Convert the encrypted .djvu files from the "Playboy: Cover to Cover — The
Complete Hugh Hefner Reader" hard drive / DVD set into open formats you can
read on any device:
- CBZ — lossless 24-bit PNG pages in a standard comic-book archive (recommended; opens in any comic/e-book reader)
- PDF — pages assembled into a PDF, with gatefold centerfolds placed on properly proportioned wide pages
There is a point-and-click app (no typing required) and a command-line tool for advanced/batch use.
You must own the "Playboy: Cover to Cover" set. This tool does not include the reader files needed to open the DJVUs — you copy those from your own installation (see Step 3). Nothing here lets you obtain the magazines you don't already own.
"Bondi" isn't a person — it's Bondi Digital Publishing, the New York digital-media company (founded in 2004 by David Anthony and Murat Aktar) that produced these archives. After building The Complete New Yorker in 2005, Bondi partnered with Playboy to release Playboy: Cover to Cover — first as DVD-ROM box sets in 2007–2009, and then as a portable hard drive in 2010 holding every issue from 1953 to 2010.
Every page in those sets is stored as an encrypted DjVu file that only opens inside Bondi's own reader software. That was fine in 2010 — but Bondi suspended operations years ago, and in 2022 its assets were acquired by another company (Pugpig). The reader has gone unmaintained ever since. It depends on a 2003-era 32-bit Windows runtime, and as operating systems and hardware move on, that kind of abandoned software gets harder to run every single year. One day it simply won't launch — and the archive you paid for goes dark with it.
If you bought one of these sets, you own the content — but today it's locked to orphaned software you don't control, from a company that no longer exists. This tool exists so owners can take back control of what they paid for, converting their own archives into open, standard formats (CBZ and PDF) that will keep opening on any device long after the original reader stops working. It doesn't unlock anything you don't already own, and it can't get you issues you never bought — it just frees your copy from a dead reader before that reader takes it with it.
- A Windows PC (the reader is a Windows program).
- Your own "Playboy: Cover to Cover" hard drive or DVDs (for the reader files — see Step 3).
- About 15 minutes for one-time setup. After that, converting is just a few clicks.
Each converted issue is large (a CBZ can be ~700 MB, a PDF ~300 MB), so make sure you have free disk space where you save them.
Python is a free program this tool runs on. You need the 32-bit version — this is important, because the Playboy reader is 32-bit and won't work with the 64-bit Python.
- Go to the official download page: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-31011/
- Scroll down to the "Files" table.
- Click "Windows installer (32-bit)" to download it.
⚠️ Make sure it says (32-bit). Do not pick the "64-bit" or "ARM64" one.
- Open the downloaded file to start the installer.
- On the first screen, check the box that says "Add python.exe to PATH" at the bottom, then click "Install Now".
- When it finishes, click Close.
That's it — you don't need to open Python yourself. The buttons in this tool use it for you.
- On this project's GitHub page, click the green "Code" button, then "Download ZIP".
- Find the downloaded ZIP (usually in your Downloads folder), right-click it, and choose "Extract All…".
- Pick a location that's easy to find — for example your Documents
folder — and extract. You'll get a folder like
Playboy-DeBondi.
The converter needs three small files from your own Playboy set. They are
not included here and are not shared publicly. You copy them from your own
installation into the dlls folder inside the tool.
The three files are:
BondiReader.DJVU.dllmsvcr71.dllmsvcp71.dll
How to find them on your Playboy set:
- Open your "Playboy: Cover to Cover" hard drive or DVD in File Explorer.
- In the search box at the top-right of the File Explorer window, type:
BondiReader.DJVU.dlland press Enter. - When it shows up, right-click it and choose "Open file location".
msvcr71.dllandmsvcp71.dllare usually in that same folder. If you don't see them, search the drive for each of them by name too.- Copy all three files into the
dllsfolder inside your extractedPlayboy-DeBondifolder.
There's a reminder file, dlls\PUT_YOUR_DLLS_HERE.txt, in that folder if you
need it later.
Double-click Install Requirements.bat. A black window opens, installs two
small Python add-ons (for images and PDFs), and tells you when it's done. You
only do this once.
Double-click Playboy Converter.bat. The converter window opens.
- What do you want to convert?
- A whole folder of issues — convert every
.djvuin a folder in one go. - A single .djvu issue — convert just one.
- A whole folder of issues — convert every
- Source — click Browse… and pick the folder (or the single
.djvufile). - Save to — click Browse… and pick where the finished files should
go. (Defaults to an
outputfolder inside the tool.) - Format — CBZ (best for comic readers), PDF, or Both.
- Click Convert.
Progress shows in the window as each page is processed. A large issue can take a few minutes; a whole folder can take a while — that's normal. When it says "Done", your files are in the Save to folder.
You can click Cancel at any time to stop.
After setup, your tool folder looks like this:
Playboy-DeBondi\
├─ Playboy Converter.bat ← double-click this to open the app
├─ Install Requirements.bat ← double-click once during setup
├─ playboy_convert_gui.py ← the app
├─ playboy_convert.py ← the converter engine (also usable from the command line)
├─ requirements.txt
├─ README.md
├─ dlls\ ← YOU put your three reader files here
│ ├─ BondiReader.DJVU.dll (you provide)
│ ├─ msvcr71.dll (you provide)
│ ├─ msvcp71.dll (you provide)
│ └─ PUT_YOUR_DLLS_HERE.txt
└─ output\ ← converted files appear here by default (created automatically)
Double-clicking "Playboy Converter.bat" flashes a window and closes / says Python isn't installed. Python isn't installed, or the 64-bit version was installed by mistake. Redo Step 1 and be sure to pick Windows installer (32-bit) and to check "Add python.exe to PATH".
The app opens but says "The reader DLLs were not found."
The three files aren't in the dlls folder, or one is missing. Redo
Step 3. All three
(BondiReader.DJVU.dll, msvcr71.dll, msvcp71.dll) must be in dlls.
The app opens but converting fails right away mentioning "Pillow".
The add-ons weren't installed. Double-click Install Requirements.bat
(Step 4) and wait for it to say "Done."
A few pages get skipped in a converted issue.
Some source pages in the set are corrupted. The converter skips those and keeps
going, and lists them in a <issue>_skipped.log file next to your output. The
rest of the issue converts fine.
A batch converts only some issues.
After a batch, open _batch_summary.log in your Save to folder — it lists
which issues succeeded and which failed, and why.
The engine, playboy_convert.py, runs on its own for scripting or batch runs.
It requires 32-bit Python 3.10, invoked as py -3.10-32.
One-time package install:
py -3.10-32 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
(Pillow is always required; fpdf2 is only needed for PDF output.)
Interactive prompts:
py -3.10-32 playboy_convert.py
Convert a whole folder to CBZ:
py -3.10-32 playboy_convert.py "C:\path\to\Issues" --output_dir "C:\path\to\converted"
Choose the format:
py -3.10-32 playboy_convert.py "C:\path\to\Issues" --format pdf
py -3.10-32 playboy_convert.py "C:\path\to\Issues" --format both
Options:
| Flag | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
--format {cbz,pdf,both} |
cbz |
Output format |
--output_dir DIR |
./output |
Where converted files are written |
--jpeg-quality N |
90 |
JPEG quality for PDF pages (CBZ is always lossless PNG) |
The engine looks for the reader DLLs in the dlls folder first, then in the
same folder as the script (so an older flat layout still works).
- Subprocess isolation: in batch (folder) mode, each DJVU file is converted in a fresh Python process. The 32-bit reader fragments memory over long runs; a clean process per file prevents one bad file from degrading the rest of the batch.
- Per-page resilience: corrupted pages (the reader throws
0xe06d7363) are skipped and logged to<issue>_skipped.loginstead of aborting the file. - Gatefolds: centerfold pages (~9100×4350) are detected by total pixel count rather than per-side limits, so they convert intact. In PDF output they get a correctly proportioned wide page.
- CBZ packing: PNGs are stored uncompressed in the zip (
ZIP_STORED) — PNG is already compressed, so re-compressing would only waste time. - A
_batch_summary.logis written after each batch run.
This tool is a derivative of reconSuave/PlayboyPDF (EPL-2.0), which figured out the interface to the Bondi reader DLL and the DJVU credentials. See also the companion tool reconSuave/RollingStoner.
This version adds the graphical app, CBZ output, resilient per-page error handling, gatefold/centerfold detection, per-file subprocess isolation for long batch runs, and a unified CBZ/PDF format selector. Those additions were developed with Claude (Anthropic).
Eclipse Public License 2.0, matching the upstream PlayboyPDF project.