XianScan Icon # XianScan **Local-first translation studio for manga, manhwa, and manhua.** Speech bubble detection, multi-language OCR, LLM translation, neural inpainting, and typesetting built with Rust & ONNX Runtime. Documentation & Showcase: [**xianscan.arbenger.com**](https://xianscan.arbenger.com/)
[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](LICENSE) [![Rust](https://img.shields.io/badge/Rust-1.88+-DEA584?style=flat-square&logo=rust&logoColor=white)](https://www.rust-lang.org/) [![ONNX Runtime](https://img.shields.io/badge/ONNX_Runtime-1.28-005CED?style=flat-square&logo=onnx&logoColor=white)](https://onnxruntime.ai/) [![Hardware](https://img.shields.io/badge/Hardware-DirectML_•_CoreML_•_CUDA_•_CPU-0078D4?style=flat-square&logo=windows&logoColor=white)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ai/directml/) [![Web UI](https://img.shields.io/badge/Web_UI-SvelteKit-FF3E00?style=flat-square&logo=svelte&logoColor=white)](https://kit.svelte.dev/) [![Browser Extension](https://img.shields.io/badge/Extension-Chrome_•_Firefox_•_Edge-4285F4?style=flat-square&logo=googlechrome&logoColor=white)](#browser-web-extension) [![Mobile Reader](https://img.shields.io/badge/Mobile-Mihon_•_Tachiyomi-2E7D32?style=flat-square&logo=android&logoColor=white)](#mihon--tachiyomi-extension-android) [![Support on Ko-Fi](https://img.shields.io/badge/Support_on-Ko--Fi-FF5E5B?style=flat-square&logo=kofi&logoColor=white)](https://ko-fi.com/arbenapura)
| 1. Raw Source | 2. Neural Inpainted | 3. Translated & Typeset | | :---: | :---: | :---: | | Original Raw Scan | Neural Inpainted Page | Translated and Typeset Page | Showcase artwork from 《妖神记》 (Tales of Demons and Gods) used for technical demonstration. All copyrights belong to the respective authors and publishers.
**Format Benchmarks:**   [Chinese Manhua](docs/showcase-manhua.md)  •  [Korean Manhwa & Webtoons](docs/showcase-manhwa.md)  •  [Japanese Manga](docs/showcase-manga.md)
## Overview **XianScan** is a self-contained, local-first comic translation server built in Rust. It eliminates the manual busywork of screenshotting, external OCR, Photoshop cleaning, and manual typesetting by orchestrating the entire lifecycle in a single automated flow: from 1-click web reader import to streaming translated chapters directly to your mobile reader over local Wi-Fi. > [!TIP] > **Choosing the Right Tool for Your Workflow** > - **XianScan (Automated Reading Flow)**: Built specifically for readers and fast chapter catch-up. Delivers an automated 1-click pipeline (browser import -> OCR -> inpainting -> LLM translation -> typesetting -> Mihon streaming) packaged in a self-contained zero-install standalone binary. > - **Koharu (Comprehensive Translation Studio)**: If you need an end-to-end desktop editor with multi-format project management, proofreading, a WebGPU-based canvas for manual cleanup, and layered PSD export, check out [Koharu](https://github.com/mayocream/koharu). ### Key Architectural Pillars - **Zero-Friction Standalone Executable**: Ships as a single self-contained binary containing all ONNX neural models, OCR dictionaries, Skia graphics rendering, and the SvelteKit web interface. No Python environment, Conda setups, or external runtime installations required. - **Automated End-to-End Pipeline**: Handles image downloading, high-resolution speech bubble detection, multi-language OCR, neural text removal (LaMa), context-aware LLM translation, and automated typography layout. - **Hardware Agnostic with CPU-First Optimization**: Tuned for multi-threaded SIMD inference (AVX2, AVX-512, ARM NEON) that runs smoothly on standard laptops and CPUs, while automatically taking advantage of DirectML (Windows), CoreML/Metal (macOS), or CUDA (Linux) when a dedicated GPU is available. - **Seamless Ecosystem Integration**: Capture chapters from online reader platforms via the 1-click browser extension, and read finished chapters anywhere on your home network through the dedicated Mihon / Tachiyomi extension. --- ## Translation Pipeline & Core Capabilities ```mermaid flowchart LR A["Raw Capture
Extension / Folders"] --> B["Webtoon Reslice
Gutter Slicing"] B --> C["Detection & OCR
Bubbles & Text Extraction"] C --> D["LLM Translation
Glossaries & Memory"] D --> E["Neural Inpainting
LaMa Canvas Cleaning"] E --> F["Typesetting
Font Fitting & Layout"] F --> G["Reader & Sync
Web Studio & Mihon"] ``` 1. **Web Importer Extension**: Captures full comic chapters directly from online reader sites, smoothly handling lazy-loaded images and filtering out ad containers. 2. **Webtoon Gutter Reslicing**: Automatically recombines and splits tall vertical strips along natural panel gutters before processing, ensuring speech bubbles are never cut in half across slice seams. 3. **Speech Bubble & Text Detection**: Koharu RF-DETR Seg 2XL finds dialogue bubbles, captions, sound effects and panels, and the OCR line detector finds each line of text inside them. 4. **Multi-Language OCR**: High-accuracy text extraction with support for vertical and horizontal text layouts across 10 languages. 5. **Context-Aware AI Translation & Glossaries**: Integrates with local LLMs (Ollama, LM Studio with Qwen, Llama, Gemma) or cloud APIs (Gemini, OpenAI, Groq, OpenRouter). Uses a sliding dialogue context of previous pages (4 by default, adjustable) to keep speaker identity, pronouns, and topic consistent across page turns, combined with Aho-Corasick terminology glossaries to enforce consistent names and cultivation terms across chapters. 6. **Neural Artwork Inpainting (LaMa)**: Removes dialogue text while reconstructing underlying artwork, gradients, and textures with configurable edge padding. 7. **Typesetting Studio & Typography**: Automatically computes font sizing, line breaks, outline strokes, and bubble tilt, with per-script fonts (Hindi, Thai, Arabic including right-to-left layout, CJK, and more), plus a per-script accent font for skill names, attacks, spells, and title cards that the translator marks automatically, and plain letters (É to E) wherever a font has no accented letters, so a word never mixes fonts. 8. **Interactive Studio Inspector**: Visual overlay to inspect raw OCR bounding boxes, character confidence scores, model prompts, and make quick text adjustments before saving. --- ## System Requirements & Hardware Support XianScan is designed to be CPU-first, running on standard laptops without requiring a dedicated GPU. | Component | Minimum Specification | Recommended Specification | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **CPU** | 4-Core x86_64 with AVX2 (Intel Core 6th Gen+ / AMD Ryzen) or Apple M1+ | 6 to 8 Cores (AVX2 / AVX-512 / ARM NEON) | | **RAM** | 8 GB (Engine RSS ~1.2 GB + Image Buffers) | 16 GB+ (Mandatory if running local LLMs like Ollama alongside) | | **Disk Space** | 1 GB (Executable + embedded models) | 5 GB+ SSD for chapter caching and SQLite storage | | **Dependencies** | None (Node.js runtime & ONNX models are embedded) | None required | | **GPU / VRAM** | None required (Multi-threaded CPU runs out of the box) | Dedicated GPU with 8 GB+ VRAM (DirectML • CoreML • Linux CUDA) |
GPU Compatibility Matrix & Platform Notes
| GPU Type | Windows (`directml`) | Linux (`cuda`) | macOS (`coreml`) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **NVIDIA Dedicated** | DirectML | CUDA ([Driver + cuDNN setup](docs/linux-cuda-setup.md)) | N/A | | **AMD Discrete (Radeon)** | DirectML | CPU only (ROCm planned) | N/A | | **Intel Arc Discrete** | DirectML | CPU only | N/A | | **Integrated GPU (Intel/AMD)** | CPU only (stability fallback) | CPU only | N/A | | **Apple Silicon (M-Series)** | N/A | N/A | CoreML / Metal | > All GPU acceleration is optional. If an unsupported GPU is detected or dependencies are absent, XianScan automatically routes inference to the multi-threaded CPU engine. For Linux NVIDIA GPU configuration and driver/cuDNN prerequisites, see the [Linux CUDA Acceleration Guide](docs/linux-cuda-setup.md). For headless Windows Server and cloud VM setups (AWS EC2, Azure, Hetzner), see the [Windows Server Deployment Guide](docs/windows-server-deployment.md).
--- ## Supported Formats & Languages ### Comic Formats - **Manhua (Chinese)**: Vertical strips, multi-line narrative blocks, and cultivation terminology glossaries. - **Manhwa & Webtoons (Korean)**: Long-strip gutter splitting, vertical page stitching, and Korean OCR dictionary support. - **Manga (Japanese)**: Right-to-left layout, vertical line OCR, and multi-column bubble handling. - **Western & Global Comics**: Horizontal text flow and uppercase comic typography. ### OCR Languages (10 Languages) - **East Asian**: Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Korean - **Southeast Asian**: Thai, Indonesian - **European & Global**: English, Spanish, French, Russian --- ## Quick Start ### 1. Download & Launch Download the pre-compiled binary for your system from [Releases](https://github.com/ArbenApura/xianscan-rust/releases): - **Windows**: Double-click `xianscan.exe` (click *More info* -> *Run anyway* if Windows SmartScreen prompts). - **Linux / macOS**: Make executable and run: ```bash chmod +x xianscan && ./xianscan ``` - **macOS**: the binary is not signed by Apple; run `xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine .` in the extracted folder first. Keep every file from the archive in one folder: the Windows ZIP includes `DirectML.dll` and the Linux archive the ONNX Runtime GPU libraries. *All neural network weights, OCR dictionaries, and the Web UI are embedded inside the executable. No network connection is required for core startup and CPU inference.* Each release includes `SHA256SUMS.txt`; verify your download with `sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing`. ### 2. Open the Web Studio - Open `http://localhost:8124` in your browser. - **Local Network (LAN)**: LAN access is **off by default**, so only this computer can open XianScan. To use it from tablets or phones on your Wi-Fi, turn on **Settings -> Network & Access -> LAN access** and restart XianScan (or start it with `xianscan --lan`). Then open `http://:8124` on the other device and paste the **access token** shown in the same settings section once. - **Upgrading from an earlier version?** If you already had a library, LAN access stays on, but other devices now need the access token. ### 3. Translate a Book 1. Click **+ New Book** and select source and target languages. 2. Drag and drop chapter folders into the browser, or import pages with the browser extension. 3. Configure your translation provider. The default is Ollama with `qwen3.5:9b`: install [Ollama](https://ollama.com/) and run `ollama pull qwen3.5:9b`. Or pick a cloud API in **Settings -> AI Translation Providers**. Then click **Translate All**. ### Run with Docker A prebuilt image is published to the GitHub Container Registry for every release: ```bash docker run -d --name xianscan \ -p 8124:8124 \ -v xianscan-config:/config \ ghcr.io/arbenapura/xianscan:latest ``` Then open `http://localhost:8124` (or `http://:8124` from another device on your LAN). Your library, settings, and caches persist in the `xianscan-config` volume (all models and the web UI are embedded in the image, so no extra setup is required). Connections reach the container from the Docker network, not from loopback, so every browser (including one on the Docker host), Mihon and the browser importer need the **access token** once. Print it with: ```bash docker exec xianscan /app/xianscan --print-token ``` To keep the container reachable from this machine only, publish the port on loopback instead: `-p 127.0.0.1:8124:8124`. The server runs with multi-threaded CPU inference out of the box. NVIDIA GPU acceleration inside containers additionally requires the [NVIDIA Container Toolkit](https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/) with CUDA/cuDNN runtime libraries; when they are unavailable, XianScan automatically falls back to the CPU engine. To build the image locally from a release archive, see the [`Dockerfile`](Dockerfile). --- ## Browser Web Extension
| 1. Capture on Web Reader | 2. In-Place Live Replacement | 3. Live Translation Pipeline in Studio | | :---: | :---: | :---: | | Browser Extension Capture | In-Place Live Translation | Auto-Translation in Studio |

The **1-Click Web Importer Extension** ([`extensions/xianscan-importer/`](extensions/xianscan-importer/)) captures chapters from online comic sites and streams translations back to the host reader: - **In-Place Live Translation**: Replaces raw comic panels directly on the host website in real-time as background translation finishes, with smooth transitions, darkened pending states, and floating status badges. - **1-Click Chapter Import**: Intelligently detects chapter numbers from URL parameters (`?no=19`, `?episodeNo=19`), page subtitles, and book sequences, pre-selecting `Chapter N (NEW)` for instant 1-click execution. - **Intelligent Ad & Noise Shield**: Automatically filters out floating banners, promo overlays, external click-trackers, and extreme aspect ratio banner ads (`880×99`). - **Selective Exclusion Protection**: Deselecting any image in the gallery protects it from being modified or replaced on the host page. - **Private Network Safe**: Streams images into the webpage via in-memory Base64 data URLs through the extension background worker, preventing browser Private Network Access (PNA) permission prompts. - **Fast Capture**: Smooth-scrolls webtoon strips to trigger lazy image loaders and extracts pages in seconds.
Installation Instructions
- **Chrome / Edge / Brave / Opera**: Load unpacked from `extensions/xianscan-importer/dist/` in `chrome://extensions/` with Developer Mode enabled. - **Firefox**: Load temporary add-on from `extensions/xianscan-importer/dist-firefox/manifest.json` in `about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox`. - **Connect**: open the extension settings, enter the server endpoint (`http://127.0.0.1:8124` on the same computer) and paste the **access token** from XianScan **Settings -> Network & Access** (required even on the same computer). See the [importer README](extensions/xianscan-importer/README.md#connecting-to-xianscan).
--- ## Mihon / Tachiyomi Extension (Android)
| 1. Mihon Source Extension | 2. Synced Manga Library | 3. Native Mobile Reading | | :---: | :---: | :---: | | Mihon Sources View | Mihon Synced Library | Mihon Reader View |

Read your translated library on Android phones, tablets, or E-Ink devices using the **[Mihon](https://mihon.app/) / Tachiyomi Extension** ([`extensions/xianscan-mihon/`](extensions/xianscan-mihon/)): - **Local Wi-Fi Streaming**: Stream or download translated chapters directly over your home network. - **Metadata & Cover Sync**: Synchronizes book titles, reading directions, and cover artwork automatically. - **Broad Compatibility**: Works with Mihon, TachiyomiSY, J2K, Aniyomi, and Android E-Ink readers (Boox, Bigme, Meebook).
Mihon Repository Setup Guide
1. In Mihon, open **More -> Settings -> Browse -> Extension repos**. 2. Tap **+ Add** and paste: ``` https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ArbenApura/xianscan-rust/repo/index.min.json ``` 3. Go to **Browse -> Extensions**, search for **XianScan**, and install it. 4. Turn on LAN access in XianScan first: **Settings -> Network & Access -> LAN access**, then restart XianScan. 5. Configure server address: - In **Browse -> Extensions**, tap the settings icon ⚙ next to **XianScan** -> tap the settings icon ⚙ again next to **"Multi"** -> tap **Server address**. - Enter your computer's local IP address and port `8124` (e.g. `http://192.168.100.98:8124`, no trailing slash). You can find your LAN address printed directly in the XianScan startup terminal banner under **Network / LAN**:

Terminal LAN Address

6. Set the access token: in the same extension settings tap **Access token** and paste the token from XianScan **Settings -> Network & Access**. 7. In **Browse -> Sources**, tap the filter icon and enable the **Multi** language tag. 8. Open **XianScan** under Sources to browse and read your translated library.
--- ## Development & REST API For building from source, running tests, or integrating with the backend: - See the **[Developer Guide (DEVELOPMENT.md)](DEVELOPMENT.md)** for compilation flags, Vite dev mode, API route reference, and test suites. --- ## Author **XianScan** is architected and built by **[Arben Apura](https://arbenger.com/contact/)** as a showcase of end-to-end full-stack web engineering, intuitive UI/UX design, and intelligent application architecture. ### Support Open-Source Development **XianScan** is an open-source initiative created to give readers and language learners a seamless, effortless way to enjoy untranslated comics. If XianScan brings convenience to your daily reading, saves you time, or enriches your workflow, any support is received with heartfelt gratitude. Your sponsorship directly sustains ongoing development and future project growth, helping cover the API fees and testing infrastructure required to build and optimize XianScan:
[![Support on Ko-Fi](https://img.shields.io/badge/Support_on-Ko--Fi-FF5E5B?style=for-the-badge&logo=kofi&logoColor=white)](https://ko-fi.com/arbenapura)   [![Discord Community](https://img.shields.io/badge/Discord-Join_Community-5865F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white)](https://discord.gg/dRWaQftNnR)
--- ## Ethical Use & Copyright Notice **XianScan** is designed strictly as a **local-first personal assistive translation and language-learning tool**. - **Respect for Original Creators**: Deep respect for the artistry, effort, and intellectual property of original manga artists, manhua authors, manhwa creators, and publishers. - **Support Official Releases**: Users are strongly encouraged to purchase official translated releases and support creators directly on licensed digital platforms (such as *Kuaikan Manhua, Bilibili Manga, Naver WEBTOON, KakaoPage, Tapas, Tappytoon, Lezhin, MANGA Plus by Shueisha, VIZ Media, and BookWalker*). - **100% Local & Private**: XianScan does not host, re-distribute, or scrape copyrighted works on public servers. All image processing, OCR, inpainting, and translation execution occur entirely on the user's private local hardware. - **No DRM Circumvention**: XianScan does not contain features designed to bypass encryption, digital rights management (DRM), or paywalls. - **User Responsibility**: Users are solely responsible for ensuring their usage complies with applicable local laws, fair-use standards, and source platform terms of service. This project does not endorse or facilitate unauthorized commercial redistribution. --- ## License & Acknowledgments Licensed under the **[MIT License](LICENSE)** © 2026 Arben Apura. - **Koharu RF-DETR Layout Detector & Segmenter**: 768px CPU-optimized RF-DETR Seg 2XL transformer model predicting bounding boxes and instance masks for speech bubbles, dialogue text, onomatopoeia/SFX, and panels by [mayocream/koharu](https://github.com/mayocream/koharu) and [mayocream/koharu-layout-rfdetr-seg-2xl-1152](https://huggingface.co/mayocream/koharu-layout-rfdetr-seg-2xl-1152) (Apache-2.0 / Manga109 terms). - **PaddleOCR & RapidOCR**: Multilingual OCR models (PP-OCRv6, Korean, Cyrillic, Thai) and direction classifier by [PaddlePaddle/PaddleOCR](https://github.com/PaddlePaddle/PaddleOCR), [RapidAI/RapidOCR](https://github.com/RapidAI/RapidOCR), and [xberg-io/paddleocr-onnx-models](https://huggingface.co/xberg-io/paddleocr-onnx-models) (Apache-2.0). - **LaMa Inpainting**: Large Mask Inpainting architecture by [advimman/lama](https://github.com/advimman/lama) (Apache-2.0) and manga inpainting weights by [ogkalu/lama-manga-onnx-dynamic](https://huggingface.co/ogkalu/lama-manga-onnx-dynamic). - **Typography & Fonts**: Open-source dialogue font Friendly Sans and script fonts (Noto Sans Devanagari, Noto Sans Thai, Tajawal) under the SIL Open Font License ([OFL-1.1](https://openfontlicense.org/)); CJK fallback font WenQuanYi Micro Hei by the [WenQuanYi project](http://wenq.org/) under the [Apache License 2.0](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0). The licence texts for the script fonts and WenQuanYi Micro Hei ship in `web/static/fonts/licenses/`. CC Wild Words is a registered trademark of Comicraft. The default Latin accent font Sigmar One by The Sigmar One Project Authors is under the SIL Open Font License (`web/static/fonts/licenses/OFL-SigmarOne.txt`); fonts you import, including freeware comic fonts, stay under their own licences. - **ONNX Runtime**: High-performance inference engine by [Microsoft](https://github.com/microsoft/onnxruntime) (MIT License). - **Artwork & Trademarks**: All demonstration images are referenced under Fair Use for open-source technical illustration and model benchmarking. All rights and copyrights remain with their respective intellectual property owners.