is a routinely useful direction for this kind of file — FB2 is a single XML file holding text, metadata and illustrations together, so nothing goes missing in transit. Fortunately Comic book archive and FictionBook are structurally close, so there is not much to lose. Below we explain in detail how Comic book archive becomes FictionBook and what to watch out for, and the page ends with a converter that does the job right in your browser — nothing is uploaded, the file never leaves your machine.
What is CBZ/CBR?
A comic archive (.cbz, .cbr, .cbt, .cb7) is really just a set of one-image-per-page files packed into an archive under a different extension: .cbz is ZIP, .cbr is RAR, .cbt is TAR and .cb7 is 7z. It has no text layer, so it can be neither searched nor copied, and page order comes entirely from how filenames sort — which means the names must be zero-padded (001.jpg, 002.jpg) or page 10 lands right after page 2. It suits comics, art books and page-scanned volumes: it is a collection of images, not a text book. Read the CBZ/CBR format guide
| Extensions | .cbr.cbz.cbt.cb7 |
|---|---|
| Typical use | Comics, art books and books scanned to images; fundamentally an image bundle rather than a text book. |
What is FB2?
FB2 (FictionBook) is an open e-book format based on XML. Text, metadata and illustrations all live in a single file, with images embedded as Base64, so one file distributes completely and you never end up with the text present but the images missing. Its structure is simpler than EPUB and therefore easier for readers to implement, and it is most popular in Russian-speaking regions. The drawback is that it supports almost no complex CSS, so it suits text-plus-illustration books rather than titles that depend on fine layout. Read the FB2 format guide
| Extensions | .fb2 |
|---|---|
| Typical use | Russian-language e-books; single-file distribution where embedded illustrations and full metadata matter. |
How to convert CBZ/CBR to FB2
A comic archive is a renamed archive: .cbz=ZIP, .cbr=RAR, .cbt=TAR, .cb7=7z. It has no text layer, and page order comes from filename sorting — if names are unpadded (1.jpg, 2.jpg … 10.jpg) page 10 lands right after page 2, so rename with zero padding first.
FB2 requires structured XML body text, Base64-embedded images and metadata inside <description>. It supports almost no CSS, so it suits text-plus-illustration books rather than layout-heavy titles.
Layout must be rebuilt: the paragraph, column and figure positions in the source were arranged for a fixed page and mean nothing once the target reflows. The converter can only re-stitch a text stream, so paragraphs may merge wrongly, columns may interleave and figures may land mid-sentence. Read the first few chapters afterwards, watching dialogue breaks and figure placement.
The source has no text layer — every page is an image. No text-targeted conversion can conjure text: you either get blank output or the image inserted as one oversized object. Getting searchable, reflowable text requires OCR first, and OCR on Chinese fiction introduces character errors that need proofreading.
The source is one full-page image per page while the target reflows: each image is inserted in sequence, and with no text layer you end up with an image stream. The result is usually huge and unsearchable — a worse reading experience than the original.
Convert CBZ/CBR to FB2
COMIC → FB2
The conversion runs entirely in your browser — your file is never uploaded.
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