3D Issue magazines fully compatible with the New iPad

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The new iPad release a few weeks ago from Apple has been a key talking point for the technology and publishing industries. Publishers have enjoyed the iPad’s power of drawing in online audiences and engaging them with stunning mobile digital editions since the launch of the first iPad back in 2010.

This latest launch from Apple of the ‘new’ iPad however has caught the attention of many online magazine readers as the new retina display and 2048 x 1536 resolution seems to have caused a disruption. Many readers are noticing that magazines just don’t look as good on the new iPad.

So why do some digital magazines look poor quality on the new iPad? A recent article on Mashable! stated that the problem stemmed from the way publishers exported the publication. Most publishers have always created digital editions by exporting the publications as image based PNGs. This was fine with the previous iPads where the resolution was lower, but now with the new iPad many of these Magazine Apps are not looking so sharp. Koch, senior director of product management, Adobe digital publishing explained to Mashable ! ““When the [new] iPad came out, you were now dealing with a device with four times as many pixels.” This results in the text of these iPad Apps created for the iPad 1 and 2 looking ‘fuzzy’

So as many publishers rush to make adjustments to their affected digital magazine Apps, there are some that have no changes to make as their publications still look great on the new iPad. Why is this? Well, whilst Native Apps use the 2048 x 1536 display, HTML5 web apps viewed through the Safari browser will still display the publications as 1024 x 768 (or 768 x 1024 in portrait mode). This means that publications like this iPad magazine sample look great on the iPad 1, 2 and the New iPad.

So don’t panic, if you are a current 3D Issue version 5 customer your publications are iPad optimized. 3D Issue customers running version 4 and older can contact us for information on upgrading to this iPad compatible version by contacting the sales team at sales@3dissue.com

Whilst we’re on the iPad publications subject, here is another related article you may be interested in publishing for iPad free ebook .

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- 3D Issue to launch iPad compatible version!

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Niche Publication? Why sometimes not using Apple Newsstand can be a good idea

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Apple’s Newsstand was a hotly anticipated and welcome addition in October 2011 for many with the release of iOS5 – here we look at some of the reasons why a Niche publication may be better off outside that particular market place.

The basis for this argument is of course the well known marketing rule of thumb – if you are a Niche product you should use this to your advantage, your market is smaller but interested people will work harder to find you.

Newsstand requires that each application has a subscription model in place and that there is the capability for in-App purchasing – even where your publication is a free one. Readers are required to set up an iTunes account the reader must ‘purchase’ the free editions, this is entirely in Apple’s interest as if your content is free you probably do not want to irritate people with receipts with ‘nil’ on them.

Apple like this process as it builds the list of credit card details for them providing potential for purchases elsewhere in their stores which covers the full marketplace, Newsstand, iTunes, App Store and iBooks.

Newsstand requires an iOS5 based device, this requirement will not be a problem for new users so readers on iPhone 4S or the new iPad are all good – however there is a significant number of users out there who are using iOS4 and will not be upgrading to the latest iOS whether out of feat or near bricking their device or lack of interest. Users on older operating systems will only see an App in the App store. By the end of 2011 80% of iOS users were expected to be on iOS5 (really?…)

Newsstand requires that you must build an App which is Newsstand compatible and that you upload everything via the application which will sit ‘neatly’ inside the Newsstand folder on an iOS device, the publication icons are individually styled and come with badge notification for new content, but what if and there is a possibility here you do not want to compete in this market place?, if you’re a niche publication chances are that your target market will seek you out regardless and access your publication in other ways.

Newsstand is a competitive place to be the publishers on board invest heavily in high cost production the possibility for distraction is much higher so Niche publications may well be best sticking to a sole publication on their site with their own pay wall – remember Apple will take 30%* of the transaction for their services and that sure is a lot of extra sales margin to make up.

*may vary from location to location

Image is from the nice folks here.

8 ‘to-do’ tasks after completing your digital magazine

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After publishing a digital magazine there a few tasks you can get straight onto that will increase the likelihood of a successful campaign. Don’t sit back after launching the publication without performing some simple tasks which can give the publication a kick start in signing up new subscribers and engaging existing readers.

Here’s our quick check list:

1. Inform and distribute to staff

It’s important that your colleagues across the business are aware of the publication and can gain access to it quickly so that they can promote it too. Staff in different areas of the business with customer facing roles could pass on details of the publication to prospects and customers inquiring about areas covered by your publication. You may also find as staff get more involved in learning about the publications you create they can add vital contributions to future editions.

2. Create your landing page

How do new subscribers get access to your publication? It’s important that you have a good performing landing page where you can let new members register for your publication so they can receive future or related releases instantly next time round. It also gives you the chance to gather the all important subscriber data for your intelligence.

3. Create an iPad offline version

Is your digital magazine an online digital publication? If so then you should consider creating a version for offline iPad readers. With 3D Issue you can also create epub formats – eBooks which can then be downloaded to then accessed when the reader needs it in the iBooks app. Here’s some more information about creating offline iPad digital publications

4. Add it to the archive Ensure you add your publications to your digital archive. This means that readers of future and older publications in this series can access this edition too with the click of the mouse (or tap of the finger!) Here’s some more information about adding your digital publication to your archive .

4. Add it to the archive

4. Shorten the url

URL shortening tools are great as they allow you to provide a more usable link when sharing the link via Twitter etc.. One example is bit.ly, it not only gives you a much shorter url to post using fewer characters, but you can customize the link and then track it’s use too.

5. Status and tweet posts

As soon as your publication is ready, ensure you inform your loyal social followers. These followers should feel that they get something extra from following you on Twitter or Facebook, so giving them access to your publication as soon as it is ready is a great way of achieving this.

6. Create teasers

If you have related product or topic sections on your site, then provide a snippet or teaser to the publication in this area to gain interest of your publication. Post an intro to an article or survey findings, then provide a link for them to get access to the full publication download.

7. Broadcast to subscribers

Your email subscribers should receive an email notification that the publication is ready as soon as possible with a link to download the edition.

8. Check the tracking Don’t forget to keep an eye on the performance of your digital publication via the tracking. This tracking can not only alert you to potential problems (fewer than expected views or downloads for instance… does the promotion around the publication need to be increased?) but also to highlight strong performing articles, pages or multimedia elements. Check out this quick video all about analyzing the data from your digital magazines

8. Check the tracking

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10 Digital Magazine Customization Elements

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When you create your digital magazines with 3D Issue, take a moment to integrate your desired looked and feel into both the skin and rich media elements. We’ve created a graphic below outlining some of the key customizable areas, and don’t forget you can change certain elements for each publication (background, banners etc..)

So are you putting your own stamp on these areas:

1. Button Colours

Select any colour of your choice for your menu buttons. You can ensure they stand out against your chosen background image

2. Background image or colour

Upload your own image file (png, jpeg or gif) to be displayed in the background area. This image is best if it is a pattern as the image will be stretched to fill the end readers’ browser. Alternatively choose a plain colour.

3. Intro Area

This is the space to the left of the front cover. You can use this default intro which is the quick start guide. Or you can upload your own image of swf to sit in this place.

4. Top Banner

The Top Banner area allows you to upload your advertisers banner ads which can then link to their site. You may also use this area to upload banners containing notices or feature highlights for your readers.

5. Navigation View

The navigation area can be displayed as thumbnail options (as shown in the image above) or simple navigation next / previous buttons. Choose the option that best suits your publication.

6. Menu items

Change the order or remove any of these menu items from the reader viewer.

7. Buttons / Hotspots

Set your preferred rollover and rollout colours (and the opacity) for the hotspots. Alternatively you can have these clickable areas as buttons, which again you can customize.

8. Page Transition

Select whether the reader should experience a page ‘flip’, ‘slide’ or even ‘presentation’ view (show one page at a time)

9. Page Flip ‘sound’

This feature can be set to on or off.

10. Publication / Company logo

Add in your company or publication logo which will then be automatically inserted into the skin of all future publications.

What does 3D Issue do for my SERPS?

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What is a SERP? I hear you ask! SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page and for anyone out there investigating or thinking of engaging some assistance where it comes to optimizing your site for Search engine results the term ‘SERP’ will become more and more relevant.

Traditionally flash conversion software didn’t work any favours for search engines, Flash is difficult for the search engines to scan as the spiders at work like text – plain old text and not the ‘jazzy’ Flash files which to be fair 3D Issue has created it’s fair share of but fear not…also don’t forget that we do HTML5 publications too for your mobile editions.

Since the initial release of 3D Issue the software has been conscious of the above fact and worked to alleviate the potential loss of search juice which is available when a content curator adds new information to their site. Adding new and original content to your site is the best way to establish and maintain a successful SEO campaign.

3D Issue helps in quite a few ways.

1. By extracting all text in the publication

3D Issue works hard for your publication the software scans every part of your PDFs and if the text can be read (acid test here – if you can highlight in the PDF then your good) it will be extracted and added to a page of HTML code which is then made available in the output folder.

2. Adding Search Engine Optimization information

In 3D Issue version 5.0 and above there is also the opportunity to add the all important Publication title, Keywords and a description to each publication. These may be customized depending on the publication in question so that your marketing collateral doesn’t necessarily end up sharing SEO data with your sales pieces.

3. Use your site map

HTML text is only of use if recognized as part of your website so you will need to connect these pages so they appear as part of your website – then build your site map and submit to Google and Bing (Did you know that in the USA right now Bing accounts for almost 35% of search?)

For information on submitting a site map for Google check out this search result.

For information on submitting a site map for Bing check out this search result.

4. Use 3D Issue as part of your SEO campaign

Ensure that everyone is clear on 3D Issue and the capabilities above, on first inspection one might worry and even exclaim ‘Flash is no use for SEO!’ like most of the hard rules in SEO there is such a combination of information out there you need good advise so get in touch info@3dissue.com for more info on how to ensure that your new content is not being missed out on!

Image is from the nice folks here.

Report reveals increase of news consumption across multiple devices

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The latest State of the News Media 2012 report was released yesterday from Pew Research Center. The report highlights some key facts and trends amongst the media and digital publishing industry which helps give publishers and marketers a real insight into where the market is heading.

A key finding from the report was that users are not using just one single device for their media consumption; instead they are accessing content across their other devices such as desktops to tablet devices to mobiles devices.

PewResearchCenter states “about a third, 34%, of desktop/laptop news consumers now also get news on a smartphone. About a quarter, 27%, of smartphone news consumers also get news on a tablet. These digital news omnivores are also a large percentage of the smart phone/tablet population. And most of those individuals (78%) still get news on the desktop or laptop as well.”

The time of day is a key factor in which devices readers use to access digital content. The image below from ComScore shows the trends of times of day and device, whilst the computer is used most often during the typical working hours of 9am to 5pm, users then switch to their mobile and tablet devices after 7pm.

The full report is available here which also includes findings on:

- The growing influence of technology giants on the future of news

- How new devices may be helping magazines

- The role of social media in news

- Which media sectors experienced revenue growth last year

- How a visually oriented year helped TV news in 2011

- How Native American communities are turning to cellphones for news

3D Issue table of contents for every edition*

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The table of contents is often an overlooked feature which is nonetheless vital for certain publications. Whilst only in the Professional version of the software the table of contents is a sure fire way to ensure that your reader can navigate their way around a publication easily and in an informed way.

The table of contents option is in the ‘Design’ tab under ‘Table of Contents.’

To add a table of contents into a 3D Issue publication you have a few options.

1. Ask your graphic designer to add Bookmarks to the PDF – as with many of the automatic features in 3D Issue adding elements to the flat PDF prior to importing can save time when it comes to conversion with 3D issue this will not save time for all (if for example you are the designer as well as the designated 3D Issue user..!)

Bookmarks in a PDF are automatically detected and used to populate the 3D Issue table of contents.

2. Manually enter the parts of your table of contents piece by piece. The software has the ability to add in each part of your table of contents in a ‘mind map’ style, so you enter your Root Section which might be Chapter 1 then add in the Additional Sections building your table as you go.

3. Use the table of contents for URLs, the Table of contents also allows you to enter a section or a few sections with URLs so that your readers can navigate from your publication to some recommended sites or even to other 3D Issue publications but you may prefer to use the Archive for that. We’ve blogged little on this before here.

4. Use the table of contents templates if your publication has a similar layout or section names each week or month save the template in the table of contents then re-load each time you need to use it this is a sure fire way of saving time though not quite as fast as the embedded bookmarks via InDesign. Remember that the roll over text for bookmarks will be extracted from the information entered when the PDF is being built and cannot be edited in 3D Issue itself.

5. Tip if you have used the ‘page numbering starts on’ feature and set to a page other than the front cover,(done via the Design > Advanced option) when building your Table of contents this is not relevant the links from the table of contents will be according to the number of pages imported not where the reader navigation starts ‘a counting.

*3D Issue Professional only.

Image is from the nice folks here.

Getting started with creating digital magazines

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So you are getting started with digital editions! The last few years has seen a tremendous increase in the number of marketers and publishers moving publications from being available only in print to introducing digital and in some cases completely replacing the print copies with the digital versions.

We understand this transition to digital requires an element of learning the new digital editions software and so here we have put together a few resources that can help you get started with 3D Issue very quickly.

Live demo

Join us for one of our daily webinars. These show you how to get started with 3D Issue, starting with adding your PDFs, adding interactive elements and then publishing to your website. You can even ask questions along the way. Register for a live demo >>

Video Tutorials

Check out the specific video tutorials that focus on particular areas of the software. You can view specific videos or watch the entire series. Watch video tutorials

User Manual

A complete user guide to how to use and get the most out of 3D Issue software. This is useful to have as a reference guide if you need to quickly look into a particular feature. Download User Manual >>

Guides

We have a number of guides and articles below that can give you inspiration, tips and tricks. You’ll be creating first class digital magazines in no time!

Stuck for content creation ideas?

HTML5 Web App or Native App?

Digital editions pre-publish checklist

7 free tools to help with your digital publishing projects

Advertising opportunities for your digital magazines

Formatting your digital publications

Digital Publications – Part 1 Beginners guide to output formats

Digital Publications – Part 2 Beginners guide to devices

Digital Publications – Part 3 Beginners guide to digital publishing considerations

Or, feel free to contact us if you need any guidance at info@3dissue.com

Add custom buttons to your 3D Issue Digital Editions

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The 3D Issue default buttons allow Professional software users to add buttons to their content for movies, audio, comments, e-mail and more – from experience we know people like the defaults – the set provided are a purposeful and a good ‘safe’ set they could be used on any number of publications a solid set of images which are used lots but there are other options out there too!

So to follow on and complement our recent blog on:

“Brand 3D to work with your brand Guidelines”

we’ve plucked out #3 which to refresh was ‘Add custom buttons for readers’ and wanted to flesh the topic out a bit so content owners can feel more comfortable in adding this key feature.

All 3D Issue users will know that in the Professional Version of the software you may add in reader buttons directly onto the page and the hotspot is not to be forgotten in this piece it still has a role to play e.g. in the use of creative content + hotspot they are vital (see our iPad screen video on this sample to see page one to what we mean)

In order to add new buttons to your publication you’ll need to make a purchase or you’ll need to get some designed. The latter option is quick and relatively inexpensive whilst the latter will offer more scope as the piece can be directed as you require and amended where necessary.

1. When choosing your icons bear in mind that the allocated space for each button image in 3D Issue is 128×128 pixels.

2. A good provider of icon kits which we use from time to time is www.istockphoto.com there are thousands of images available on this site and the pricing model in use is very competitive you purchase a number of credits with kits ranging in price from 15 credits to 20 a credit roughly equates to US$1

3. A good approach to take is start with the goal of being consistent with the most prominent colour in your logo or brand identity, then that colour will be instantly recognisable and more effective – imagine Coca-Cola for example changing their red colour? Even a slight variation on the shade of red would be deemed dangerous to brand equity, hence Coke go to great lengths to keep this exact red shade correct throughout all their branding.

4. On the other hand, the goal may be for your buttons to ‘work the publication’ rather than the brand this can be achieved quiet easily too. By choosing a good contrasting colour – your buttons will stand out. Examples or contrasting colours are: grey and yellow, orange and blue, purple and green, refer to ‘the color wheel’ pick the colours that are opposite to each other on the wheel as they are proven to work best.

5. Note the wide range of button options available – There are circular, square, rectangular, etc…There are even matte looking shades (perhaps you’re looking for that stainless steel effect) or there are very glossy looking buttons, with a reflective glass-like appearance, thus making it more ‘pushable’ via click and on iPad or other tablet with a finger– all the time motivating the person reading your digital magazine to click on it therefore increasing interactivity. Think texture and feel.

6. Remember it is not a good idea to make a complicated button – or one too small – remember above all it has to be functional. We could have the most beautiful buttons – but if the eye is not drawn they will be redundant, so discreet may not necessarily work.

7. Remember too that in 3D Issue V5.1 we added the iPad and iPhone app icon image option which we blogged about here so when adding new icons for the buttons be sure to add one here too for more inforamtion on this icon and a video check out adding an app icon to your 3D Issue publication .

If you are using the trial version of 3D Issue and you are seeing dots rather than buttons select options from the menu toolbar then buttons and change the option to button.

We hope you find this article useful and for more information or tips on button choices let us know your thoughts at info@3dissue.com

Stuck for content creation ideas?

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It’s important to keep new and fresh ideas for articles and features in your digital magazines, blog, eBooks and guides. However, we understand sometimes finding new, relevant content can be tricky.

If you’re stuck for ideas, then check out our top tips here!

6 content creation ideas..

1. Research based articles

Collect interesting industry or user research and write about yourfindings. If you are in the tourismindustry, then perhaps create a pollto discover your readers’ key event or element that influences their holidaydestination choice. Polls are actually very easy to set up, here’sa good solution we’ve used . Once your poll is set up and theresults are in you have some great research that you canshare with your readers.

2. Look through your emails

Of the emails you receive daily are there any trends, anyfrequentlyasked questions that customers and prospects continueto seek your advice on? Contact your customer service departmentor other customer facing colleagues and see if there are anysubjects they get asked about frequently. Once armed with thisinformation you can create articles, guides or blog posts answering these questions,these will not only assist readers but also gives you and yourcolleagues a related article to send along with an email replynext time they are asked the same or related question.

3. What does your data tell you?

Website statistical analysis can be fascinating, next time you go andtake a look at your visitor data, look for patterns in yourvisitor behaviour – is there a subject that is becoming increasinglypopular? If so then write more content on this or relatedsubjects. Perhaps you discover that you’re receiving more visitsfrom a certain geographical location than you have before? If sothen consider writing targeted information for these local areas.

4. Consider other presentation methods Instead of just text-based articles consider including images, photos,diagrams, infographics and charts. These different ways ofportraying content can interest more readers and enable you to addsome variety to your posts.

4. Consider other presentation methods

5. Keep a list Always keep a list on your computer where you can note down interesting stories or news that you come across each day. If you find you’re having one of those days when nothing is jumping out then refer to your trusted list for inspiration.

5. Keep a list

6. Share tips Whilst speaking with your customers or readers you will often comeacrossa case where you are faced with a challenge that needs a little more thought, you find solution and then have a happy customer. Have you thought there could be others out there with the same problem? Sharing tips is an excellent way of engaging with your readers and also encourages them to come back for more useful tips and hints.

6. Share tips

Hopefully this gives you some inspiration for articles, guides and eBooks that you could create today!

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HTML5 Web App or Native App?

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This debate of creating a web HTML5 app versus a native app created for and downloaded via dedicated app stores has been a much talked about debate in recent months. It’s clear that publishers and marketers want and need to be able to present and distribute their content to their readers and subscribers in the most beneficial way, but which route should they take?

Many joined this debate of native versus web app after Apple introduced new subscription rules, requiring publishers to handover 30% of revenue generated from their apps sold in the App store.

So would the publisher be better off in losing the 30% revenue cut but gaining a successful and well known distribution platform to take advantage of? Or would it be better for them to create web apps which can be distributed via their own website, viewed any browser and keep this 30% revenue cut?

One of the most publicised web app launches came from the Financial Times. This HTML5 web app was released in June last year. The FT HTML5 web app suited FT as their subscriber and reader data was significantly important to them. A native App distributed via the Apple App store only requires subscribers to opt-in whether to pass on data to the publisher. This data would contain valuable demographic information that publishers often rely on to sell advertising.

So how is the FT HTML5 web app performing? Just a few months after its launch, the FT web app was hailed a success, when it became more popular than its native iOS apps in just a few months.

The true answer as to which route is best for a publisher or marketer depends on their requirements, their publication and their audience. Are subscriptions an important revenue model? What data does the publisher need to extract to be able to sell advertising? Does the publisher have an ecommerce platform where the web app could be distributed? What platforms and devices do their audience use? And what level of interactivity offline is required?

It’s still early days in the debate and it will be interesting to see how publishers on both sides create the right version for their particular business model.

iBook or Digital Magazine HTML5 Web App?

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Creating digital brochures in multiple languages

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If you are creating marketing literature for your company and have a global customer base then you will probably have your brochures translated into various languages. If you want to convert these into digital online brochures then did you know you can change the language of all the buttons and text displayed in the reader interface and rollovers? You can also then link your different language editions so that customers can access their preferred version. Here’s how..

This tutorial uses two 3D Issue features:

2. Digital Archive tool

So let’s go through the steps..

1. Change the text from ‘archive’ to ‘Change Language’ When you are in the 3D Issue software creating these, head over to the top navigation bar and hit ‘Options’ then ‘Translations’

1. Change the text from ‘archive’ to ‘Change Language’

On the left column you will see all the original text, if you click on ‘Features’ you will then see ‘Archive’ this is what we need to change, so in the right column next to ‘Archive ‘ change the text to ‘Change Language’ This is what the end reader will then see in their 3D Issue interface when hovering over that icon:

2. Structuring and renaming the tabs that appear in your archive. This is the next item we can change the text of to change the ‘use’ of the archive feature. By changing the tabs and structure the end reader sees this feature how you want them to see it.

2. Structuring and renaming the tabs that appear in your archive.

So to change the names of the tabs and format the structure, this is again done from in the 3D Issue software. Go to ‘Edit’ and then ‘Edit Remote Publications Archive..’ Then simply click on the titles and change the text.

Then all you need to do is digitise each language PDF using 3D Issue. Ensure in each language version points one and two above are applied. Then when you upload your 3D Issues you can give your readers access to the individual publications by perhaps linking a flag to the url of that corresponding publication. The reader can then also change the language version from inside the 3D Issue too (if you only want to provide one entry point to one publication for example)

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4 ideas and uses to connect QR codes with your digital editions

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The QR Code has been around now for almost 15 years now so it is certainly not a new technology or concept; however it seems that companies and publishers can struggle to find a use for it.

We’ve been speaking with a few customers about possible uses and how they can connect specifically the offline reader to the online version using this concept.

First things first, what is a A QR code?

Wikipedia states “A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR readers, smartphones, and, to a less common extent, computers with webcams. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.”

So how could this be used by publishers?….

1. Direct readers to a niche publication, back articles on a defined subject.

Introducing print readers to your digital versions is certainly a viable option. If you think about it, your print readers get a full version of the publication, say it’s a magazine on focussed on Home & Garden.

This magazine may include a number of different sections or categories on different areas of the home….what if a reader wanted to know more and delve deeper into a section? If a QR code was printed on say the ‘Gardening’ section of this printed magazine, a reader scanning this QR code could be directed to your PressJack digital magazine publication all about just the ‘Gardening’ section… perhaps a full archived publication just on that one subject.

2. Direct print readers to your digital version

If you run both print and digital editions of publications, then why not print a QR code on the printed version that links them to the digital enhanced version? With this digital version they could access enhanced features not available in the print version such as audio interviews, videos and animations. They can then also have access to this digital version when they are on the move, perhaps travelling for example.

3. Promote your publications at offline events, meetings or seminars

Perhaps you are off to a trade show, you have your printed brochures and materials at the ready, but how about also have QR codes at the stand that enable visitors to get direct access to your digital publications via their mobile device. It not only allows them to access the publication later in the day or on the journey home, but it also saves them carrying around printed copies.

4. Link interested in-store purchasers to relevant ‘take away’ material

Perhaps you have a store, customers in your store can browse the products but what if they are not ready to make the purchase but want to remember this product and see more information later when they get home? Say a customer is looking at a TV in your store, what if you had a printed QR code next to this TV which they could scan with their mobile device, which then presented with the customer with a digital brochure or product specification guide of that product?

It seems fairly straight foward to get your QR codes set up too – there are several QR code generators that can be found, including http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

It certainly presents some great possibilities of being able to link your offline audience to your digital editions. If you have any other great uses you are implementing with QR codes and digital magazines we’d love to hear from you at info@3dissue.com

E-Books and selling publications via your site

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There are many many opportunities for an author to sell their creation on-line, likewise for publishers. The major providers include the obvious like Amazon and others too such as O’Reilly media these platforms provide a reach into markets due to profile and the size of library on offer – at a price of course.

There are reasons why it can be a good idea to host your publications and to sell via your website directly.

Your Content – your sale

The top reason is that you create and host the publications yourself on your

website so you do not have to pay any of the revenue generated to Amazon.

Administration

There are no ongoing fees or administrative issues to work around if you

want to remove a book you can take it off the site and likewise if you want to add one you simply add the book.

Planning

There are no surprises for your future revenue, software solutions like 3D Issue have a clear policy on the software there are no ongoing fees whatsoever you can purchase and use forever for no future costs ( and we do release paid upgrades from time to time!) – Amazon will not promise this of their store their policy could well change as time goes by.

Cut-Through

Selling via your own site is better as there is less competition if you can drive traffic to your site for purchasing it is less distracting for the customer as only your content is available for sale, whilst in the major ebook stores there is huge competition for attention so potentially less chance of a purchase!

Number 1 in a Niche is a nice place to be

The rise in popularity for niche publications which has been spurred on by the ebook rise in popularity of late means that if your content is very specific to your readers they will be able to find you anyway and purhchase via your site this in turn is more engaging for your followers and generates more revenue. You can of course do both if you want and see which you prefer 3D Issue is still useful even if you do want to add books to Amazon as it creates the file you need.

PS DYK that Amazon charge customers based on the KB size of the download too? so for the author with a larger manuscript their profits can be eaten away for data charges!

Image is from the nice folks here.

Freemium applications to help digital publishing

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We’ve been in touch with quite a few ‘start-up’ companies this week so we thought it would be a good opportunity to look at 3 useful applications which can be used in conjunction with 3D Issue to create engaging and measurable marketing communications which do not cost the earth.

All you’ll need are a few hours from a graphic designer and a little imagination to get started allowing your content to be whisked away around the web.

First up is Tiny Letter, tiny letter allows you to create newsletters and e-mail lists which are easily managed, you can compose and send to a large mailing list and keep track of who responds and who does’nt so you are not contacting those who don’t appear interested. The great thing about the new service from Tinyletter is that it is free and although branded will offer a convenient way to send out your weekly or monthly newsletter containing a 3D Issue link of course!

Tiny Letter also has a big brother Mailchimp (Tiny Letter was recently acquired by Mail Chimp). Beta sign up for Tiny Letter is fully booked at present but sign up is available for when the service launches. ( PS ya just gotta love that Mailchimp monkey!)

Google Translate, lots of companies say that they must ‘look global’ we say at least speak a little of the lingo! many customers are reaching out to new markets and faced with the costs of a full translation service it can of course be prohibitive, whilst not for the faint of heart (we’ve tested with a few languages and natural speakers) if you keep the copy simple and clear Google actually does a pretty good job in this useful tool.

Rememeber too that in 3D Issue all reader interactions can be translated into a custom language too so you can adapt to your target audience.

PressJack– OK this is one of ours….but PressJack really still is the simplest and easiest way to convert your RSS feeds to digital magazines and with the upgrades and new features which we added in V5 you can create epub and mobi files too so that your content is always up to date – PS watch out for the upcoming automated feature coming soon which will allow PressJack to build a publication automatically at a set time every day/week/month and upload too.

Oh and lest we forget no graphic designer required for PressJack. For PressJack samples follow this link and scroll to the bottom.

Feedback as always is welcome so why not get in touch? E-mail us at info@3dissue.com

Image is from the nice folks here.

Digital editions pre-publish checklist

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We’ve been speaking with our support team to find out some common publishing mistakes and here we bring you a publishing checklist. So when you are about to hit the ‘build’ button on your latest 3D Issue have a quick look at the following points to make sure you are not publishing with potential errors:

Have you…..?

Set the logo or text?

In the set up wizard (CONTENTs tab – ‘edit’ button under ‘Profile’) you need to ensure that either your logo is uploaded or text is set to appear in the given space. This logo or text will then be displayed on any digital magazine created using this template license. If this is left blank then the magazine will not show. Check out the video ‘Setting up your software‘

Registered the domain?

Edited the ‘About Us’ section

Don’t forget to edit the about us section so your company details are on display if a read searches to contact you. More details of setting this up can be found here.

The correct balance between quality and speed?

Getting the balance between the speed of loading and the quality of the publication is an important thing to get right. In the OUTPUT tab you can change the quality setting and see how this affects the images by viewing the previewer. The higher the quality the higher the file size.

Activated ‘Load Control’ for larger publications?

A load controller allows you to specify a set number of pages to load in the browser at one time, instead of the entire publication at once – which for a 1000 page catalogue would result in your readers facing a prolonged waiting time. A quick fix by setting the load control allows fast access for your readers.

Made the publications accessible for mobile and iPad readers?

3D Issue Version 5 will automatically generate HTML5 editions as well as flash versions of your publications. This means that the two versions of each magazine are created and uploaded to your website, then when a user comes to view one of your digital magazines their browser is checked and they are automatically shown the most suitable version for the device they are on. Ensure you check the ‘Mobile Devices’ and ‘Tablet Devices’ in the ‘Online’ dropdown section in the OUTPUT tab.

Ensured the publication is search engine friendly?

If you always leave the ‘SEO info’ incomplete then you are really missing out customers finding your publication via search engines. Head over to the CONTENT tab and hit ‘edit’ under ‘Profile’ then ensure the seo section contains effective keywords in the title, description and keywords section.

Hidden any features you don’t want visible

In the DESIGN tab under ‘Features’ ensure you have deselected any feature that you do not want available to your end readers.

Activated the contents menu?

One simple yet very effective feature of a digital edition is the contents menu. It allows the reader to jump to specific sections and pages quickly. Ensure this is populated for happy readers!

Set the ‘exit’ url?

Where should the reader go when they click your publication exit button? You can easily set this up in the Advanced section of the Design tab.

Mac OS X Mountain Lion

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Apple are soon to release a major update to MAC OS with the release of Mac OS Mountain Lion. Building on what now must be declared as a success iCloud is to be heavily integrated into the OS with new additions including:

Reminders – in an App style structure providing synchronized reminders on all your iOS devices.

Notes – the same look and feel as the iPad variant Notes will allow for simple yet not too basic note taking in a synced environment.

Game Center – surprising but perhaps not considering the hack that iOS had made into the mobile game arena Game Center will bring on-line gaming to one neat interface.

Messages – combining iMessages and iChat to one application.

Other new features will be deeper integration with Twitter and AirPlay mirroring.

There is a beta version of Messages available from via Apple directly here.

And to read more check out this page from Apple Mountain Lion is expected to land this summer.

For a full family tree of Apple OS from the Lisa all the way to the present you may like to visit this Wiki.

Image is from the nice folks here.

iBook or Digital Magazine HTML5 Web App?

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Some interesting conversations with customers this week about publishing their content for the iPad has unveiled some great suggestions and practices which we think could benefit a lot of our customers. So should you create your publication as a ePub or Digital Magazine web app? – We say, why not do both, here’s how and why….

In the 3D Issue software you will notice that once you enter the main Design tab there are two modes; Digital Magazine Mode and Ebook Reader Mode .

The Digital Magazine Mode allows you to create a web based browser viewed digital magazine, a bit like this online magazine . Now although this is a browser viewed version, your readers can turn this into a web App on their iPads/iPhones enabling them to have a unique icon on their home screen (of your own magazine or company design) that launches the web app in a fullscreen mode (without the safari toolbars etc..)

Now because this is an online magazine version it means that your readers on other devices too (such as the good old Windows desktop, Mac or Laptop – remember them?!) can view the page-flip publication too.

Then comes your question….”what if the reader wants to access this content offline” I hear you say.

Well, readers on laptops, Macs and Windows computers can download an offline edition to their machine for viewing at their leisure, when and when they want to, retaining full interactivity and digital viewing capabilities. iPad users, well although they cannot download the offline web version (because it is not a native App) this is where you can provide them with an ePub, which can then be stored in their iBooks App on their iPad.

How to do this?…

When you create your digital publication in 3D Issue, you could create a Digital Magazine Mode web app version, but you could also then enter the Ebook Reader Mode tab and set up an ePub version. You may need to do a little formatting in this version via the Design tab, to ensure you get the text to format how you want it to. Then head over to the Output tab and select to create both your online and epub versions.

Great, you now have your two versions, but how do you connect the two? Once you have created your ePub, you can upload this ePub file to your website server. Take a note of the location of this, you will need the url in this next stage…

Great, you now have your two versions, but how do you connect the two?

In your Digital Magazine Mode, you can provide a link in a number of ways to direct readers to download the ePub version.

You could place a web link button on each page with the web link being the ePub url location. However, one great way of doing this is to design your PDF with a notice/button within the design. You can then place a hotspot over this button in the Design section and have this link to the ePub.

Something like this could work well..

A button designed in the PDF, with a hotspot on top of the button linking to the ePub.

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Male interest titles lead digital editions charge

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UK digital editions reports are in from the ABC and it has emerged that for magazines which we must bear in mind as a very specific part of the whole digital publishing market – male interest magazines are proving most popular.

Is this really that startling? It may be when we consider that the top choice is Men’s health magazine leaving technology magazines like Stuff (also available in the US), and Mac User much further down the list for paid content.

This may be a case of those who subscribe to the health magazine are not as tech-savy and so have no choice but to go digital for their content – most of the content found in the other titles is available on-line albeit in a more hap hazard fashion.

The reporting rules state that the digital editions be counted alongside the hard copy and may only be deemed a digital edition whereby only 5% of the content varies from the original, this is to be relaxed at a later stage to 25%

T3’s also have another iPad specific magazine which is deemed too different to the original to be allowed as a direct comparison.

For more information follow this link for the full listing of the top UK digital downloads for the later part of 2011.

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7 free tools to help with your digital publishing projects

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It’s always nice to get some tips and recommendations from people carrying out similar functions and tasks. There are a number of free web tools that can help marketers and publishers carry out tasks throughout the digital publication production process – many we use here at 3D Issue, and a number that we have heard customers using. Thought we’d share some of the most useful free tools here…

Tools for planning digital publications and content creation

Dropbox

This great tool allows you to save files to a ‘dropbox’ folder. This folder and therefore your documents in that folder can then be accessed via the Dropbox website or via devices synced with your Dropbox account. If you need access to your digital publication files on multiple machines, on the go or simply need to share particular files with others then this is a great tool.

Springpad

A web app that can also be connected to your mobile device via an app, this tool allows you to create ‘really smart notes’. Quickly and easily save ideas and information you want to remember, on the go and access when you need it.

Tools to build surveys and get reader feedback

Polldaddy

If you want to know what your readers think – ask them. PollDaddy is a web based tool that allows you to get direct suggestions and opinions from your readers. You can get set up for free on the basic package which allows you to collect 100 survey responses per month or if you need more, opt for a paid plan.

You could use this tool to quickly establish what your readers want to see more of, less of or even let them suggest future topics to discuss. By getting your readers involved in the content creation process you can make them more engaged in your publications.

Tools to distribute digital publications

Mailchimp

If you are looking for an email marketing tool that lets you communicate with your subscribers to let them know about the latest edition of your publication then this could be a great solution for you. MailChimp has over 1,000,000 users. They provide a user friendly way to create and send email newsletters and campaigns and track campaign performance.

Tool to automate announcements and actions

ifttt

This is a great application with so many different uses. Think of all the things you could do if you were able to define any task as: when something happens (this) then do something else (that). For example you can set up auto tasks such as:

- Thanking people in Twitter when they mention you or RT

- Send a tweet or facebook status to let subscribers know latest edition is available

- Google Plus Post to Facebook Wall

It’s really worth looking into to see what tasks you can automate, the tool can link with Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, RSS feeds, dropbox, wordpress and more!

Tools to manage social media efforts more effectively

TweetDeck

There are lots of free applications to track and manage your social media accounts. TweetDeck is one of our favorites, it is a desktop application that helps manage and organize your Twitter account.

Tools to analyse digital reader behaviour

Google analytics

3D Issue has an analytics feature allowing you to access reports on the digital magazine performance. By simply entering in your Google analytics ID in the software, your publication will feed the statistics to your Google account and record all interactions that a user has had with your digital magazine.

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EPUB3 to align with HTML5 via Readium

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The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) today has

announced via press release that a new format is to push the ‘one file one device’ of the EPUB3 standard.

At present files created across file formats can vary in quality depending on the device. EPUB3 was approved in October 2011.

The Readium standard will bring more traction to the expected EPUB3 format and increase its popularity on full release.

At present there is a proof of concept Google Chrome plug-in available which is very much for the developers who are taking an early look at this and later there will be an Android implementation soon too.

The proposed new format will align EPUB3 with HTML5 allowing for interactive ebook reader experiences “adds support for video, audio, interactivity, vertical writing and other global language capabilities, improved accessibility, MathML, and styling and layout enhancements”

For more information on EPUB3 and Readium see this link

Advertising opportunities for your digital magazines

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3D Issue users create a number of different types of digital publication. For some customers the software is used to create digital brochures for their marketing efforts, for others it is a digital version of their print magazine. Certainly for publications such as magazines there is a large opportunity for publishers to generate advertising revenue by utilising some or all of the available 3D Issue advertising features. Here is a run down of the features available to 3D Issue users that could be used for advertising.

1. Top Banner Area

Where is it and what is it?

The area at the top of the reader interface can be enabled as the top banner area. You can upload any number of banner style images that you or your advertisers create. Once uploaded you can then associate a url for each banner which the reader will be directed to if they click on it. You can also set the speed at which the banners rotate.

What formats the ads can be?

Banner images need to be either .png, .gif or .jpeg. The size of the banners need to be 60 pixels in height. The width of the banners displayed will be dependent on the end readers’ browser width, but as a guide it is advised to design the ads at least 2000 pixels wide with the main content justified to the left. See here for more detailed information on the dimensions for your banner ads.

2. Intro Area (page ’0′)

The intro area is the space to the left of the front cover. This area can contain any uploaded image of your choice.

The intro area ads can be .png, .jpeg, .gif or .swf. The size can be up to 400 pixels in height and width. This image can be centred by entering the exact dimensions in the software.

3. Image ads

Image ads can be placed by you as part of the PDF design. So you could even include a directory which includes image ads from your advertisers formatted on the page. With these already in place, once you upload your PDF into 3D Issue you can then use the hotspot tool to make these ads clickable. Simply draw a hotspot over the ad, set the destination url and that’s it. You can also set the colour of roll over and roll out for the hotspots as well as their opacity.

Formats the ads can be

This is up to you as these ads will be included in your PDF as part of the PDF design.

4. Video or Flash ads

Videos are often used to portray information in a more engaging way, and has certainly risen in popularity with digital magazines. These videos can be set to play from a specific place in a page of your digital publication (using the ‘embedded video button’ ) or you could set the video to play in its own pop up layer on top of the digital magazine – giving the video more space (using the ‘video button or hotspot tool).

Videos can be either uploaded via a file in either .mov, .mp4 or .flv or alternatively you can stream a video in your magazine direct from YouTube, you just need the YouTube ID. Videos should typically not exceed 2 minutes in length.

5. Audio ads

If you have existing radio ads or simply want to introduce a spoke ad into your digital publication then you can do so by either adding an audio button or hotspot. These buttons/hotspots can be added to anywhere on a page. Once the reader clicks on this button or hotspot the audio starts. You can even set an audio file to auto start as soon as a reader turns a particular page.

Audio clips need to be uploaded to the software in .mp3 format.

6. Link ads

You may simply want to add a link to an advertiser’s site. You can do this by using either the hotspot tool over any word or text in a page, add a web link button, or you can make use of the contents menu to the side of the interface to list advertisers with direct links to their sites.

If your pdf contains any written or embedded links then these will automatically be converted into hotspots. You can of course also add additional hotspots or buttons to any of the ages. Links simply need to follow a http://www. format.

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I want my publication to be formatted like ‘this’

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There are many different ways our customers want to have their digital publications formatted, some want a traditional double page spread, others one page at a time, and others…something in between the two.

We were speaking with a few customers this week who wanted a specific layout to be presented to their readers, and went through a few tips and tricks with them so they could get the exact layout they wanted….worth sharing I thought…

Before we start this tutorial…..

What original types of PDFs can 3D Issue handle?

3D Issue users can upload their PDF file or multiple files in the three possible formats; single page pdfs, double page spread pdfs or a mixture of the two (i.e the front and back cover are single pages and the centre pages are double page spreads)

3D Issue then understands the original format and can then convert the publication into a book format. However, there are a number of different presentation modes that you may want to achieve…

Out of these, you can then format the end result digital edition into different reading preferences, here’s some of the top requests and how to achieve them.

I want…. individual pages to show, not a double page spread and the user to not ‘flip’ the pages

Original PDF layout: Your original PDF can be single pages, mixture of both or double page spreads.

Settings to apply: In the DESIGN tab, navigate to APPEARANCE and select the default view mode to be ‘presentation mode’

Result: Here is an example of a publication showing single pages without a ‘flip’

I want…. individual pages, not double page spreads but the user to ‘flip’ the single pages

Original PDF layout: Your pages of the PDF should be as you want them to view on one interface, so this may be a landscape page for example. Select ‘double page spreads’ in the CONTENT > LAYOUT area. This will get the software to treat the pages as a double page spread to get the flipping effect so one page flips onto the other.

Settings to apply: As you have selected double page spreads the software will assume that the first page is the front and back page, so we need to apply a trick.

1) Create a blank page exactly the same dimensions as your other pages.

2) Make the colour of this page the same colour as the background colour you will select for the 3D Issue interface (so it is not visibly a blank page).

3) Add this blank PDF in the CONTENT tab and position in at the top in the PAGE Order section.

4) In the DESIGN tab navigate to the ADVANCED section and enter ‘2’ in the ‘page numbering starts on’ field.

5) When you have uploaded your publication to your site, add the text ‘files/2.html’ to the publication folder destination url – e.g www.MyWebsite.com/issue1/files/2.html’

Result: Here is an example of a publication showing single pages with a ‘flip’

I want…. the publication to open on a double page spread not a single page

Original PDF layout: Your PDF will need to be designed as double page spreads

Settings to apply: If you want the reader to open up on the first spread, then there’s a little trick you can apply:

2) Make the colour of this page the same colour as the background colour you will select for the 3D Issue interface.

5) When you have uploaded your publication to your site, add the text ‘files/2.html’ to the publication folder destination – e.g www.MyWebsite.com/issue1/files/2.html’

Result: Here is an example of a publication opening on a double page spread

I want…. the publication to be flipped through like a regular book. i.e a front cover as single page, double page spreads in the middle and a back cover as a single page

Original PDF layout: Single pages, double page spreads or mixture of both

Settings to apply: In the DESIGN section under APPEARANCE select the default view mode as ‘flip’

Result: This is a standard publication with the most common settings, here is an example of this.

So there are some other ways of formatting your publication. Of course you can also choose to have the publication flip like a regular book with a front and back cover as single pages and the middle pages as double page spreads as in this sample

Brand 3D to work with your brand Guidelines

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Many of our customers use 3D Issue as it is ‘out of the box’ and this is no bad thing, but we’ve seen some great customer samples this week where content creators are working with their graphic designers to add a touch of their branding to each publication.

Of course each publication includes your logo but there is more….

There are a few ways to do this and if you’ve not looked into them you really should they include:

- Brand your Intro area with logo;

- Add a custom background for each publication;

- Add custom buttons for readers;

- Change the icon color to your brand colors;

- Add a custom banner option;

- Add a custom language and re-name the reader toolbar options as you wish to.

There are many advantages to using these options in the software.

A) Your publication will stand out as the proliferation of digitized content continues unless you are avoiding cut through you should ‘brand’ at every opportunity.

B) If readers are to share your content and you really do want them too make sure that it is identifiable as your content right away avoid any potential confusion;

C) Makes the publication your own the default buttons in 3D Issue are used by publications over and over again – yet a quick .png file later and your getting more from the software again that you were previously = brownie points for reader engagement.

For more information on how to update and work with the following watch out in the Blog or check out the past tips and tricks articles, or e-mail us info@3dissue.com

Image is from the nice folks here.

4 eBooks in epub format for viewing in iBooks you can create today

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You may have seen our recent news items covering how you can now create epub files from both your PDF files and online content (your blog or RSS feeds for example) with the 3D Issue software. We’ve been speaking with more customers this last few days about different types of publications they are creating using these features so here are some of the favourite eBooks you can start creating today. You can create in minutes and give to your customers to download to view on their iPads/iPhones via the iBooks App.

1. Complete guide to [Insert your specialist area here] ebook

With the blog and RSS feed to epub feature you can create a epub file from the content of a specific RSS category. So for example, you could take a particular topic of your blog, feed that RSS feed into the software and it generates an epub from the content and images.

Example: Download our epub file “Complete guide to 3D Issue Tips and Tricks!” you can download the file and import it into iBooks on your iPad to view whenever you like.

*please note this ‘Tips and Tricks” is a specific RSS category we have here on this blog which we used to create this eBook.

2. Monthly/Weekly Newsletter

In the same way as you do the above complete guide, you can create a company newsletter. This time instead of doing a category specific RSS feed you could feed the entire blog RSS feed into the application – you then have an epub of the all the latest news from your blog accross all the categories.

Example: Download our epub file “Digital Publishing News – Feb 2012″ you can download the file and import it into iBooks on your iPad to view whenever you like.

3. White papers

It’s not just RSS feeds that can be converted into epubs. If you have PDFs of whitepapers you have written, then simply converting this PDF into epub via the 3D Issue software can give you a file that you can offer to readers to download to iBooks to read when they want to.

4. Manuals, brochures or sales material

If you have sales people on the road visiting clients and prospects, you can equip them with the latest epub files to show. For example, if you have a pdf product spec or brochure then convert to epub and have the sales staff download the epubs to their iPads. Then whilst out visiting they can show the case studies, brochures or products specs to the client on their iPad – even if they have no internet connection.

Example: Download our epub file “3D Issue User Manual” you can download the file and import it into iBooks on your iPad to view whenever you like.

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Add an App style icon for your publication, then change the content not the icon.

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As we blogged about last week there are many benefits to developing App style publications for your readers i.e. A publication intended for consumption on an iOS device (iPad or iPhone) or other tablet device which can run on your device without any need to download from the Android Market place or the Apple App store.

Using 3D Issue V5.1 you too can create a cloud based reading experience for your readers by creating lots of content in V5.1 and adding to your Archive as you work through each publication you’ll be able to build a library of content easy to navigate and access from the home screen.

Also why not take advantage of sharing content in this way so that you remain in control and may potentially us the same link for different content all the time?

Update your content then redistribute the same link

So you could update the content whenever you want to via the same reader link, their icon stays the same but the content will change through a clever move of the previous publication on your server you can still build your archive which readers can then access via their “current edition” if your readers have the App icon on their home screen all they need to do is reopen the publication to access the most up to date version prompted via e-mail for example.

Be sure to add in your App Icon

In 3D Issue for iOS devices it is possible to specify a file image which will display on the readers device when they add a short cut to homes screen giving the full ‘App effect’ without having to deal with the App store hoop jumping to get their.

When readers open a publication for the first time on iOS devices readers are presented with a box suggesting they add an App Short cut to their home screen. Convenient and another opportunity to brand a little part of their iPad, but there is more.

One such publication which has taken this route is the financial times having developed their own App based publication in HTML5, another is the Kindle App which runs on HTML5 and allows readers to access their books over the internet via the Cloud.

Create iPad magazines in a tick!

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Each day we speak with business across the world regarding creating digital publications for their audience. There has been an increase in mobile friendly publications over the last few years as a result of the explosion in popularity of mobile devices including the iPad. So here we thought we’d answer a few of the top questions we get asked about creating iPad magazines and share with you…

Q. Does 3D Issue create iPad friendly publications?

Yes. 3D issue creates both flash and HTML5 digital magazines from your PDFs. These two versions can be created by checking the’ online’, ‘mobile’ and ‘tablet’ options in the Output tab of the software. Once these options are checked and you upload the publication to your website, readers will automatically be directed to the version that is most suitable for their device. So for example iPad users will automatically be presented with a full page-flip interactive HTML5 magazine.

Q. So does 3D Issue create Apps? 3D Issue creates HTML5 web apps, not native apps. This means that you do not need to submit your digital magazines to Apple to be downloaded via the App store. Readers viewing the iPad HTML5 version can do so via a browser and can even add an app style icon to their iPad home screens giving them quick access to your magazine when they need it. You can of course design, create and upload your own App icons. Take a look at this quick video that shows how a reader can access the web app via their iPad or iPhone homescreen . iPad readers will need to be online to view the publications via 3G or wifi.

Q. So does 3D Issue create Apps?

Q. How can iPad users access my publication if it’s not a native App? iPad and iPhone users can access your digital publications via a link to its online location. So whether you provide the link as an image of the App icon you created that links to your online magazine, a link sent via email or a ‘view our latest magazine issue here’ text link on your site – the choice is yours. Once an iPad reader has clicked on such a link, the publication will launch in their web browser.

Q. How can iPad users access my publication if it’s not a native App?

Q. What about my readers on other mobile and desktop devices? Of course it’s not just the iPad that your readers may be wanting to view your content from. Readers may be on iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, PC, Mac or other device. As the digital magazines created by 3D Issue are in flash and HTML5 format it means that devices that have an internet browser such as Safari, FireFox, Explorer or Chrome can all access the magazines too.

Q. What about my readers on other mobile and desktop devices?

TV Company to break into books

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NBC are to move into digital publishing as this story reports from Wired today reported from the tech gurus here .

Some of the reasoning behind the move tie in with some of the issues and topics we’ve been writing about here at 3D issue like making the most of your older content for example and always designing with the audience in mind – not just conversion….

NBC make the move as they have valuable content already which they can provide via the medium of digital publishing, they are good with a camera and securing rights to content.

Topics like this are relevant from the large right down to the small business, take a look at what your good at and utilize this in a digital publication, one mans trash is another’s treasure what you think is not relevant might just be, it all depends on the logistics.

For more info on this move and why they are pleased Apple have announced the new iBooks 2 text book App follow the link above and if you have queries on how you might use digital publishing in your business get in touch info@3dissue.com

NBC Publishing Wants to Prove a TV Company

Textbooks in ebook format to reduce prices?

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Apple’s latest project namely iBooks 2 and the ability to purchase cut price text books has been cited as the potential savior for students and schools alike, students get cheaper text books in digital format that cost less and are easy to carry with many starting from $14.99 as opposed to hard copy editions costing multiples of that figure.

But is it really as clever a saving as it first appears? This segment of the industry is hugely valuable and closely controlled by a limited number of publishers also in many states the schools purchase the books and they reuse them.

Apple’s model for iBooks 2 and their textbooks doesn’t exactly conform to this system and never did at present using some of Apple’s products makes it difficult to copy content you’ve purchase let alone provide to another once your done with it.

School books are often sold by students when they are finished with them resulting in a return on the expenditure over a few years of education this can add up to quite the saving which may not necessarily make the text books as good value as they appear.

It would appear that Apple will need to devise a pricing strategy that can make this work as the requirement of a $500 iPad will certainly have to be justified at all levels perhaps more so at High School than College level.

For more information on why it is thought Apple won’t make textbooks more affordable follow this link

Image is from here.

How to analyze your digital magazine reader statistics

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Once your digital publication is online and published it’s vital that you look into the stats and track how successful the edition is. How is the magazine performing? Is it attracting the right person/your target audience? Without tracking and analysing the performance it will be difficult for you to make the necessary adjustments to future editions to improve performance and reader satisfaction.

3D Issue has an analytics feature allowing you to access reports on the digital magazine performance. By simply entering in your Google analytics ID in the software, your publication will feed the statistics to your Google account and record all interactions that a user has had with your digital magazine.

There is certainly a lot of information that can be extracted from these reports, and we therefore recommend that you have a clear idea of what information is important for you to track, stats that can identify whether how the publication is performing when compared to the objectives you set.

Here are some key statistics to look out for:

Total number of readers per issue

Be familiar with this average figure for your publications – if one edition is receiving significantly less views than previous issues you may want to look at how the reader accesses the magazine/newspaper/brochure. Is the link and promotion compelling? Is the release date and time suited to your audience? Do you provide your readers with a taster of what is in the publication that would entice them to read on further and click through to the whole publication?

Percentage of new readers per issue

This figure could be the result of the marketing activities of the digital publication. Analyse how successful the marketing campaigns were to your prospects. You can then work out your ROI from specific marketing activity to ensure in future the most successful marketing activities and campaigns are used again.

Most viewed pages

Know your reader. Look at the most popular pages, what is in these pages that make them popular? You may find that pages containing video clips are being viewed more than those without , if so, then perhaps in the next edition why not make a feature interview as a video instead of text?

Top exit pages

From this information you can analyse if there is a point within the publication that is turning away your readers, perhaps they lose interest at pages of text? If so, then in the next edition why not experiment by breaking up long areas of text with images/videos/Quotes?

However, if the a page has a call to action on it that links to your website away from the publication and this page has a high percentage of visitors leaving – it may show that your Call to Action is a great success! So something you can repeat in your next edition.

There are a number of other facts and figures that you can take a look at, the key is to discover the ones that are relevant to you and keep on measuring!

Top tip….How to set up with Google Analytics for your digital editions:

To help, we’ve created a introduction to the Analytics and tracking features available with 3D Issue. Check out this short video tour which will get you set up with your tracking in no time. Then you can discover what content is working for your digital publications!

Digital Book World, POD and more

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Digital Book World is taking place right now in New York and its probably worth checking out some of the key note speeches taking place and the debates that will be carried on at the conference.

In an article noted earlier today in eBook reader the main points from yesterdays conference were held out as being a positive experience some of the salient points being that there is definite jockeying for position right now.

The demise of borders has been flagged as noteworthy of course and the potential for Print on Demand as an off-shoot of digital publishing and a potential threat to the brick and mortar stores from ‘pure play businesses’

Sourcebook’s CEO Dominique Raccah announced a new proposition from that will bring ebooks to market faster while also maintaining quality in the publication.

Ellen Archer of Hyperion spoke about the use of digital publishing and the use of the medium alongside other forms of communication.

In light of the turmoil in place right now the general consensus from New York is a good one. For more on this you may wish to refer to the original article here.

Create, open and share or sell ePubs

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Big news this week on the Apple front as is now becoming the norm for Apple with their early New Year conferences. Two big deals; the announcement of the iBooks 2 App now available for download from the US App store and the announcement of Apple iBook Author software which complements the announcement of the new iBooks 2 App.

iBooks2 allows for text books to be sold in a new category on the iBook store, iBooks author allows for their creation in a somewhat sneaky way.

The Free Mac only software has a number of features the main one being that it will create an ePub type file though these are no ordinary ePub files but they will allow authors to upload directly to the iBook store – be sure to read the small print on this as in the Apple end user license agreement a condition of use stipulates that any use of the file will be at Apple’s discretion. And note the file is not an open source ePub it is a new file format Apple want to use solely in their eco-system so the file cannot be used elsewhere, Apple are taking a big step here the assumption they should do this simply because the software to do it is free -does’nt hold much weight.

This must be a first for a software company in that the Software to create the publication is free but the result is basically lame – the product has limitations on distribution, can Apple really do this?

A workaround is to use programs to create your EPUB or ePub depending on who you talk to (Apple say ePub or used to say ePub at least – will they use them at all now?) that has no such restrictions in place, to restrict the giving away of your work is surely a step too far? As if you were simply to sell the publication as an ePub through your own site you retain control and profits.

To add to this the new file format for iBooks 2 is not going to be compatible with traditional ePub file formats the format which Apple is proposing for iBooks2 has similarities to ePub3 but is not strictly speaking the same file format, here a clear example of how Apple has turned on the use of Open format traditional epub files and is ring-fencing publications for its own devices and therefore taking them away from other reading systems. Read more on this here.

By creating your ePub file and interactive digital editions in a software package rather than iBook author in the case of epub it can still be uploaded to the iBook store and also used in whatever way you wish, with no restrictions at all which is what this is all about surely?

Digital Publications – Part 1 Beginners guide to output formats

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iBooks, ePubs, digital magazines…what does it all mean and what are the differences? This is a question we are frequently asked, there are now a growing number of terms being used around digital publishing, which if you are looking at publishing your content into a digital form could be confusing to know which option and or route is best for you.

Here we are putting together 3 blog posts that will quickly run through the key digital publishing basics of files, formats, devices and considerations. This first one covers the differences in the output formats of your digital publications.

1. Online Publication (browser viewed)

Online or web based digital magazines are created so that the end reader views the publication via a web browser. The actual file output format will usually be Flash or HTML5 or both. So your digital publication can then be launched via a link on your website or by simply sending the reader a link to the online location.

2. Web App

These are great for iPad readers for example, a web App would be a HTML5 digital publication, which can be launched from a iPhone or iPad home screen. The web App is then the digital magazine – without the browser toolbars, url bar etc.. Check out this quick video which shows a good example of a digital magazine web app .

3. Native App

A native Apple App would be a digital magazine that must be submitted first to the App Store, then once approved readers could download via the App Store. These native Apps are specific to certain devices that have access to the App store.

4. eReader formats Often referred to as eBooks, these publications are either in .epub or .mobi. These files are fore eReader devices such as the Kindle, Sony eReader and can also be imported into Apple iBooks. These publications tend to contain less media rich (videos, animations, audio etc..) than online digital magazines.

4. eReader formats

See also:

- Digital Publications – Part 3 Beginners guide to digital publishing considerations

Digital Publications – Part 2 Beginners guide to what devices view which formats?

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Following on from part 1 of our beginners guide, here is our next instalment. This post goes through the different devices you may wish to consider publishing your digital content too, and which formats are used on these devices.

What Devices require which formats?

Tablets

The tablet category contains the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy. These devices have web browsers (for example Safari on the iPad) so readers can view digital magazines via the browser. The consideration to be aware of here though is that Apple will not run flash on these devices so be sure that your online browser viewed publication is built using a solution that creates a HTML5 output.

These devices often have Apps that can view eReader formats (.epub and .mobi) For example the iBooks App can read epub files and these can be viewed offline. Check out this article that explains in more detail how to get PDF to epub to be viewed in iBooks .

Mobile Devices

This category of devices is treated very similarly to the Tablet section above. Devices such as iPhones and Android phones also have a web browser, so as above these devices can view online magazines. Again, consideration needs to be made as Apple iPhone like the iPad cannot view flash – so the HTML5 digital magazine would be the best option here.

Again, like the Tablet category, these mobile devices often have eReader Apps such as iBooks, so eReader (.ebub) files can be viewed in iBooks.

Desktops, Laptops, Macs/PCs, Netbooks

This category would view digital magazines via a web browser. Most web browsers run both HTML5 and Flash too so online magazines created in this way can be viewed on these devices.

eReaders

eReaders such as the Amazon Kindle, Sony eReader and eReader Apps such as iBooks on the iPad require eReader format publications. So these publications would be either .Mobi (for Kindle) or .ePub for other eReaders. These files can be downloaded to the eReader device via an online store such as Amazon or simply by supplying the file to your readers directly.

See also:

Digital Publications – Part 3 Beginners guide to digital publishing considerations

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Part 1 and Part 2 of this beginners guide went through the various different publishing output options and which devices could show this content.

Here we look at some further considerations you may want to look into before choosing which digital output and devices to publish for.

1. Your content source

Where is the source?PDF format (already designed), online via RSS feed or is it unwritten? Most Digital Magazine software solutions convert PDFs into web versions, but if you have a Blog or RSS feed consider PressJack (an application bundled with 3D Issue) this application can convert feeds into browser viewable digital magazines or into eReader formats – and ePub for example can be viewed via the iBooks App on iPads and iPhones.

2. Your publication type

When deciding which format to create, consider your publication type. If the publication is a traditional book/novel then you would probably consider publishing in eReader format. Whereas if you have a more graphical, media rich publication such as brochures, magazines, etc.. then an online publication may suit better.

3. Your audience

There are many devices available to your audience. If you want to create a publication that is viewable to iPad readers then consider that if you have a Native Apple App, then readers on other devices would not be able to view these. If you create a Web based digital magazine then your audience on devices that have a browser which include iPad, iPhone, Desktops, Laptops etc… can all view the publication.

See also:

- Digital Publications – Part 1 Beginners guide to output formats

- Digital Publications – Part 2 Beginners guide to devices

Blog and RSS to iBooks: Part 2 of How to publish your content to iBooks.

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Following on from the previous blog post How to publish your content to iBooks…. Part 1: PDF to iBooks there’s also another great tip we wanted to share with you. This tutorial shows you how you can convert your blog content or RSS feed content into a epub that can be read with Apple iBooks and on eReader devices such as the Kindle.

Perhaps you have a blog that provides category specific content, these categories often have their own RSS feeds associated with them. Take this blog that you are reading now, it has RSS feeds for categories such as ‘Apple iPad’, ‘Going Digital’, ‘ePublishing’ and many more such as one RSS feed for the main blog content. If you have content online in a blog or RSS feed then this tip could be very exciting….

Here we are going to take this Blog and using the tool PressJack which is packaged free with 3D Issue we are going to convert the blog content into an epub which we can then read via the iBooks app or even with our Kindle, then allow our customers to download and read on their iPad, iPhones and eReaders.

1) Select the feed or feeds you want to convert

Open up PressJack which comes packaged along in the 3D Issue suite. Once here, in the CONTENT tab. Click the ‘+’ sign and enter in the RSS feed. Tip: if you are not sure of the exact RSS feed you can click on the search button and type in the name of your blog to find the feed.

2) Click Build Still in the CONTENT tab, click on ‘Build’ this then goes off to the sources you defined in the first part, the software collects all the content and images from these feed(s).

2) Click Build

3) Any edits?

Are there are articles you do not want to include in the epub? If you do want to remove any, click on the ARTICLES tab and edit or remove articles.

4) Complete the build process

To complete the build process and get the output epub file, head over to the OUTPUT tab. Check the EBOOK option from the left side and ensure both the epub (iPad iBooks) and Kindle versions are checked. Then click PUBLISH on the right.

4) Download to your iPad, and upload to your site to allow your readers to download

Once the software has created the epub and kindle files, you can access these from the message that appears:

Locate the ‘ebook’ folder, you will then see the two files; epub (for iPad) and mobi (for Kindle). Open iTunes on your computer, connect your iPad and drag and drop the epub file from your computer into the ‘Books’ section in iTunes. You will now see your publication in iTunes, and when synced with your iPad, you can see the publication in iBooks:

and here is the publication on the iPad available for reading in iBooks:

Try it out for yourself!

Download the 3D Issue trial where you can follow these steps to create your own book for iBooks from your own Blog or RSS Feeds with PressJack.

You can of do this tutorial, upload the file to your site to allow your readers to download a epub of your blog or RSS feed to view on their iPad through iBooks – and remember Extra Tip: because this is in iBooks, the reader does not need to be online to view once they have downloaded.

PDF to iBooks: part 1 of How to publish your content to iBooks…

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The publishing world is all a buzz today after Apple’s announcement yesterday. Apple released an update to iBooks – welcome iBooks2. There has been much hype around these updates as it recognises the move towards digital reading and consuming of content, with Apple particularly targeting the Textbook market.

The textbooks that are to be sold through iBooks 2 will give students a more interactive learning experience which ultimately aims to enable students to get better results. Apple has some key textbook publishers on board too for this latest venture including Pearson and McGraw Hill.

So with this new announcement from Apple we thought we’d let you into a few tips and tricks of our own that will enable you too to get your content; whether that is a book, magazine or even your company blog into iBooks using 3D Issue. And guess what, it really is pretty straightforward!

Tutorial 1 – PDF to iBooks

1) Import your PDF to 3D Issue Launch the 3D Issue software (Lite, Pro or Enterprise) and click on ‘Create New’. Select the PDF that you want to convert. This now uploads the PDF into the software and you are ready to make any amends to the publication.

1) Import your PDF to 3D Issue

2) Make any edits required In 3D Issue, navigate to the DESIGN tab, and select the ‘eBook reader mode’ from the selection box on the right of the screen (highlighted in red below). This takes you into the eReader mode (opposed to digital magazine mode which creates digital editions for viewing via a web browser)

2) Make any edits required

Here you can make edits such as; formatting, add/edit text or images, add table of contents and front cover.

3. Publish your ‘eBook’ Once you are happy with the way the book looks, head over to the OUTPUT tab. On the left hand side, check the EBOOK option. Tip: check the ‘epub’ to create a version for iPad and iPhone iBooks, but also check the ‘Kindle’ to create a publication for download on Kindle eReaders too. Then, click BUILD.

3. Publish your ‘eBook’

4) Download to your iPad, and upload to your site to allow your readers to download

Once the software has created the epub and kindle files, you can access these from the message that appears:

Locate the ‘ebook’ folder, you will then see the two files; epub (for iPad) and mobi (for Kindle). Open iTunes on your computer, connect your iPad and drag and drop the epub file from your computer into the ‘Books’ section in iTunes. You will now see your publication in iTunes, and when synced with your iPad, you can see the publication in iBooks:

and here is the publication on the iPad available for reading in iBooks:

Try it out for yourself!

Download the 3D Issue trial where you can follow these steps to create your own book for iBooks from your own PDFs.

Or

Here is the epub we created in the above tutorial, it is the 3D Issue user manual, you can download this epub, put into iTunes and then sync it to your iPad or iPhone and read in iBooks.

Download the epub to view on your iPad in iBooks

You can of course do this to, upload the file to your site to allow your readers to download a epub of your content to view on their iPad through iBooks – and remember Extra Tip: because this is in iBooks, the reader does not need to be online to view once they have downloaded.

Coming up next…. how to publish your blog or RSS feeds to a epub and view them in iBooks!

More From 3dissue

- Setting up your Digital Magazine archive in minutes

- 5 easy ways to increase sharing of your digital publication

- 3 frequent mistakes to be avoided during the creation of your digital publication

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3D Issue 5.1 is here | RSS feed to epub and mobi file format preparation

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Its that time again where 3D Issue developers get to take a

moment to reflect as a new release of 3D Issue rolls out to customers upgrading and new alike! 3D Issue version 5.1 is ready for trial download and upgrade today.

There are some great new features in Version 5.1 which are right on the tail of our previous upgrade to Version 5 whilst Version 5 brought us HTML5 and YouTube videos, this little release has a little file extra.

3D Issue V5 as many know includes a standalone application which converts your RSS feeds to a digital magazine now using the newly release 3D Issue V5.1 we can create epub and mobi files from those RSS feeds, so readers can sync a week or month or a years worth of RSS feeds to their device and take away – its great.

Other updates and some minor bug fixes that we’ve fixed are out lined below:

- Some email addresses were being detected as web links this is now back as it should be

- Facebook sharing includes the image in the wall post

- Added option to software to allow for printing rasterized image of desktop page

- There were a few font rendering problems which have been fixed

- New ‘Poster Image’ for embedded videos can be added as you add in your video file

- Enhanced readability & user-friendliness throughout

- Improved ‘Cancel Operation’ while building publications

- New caution message where a PDF contains an excess vector images

- Fixed line conversion on PDFs

- Improved the embedded link detection during the conversion process

iPad App

- Removed ‘Exit’ button from iPad publication placed on home screen

Flash interface

- Improved notes display

- Notes text is no longer deleted if mouse is clicked

- Fixed page-turning issue in right to left publications

- Page-turning when hotspots are placed in corners now fully flowing.

- Sidebar reacts differently when set on the top/bottom

HTML5 interface

- Fixed incorrect text in email sharing feature in HTML5

- Warning message for SWF buttons in HTML5

- Desktop HTML5 version had issues with landscape PDFs when flipping pages

- Shading only appears now if a background image is selected in html5 version

- Added blank page to HTML5 publication if publication has an odd number of pages

To upgrade contact sales@3dissue.com or just to say hi is good too. The new V5.1 trial is on-line now for download too. Thanks to all our Beta users out there and customers too for the feedback.

The image above was created by Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net who are here.

Top 5 digital publishing mistakes and solutions

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Digital editions; whether you are creating digital magazines, digital newsletters or digital brochures they are a great way of broadening reach whilst providing your readers with a unique, engaging viewing experience. There are, however some mistakes when creating your digital editions that should be avoided in order to create the very best reading experience for your readers. Check out our list of Top 5 mistakes to avoid…

MISTAKE 1 – One design fits all

SOLUTION – Optimise design for digital

The way that digital and print readers read and consume media is different. Digital readers are often on the move, they could be reading on a train journey, whilst in a queue at a store or at home. This means that they scan the material, looking for key points of interest which once spotted they can then read more into. The digital reader may also be viewing on smaller devices such as iPads and mobile devices.. this available reading space can therefore be much smaller than the full size print publications.

Think about how you can optimize the design and layout for them. Consider making articles shorter, text larger, adding highlighted or feature points that stand out on the page. As mobile devices show the publication as a smaller version, optimise the pages so that they can the text without having to zoom in. Take a look at this digital magazine sample; it highlights how a publication is optimized for online viewing by keeping one key point per double page spread.

MISTAKE 2 – Digital editions take a long time to load

SOLUTION – Reduce the Load time

Ensure your digital publishing solution allows you to spread the load for larger publications. A load controller allows you to specify a set number of pages to load in the browser at one time, instead of the entire publication at once – which for a 1000 page catalogue would result in your readers facing a prolonged waiting time. A quick fix by setting the load control allows fast access for your readers.

MISTAKE 3 – Your mobile readers experience a ‘basic’ view of your digital publication (or cannot view the publication at all!)

SOLUTION – Enable HTML5 to reach all your readers regardless of their device

Adobe stated they are discontinuing flash support for mobile devices in favour of HTML5. This means HTML5 will surpass Flash as the primary platform for digital magazine distribution as HTML5 is supported across all devices including the iPad and iPhone.

3D Issue Version 5 will automatically generate HTML5 editions as well as flash versions of your publications. This means that the two versions of each magazine are created and uploaded to your website, then when a user comes to view one of your digital magazines their browser is checked and they are automatically shown the most suitable version for the device they are on.

You can see this in action via our samples. If you head over to this digital magazine samples page if you click on any of the samples whilst you are on your PC/Mac you will see the flash magazine, however view the same page and access any of these samples from your iPad you will see the HTML5 version. If you don’t have an iPad to hand you can click on the ‘Tablet View’ link under each sample and this will show you what iPad users would see. This solution is the only tool on the market that offers the same rich digital magazine experience in HTML5 that readers have come to expect in their flash editions.

MISTAKE 4 – Not taking advantage of online distribution networks

SOLUTION – Use available channels

Use all the channels you can to gain exposure for your digital magazine. If you have an email subscriber list then this is where to start, send out the email with the digital magazine to your subscribers as a priority – after all these are people that have actively opted in and requested to be receive this as soon as it is ready.

Then once your email subscribers have received the edition, then think about where your other ‘fans’ are… Facebook, Twitter, Google+, all these networks have people subscribing to what you have to say, so post them a link to the edition so they too can view. You might even want to think about now and again providing these networks with the subscribe link so they can get the digital content delivered straight to their inbox in future.

MISTAKE 5 – Search engine users cannot ‘find’ your publication or content

SOLUTION – Take 5 minutes to complete the SEO section to your publications

If you always leave the ‘SEO info’ incomplete then you are really missing out customers finding your publication via search engines. Here is an example of how an online publication is listed in Google:

Note that there are keywords present in the Page Title, a meaningful and useful page description that helps the searcher understand what the ebook is about and finally keywords in the url (taken from the name of the project folder.) If the SEO info in the ebook software is left blank, finding it via a search engine (which is the route the majority of your customers would take to try and find you) would be very difficult as the search engine would not rank it very high on any keywords as there are none in the key areas.

It’s not just digital ‘magazines’ you can create..

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We’ve realised that the term ‘digital magazine’ is used fairly frequently when digital publishing software such as 3D Issue is concerned. But don’t think it’s just magazines that can be turned into digital versions using the software….you could try some of these publications to give them a whole new, interactive look and feel, as well as reaching a wider online audience across tablets, mobiles and desktop users…

1. Newsletter (Customer or Company)

By converting this newsletter into a digital edition you can drive traffic to your site to view the online digital newsletter. This newsletter can contain multimedia that makes the newsletter more engaging to your audience as well as the added benefit that the reader analytics can be tracked and analysed to see how effective the newsletter was.

2. Case Studies Collection

Consider collating case studies and testimonials to create a unique testimonial publication, giving your clients the information they require in a professional, accessible format. If your customers fall into different sectors then create a unique testimonial digital edition for each sector. As you can upload multiple or single pdfs into 3D Issue to convert – collating these brochures can be a quick process.

3. Presentations

Tired of PowerPoint? Stand out by converting your presentations into digital format. You can simply save your PowerPoint presentation as a pdf, upload to the 3D Issue software and add your interactivity. Your digital presentations will have the page turning effect, can include videos, audio and hyperlinks and be viewed online so a customer can view at a personalised url address (by calling the file by the customer name for example) at a time that suits them.

4. Sales proposal documents

Sales proposals as a digital edition can transform the static pdf proposals into an edition that can include multimedia videos and links to further related information such as associated product brochures and customer case studies.

5. Company or Product Brochures

Sending out hard copy brochures via the post can be both time consuming and costly. If your brochure is in PDF format then converting it through 3D Issue will allow you to email your clients a link to view a digital version in minutes of their enquiry.

…and if that isn’t enough, you could try these too!

- Training document

- Event guide

- Whitepaper

- eBook

- Marketing document

- Company annual report

- Report

Digital publishers – Are you making the most of your older content?

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An interesting stat was released earlier this week by Hearst Magazines, it seems that there is a significant rise in the number of back issues being accessed and paid for by digital readers. In fact Hearst Magazines stated that 30% of the single copies sold on tablets are back issues. Wow that’s a big opportunity publishers and marketers can be taking advantage of…and the good news is it’s very easy to increase accessibility of your content!

So why are we seeing this rise? It is most likely down to accessibility as readers can now have options in a digital edition that have never been available to print readers. Have you as a print reader ever been flicking though a hard copy magazine and wanted more information that is referenced about? Read an article that states this was covered more on July 2011′s edition? Hmmm… to get July 2011 edition via print could take some time in ordering and tracking it down, making it a difficult, long process. Digital editions eliminate the time and difficulty for readers to access this older content. If you’re a 3D Issue user, this is how..

Link to previous editions or related Digital Magazines

One of the features 3D Issue digital magazine software offers you the creator is to allow your readers to have access to related or back issues from inside the magazine they are currently viewing. This is commonly referred to as the Archive Feature. It is very simple to set up, and once done your readers can access a graphical library of front covers of other publications you think may be of interest to them also, clicking on a front cover takes them to that edition. To check out more detailed information of setting this up see this article on setting up your digital magazine archive in minutes

Create an eBook from your blog archived posts or particular topic category

How many times are you asked a question from a customer and you think ‘I’m sure I’ve written about this before’ ? If you take a look through your blog archived posts, chances are you come across articles that are still applicable today. There is often golden content that has become less visible and hidden as newer content is added. Your blog readers simply do not get to see all the content from the first page.

Here’s a tip you can use today to reinvent this content – produce it as an eBook, all thanks to PressJack, the new RSS to digital magazine tool that is packaged free with 3D Issue software. Think about what your eBook could focus on – some ideas are “The ultimate guide to ______” or “50 tips to improve ______” entering in your specialist subject and solution as appropriate. Unless the content is time-specific or no longer appropriate then there’s no reason why this content should be pushed to the hidden depths of your blog archive never to be seen again. Right? The eBook creation process will only take you 10 minutes with PressJack and you don’t even need to have specialist IT programming or design skills which is a bonus.

So you thought creating a lead-generating eBook would be more time-consuming? The truth is, if you have the content already then reproducing this content is a great, fast way of creating something stunning and relevant to your audience.

Use 3D Issue Version 5 for B2B Content Marketing

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We noticed a good piece on The Next Web today which we wanted

to share and to utilize by showing how 3D Issue Software can help with regard to content marketing in a B2B (Business to Business) context. If you have’nt heard already 3D Issue is now a suite as with each purchase there is a copy of a software package called ‘PressJack’ which converts your RSS feeds and web content into a digital magazine. The basis of the article was a PDF document entitled “2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends” from the content marketing institute which details a range of statistics and findings on content marketing surprisingly enough. Read up on content marketing from the experts here.

The first points made are that:

• On average, B2B marketers employ eight different content marketing tactics to achieve their marketing goals.

• 60% report that they plan to increase their spend on content marketing over the next 12 months.

• Marketers, on average, spend over a quarter of their marketing budget on content marketing.

The article then goes on to outline 5 key points to bear in mind when creating a piece of content.

Transparency – allow your reader in but not the entire way remember we are talking here about teaser style marketing pieces we suggest these are used sparingly in a B2B context, we all like a joke but this is business at the end of the day right?

3D Issue lets you control your content, as the publications are stored on your server you can put up what you want and take it down just as fast! Use this – build publications in advance for a campaign, all ready and when it comes time to execute upload each as and when you need to enticing customers at the same time, hopefully your content will engage and be shared via 3D Issue’s sharing options for post to wall in Facebook, for their Tweet or Google+

Go the distance – prior planning prevents poor performance! If we plan our content marketing and do it in a staged way and connect in a meaningful manner our piece will get cut-through.

Using 3D Issue to its fullest will allow you to plan communications effectively, if your content has been created and is ready for execution add video or audio and give publications some life, Version 5 allows for YouTube video implementation too, so you can save on server space.

A two-way street – Social media and interacting is vital in B2B contexts too so stay alert follow and be followed, like and post and the feed will be open, Twitter is oft cited as underutilized in the B2B arena – it shouldn’t be, but don’t underestimate the benefit of a good LinkedIn strategy too.

3D Issue allows your readers to share your content, this can be really valuable every post on a Facebook page is seen by that persons friends and is more likely to be viewed and bring traffic to your site encourage the share option – maybe add a graphic or arrow to your publication to get readers sharing, in a B2B context sharing a link is a nice gesture and can often be a useful thing for customers and prospects alike. It’s not all about you – content creation is important, if there is’nt someone out there creating it for you every day then get someone else involved lots of bloggers are keen to guest blog to gain attention and so on – use these options.

Measure – make sure that your content is not published for the sake of it, plan, create, publish and de-brief – did it work, or not if not then why not?

3D Issue has full integration with each of your profiles, set them up and track activity for information on statistics which may be derived from 3D Issue fire us an e-mail info@3dissue.com

Publishing for mobile devices – Trends revealed

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Following on from our recent news post “ Mobile growth in 2012 – are you reaching this expanding digital audience? ” Techcrunch reported on OS share of smartphone sales on their site yesterday which highlights some further interesting points around market share and where the mobile market is heading. This is particularly useful for publishers and marketers to see the trends in which devices and operating systems are being used most widely to access content.

The article reports on the race for market share which is seeing a tough battle at the top:

“iOS’s U.S. market share (by sales) jumped from 26% in the third quarter of 2011 to 43% by October and November. Android, however, came out on top, with 47% market share during those two months, down from 60% in Q3.”

This is a significant change, when comparing historical market share figures. Previously Android had been the leader by a good margin, and it had been this way for some time. RIM’s share seems to have declined at a steady rate with Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile and others staying around the 5% mark.

So what caused the rise of iOS and apparent fall of Android between Qtr 3 2011 and October/November 2011? Looking at the breakdown of handset sales it seems the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S has made a strong contribution to this topping the chart of the top 10 models during October and November 2011 in the mobile device category; iPhone 4 in 2nd place topped only by the iPhone 4s in 1st place. The holiday season also contributed to a rise across device sales.

It’s important for marketers and publishers to ensure their digital editions can be viewed across multiple mobile devices, as the competition between devices continues to be a highly competitive and changing space. HTML5 digital editions enable this (so be sure to check the HTML5 mobile and tablet option if creating 3D Issues of your publications!)

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- Digital publishing device Trends

- Microsoft demo HTML5 OS for Mobile

- Mobile growth in 2012 – are you reaching this expanding digital audience?

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Mobile growth in 2012 – are you reaching this expanding digital audience?

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As we settle into 2012 we’re already seeing some strong predictions and forecasts for the digital and mobile industry for the coming year. There have been several reports already released by industry experts, and here we highlight some key areas that will be very interesting for marketers looking to tap into this growing digital audience.

In 2012, the audience of internet users in the U.S. will expand by 3.1% to 239 million, representing 75.6% of the total population. This means that 3/4 of the total population will be online in 2012. (Source: Hubspot)

The Hubspot team also state that Mobile internet users will reach 113.9 million in 2012, up 17.1% from 97.3 million in 2011 and 76.4% of tablet users will be iPad users

Over a 17% increase in mobile internet users is a huge growth rate for one year – mobile devices and tablets have enabled people to easily access the internet and therefore online content when and where they need it.

And what about the eReader market? Well positive growth is expected in this area to with adult-aged eReader users expected to reach 45.6 million in 2012, up from 33.3 million in 2011.

The good news is that marketers and publishers can very easily create digital publications for these mobile, tablet, ereader and of course desktop users to without specialist technical or deisgn skills. The new version 5 3D Issue software allows users to convert PDFs into flash for desktop users and HTML5 for mobile users – enabling end readers to view and consume media rich digital publications on their chosen device. The software can also be used to create eReader verisons in .epub and .mobi formats so Kindle, Sony eReader and other device owners can also read content on the go.