ETextViewer: A Complete Guide to Features and Setup
Overview
ETextViewer is a lightweight text and e-book reader designed for fast loading, clear rendering, and flexible customization. It supports plain text and common e-book formats, offers reading-focused features (night mode, adjustable fonts and spacing), and includes annotation and search tools for study or reference.
Key Features
- Supported formats: Plain text (TXT), EPUB, PDF (basic), and RTF.
- Reading modes: Single-page, continuous scroll, and paginated view.
- Appearance controls: Adjustable font family, size, line height, margins, and themes (light/dark/sepia).
- Navigation: Table of contents support, chapter jump, page slider, and keyboard shortcuts.
- Search & indexing: Full-text search with highlighted results and simple indexing for large files.
- Annotations: Highlights, inline notes, bookmarks, and exportable note lists.
- Accessibility: Screen-reader friendly labels, high-contrast theme, and resizable UI.
- Performance: Low memory use, quick startup, and progressive rendering for large files.
- Sync & export: Optional local-only sync across devices and export to TXT/EPUB; cloud sync if enabled by user settings.
- Extensions/plugins: Plugin API for custom parsers, themes, and export formats.
Installation & Setup
- Download: Get the installer for your OS (Windows, macOS, Linux) from the official source.
- Install: Run the installer and follow prompts; on Linux, extract the tarball or use the provided package manager repository.
- First launch: Choose default reading theme and import folders or files when prompted.
- File association: In Settings → File Associations, set ETextViewer to open TXT/EPUB/PDF by default if desired.
- Privacy & sync: Configure sync options—keep it local-only for privacy, or enable encrypted cloud sync if needed.
Basic Usage
- Open a file: File → Open or drag-and-drop. Large files will show a progress indicator.
- Navigate: Use the TOC sidebar, page slider, or keyboard arrows; press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F) for search.
- Adjust view: Use the View menu or the quick toolbar to change font size, line spacing, and theme.
- Annotate: Select text to highlight or add a note; access all annotations from the Annotations panel.
- Export notes: Annotations → Export → choose format (TXT/CSV/EPUB).
Advanced Tips
- Custom CSS for EPUBs: Use the built-in editor to apply CSS tweaks per book (fonts, margins, drop caps).
- Batch convert: Use the command-line tool bundled with ETextViewer to convert multiple files to EPUB/TXT.
- Keyboard-driven workflow: Enable “Vim-like” keybindings in Preferences for faster navigation and editing.
- Performance for huge files: Enable “streaming render” in Settings to reduce memory footprint on multi-GB files.
Troubleshooting
- Slow rendering: Enable streaming render and disable cover thumbnails.
- Incorrect formatting on EPUB: Try the “Reflow text” option or apply per-book CSS fixes.
- Annotations not saving: Check storage path in Settings and ensure write permissions; consider switching to local-only sync.
- Search misses results: Rebuild index from Settings → Search → Rebuild Index.
Security & Privacy Notes
- Prefer local-only sync for sensitive texts. If using cloud sync, enable encryption and verify device keys. Back up annotation exports regularly.
Shortcuts (Common)
- Ctrl/Cmd+O: Open file
- Ctrl/Cmd+F: Find
- Ctrl/Cmd+Plus/Minus: Increase/decrease font size
- B: Toggle bookmark
- H: Highlight selection
- Space / Shift+Space: Page down / up
Further Resources
- Built-in Help → User Manual
- Plugin repository (for themes and converters)
- Community forum and FAQ on the official site
If you want, I can convert this into a quick-start checklist, a one-page printer-friendly guide, or provide step-by-step setup for Windows/macOS/Linux.
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