What size should a sleep screen be?
The image must match the panel exactly, in portrait. If the size is wrong, the reader may not show it at all.
| Xteink X4 | 480 × 800 px |
|---|---|
| Xteink X4 Pro | 480 × 800 px |
| Xteink X3 | 528 × 792 px |
The X3 has a different aspect ratio. Never copy X4 files to an X3: make a new set instead.
Which file format should I use?
Uncompressed BMP works everywhere. CrossPoint and its forks read more formats, including the
faster .pxc.
- 1-bit BMP
- Pure black and white. Works on every firmware, smallest file.
- 2-bit grayscale BMP
- Four gray levels, stored as a 4-bit indexed BMP with a 4-colour palette (the layout CrossPoint reads).
- 24-bit BMP
- Most compatible with stock firmware. Pixels are pre-dithered to 4 gray levels.
- CrossPoint .pxc
- CrossPoint native packed 2-bit wallpaper. Fastest to load.
- PNG
- For sharing and previewing. Not read by the device firmware.
Not sure? Pick your firmware in the wallpaper maker: it marks the recommended format and warns you if your firmware cannot read the one you picked.
Where do the files go: sleep/ or .sleep/?
It depends on the firmware. The folder goes at the root of the SD card, not inside another folder.
- Stock firmware
/sleep/ - CrossPoint
/.sleep/ - PapyriX
/.sleep/ - CrossPet
/.sleep/ - Lector
/.sleep/
Names that start with a dot are hidden on macOS and Linux. Press ⌘⇧. in Finder or Ctrl+H in most Linux file managers to see them. Step-by-step menus are in How to install.
Why does my image look smudged or ghosted?
E-ink keeps a faint trace of the previous page when the new one has large flat gray areas. Plain grayscale BMPs without dithering are known to ghost on CrossPoint 1.5.0. Export the image with dithering on, which is the default here, and the problem goes away.
What is dithering, and why is it on by default?
The screen shows only a few shades of gray (2 or 4, depending on the format). Dithering mixes black and white dots so that the eye sees the missing shades, the way a newspaper prints photos. Without it, smooth gradients turn into hard bands.
Line art, text and logos are the exception: they look sharper with a plain threshold. The Auto setting looks at the image and picks Floyd–Steinberg for photos and a threshold for line art.
What are XTC and XTCH files?
The stock firmware does not open EPUB books. It reads pre-rendered pages instead: XTC stores each page in black and white (1-bit), and XTCH in four gray levels (2-bit). CrossPoint and its forks read EPUB, FB2, TXT and Markdown directly. In-browser converters to XTC and XTCH are in the works on this site.
Can I use these tools on my phone?
Yes. Everything runs in the browser, so it works the same on a phone. You still need a way to copy the files to the SD card, such as a card reader or a USB connection to the reader.
Are my images uploaded anywhere?
No. Images are decoded, resized, dithered and encoded on your own device. Nothing is sent to a server. See the privacy policy for details.