Short answer: match the reading mode to the format — right-to-left for Japanese manga, left-to-right for Western comics, vertical/webtoon mode for long-strip manhwa — then turn on border cropping and, on tablets, double-page mode. You can set a default for everything and override it per series.
Pick the right reading mode
- Right-to-left (paged): the original order for Japanese tankōbon. If spreads and page turns feel backwards, you are in the wrong mode.
- Left-to-right (paged): for Western comics and translated editions that were flipped.
- Vertical / continuous vertical: scrolls page after page — comfortable for phone reading of standard manga.
- Webtoon mode: removes the gaps between pages entirely for long-strip series; using paged mode on a webtoon is the most common beginner complaint.
Settings worth changing first
- Crop image borders: trims the white margins publishers leave, which makes panels noticeably bigger on phones.
- Double-page mode (tablets): shows two pages side by side in landscape, the way print spreads were drawn. Pairs well with a 10–11″ tablet (tablet guide).
- Tap zones / navigation layout: choose where taps turn pages so your thumb rests naturally; volume-key paging is handy on e-ink devices.
- Keep screen on while reading and a custom brightness inside the reader prevent dimming mid-chapter.
- Per-series overrides: long-press a series or open its reader settings to give webtoons vertical mode while the rest of your library stays paged.
E-ink devices (BOOX and similar)
On e-ink, disable page-transition animations and enable the reader’s flash-on-page-change style refresh if offered — this clears ghosting. Long-strip mode works, but paged mode with a full refresh per page is usually cleaner on e-ink panels. More in our e-ink reader guide.
If pages look wrong
Zoomed-in or split pages usually mean a wide spread is being shown in single-page mode — switch to double-page or the split-wide-pages handling in reader settings. Blank or missing pages after a source change are a source issue, not a settings issue: see 403 errors and library update failures.
Related: all tutorials · organize your library