Pocketbook Configuration

PocketBook devices support additional configuration options that are not exposed in the device user interface. These options are not formally documented by PocketBook. Many users on the MobileRead forums and also the German E-Reader-Forum have discovered and worked out many of these options - thanks must go to them. This page attempts to collect these discoveries together in one easy to find place.

1. You will need to connect your PocketBook to your computer using the supplied USB cable, and select the "PC link" action. This will make your PocketBook look like an external USB disk to your computer.
2. Then you will need to look inside the PocketBook's "system" directory. This is a hidden directory, so you may need to persuade your Mac or Windows that you really really want to look inside it. This Microsoft Windows support article may help.

You should keep backup copies of any files you edit, in case of problems.

We will now break down the configuration files available in each directory.

applications/icons/

This subdirectory may not exist by default. Inside it you can copy pairs of files. Each file must be in Windows BMP format and have a maximum size of 128 x 128 pixels:

• <somename>.bmp - this is the "unfocussed" icon
• <somename>_f.bmp - this is the "focussed" icon

You then need to edit the "view.json" file to associate them with an application; see below.

Reference: Github jjrrw174 PocketBook-Desktop-and-App-Customizations

Device / Firmware	Status
Era / 6.8.x	Working

system/config/

In this directory you will find this file:

• global.cfg

system/config/global.cfg

You can change the browser's home page here (or in the normal settings) and the font used when you set the reader's font to "default"

   browser_default_url=http://my_calibre_address
   font= Roboto-Regular.ttf
   font.b=Roboto-Bold.ttf
   font.bi=Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf
   font.i=Roboto-Italic.ttf

Device / Firmware	Status
Inkpad Color 3 / 6.8.x	Not working (values get reset)

Reference: MobileRead A few Pocketbook questions

system/config/desktop/

In this directory you will find this file:

• view.json

system/config/desktop/view.json

This JSON file can be used to exclude/include applications on the desktop screens. Just remove the name from the appropriate "apps" array, for example in this fragment of "view.json", and reboot:

   "title": "@General",
   "sort": "title",
   "apps": [
       "PB_Dictionary",
       "PB_Library",
       "PB_Settings",
       "U_koreader"
   ]

To associate a custom icon in "/applications/icons/" with an application, add the following JSON snippet between the "applications" and "_comment" keys:

   "U_koreader": {
       "path": "/mnt/ext1/applications/koreader.app",
       "title": "KOReader",
       "icon": "/mnt/ext1/applications/icons/desktop_app_koreader.bmp",
       "focused_icon": "/mnt/ext1/applications/icons/desktop_app_koreader_f.bmp"
   },

The JSON keys are:

• path - Location to the app (eg KOReader) on your file system
• title - The title of the app. Needs to match how it's displayed on your Home screen or from the Changing app names step
• icon - location of the static icon you want to use on your file system
• focused_icon - location of the "tapped" icon you want to use on your file system

Note the "U_" part in "U_koreader" is mandatory, and the text after has to match the name of the app in "/applications/". This can be done for any custom application.

Be careful not to use malformed JSON.

Reference: Github jjrrw174 PocketBook-Desktop-and-App-Customizations

Device / Firmware	Status
Era / 6.8.x	Working

system/fonts/

Install custom fonts into this directory.

system/language/

The PocketBook will read a file with the user's language acronym, eg "en.txt" for English. In that file you can change the names of any custom app. For example:

   English
   @koreader=KOReader
   @pbterm=PB Term
   @Jailbreak=Jail Break
   @PbDbFixer=Database Fix

Reference: See README on GitHub for more details and examples.

Device / Firmware	Status
Era / 6.8.x	Working

system/reader/

In this directory you may find the following files:

• linespacing.cfg
• margins.cfg
• fb2.css

system/reader/linespacing.cfg

The PocketBook reader application lets you change the line spacing between three values. In "linespacing.cfg" you can change these values:

   single=112%
   one_and_half=132%
   double=180%
   
   single-pager=112%
   one_and_half-pager=132%
   double-pager=180%
   
   single-panel=112%
   one_and_half-panel=132%
   double-panel=180%
   
   single-pager-panel=112%
   one_and_half-pager-panel=132%
   double-pager-panel=180%

Reference: E-Reader Forum: Änderung der Konfigurationsdateien

Device / Firmware	Status
InkPad 3 / unknown	Working

system/reader/margins.cfg

You can also change the three page margins in "margins.cfg". Change the first characters in this example from "none-" to "normal-" and "large-" to set the other margins.

   none-left=2%
   none-right=2%
   none-top=2%
   none-bottom=1%
   
   none-left-pager=2%
   none-right-pager=2%
   none-top-pager=1.2%
   none-bottom-pager=0%
   
   none-left-panel=2%
   none-right-panel=2%
   none-top-panel=0.7%
   none-bottom-panel=0%
   
   none-left-pager-panel=2%
   none-right-pager-panel=2%
   none-top-pager-panel=0.5%
   none-bottom-pager-panel=0%

Reference: E-Reader Forum: Änderung der Konfigurationsdateien

Device / Firmware	Status
InkPad 3 / unknown	Working

system/reader/fb2.css

You can set the complete CSS stylesheet used when reading an FB2 formatted book. This contains a few extensions:

• day/night/newspaper "themes" (is this dark mode?)
• getting configuration values, with or without defaults

Here are some examples using the extensions:

   @define-theme day {
       color:              #000000;
       background-color:   #FFFFFF;
       a { color:          #2222FF; }
       annotation {
           background-color: #bde59e;
       }
   }
   @define-theme night {
       color:              #F0F0F0;
       background-color:   #222222;
       a { color:          #19CA15; }
       annotation {
           background-color: #bde59e;
       }
   }
   @define-theme newspaper {
       color:              #373028;
       background-color:   #FCF7E5;
       a { color:          #2222FF; }
       annotation {
           background-color: #bde59e;
       }
   }
   @define-theme user_setup {
       color:              prop("prf.css.color_font");
       background-color:   prop("prf.css.color_background");
       a { color:          prop("prf.css.color_link"); }
   }
   
   @define-theme serif {
       body,annotation { font-family:      "Times New Roman", "Georgia", serif; }
       title           { font-family:      "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif; }
   }
   @define-theme sans  {
       body,annotation { font-family:      "Arial", sans-serif; }
       title,subtitle  { font-family:      "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif; }
   }
   
   html                {
       @theme            prop("prf.css.color_preset",        day);
       @theme            prop("prf.css.font_style",          serif);
       text-align:       justify;
   }

Here is a list of the known properties:

• prf.css.color_font
• prf.css.color_background
• prf.css.color_link
• prf.css.color_preset
• prf.css.font_style
• prf.css.page.padding-left
• prf.css.page.padding-right
• prf.css.page.padding-top
• prf.css.page.padding-bottom
• prf.css.para.indent
• prf.css.para.indent
• prf.css.para.margin
• prf.css.line_spacing
• prf.css.para.indent
• prf.css.para.margin
• prf.css.line_spacing

Reference: E-Reader Forum: Änderung der Konfigurationsdateien

Device / Firmware	Status
InkPad 3 / unknown	Working

system/reader/rtf.css

This is a CSS stylesheet used for reading RTF files.

Reference: E-Reader Forum: Änderung der Konfigurationsdateien

Device / Firmware	Status
InkPad 3 / unknown	Working

system/resources/Line

(Or the equivalent directory if a different theme is active.)

You can add BMP files into this directory to override named images in the theme. For instance, if the theme has a resource called "bookstore:4" which is 122 x 122 pixels in size, you can add a file called "bookstore.bmp" of the right size. Note the ":4" at the end of the resource must be removed. The image needs to be uncompressed. For 8bpp images, it must have a palette. 24bpp images may also be supported.

If you use ImageMagick, you can convert another image to the right 8bpp format using this command:

   convert -type Palette -compress None -colors 256 my-custom-image.png my-custom-image.bmp

For more information on the icon filenames to use, see PocketBook Line Theme Images.

system/themes/

Custom themes can be installed here. For information on the theme file format, see PocketBook Themes.