Download ComicRack 0.9.143

Softworld editor's review - 2011-07-28

Excellent application for watching electronic comics

Comicrack is an application which can be used to read electronic comics. In order to load such a document first you have to go to File. This is located in the top left corner of the main window. You have to click open eComic and then your favorite comic book will be loaded. The image will appear in the center of the window.

To navigate through the pages you can either use the arrows which are located in the top right corner of the main window or you can select the pages menu. Here you will be able to choose from the available pages the ones that you like the best. If you want the image to be displayed in full screen all that you have to do is on the main screen to press a simple click. If you want to return back at the previous menu you can either press again click or the escape button.

Once the comic book is loaded the menu located at the top left of the window disappears. However you can still search for this type of documents in your computer in the other menu which can be found at the bottom of the page at left. Here you can find 3 sections: Library, Folders and Pages. In the Library section you can create a New Folder, a New List and a Smart List. Also you can open your current list in a New Window and in a New Tab.

When the comic is displayed on the main window by pressing click right on the image you have available various options such as Info, Rating, Page Type, Page Rotation, Bookmarks, Page Layout, Magnifier and others. From all of these options the one that really caught my attention was the Magnifier. By clicking this option a loupe will be loaded and you will be able to magnify the areas of the comic book that you want. In the top left of the screen beside file there are also available Edit, Browse, Read, Display and Help.

By accessing Edit you can enter the preferences menu. Here you have available Reader Setup, Libraries, Behavior, Scripts, and Advanced Settings. In the Reader Setup you can set the quality, enable or disable hardware acceleration and make various adjustments to the image. Beside that you can also operate various settings to the keyboard and mouse.

If you encounter difficulties in navigating through the menus and making various settings at any time you can enter the help section. Here you can find detailed documentation, enter the user forum, find out various news about the latest releases etc. Without a doubt that this application has plenty of features. Some of them are very useful while others are not so great.

I really don't like the fact that you can enter the full screen mode with just one click. When you are navigating through the menus believe me that this feature can be extremely frustrating. Despite of the fact that hardware acceleration is used the interface is definitely not the best looking. On the plus side to comics look simply gorgeous and there are available multiple navigation options.

Good:

-easy to use
-excellent Help section
-lets you read comics comfortably

Bad:

-confusing menu system
-one click feature
-not the best looking interface

Version 0.9.143 reviewed on: 28 Jul 2011

Publisher's description

ComicRack is the best eComic reader and manager for Windows computers.

ComicRack is an all-in-one solution to read and manage your eComic library. It is actively maintained, has a strong user base and is free.
Read your eComics the way you want: fast navigation, auto scrolling, auto rotation, dynamic zooming, automatic page fitting, magnifier, manga mode, full screen reading, dual screen support, multi-tab interface.


Changes on the new version:
* NEW: Library gauges can now be customized * NEW: Added Quick Introduction Manual (Opened the first time ComicRack is started & new Menu Entry in Help) * NEW: Support for .xml sidecar files for initial book information (currently only read, not updated) * NEW: "Web..." command in Book Context Menu to show website * NEW: Added new "Black" background texture * CHANGE: Better image caching in reader to minimize animation stuttering * CHANGE: Statusbar now also shows the name of the selected list * CHANGE: Stock background/paper textures have a fixed layout (can not be changed) * BUGFIX: The WebComic parser now honors the html-base element * BUGFIX: Del, Ctr-C, Ctr-V, Ctrl-Z, Ctrl-X, Ctrl-A now work as expected in list inline editing * BUGFIX: Better search code for ghostscript (thanks to forkicks) * BUGFIX: Correct enabling/disabling of context menu items with keyboard shortcuts * BUGFIX: Query Cache updates did not cascade properly to dependent lists * BUGFIX: All plugin scripts now run in their own context * BUGFIX: Fixed Formats.zip and Special.zip * BUGFIX: MouseSwitchesToFullLibrary in ComicRack.ini is working again.

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