Kobo Format Support: Complete Technical Guide 2024

Quick Navigation

• Core Format Support
• Document Formats
• Image Support
• Advanced Formats
• Performance Analysis
• Optimization Guide

Core Format Support

EPUB Format

• Versions Supported: EPUB 2.0, 3.0, 3.1
• DRM Compatibility:
• Adobe DRM
• Kobo DRM
• Social DRM
• Features:
• Fixed layout support
• Reflowable text
• Interactive elements
• Audio support (selected models)
• Video embedding (preview only)

PDF Support

• Core Features:
• Native rendering
• Reflow capability
• Zoom levels: 100-300%
• Page rotation
• Two-page view
• Advanced Features:
• Text extraction
• Margin cropping
• Column detection
• Table recognition
• Form field support (view only)

MOBI Format

• Support Level: Basic, non-DRM only
• Limitations:
• No Amazon DRM support
• Limited formatting options
• Basic navigation only
• Conversion Requirements:
• Direct loading supported
• No conversion needed
• Maintains basic formatting

Document Formats

Plain Text (TXT)

• Encoding Support:
• UTF-8
• ASCII
• Unicode
• ISO-8859-1
• Features:
• Auto-detection
• Line wrapping
• Paragraph detection
• Custom formatting

Rich Text Format (RTF)

• Support Level: Intermediate
• Features Supported:
• Basic formatting
• Font styles
• Tables
• Images
• Limitations:
• Complex layouts
• Advanced formatting
• Macros

HTML/HTM

• Support Features:
• Basic HTML tags
• CSS support (limited)
• Image embedding
• Link recognition
• Limitations:
• No JavaScript
• Limited CSS
• No external resources
• Static content only

Image Support

Standard Formats

1. JPEG/JPG

• Quality: Up to 16 megapixels
• Color depth: 24-bit
• Optimization: Automatic
• Size limits: 15MB per file

1. PNG

• Transparency: Supported
• Color depth: Up to 32-bit
• Animation: Not supported
• Size recommendation: Under 5MB

1. BMP

• Basic support
• Limited optimization
• Not recommended
• Large file size impact

1. TIFF

• Single page only
• No compression
• Limited practical use
• Storage intensive

Comic/Manga Formats

CBR Support

• Features:
• Page navigation
• Zoom support
• Double-page view
• Panel detection
• Limitations:
• File size constraints
• Memory usage
• Loading speed
• Battery impact

CBZ Support

• Advantages:
• Better compression
• Faster loading
• Lower memory usage
• Preferred format
• Features:
• Panel view
• Page rotation
• Zoom levels
• Reading direction control

Advanced Formats

FB2 Format

• Support Level: Full
• Features:
• Metadata support
• Internal images
• Table of contents
• Footnotes
• Extensions:
• FB2.ZIP support
• Automatic decompression
• Metadata preservation
• Image extraction

XHTML Support

• Implementation:
• Basic tags
• CSS subset
• Image embedding
• Table support
• Limitations:
• No external resources
• Limited styling
• Static content only
• No scripts

Performance Analysis

Format Loading Times

Format	Small Files	Large Files	Images	Complex Layout
EPUB	Excellent	Good	Good	Excellent
PDF	Good	Fair	Fair	Good
MOBI	Good	Fair	Good	Fair
CBR/CBZ	Fair	Poor	Good	N/A
TXT	Excellent	Excellent	N/A	N/A

Memory Impact

• High Impact:
• Large PDFs
• Image-heavy EPUBs
• CBR/CBZ files
• Complex layouts
• Low Impact:
• Text files
• Basic EPUBs
• FB2 documents
• HTML files

Optimization Guide

Best Practices

EPUB Optimization

1. File Size:

• Optimal: Under 50MB
• Maximum: 100MB
• Split if larger
• Optimize images

1. Image Handling:

• JPEG compression
• Appropriate resolution
• Limited per chapter
• Progressive loading

1. Structure:

• Clean markup
• Proper chapter breaks
• Minimal CSS
• Standard fonts

PDF Optimization

1. Pre-processing:

• Reduce resolution
• Optimize images
• Remove unnecessary elements
• Flatten forms

1. Layout:

• Standard page sizes
• Clear margins
• Proper text flow
• Limited columns

Comic/Manga Optimization

1. File Preparation:

• Use CBZ format
• Optimize page size
• Reduce color depth
• Balance quality/size

1. Organization:

• Proper page order
• Clear file names
• Series organization
• Metadata inclusion

Format Conversion Recommendations

Preferred Conversion Paths

Source Format → Recommended Format
Word/Doc    → EPUB
Web Pages   → EPUB
Comics      → CBZ
Magazines   → PDF
Textbooks   → PDF
Novels      → EPUB
Technical   → EPUB/PDF

Conversion Tools

• Calibre (recommended)
• Pandoc (advanced)
• Online converters (basic)
• Publisher tools (professional)

Conclusion

This format support guide provides a comprehensive overview of Kobo’s file handling capabilities. For optimal performance and compatibility, EPUB remains the recommended format for most content, with PDF reserved for documents requiring fixed layouts and CBZ for comics/manga.