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The Baker ebook framework

May 132013

Recently I blogged about exporting to html5 from InDesign using the in5 plugin. Looking through the various options that this plug-in gave me was an output option to something called the Baker framework.

The Baker framework logo

This was not something I had come across before, so I thought I would look it up and see what it was all about. The Baker framework is an html5 ebook framework, specifically designed for publishing ebooks on iOS devices, using open web standards. Since these devices use the webkit rendering engine you can add audio, video, and animations within your ebook pages. Leveraging CSS3 you can change your layout in a responsive way, so that your ebook works in portrait or landscape modes. The framework itself is open source, using the BSD license. Read more...

Exporting to HTML5 from InDesign pt5 – meta tags

HTML5, InDesign No Responses »

May 132013

Running on from my last post on using the in5 plugin to export to HTML5, I noticed that when you chose as an output the iPad web app option, testing this in your browser on your iPad produced an interesting result. The pages were all in fullscreen mode, and they were locked that way. You could not see the normal browser buttons etc, you were fully immersed in the set of pages that you exported. This was interesting, and I guessed that it must be due some meta tags that were telling the browser what to do. Looking at the source code, here are the meta tags created when you export… Read more...

Exporting to HTML5 from InDesign pt3

HTML5, InDesign No Responses »

May 072013

Running on from my last post, where I was using the excellent in5 plugin for exporting to html5, I wanted to mention a couple of the options within the export panels. The first is the text rendering setting.This is in the Basic area of the export panel, and previously I had set this to Images (preserves exact appearance). This means that the titles that I used looked right, but were images…

text render 1

But look what happens when I set this to HTML with local font embedding (where possible)…

text render 2 Read more...

Exporting to HTML5 from InDesign pt2

HTML5, InDesign No Responses »

May 072013

In a previous post I talked about a lovely new InDesign extension called in5. It exported to html5 beautifully. But I had only tried it with simple layout and colours. Now I am going to follow on from that example but I am going to export 5 pages instead, and I am going to add some content. First off here is my original sample from previously…

Simple InDesign layout Read more...

Apps for your workflow: Inkpad (iPad)

Illustrator No Responses »

Jan 182012

So you’ve got your hands on a shiny new iPad? Or perhaps Santa left you with some money that would go towards apps on iTunes? Or maybe you really just want something to enhance your workflow. It doesn’t matter, this app needs to be checked out.
Imagine Adobe Illustrator, strip it down to its core features and add a layer of touch controls tuned for the iPad – now you have Inkpad. With some time you can create some beautiful vector works. I use it for only smaller pieces but, as shown below, the developers show below a mushroom drawn entirely from the app. In this post I will be discussing the pros and cons of this very interesting app as an enhancement to your workflow. Read more...

Boxoffice for iPad

HTML5, InDesign 1 Response »

Jan 132012

Here’s another interesting DPS generated iPad app I downloaded recently. Boxoffice is a movie industry weekly magazine. It features the usual range of industry news & gossip, celebrity interviews and film previews. I think the Boxoffice design team has made very interesting use of the features of DPS to make an engaging and genuinely entertaining app.

Boxoffice cover 1

Boxoffice makes use of DPS’s horizontal and vertical layouts to create two entirely different covers for each edition. Just rotate to switch between them. This theme is repeated in various locations in the magazine.

Boxoffice cover 2 Read more...

Roundup of recent Adobe announcements

InDesign, Photoshop No Responses »

Oct 222011

Adobe has released a plethora of announcements and updates recently. You could be forgiven for missing a few important ones amidst the blaze of AdobeMAX publicity. Here’s a roundup of some of the more practical ones.

InDesign CS5.5 update 7.5.2.

A bug fix addressing a number of problems including: several ePub and XML import and output errors, unexpected quits, layer panel instability and PDF export random quits. Full details here.

End of support for Acrobat 8. Read more...

Adobe Digital Publishing Suite

InDesign No Responses »

Oct 102011

Last week at Adobe Max, there were a number of exciting announcements, several of which concerned Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite.

Screenshot of Adobe DPS

If you’re not familiar with the term, DPS is the suite of tools and services Adobe has been developing to allow publishing from InDesign to iPad and Android tablets. Read more...

Create an iPhone Graphic: Part 3

Illustrator, Photoshop No Responses »

Sep 122011

The last part of this trio of tutorials for creating an iPhone graphic will show you how to export the vector character and save it for the different screen resolutions of the iOS devices.

Open Photoshop and create a new document. Go back to Illustrator and select your artwork making sure that you do not select the original drawing on the bottom layer. Now got to Edit > Copy (Cmd + C / Ctrl + C), switch back to Photoshop and select Edit > Paste (Cmd + V / Ctrl + V). Photoshop will ask how you would like to import the artwork. Choose Smart Object, click OK and then press Enter to place the artwork. Read more...

Create an iPhone Graphic: part 2

Illustrator No Responses »

Sep 102011

Continuing on from part One, I will now show you how to use the Stroke Width tool and finish off the character in illustrator.

The exciting new feature for Illustrator CS5: The Stroke Width Tool (Shift + W) allows you to vary the width of a stroke along its length at any point regardless of where the anchor points are. This means that you can change a stroke’s weight at any point. To get started zoom in on your stroke, select the tool and click and drag from the middle of the stroke outwards. Continue to do this along the line until you achieve the desired effect. Read more...

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