Preferences & Configuration

Momovu provides a comprehensive preferences system that allows you to customize the application’s behavior and appearance to suit your workflow.

Accessing Preferences

The Preferences dialog can be accessed in two ways:

1. From the menu: File → Preferences…

2. Using the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+, (Ctrl+comma)

Configuration Options

The Preferences dialog is organized into several tabs for easy navigation:

General Tab

The General tab contains the main application settings:

Fit Options

• Auto-fit on document load: Automatically fit the page to the window when opening a PDF

• Auto-fit on window resize: Maintain page fit when resizing the application window

Zoom Settings

• Zoom Increment: Control how much the zoom changes with each Ctrl+Plus/Minus press (1.05x to 2.00x)

Scrolling

• Enable smooth scrolling: Use animated transitions when scrolling through pages

• Scroll Speed: Adjust the scrolling speed in pixels (10-200)

Performance

• Max Cached Pages: Number of pages to keep in memory for faster navigation (5-100)

• Max Cache Memory: Maximum memory allocation for page cache in MB (50-1000)

Language Tab

The Language tab allows you to change the interface language:

Language Settings

• Interface Language: Select from available translations including:

  • English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese

  • Arabic (with full right-to-left support)

  • Chinese, Japanese, Korean (using system fonts)

  • Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, Turkish, Polish, Russian

• Important: Changing the language requires restarting the application

• All number and date formatting follows the selected locale

• User interface elements, menus, and dialogs are fully translated

Formulas Tab

The Formulas tab allows you to select between different printer formulas for calculating spine width:

Printer Selection

• Lulu (Default): Standard formula for Lulu printing services

• Lightning Source: Alternative formula with paper weight options

  When Lightning Source is selected, you can choose from various paper weights: - 50# White (444 PPI) - 50# Cream (400 PPI) - 60# White (382 PPI) - 60# Cream (372 PPI) - 70# White (326 PPI) - 70# Cream (310 PPI) - 80# White (284 PPI) - 80# Cream (276 PPI)

Important Note

These formulas are approximations designed to help with initial layout planning. Always verify the final spine width with your printer’s official calculation tools before submitting your files for production.

Colors Tab

The Colors tab allows customization of all overlay colors and line widths:

Overlay Colors and Opacity

• Margin Overlay: Color and transparency for safety margin areas

• Barcode Area: Color and transparency for barcode placement guide

• Fold Lines: Color and transparency for spine/fold line indicators

• Trim Lines: Color and transparency for page trim boundaries

• Bleed Lines: Color and transparency for bleed area indicators

• Gutter Margin: Color and transparency for binding space (interior documents)

Line Widths

• Adjust the thickness of fold, trim, and bleed lines (1-10 pixels)

Colorblind Presets

Three preset buttons provide optimized color schemes: - Protanopia: Optimized for red-blind vision - Deuteranopia: Optimized for green-blind vision - Tritanopia: Optimized for blue-blind vision

Dimensions Tab

The Dimensions tab allows you to customize all measurement settings used for margin visualization:

Safety Margins

• Safety Margin: The minimum distance from the trim edge where content should be placed to avoid being cut off during printing

Cover and Dustjacket Settings

• Cover Bleed: The bleed area for paperback covers - how far artwork should extend beyond the trim line

• Dustjacket Bleed: The bleed area for hardcover dustjackets - typically larger than paperback bleed

Barcode Dimensions

• Barcode Width: The width of the ISBN barcode placement area

• Barcode Height: The height of the ISBN barcode placement area

Dustjacket Specific

• Dustjacket Flap Width: The width of the front and back flaps on hardcover dustjackets

• Dustjacket Fold Safety Margin: Additional safety margin at fold lines to prevent important content from being placed on the fold

Recent Files Tab

The Recent Files tab manages your file history:

File Management

• View all recently opened PDF files with their document types

• Remove Selected: Remove individual files from the history

• Clear All Recent Files: Clear the entire recent files list

Configuration File Location

Momovu stores its configuration using Qt’s QSettings system:

• Linux: ~/.config/Momovu/Momovu.conf

• Windows: Registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Momovu\Momovu

• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/com.momovu.Momovu.plist

The configuration is managed automatically by the application.

Resetting to Defaults

To reset all preferences to their default values:

1. Open the Preferences dialog (Ctrl+,)

2. Click the Restore Defaults button at the bottom (shown in red)

3. Confirm the reset when prompted

4. A message will confirm that settings have been reset

Command-Line Overrides

Many preferences can be overridden via command-line arguments, which take precedence over saved preferences:

# Override default visibility of overlays
momovu --no-safety-margins document.pdf
momovu --no-trim-lines document.pdf
momovu --no-gutter interior.pdf

# Override document type
momovu --document cover book.pdf

# Start in specific modes
momovu --presentation document.pdf
momovu --fullscreen document.pdf

Per-Document Settings

The following settings are remembered for each document in the recent files list:

• Last viewed page

• Zoom level

• View mode (single/side-by-side)

• Document type

• Overlay visibility states

• Presentation mode state

These are restored when you reopen the same document from the recent files list.