Read DJVU files in your browser
The format of scanned books, journals and manuals. Open a DjVu right here, page by page, and search the text hidden under its scans. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your book opens at its first page, each page drawn in your browser as it comes into view, with its pages beside it.
- Every page sharp • Zoom from 25% to 500%
- Page thumbnails • The book's own contents
- Search its hidden text • Select and copy it
- Export • Save as PDF, PNG or JPEG
About DJVU
DjVu was made at AT&T Labs to put scanned pages on the web. Each page is cut into layers: the text and line art as a sharp black and white mask, packed with JB2, which stores each letter's shape once and reuses it, the paper and pictures as a smooth background, packed with wavelets called IW44, and the colors of the text. A color scan that takes megabytes as a JPEG often takes less than 100 KB as a DjVu page, so libraries and archives used it for whole books.
DjVu files are scanned books, old journals and theses, maps and manuals, usually with the text their scanning software read by OCR hidden under each page, and often with an outline of the chapters. Windows, Macs, iPhones and Android phones have no DjVu reader built in, and browsers download them, so a DjVu usually waits for an app like WinDjView or DjView.
Filepeek reads DjVu with a decoder of its own, written from the format's specification, and draws each page in your browser at your screen's sharpness, again as you zoom. The hidden text lies under each page, so search marks every match and you can select and copy it, and the book's outline is in Contents beside the pages. Export saves the book as a PDF or its pages as PNG or JPEG.
DjVu document
.djvu • .djv
Format
- MIME type
- image/vnd.djvu
- Made by
- AT&T Labs
- Released
- 1998
Inside the file
- Pages
- Text and line art over a background picture
- Text
- Hidden OCR text, each word in its place
- Book
- Bundled pages, shared letter shapes and an outline
- Packing
- JB2 for text, IW44 wavelets for pictures
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens DjVu files in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, with nothing to install. On their own, browsers download them, and no browser shows one.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open DJVU
- WindowsWinDjView or SumatraPDF, both free
- MacDjView, free from DjVuLibre
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in opens it
- AndroidNo app built in opens it
Questions
How do I open a DjVu file without a DjVu reader?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a DJVU. Its pages open in your browser, with their thumbnails and the book's contents beside them.
Can I turn a DjVu into a PDF?
Yes. Choose Export, then Save as PDF, and every page goes on paper of its own size in your browser's print dialog. Its pages also save as PNG or JPEG.
Why doesn't search find anything?
Search looks through the text hidden under the pages, which scanning software adds by OCR. A DjVu saved without it holds only pictures of its pages, so there's no text to find or copy.
Why does Filepeek say its pages are in other files?
An indirect DjVu keeps each page in a file of its own beside a small index file. Filepeek opens bundled DjVu files, which keep every page in one file, and DjVuLibre's djvmcvt bundles an indirect one.