Thorium Reader Documentation English

Forewords

Thorium is a digital book reader, it is also a library where you can store your books and access to online catalogs.

Thorium allows to read ebooks in different formats, each of them having strengths and limitations. This documentation is provided as an EPUB, the format with the larger number of functionalities.

This software is free, open-source and as such, its development is only possible because it is funded by different organizations. Among these, members of EDRLab, private or public grants and small recurring donations from happy users (individuals or companies). If you rely on this application, consider support!

This is the documentation for Thorium 3, and it is a work in progress!

Thorium 3 introduces numerous changes and, we hope, a friction less reading experience. This documentation is a work in progress trying to support new users discovering the software as well as providing the missing links for the experimented readers.

Additional material available online

To complete this documentation, the thorium website proposes a frequently asked questions section as well as a list of ressources including place to find ebooks online.

Github Thorium Issue tracker can also be browsed to find answers to specific use cases and give us feedback about any difficulty or bug affecting your reading experience.

Opening Thorium Reader

Once Thorium reader is installed on your system, severals ways are possible to open it.

Thorium can be launched from the application menu or from any shortcut created. This action will open the library home view and will allow you to choose a book or to add one but also to access to catalogs and organize your collection. To read a book just click on it or validate with Enter when selected.

Select the book you want to read, use the contextual menu (right click), select open with and then select Thorium.

You can set the default application for certain file types through the Windows settings. Select a file, open the context menu, select Open with, in the pop-up window select Thorium, check the box Always open with. This operation must be repeated for each file format you wish to read with Thorium.

Windows, views and panels

Thorium reader has one main window and one additional window per open book. The main window is always open and offers 4 views (Home, All books, Catalogs and General settings) while book windows views will depend on the book format (textual, audio, visual). Each format will allow a selection of action panels that can be docked to one side of the view.

Main window

The main window is where you can access and organise your collections as well as the settings that apply to the whole application. Closing the main windows clese the application and all reading windows opened.

Home View

This view is for quick access. You find here the books you have been reading recently and the ones you added recently. Possible actions are to Import a Publication, to Open a publication and to Open Publication menu.

All publications View

This is the place where all your publications stands. With time it may become full of hundreds of books so you need options to sort and search. Because of that, this view is more complex. First buttons on this page allows to select between two view modes, Grid and Table that will affect the display of the ebooks list and offer different options to sort and filter, they are detailed two paragraphes below.

The available actions on the View level are to Import a Publication, to Search, to Filter by tag and navigate by pages of your library. Library pages are like Shelves or stacks as the All publication view is limited to 50 publications to keep it usable.

Grid Mode

The Grid mode presents the books like cards, keyboard tabulation will drive you from one book to another. This mode offers the possible actions to Open a publication and to Open Publication menu.

Table Mode

The Table mode presents one book per line and allows to visualize a large number of informations usually available only in the Book information Panel. Keyboard tabulation will drive you thru all those details.

Catalogs View

This is the place where you can store, access, browse online catalogs and acquire or borrow ebooks from them. At first this place will sound empty because we do not preload any catalog. The online additional support Where to get ebooks? section can help you identify available catalogs if you do not already have one in mind.

Two catalogs protocoles are available.

OPDS, a standard format to display catalog on the Web. Thorium can provide access to OPDS 1 and 2 catalogs.

French public libraries machine-readable catalog (similar to OPDS but not identical).

Details and how to set up and use catalogs are available from the Catalogs actions section.

Application Settings Panel

Application settings is divided in three tabs:

The General Tab allow you to select the language of the interface and to Save session (meaning that the application will remember the windows opened at closing and reopen them when launched again). The clear login data button will delete any Catalog authentification previously stored (useful if you are reading on a public or shared computer or if you want to change the account with wich you are connected).

The Appearance Tab let you choose the application Theme (dark, light or automatic to fit the system preference).

The Keyboard shortcuts Tab help you check and manipulate keyboard driven actions within the application. Figure out the three dots menu aside of the Panel title with extra actions (Reset, Edit and Load). The Edit one opens system folder application to the localisation of the stored user setting .json file, allowing you to edit it outside of the application (at your own risks), save it for future uses or share it within your devices or with who you want.

Reading window

When a book is opened, it is displayed in a new window, meaning that you can have multiple books opened at the same time, each in an independent window that you can arrange at your will.

The book

Reading navigation panel

Reading settings panel

Libraries actions

Open a publication

Each publication cover is a link that, when activated, will open a reading window for this ebook. The main window will not be closed but focus will be positioned on the new window. The new window opens at the exact position of the main window, visually, user may think that the same window was used but it is not the case. Moving the reading window will make appear the main one.

Open Publication menu

Publication menu is available from the three dots button at the bottom right of the publication card on the Home and Grid Views or at the last column (Action) of the Table View. It allows to:

Open the book information panel (About publication, );

Mark the publication as read () that will change the Progression status to Finished;

Delete the Publication () that will open a confirmation pop up;

Save the publication as (). This last action will open a system window to let you choose where to export the publication.

Import a Publication

Located at the top right corner and 5th element in te tabulation order, just before the main content, the + Import a Publication button speaks by itself. Activating it will cause the opening of a system context window to let your select a file on your computer system. Navigate to the file you want to open, and validate. The file will appear in the Recently added section of the Home View and as the first element of the All publication Grid or Table view. In this last View, if a filter was active, it is reset to display most recent added publication.

Search publications (Filtering by keyword)

The Search ebooks function acts as a filter, meaning that when you start typing a search query, the ebooks displayed in the shelve will be limited to the ones matching your query. To use this function, Activate the Search Box () by clicking in it, moving focus or pressing the Ctrl + F key combination, enter the text you want to search. Results will display instantly. The search is performed thru the books informations including user added tags. The content of the book is not included in the search. To perform a search inside book content you have to open the book and activate the Search in a book function.

Filter by tag (Grid mode)

Additionally to the search filter, it is possible to select Tags that have been added to publications. This box is a text free input that will filter the list of available Tags.

Sort by and Filter by (Table mode)

The Table View allows for sorting and detailed filtering by every column headings (Title, Author, Progression, remaining days for loans, main publication languages, Tags, Format, Last reading date, Publisher name, Published date, DRM protection, Duration for audiobooks, Description, and Accessibility conformance). For filters to work, the information must be present in the publication metadata.

Navigate by pages of your library

For performance reasons, the All publication view is limited to 50 publications. If you have more ebooks than that, they will be available thru different pages that can be considered like Shelves or stacks.

Add tags

You can enrich the information of the books in your library by adding Tags to them. `Tags' allow you to quickly search and sort books in list view. Putting it into practice. Open the book form, position yourself in the field Add a tag, write the name of the tag you want to add then press the Add button. The tag is added in a blue box, you can remove it by clicking on the cross.

Catalogs actions

Setting up an OPDS catalog

Select the Catalogs tab then the button Add an OPDS feed. Indicate a Name to designate this catalog and paste an address corresponding to a catalog distributed in OPDS format. Validate with the button Add.

Example :

Activating the following link will download a .atom file that can be opened with Thorium: Download OPDS feed for Gutenberg.org new titles

It is also possible to use context menu (usually Right clic), Copy this link and paste it into Thorium Add an OPDS panel to see the magic happen.

OPDS feeds can also be provided as direct links which should open directly in Thorium. Open OPDS feed for Gutenberg.org new titles

Since Thorium 2.2, OPDS feeds can be edited so you can change the name or retrieve feed URL.

Example of OPDS feeds with LCP protected contents

Feeds with protected contents should allow you to login directly from Thorium catalog page, the button or access to login might be different depending on the feed provider.

Archive.org OPDS feed allows to browse and borrow books under LCP license. An Archive org account is needed, authentication page will open once you select a book. You can add it to Thorium with the following address: Open Archive.org OPDS feed

You can use feedbooks OPDS to browse Feedbook catalog. Once you have selected a book you'll be redirected to the webpage where you can buy the book.

Feedbooks OPDS allows you to loggin from Thorium Catalog feed with the Shelf button on the upper right corner. Anybook bought with your Feedbooks account will be available for download directly from the Thorium OPDS feed catalog interface.

For testing purposes EDRLab provides a feed with three free publications under LCP protection. You can add it to Thorium with the following address: Add EDRLab OPDS public feed

OPDS Feed responsibility

OPDS feeds and the access they provide to content are under responsibility of the feed publisher. So are the information given by the feed.

Setting up a french public library account

In France, many public libraries provide a machine-readable catalog (similar to OPDS but not identical), letting patrons download digital publications from their personal bookshelf. Integrating this technology in Thorium Reader allows you to download an ebook or audiobook directly into Thorium Reader for instant reading.

To connect your French public library account, enter a French city ('Montpellier') or part of the library name in the Search field and hit the Search button. A list of public libraries corresponding to your search will appear. Select a library and hit Add. In the updated list of catalogs, select this library: an authentication form is displayed. Enter your username/email address and password, and hit Login. You can now see the content of your personal bookshelf, from which you can download and read the ebooks and audiobooks you previously borrowed.

Book Information panel

Book Information is available in a dedicated panel that can be reached from the library shelves book action menu About publication or from the Reading window Information Icon .

This Panel displays ebook information as provided by the file, the trustness of this information relies on the creator of the file, usually the publisher. The information displayed is:

Cover of the publication with it's attached textual alternative if present

Title of the publication

Author of the publication

Description or resume

Publication details including publication language

Accessibility information displayed following the international guidelines (for more information, see W3C Display Guide for Accessibility metadata).

Tags, including the possibility to Add your own tags.

Progression

This panel has the particularity of not being dockable as it does not provides action that needs to have access to the main content of the book.

Reading

Thorium provides textual, visual and auditory reading functions. In order to ensure that you can find your way around the the publication, Thorium also offers many navigation options as well as the possibility to add bookmarks or to search within the publication.

Reading functionalities are very different from one format to another.

Reading Textual first publications like reflowable EPUB and textual or full Daisy will allow for the greatest number of functionalities.

Visual first publications like Fixed Layout EPUBS and Divina will not allow personalization of texts.

Audio publications have a significative different reading interface as no text is displayed.

PDF support is basic and provides few options.

Reading textual contents

For textual contents Thorium provides visual reading and audio playback.

Text adjustment settings

In the reading interface use the Preferences button ( ): the options are revealed.

Reading settings can be saved or reset by using buttons Save and Reset located in the menu Settings, submenu Configuration of the Reading window.

Major settings are available for EPUB Reflowable, Fixed Layout EPUBs and PDF formats just don't allow personalisation of appearance. Most Fixed Layout EPUBs will allow to open Image view for zooming on a page. PDFs can be enlarged using the Zoom sub-menu in the Preferences panel.

Theme

The color of the background and foreground can be changed using one of the three available themes - Neutral, Sepia and Night.

Text

The font size can be increased or decreased using the slider. The font can also be changed. The available options are as follows Default, Old style, Modern, Sans, Humanist, Readable (Dyslexia), Dualspace and Monospace.

By selecting the ... you can enter the name of the font you want to use. To do this, the font must be present on your operating system and you must know its exact name as it is set for the operating system.

Example 1: Setting Verdana as the reading font

In the reading interface go to the Preference menu and then Text.

In the drop-down list select ....

Write the word Verdana in the empty field that appears next to the drop-down list.

Confirm with Enter.

Example 2: Setting up Luciole as the reading font

Download and install the Luciole font

In the reading interface go to the Preference menu and then Text.

In the drop-down list select ....

Write the word Luciole in the empty field that appears next to the drop-down list.

Confirm with Enter.

Display

You can choose between a page layout with scrolling or pagination, automatic or justified alignment and automatic or on 1 or 2 columns. Here also, MathJax can be activated, for the display of mathematical expressions.

Spacing

Margins, word spacing, letter spacing, paragraph spacing and line spacing can be adjusted.

Readaloud

Provides options for an uncluttered clean view and the ability to skip secondary content ( skippability) which may include footnotes or sidebars according to the semantics indicated during the production of the digital book. Split TTS will split the content by sentence for more precise highlighting.

Thorium uses the voices from the computer's operating system, in combination with the language information provided by the book. If you experience problems please check the related FAQ entry [I can't select the adequate voice for read aloud function (TTS)](../400_ressources/430_faq.xhtml#TTSvoices).

Text to Speech (TTS)

Text-to-speech is launched using the speaker button in the middle of the toolbar, or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 2.

Play and pause can be controlled with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 2.

The playback position can be moved with Ctrl + 1 and Ctrl + 3 for previous and next respectively.

A speed control is available when read aloud is selected, with a range from x0.5 to x2.

The current sentence is highlighted in light yellow, and each word spoken is underlined in orange.

An alternative (simplified) view of the publication is provided through options available in the Settings / Readaloud menu.

Thorium uses the voices from the computer's operating system, in combination with the language information provided by the book. If you experience problems please check the related FAQ entry [I can't select the adequate voice for read aloud function (TTS)](../400_ressources/430_faq.xhtml#TTSvoices).

Reading visual contents

Zooming on images

Thorium has an image zoom feature (epub only).

To zoom on an image you can select the image (a magenta focus outline will appear around it) and activate zoom by clicking with the mouse or tapping it with the finger. Access to image zoom via keyboard is currently not possible.

If the image is also a link or if the book your read is in a fixed layout format, you will need to hit the Shift key in order to enter the image zoom feature.

To zoom in or out, tab to the + or - buttons and hit enter, use mouse wheel, scroll up and down or pinch and stretch trackpad or onscreen touch gestures.

Once the image is zoomed you can move vertically and horizontally with Left arrow, Right arrow, Left arrow and Right arrow, by moving mouse while maintaining clic, with usual trackpad gestures or with finger moves on tactile screens.

To close the image zoom view and to return to the reading view, press ESC key, or the X button.

Some restrictions due to ebook design may apply, for example when images are inserted as style (CSS), it is not possible to open the image view for zooming.

Reading audio contents

Thorium provides visual reading and audio playback. In order to ensure that you can find your way around the the publication, Thorium also offers many navigation options as well as the possibility to add bookmarks or to search within the publication.

Reading functionalities are very different from one format to another.

Reading Textual first publications like reflowable EPUB and textual or full Daisy will allow for the greatest number of functionalities.

Visual first publications like Fixed Layout EPUBS and Divina will not allow personalization of texts.

Audio publications have a significative different reading interface as no text is displayed.

PDF support is basic and provides few options.

Reading PDFs

PDF support is basic and provides few options.

Search in a book

You can use Ctrl + F keys to access the search field. Enter your search term. By clicking on the Search button, you get Back and Next buttons to navigate between occurences. The number of matches found is a link that will open a List of results in the right panel. Each match displayed is a link you can Activate to go to the place of the book where the expression you are looking for was found.

Remember that performing a search and navigating thru the results will make you loose the reading point you where at. Just place a Bookmark to make sure you find your way back.

Annotations

Annotations have been introduced first in Thorium 3, as a new feature, it may present unexpected behaviors. Let us know any difficulty you face by opening an issue or sending us an email

The simplest way to add an annotation is to select a text and hit the Annotations button () or stroke the keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + Alt + A. This opens the Annotation pop up and place the cursor into the input box where you can write your annotation (optional). You can change highlight color and type (Solid background, Underline, Strikethrough or Outline) then validate the creation of the annotation with Save.

Annotations panel

At the bottom of the navigation panel, there's a section dedicated to Annotations. It allows you to review, manipulate and navigate thru your annotations.

For options are available from this Panel:

Instant mode will open the Annotation pop up at each selection.

Quick create Highlights the select text and create an empty annotation.

Display in margins switches the text highlight for a more discret margin indication that an annotation is present at this line.

Do not display just hides any annotation mark (but does not deactivate the possibility to add annotations).

The combination of Instant mode and Quick create options let you use the serial annotator mode as any selection will create an highlight without prompting any pop up.

Accessibility

Thorium Reader is for everyone, including people who are blind or have other types of visual, cognitive or motor disabilities. The application is compatible with accessible technologies like screen readers, including JAWS, NVDA, Narrator and VoiceOver. It includes a read-aloud feature with visual highlighting. Thorium Reader can be used with the mouse or the keyboard, and keyboard shortcuts are configurable. The display can be customized to meet the needs of users, including colors, text size, spacing, font and layout.

Attention !

The accessibility features are strongly dependant and affected by the quality of the electronic publication files.

Accessibility information

Currently Thorium displays in the Book information panel under the heading Description the content of the accessibility summary metadata ( accessibilitySummary).

Attention !

Work is underway to develop a guide for displaying accessibility information. We are following this work and will implement the recommendations soon.

Attention !

Accessibility information must be filled in by the editors. Thorium displays this information as it was defined. In case of doubt or complaint, please contact the distributor or the publisher of the file.

Native accessibility functions

Attention !

The native accessibility features offered by Thorium are strongly affected by the quality of the read files.

Visual adjustments

The application allows you to change the color themes and change the display font, text size.

it is possible to use all the fonts installed on the computer.

It is possible to increase the size of an image with Shift+clic on the image. Repeat several times to enlarge the image to the desired size.

The display can be selected as paginated or scrolling.

Text can be justified or left-aligned, and the number of columns controlled.

Spacing can be flexibly adjusted, with control over margin, word, letter and line.

Attention !

Visual adjustments are not possible with fixed layout formats such as some EPUBs (so-called Fixed Layout) or PDF files.

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

See dedicated section about Text to Speech (TTS).

Reading with a screen reader

When launching Thorium, if a screen reader is detected, the relative functions are activated.

Note that screen readers use a separate buffer to access the HTML content which results in the visual scroll / page offset to be out of sync. In other words, Thorium is generally not aware of the user's current reading location inside the screen reader buffer, unless the screen reader user triggers standard web API events (such as mouse click anywhere in the text, or keyboard tab into focusable HTML elements).

Attention !

Accessibility features addressed to assistive technologies are strongly affected by the quality of the book files.

Keystrokes common to NVDA and JAWS

(contribution from Prashant Verma, DAISY Consortium)

For reading text, navigating in tables, navigating in the browser window,
the insertion key can be replaced by the modifier key of the screen reader (e.g. the Caps Lock key).

Quick keys for navigation

The screen reader must be in navigation or virtual cursor mode.

Command | description
Next title | H
Next table | T
Next chart | G
Next list | L
Next form field | F
List of elements | Insert + F7 (works regardless of cursor mode)

Use the above keys with the Shift key to move to the previous item.

Text

Command | description
Previous character | ←
Next character | →
Previous word | CTRL + ←
Say Next word | CTRL + →
Previous line | ↑
Next line | ↓
Previous sentence | ALT + ↑ (Jaws only)
Next sentence | ALT + ↓ (Jaws only)
Read all | INSERT + ↓
Announce Font | INSERT + F

Tables

Command | description
Cell to the right | ALT + CTRL + →
Cell to the left | ALT + CTRL + ←
Cell below | ALT + CTRL + ↓
Cell above | ALT + CTRL + ↑

Ressources

Keys functions

Information

The following definition list gives for each function: the Name, the Code, a definition and the Default keyboard shortcut.

Regarding Keyboard keys conventions, the Shift key is represented by an empty arrow pointing up on some keyboards; the Ctrl key is replaced by Cmd key on Mac keyboards.

Create Annotation (AnnotationsCreate). Shift + Ctrl + Alt + A

Mark the selected texte and place focus on the annotation editor box.

Create Quick Annotation (AnnotationsCreateQuick). Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Q

Mark the selected texte without further action.

Toggle Display of Annotations in margins(AnnotationsToggleMargin). Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Z

Toggles between marked text highlighted and a less invasive margin marker just indicating that an annotation is present on the line.

Main content (FocusMain). Ctrl + F10

in reader and library windows, moves the keyboard focus to the "main" area landmark (in the reader view, this is immediately before the frame that displays publication content)

Toolbar (FocusToolbar). Ctrl + t

in reader and library windows, moves the keyboard focus to the top horizontal toolbar, immediately before the "skip" link (which itself moves focus to the "main" area landmark)

Navigation (FocusReaderNavigation). Ctrl + n

in reader window, moves the keyboard focus to the navigation panel (table of contents, bookmarks, etc.)

Table Of Content (FocusReaderNavigationTOC). Shift + Ctrl + n

in reader window, moves the keyboard focus to the navigation panel, but more specifically into the table of contents, and if possible at the detected heading / closest to the reading location.

Go to page (FocusReaderGotoPage). Shift + Ctrl + p

in reader window, moves the keyboard focus to the "goto page" section in the navigation panel

Reader settings (FocusReaderSettings). Ctrl + s

in reader window, moves the keyboard focus to the settings panel (user preferences for displaying publication content)

Bookmarks (ToggleBookmark). Ctrl + b

in reader window, toggle bookmark (a notification is produced so that screen readers announce the change)

Fullscreen (ToggleReaderFullscreen). Ctrl + F11

in reader window, toggle fullscreen

Book information panel (OpenReaderInfo). Ctrl + i

in reader window, publication info popup modal dialog (may be used in future Thorium version for similar feature in library window)

where am I (OpenReaderInfoWhereAmI). Shift + Ctrl + i

in reader window, publication info popup modal dialog with direct keyboard focus on section that displays the headings hierarchy trail and other contextual information for the current reading location, such as nearest preceding page break, as well as document index in the reading order (this is the "where am I" feature).

where am I (quick notification supported by Screen readers) (SpeakReaderInfoWhereAmI). Shift + Ctrl + k)

in reader window, this is the "where am I" feature, just as above, but only spoken via screen reader TTS thanks to an ARIA live region with assertive speech which interrupts the current narration.

Close the book (CloseReader). Ctrl + w

in reader window, closes the window and returns to the library view.

Search a book (FocusSearch). Ctrl + f

in library window, moves the keyboard focus to the search text input of local bookshelf or OPDS feed

search into a book (FocusSearch). Ctrl + f

in reader window, moves the keyboard focus to the publication-wide search text input

previous or next search result (SearchPrevious, SearchNext)). Shift (optional) + F3

in reader window, when the publication-wide search text input is open, finds the previous / next match

previous or next search result (SearchPreviousAlt, SearchNextAlt). Shift (optional) + Ctrl + G /

same as above (alternative keyboard shortcut)

Next OPDS page (NavigatePreviousOPDSPage, NavigateNextOPDSPage). Ctrl + left arrow or right arrow /

in library window for OPDS feeds, activates the previous or next pagination links

Next OPDS page (NavigatePreviousOPDSPageAlt / NavigateNextOPDSPageAlt). Ctrl + comma or period

same as above (alternative keyboard shortcut)

Ctrl + Shift + ALT (except on MacOS) + left arrow or right arrow: Previous or next chapter (NavigatePreviousChapter / NavigateNextChapter)

in reader window, move to previous or next "chapter" (spine item in the reading order of the publication). Note that the keyboard focus is automatically moved to the "main" area landmark, which is immediately before the frame that displays publication content (just like when following / activating a link in the table of contents).

Previous or next chapter (NavigatePreviousChapterAlt NavigateNextChapterAlt). Ctrl + page down or page up

same as above (alternative keyboard shortcut)

Previous or next page (NavigatePreviousPage). left arrow or right arrow / NavigateNextPage

in reader window, move to previous or next "page" (or scroll unit, if pagination is disabled)

Previous or next page (NavigatePreviousPageAlt). Ctrl + comma or period / NavigateNextPageAlt)

Alternative keyboard shortcut for previous next page. In reader window, move to previous or next "page" (or scroll unit, if pagination is disabled)

Beginning or End of the publication (NavigateToBegin, NavigateToEnd). Ctrl + Home or End /

in reader window, goes to the beginning or the end of the publication

modifier for the inverse operation: Previous History and Next History(NavigatePreviousHistory / NavigateNextHistory): Ctrl + backspace with shift

in reader window, go back or forward in the navigation history: Beginning or End of the publication

Previous audio (AudioPrevious). Ctrl + 1

in reader window, calls the "previous" command for audio (TTS or EPUB3 Media Overlays readaloud, or "rewind" for audiobooks)

Play or pause audio (AudioPlayPause). Ctrl + 2

in reader window, calls the "play" or "pause" toggle commands for audio (TTS or EPUB3 Media Overlays readaloud)

Next audio (AudioNext). Ctrl + 3

in reader window, calls the "next" command for audio (TTS or EPUB3 Media Overlays readaloud, or "forward" for audiobooks)

Stop audio (AudioStop). Ctrl + 4

in reader window, calls the "stop" command for audio (TTS or EPUB3 Media Overlays readaloud, or "pause" for audiobooks)

Tactile gestures

Thorium Reader has limited onscreen touch gesture control. They are mainly implemented for Image zoom control and turning pages. Some native operating system gestures may also work.

The following table repertories the known working gestures so far.

Gestures | Context | Action
Tap | All views | Activate button
Tap then select and move cursors | On text | Select text
Place one finger on the screen and slide horizontally or vertically | Reading in scrollable layout | Scroll
Place one finger on the screen and slide horizontally | Reading in paginated layout | Turn page
Place fingers on the screen and pinch in or stretch out | Image zoom view | Zoom in or out
Press and hold | All views | Show more commands (like right-clicking)

Supported publication formats

EPUB 2

this is a legacy format, only adequate for basic ebooks. Textual content is formatted in XHTML 1 and no multimedia feature is supported. EPUB 2 ebooks are still accessible if properly formatted.

EPUB 3

this is the recommended format for the 21st century. Textual content is formatted in (X)HTML 5, it is possible to create fixed-layout ebooks, enriched ebooks and accessibiltiy features are well designed.

DAISY v2.02 / v3

(text, audio, text+audio).

PDF

despite a well-known lack of flexibility (no reflow option) and accessibility, many ebooks are still available in PDF only, especially in public libraries.

Audiobooks

a standardized format for audiobooks has been designed by the W3C Publishing Working Group in 2020, and EDRLab was part of this WG. Thorium is supporting the packaged (LPF) audiobook format, which will soon be widely used by booksellers, or so we hope.

Visual narratives

EDRLab has designed a standard format for comics, manga, webtoons and other styles of digital works based on sequances of images. Divina is the name of this format. This is still an experimental format, and we hope that publishers will size it in 2021+.

About this ebook

Credits

This documentation ebook is designed and maintained by EDRLab as part of the development of the Thorium-Reader application.

The main contributors of this documentation are :

Gautier Chomel

Georges Kerscher

Noelia Ruiz Martínez

Prashant Verma

Who has developed this app

Thorium Reader is currently developed by:

Daniel Weck, lead developer.

Pierre Leroux, node.js developer.

Several other developers have helped making Thorium what it is today:

Simon Le Roux, UI designer.

Cyrille Lebeaupin, CEO of noop.fr, senior developer.

Jiminy Panoz, creator of Readium CSS.

Léo Stéfani, node.js, React developer.

Manuel Lagrand, intern, node.js developer.

The project is supervised by Laurent Le Meur, EDRLab CTO.

Who is financing this app

EDRLab is a non-profit organization. Our budget essentially originates from our members. EDRLab started in France, but is now counting 60 members from Europe, North America, South America and Asia.

This project would have not seen the light without:

1- The financial implication of our founding members: Editis, Hachette Livre, Magrigall, Media-Participations, Cercle de la Librarie, Syndicat national de l'Edition. They understand that financing open-standards and open-source is the best way to energize an open and innovative market for the publishing industry.

2- Financial grants from the following French public organizations:

CNL (Centre National du livre)

Ministère de la Culture

3- Additional grants from EDRLab members interested by the addition of specific features:

Fênix Editorial, Brazil

Canadian Electronic library, Canada

MLOL / Horizons Unlimited, Italy

Lyrasis, USA

Your help is precious

You too can help Thorium Reader become the best reading application reading application by becoming a member of EDRLab. Or by making a donation to the EDRLab via the Github sponsorship "piggy-bank", which accepts small monthly donations.

Thorium is built by its community. If you want to participate, please contact us !

You can also:

Report an error or suggest a change by opening an Issue in our [support tracking tool](https://github.com/edrlab../issues/new).

Participate in the translation of resources.

Stuck?

If you do not find the answer to your problem on this site, you can tell us your problem via our support tracking tool or contact form.

Here is the information we need:

Operating system and it version

Thorium version (it is indicated at the bottom of the library under the title About Thorium)

Contribute!

Thorium and its documentation are developed thanks to the user community. We need help to translate this documentation.

To do so, you can contact us.

If you are comfortable enough with GitHub and the Markdown format you can propose a new translation via a Pull Request.

To do this: clone the repository and create a branch with the name of the language you want to add, make a copy of the content.en folder and rename it with two letters corresponding to the language you want to add (for example content.es will contain the Spanish translation). The names of the files must not be changed as they insure correspondence between languages.

The i18n folder contains the translations for the fixed elements of the header and footer. Several languages are already present, if your language is not present, copy paste the .yaml file and rename it with the first two letters of the letters of the language you want to add.

Finally to activate the menu of the language you add, edit the file config.toml and add the language with the following code:

      [languages.en]
  languageName = 'English'
  contentDir = 'content.en'
  weight = 1

You must replace .en' with the first two letters of the language you are adding and fill in the name of the language as the languageName value. Theweight` indicates the order of appearance in the language menu.

Example for Spanish :

      [languages.es]
  languageName = 'Español'
  contentDir = 'content.es'
  weight = 3

Localized images such as screenshots should be added to the folder statics/images/local-(two letter language).

This ebook was tested with NVDA on Firefox on Windows 10. No accessibility blockers were found.

If you encounter any difficulties you can inform us via the contact form or by opening an issue on our support tracker.

The page is in English but you can write in your language by telling us so we can in your language so that we can mobilize the right people.

Here is the information we need:

Operating system and its version

Thorium version (it is indicated at the bottom of the library under the title About Thorium)

Assistive technology used.

Licensing

Copyright 2019 European Digital Reading Lab. All rights reserved. Licensed to the Readium Foundation under one or more contributor license agreements.

The Thorium-reader application is open-source, released under a BSD 3 license. It is based on the open-source Readium Desktop toolkit.

The content of this web site is free and may be reused under the terms of the the BSD License.

This static site is generated by Hugo and the Hugo Book theme. [Source code is public](https://github.com/edrlab/thorium-reader-doc).