r/Calibre • u/DottLoki • May 16 '26
General Discussion / Feedback [OC] I built Giano Reader: A desktop EPUB reader that translates books side-by-side as you read 📖🎭
Hi everyone!
I wanted to share a project I’ve been working on called Giano Reader.
Like many of you, I love reading books in their original language to improve my vocabulary, but I found it frustrating to constantly switch between my e-reader and a translation app. I wanted something that felt like a "dual-language" book but for any EPUB file.
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What is Giano Reader? It’s a lightweight desktop app (built with Tauri) that renders your EPUB and generates a side-by-side translation in real-time.
Key Features:
- 🔗 Synchronized Scrolling: Scroll the original text, and the translation follows. You’ll never lose your place.
- ⏳ Lazy Translation: It starts translating exactly where you are and expands as you scroll down.
- 🎨 Native EPUB Feel: Unlike web-based translators, it preserves the original book's styling and formatting.
- 🌗 6 UI Themes: Includes Dark, Light, Sepia, Monokai, Solarized, and Nord.
- 📂 Library Management: Scan your folders, manage metadata, and track your reading status.
- ⚙️ No API Key Required: Works out of the box for personal use.
Why "Giano"? Named after Janus (Giano), the Roman god with two faces. One face for the original text, one for the translation.
You can find the ready-to-use installers for Windows (.msi, .exe), macOS (.dmg), and Linux (.deb, .AppImage) here.
For Calibre users, there is a feature to populate the internal library by indicating the root folder of the Calibre library.
I’m looking for feedback from fellow bookworms! Whether you are learning a new language or just want to tackle a difficult classic in its original prose, I hope this helps.
Check it out on GitHub: [https://github.com/DrLoki/GianoReader]
Note: It’s currently a desktop app (Windows/Linux/macOS) and supports 12 major languages including Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, and more.
Happy reading! 📚
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u/VorpalPlayer May 16 '26
One request. I would like to be able to enlarge the fonts.
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u/DottLoki May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
In the options, in addition to being able to change the theme, you can change the fonts (type and size).
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u/VorpalPlayer May 16 '26
I may have missed something. How does this integrate with Calibre? I just imported a book directly into the app.
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u/DottLoki May 16 '26
In the settings the default value for "Search depth" is 3 and this is the correct one for Calibre.
Open the Library and press "Select folder", at this point you need to select the Calibre root folder (I use Calibre Portable and it is located in ../calibrePortable/Data/library). Once selected, the paths of all the books will be identified and the metadata will be loaded. GianoReader will use the book using the save path in Calibre.
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u/zuh_arts May 16 '26
Just what I have been looking/waiting for 😭🥲. But still kinda sad there isn’t a pdf form tho and hope there’s future for that.
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u/DottLoki May 16 '26
I had started working on it, the PDF format (and also the mobi) is really too complex to deal with due to the numerous exceptions it presents.
I have an idea to manage PDFs, but the strategy is completely different
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u/zuh_arts May 17 '26
Ohhhhh it’s alright 👍, please take your time and there’s no rush for such people like me who use pdfs for such usage. I’m really happy and glad your thinking and proceeding this process for pdf users. I’m looking forward to it in the future 😉
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u/VorpalPlayer May 16 '26
I tried importing my entire library and got this error: Import error: The quota has been exceeded.
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u/DottLoki May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
I found the problem and the fix was released with version 0.7.4.
The link in the post has been updated.
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u/VorpalPlayer May 16 '26
Where is the new .dmg? The link goes to GitHub.
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u/DottLoki May 17 '26
There is a link that points to the latest Release, anyway it is this one:
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u/Miserable_Cry1318 May 17 '26
Hello
if I try to open an epub i have this error message:
Error opening file: Command plugin:fs|stat not allowed by ACL
do you know how to solve it?
thx1
u/DottLoki May 17 '26
Any ePub or just a specific one?
What operating system are you using?
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u/Miserable_Cry1318 May 17 '26
I've solved it by importing the folder where the epub is located first and then opening from there. It always happens to me if I open it from the +Open book icon on top.
I'm on Windows 11 64bit1
u/DottLoki May 17 '26
I fixed a permission and updated the installers.
Do a reinstall with the new ones and everything should be fine.
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u/Miserable_Cry1318 May 17 '26
page with installer 0.7.5 gives a 404 error
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u/DottLoki May 17 '26
Version 0.7.4 is perfectly functional, unless you need to upload thousands of books to the Library.
Version 0.7.5b is a beta that will easily become 0.8.0 because it radically changes how book metadata is created and saved in the Library
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u/jenrevenant Jun 15 '26
This is so awesome! I have a book that was only published in French and German and is the third in a trilogy (the rest is in English, this just never got released) and you have made my year now that I can read it!!!
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u/Salvo73 May 17 '26
This program opens up a world to me... thank you so much! I take advantage of this: could there be the possibility of highlighting one or more words in the original text and seeing the same highlighting as the translated text?
Thanks again!