There’s a lot being said about digital comics distributers changing their reading methods at the moment, and now GlobalComix has released an update to their web reader to version 4 – with a host of new additions.
Today we are excited to announce our largest update to the GlobalComix reading experience so far: Reader v4. We’re especially excited about this update because it’s heavily driven by discussions in the comics community about reading format preferences.
Double-Page Reading Layout At the heart of this update is a new reading experience on GlobalComix: Double-Page layout. This layout is especially delightful on widescreen devices like monitors, but is available to any type of device; large or small. At times you might run into cases where the cover displays as a single page – this is due to the algorithm developed to better match internal pages together to create two-page spreads like the one below. The image above is actually two individual pages coming together seamlessly like the artist originally intended as if you were holding the comic in your hands. The double-page reader will be active by default for browsers that are wider than 1600 pixels, but you can set it to your preferred layout in the Reader Settings pane no matter the size of your screen. 
Improved Comic Info Pane While we were updating the reading experience, it was a good time to do a refresh on the Comic Info pane. It has been redesigned to include information about the creator/publisher, credits, available releases with reading progress indicator, and related titles. You can also add the comic to a list without leaving the reading experience, so start building those lists to share with friends, or just make a “read later” list if you want to come back another time. 
Reader Settings A good reader gives the person reading control over how they want to experience the story. We’ve updated the Reader Settings with that in mind. For non-vertical series, you can now toggle between Single-Page, Vertical Long-Strip and the new Double-Page layouts. We’ve also added options to choose preferred image sizing for traditional pages: auto, fit-to-height, and fit-to-width. Additionally, you can now invert horizontal swipe navigation on touch devices (prev./next page) from left to right and right to left in Single-Page and Double-Page layouts. 
You can now see information like crowdfunding alerts, comments, reactions, and more. This information will display above or below the page, depending on the type. 
Reading Direction Indicator Both Single-Page and Double-Page reading experiences now display a reading direction indicator if the direction is not left-to-right. Additionally, when using Double-Page layout, the first page will be positioned on the right and the second page on the left to match the expected content layout. Swiping, tapping, clicking, or using the keyboard to navigate will now obey the title’s reading direction settings.
Check out all the details at GlobalComix here.
