How to Convert PDF to CBT for Comics and Manga (2026 Guide)

CBT is a tar-based comic archive format used in some readers built for Unix-like environments. If your PDF comic needs to be in CBT specifically (because your reader requires it, or because you are working in a tar-based workflow), this guide walks you through it. For most people, CBZ is the better choice because it is more widely supported.

The conversion extracts each page of the PDF as an image, then packages those images into a TAR archive renamed with a .cbt extension.

Watch: Comic format conversion in How to Convert

Method 1: How to Convert (Easiest, Local, Cross-Platform)

How to Convert handles PDF to CBT locally. Drop the PDF in, pick CBT, click Convert.

Steps

• Open How to Convert (desktop or browser).
• Drag your PDF onto the window.
• Pick CBT as the output format.
• Click Convert. The CBT saves next to the original.

Method 2: Command Line

With poppler-utils (install: brew install poppler) and tar:

mkdir pages
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 200 input.pdf pages/page
tar -cf output.cbt -C pages .

-r 200 sets the page resolution to 200 DPI, a good balance of quality and size.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why CBT instead of CBZ?

Use CBT only when your comic reader specifically requires it, or when you are integrating with a tar-based workflow. For general use, CBZ is more widely supported.

Will quality drop converting from PDF?

There is some loss because the PDF pages are rasterized to images at a chosen DPI. At 200 DPI the result looks identical to the source for most readers.

What about page reading order?

pdftoppm names pages with sequential numbers, and tar preserves that order. The result reads correctly in any compliant comic reader.

Final Thoughts

For one-off conversions, our free in-browser PDF to CBT converter is the fastest. For batches, the desktop app or the command-line method scale well. Confirm your reader actually needs CBT before converting; if not, CBZ is the better default.