I have been a fan of comics for a long time and as an Android user I have had the opportunity to try out a number of comic apps for Android. Here are 3 (and 1 bonus) useful comic viewer apps that you can use in your Android phone.

1. Droid Comic Viewer

AppBrain | Market

Over the years a number of comic book archive formats have emerged which essentially package the individual images of a comic book and display it in a friendly format.

To complement this digital format, developers have created apps to access the comics. One such app is Droid Comic Viewer.

This app is relatively simple to use. After launching the app you will see a blank screen.

Tap on the Android logo in the middle of the screen. The preferences menu will pop-up.

Select “Open” to load comic books onto your phone and view them using this app. You will have to manually navigate the phone’s data tree and find your comic book archive files.

After finding the file click it to start reading the comic in the app itself.

Depending on the size of the comic it may take some time to load. After the comic has loaded you can view it immediately.

You can navigate through the pages of the comic by clicking on the two darkened circles at the bottom of the screen.

You may also want to adjust how deep the comic is zoomed in.

Finally, the app also comes with a lot of customisation options to suit your needs.

2. Vintage Comic Droid

AppBrain | Market

I love reading graphic novels, however, it is difficult to find new ones to read cheaply on my Android device. This is where Vintage Comic Droid comes in. It has a large database of older comics that can be easily downloaded and read using the app.

After installing the app itself you will have to first install additional graphics packages to use the app. There are a couple of files that need to be downloaded and depending on your data connection it only takes a few minutes.

After the initial files are downloaded and installed the app creates a database of a number of “vintage” comics.

Once the app has finished creating the database the main page opens. This page looks a lot like the cover of a comic book.

To obtain new comics click on the “Browse Library” link.

First select a comic of your choice (you can also search for a particular comic if you wish). This will open a new page where you will have to pick an issue to download.

Downloading each issue will take some time, but the size of each issue is noted so you can roughly gauge how long it will take. Issue 1 of the comic “Cookie” took me about 10 minutes to download.

Once the issue has finished downloading you can immediately view it by clicking on the issue link (you will notice that the blue dot next to the issue name will turn green indicating that the issue is now in your library.

That’s it, you can navigate the comic by clicking on the arrow keys.

To view comics already in your library click on the “View Comics” link.

Finally, to resume reading an earlier comic click on the “Continue Reading” button (the “Continue Reading” button changes to “CLICK” when you click it).

3. Comic Strips

AppBrain | Market

Unlike Droid Comic Viewer, Comic Strips is geared towards the fan of newspaper “funnies”. These short comic strips are ideal when you have a minute to spare.

Comic Strips has a vast database of short comic strips and opening up the app displays the entire list for viewing.

To view a comic strip simply select the strip title.

In most cases the strip displayed will be the latest one. However, some strips were slow to update. In any case you can use the arrow keys on top to scroll through older versions of the strips.

The massive list of comic strips can be a little overwhelming, but once you have found your top comic strips, you can add them to the “Favourites” section by holding the title of the comic and selecting “Add to Favourites”.

Once added to the “Favourites” list it becomes easier to select that comic.

Bonus: XkcdViewer

AppBrain | Market

If you are not a fan of xkcd comics then this app will be a waste of space on your Android phone. The app simply pulls the latest xkcd comics and displays them in a very user-friendly format.

Clicking on the Menu button displays a number of options including the ability to display the xkcd “hover text”.

The ability to share the comic link and image is also a nice addition.

Conclusion

Depending on my mood I either use Vintage Comic Droid or Droid Comic Viewer to read longer graphic novels or if I want a quick fix I use Comic Strips to read shorter cartoons. Either way these apps are good additions to your Android app library.

Let us know in the comments which comic viewing app is your favourite!

1. View .docx file in older Office version

Microsoft has released a compatibility package to run the newer documents file in older version of Office. Just download the Microsoft compatibility pack. After installing the compatibility pack you will be able to read the .docx files in your current installation of Microsoft Office.

2. Install OpenOffice

For those who are not using Windows as their main operating system Microsoft Office as their main office suite, they can install OpenOffice and get it to open .docx file.

If all you need is a lightweight solution, you can also install the OpenOffice.org Portable app onto your USB drive.

3. Using Google Docs

If you don’t want to install any software in your computer, then you can upload the .docx file to Google Docs. You can then use Google Docs to read, edit or print your documents. All the content of the document will be saved in your Google account.

4. Using ThinkFree

Other than Google Docs, ThinkFree is another online based word editor that allows you to view your .docx file. Open the the website and upload any office file. It will show you the document content. Generally Thinkfree does not require registration to view a document file, but if you want to edit that document or share in the internet, you will have to sign up for an account. One thing though, you can avoid the sign up process by logging into your Gmail account.

The first time you login with your Google account, you have to grant the permission to ThinkFree to access your Google account.

5. Convert the docx file to your preferred format

There is another hassle free method to view a .docx formatted document. You can use a converter to convert the .docx file. There are several online tools that you can use to convert a .docx file.

• Zamzar – It is a fast online tool and easy to use. Just sign in to Zamzar and start to convert your docx file in your preferred file format.
• Docx converter – With Docx converter, you can convert the docx file to many file formats such as doc, pdf etc. Docx converter also comes with a desktop widget to allow you to convert the files directly from your desktop. Download Desktop widget.

What other methods do you to use to view your .docx file?

So we need pictures. Where can we get them? We can:

- go around the neighborhood with our digital camera.

- snatch a picture or two from image sharing community sites like Flickr or Picasa Web Album.
- capture the picture from our computer screen.

Geeky bloggers like me prefer the last. The method fits my blog theme and I don’t have to stand too long under the sun nor face legal threats for ‘stealing’ copyrighted images.

Shoot the screen

Almost everybody I know agrees and recommends Gadwin Print Screen as one of the best tools out there, and I am sure that this simple tool will be very useful you.

It is a small application that resides on the taskbar after it is installed in your Windows.

The first thing you would want to do is adjust the settings. Right click on the icon and choose “Properties”.

Here users can choose:

• the hot key to use – default is “Print Screen” key.
• what area to be captured – current window, client window, full screen, or rectangular area
• where to save the image file
• what application to open the file
• what is the default image file type and – if wanted – the default size
• and so many other options

Manage the Image

If you choose an application to open the captured screen image, you can do further editing to the file. A free alternative application you can use for this purpose is Fast Stone Image Viewer.

This one is a very reliable image editing application for daily use – rotate, resize, crop, adjust color, and such (but please do not compare it to Photoshop); more than enough for common blogging activity. All the images in a folder will be shown in one pane, ready to be manipulated. Use the Edit menu to access many of the commands.

It also has screen capturing feature, but less comfortable compare to Gadwin. Fast Stone doesn’t reside in the taskbar – so you’ll need to open the main window first, and there’s no shortcut key to do the capturing.

One little neat trick

Here’s something that anybody could try to make their screenshot unordinary and catchy.

• After taking the screenshot, open the image with Fast Stone
• Go to “Edit –> Rotate –> Rotate by any degree” menu
• Move the rotation slider slightly to the left to rotate the image counter clockwise (or the opposite to rotate it clockwise). I think about 15 degrees is enough. Click OK afterwards.
• Go to “Edit -> Cropboard” menu and crop the image to your preference. But I’d suggest somewhere in the middle.
• Click “Crop To File” and “Save” then “Close”.

And you’ll have something like this:

Not very professional, but… neat, huh?

If you have other favorite screen capturing application, share in the comment below.