David Blattner | 12
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I recently saw this question on Twitter: "What is the fundamental difference between EPUB3 and Adobe DPS?" I noticed that I've been getting this question a lot lately. For example, we have an EPUB track and a DPS trackInDesign ConferenceMany people wrote and asked which event to attend. And how do they differ from PDFs? How does FXL relate to SWF and other digital formats?
Hoping a little clarification, here is my answer:
documentation and applications
Would you like to become a software developer or publisher? make software developersApplication(or apps or programs or whatever you want to call them). published editordocument.Documents are files that can be viewed in a viewer application.
For example, when you create a PDF file, you create a document that will be displayed in Acrobat, Reader, Preview, web browser or other program. If you are exporting an EPUB file, you are also creating the document.
The great thing about documents is that you can move them around: you can email them, publish them on a server, make them available for download from a store, save them to disk, archive them, and so on. against. You can read them on any device as long as it has a viewer: desktop, laptop, web browser, iOS, Android, Linux or whatever. Even better, you can distribute them without third-party consent (e.g. Apple).
The great thing about apps is that they're software, so they can do things that only software can: you can sell them as games on the App Store, make in-app purchases, optimize the speed of native software. But apps have to abide by app rules: they're harder to publish, they only work on one type of device (iOS apps don't run on Android, etc.) Store. etc.
But something strange has happened in recent years: there are many applications that look and act like documents; some apps allow you to download and read "questions" as documents within the app (for example, all monthly magazine subscriptions). Instead, documents gain the new ability to function as applications. For example, you can make fixed-layout EPUB (FXL) files and some PDF files interactive to make them interactive, for example PDF files. B. Applications.
damage per second
If you want to turn your InDesign document into an application, you need special softwareEa service. The Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) pioneered this service and remains the most popular. Make no mistake: DPS is not a creative tool. At its core, DPS is an application creation and distribution service. Many people associate DPS with InDesign, but only because both are from Adobe and InDesign was the first tool to connect with DPS. Now you can use a variety of tools and products (evenOutlet!) Created for DPS.
While Adobe provides some tools to add some DPS interactivity to your documents and import your InDesign documents into the DPS system, not all InDesign features are natively supported in DPS.
Behind the scenes, the DPS system converts your documents into real software applications. An important part of the DPS ecosystem is its analytics system, which provides insight into what people read, how long they read, what they click/click on, and much more. impressive.
other app makers
Fortunately, there are many other players in the InDesign to App market includingTwixlEwater fairiesThese companies also offer alternative ways to convert InDesign documents into software applications. Even better, in many cases they are very competitive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. (Adobe is currently focusing its DPS efforts on “enterprise” customers – national magazines, large corporations that produce interactive sales materials, government agencies, etc.)
Web Apps and Web Viewers
It is also very interesting to have an intermediate hybrid solution: a web application or another HTML5 solution. For example, you can create rich interactive experiences that run in a web browserelectron dockeror slanted productionin5, both will convert your InDesign layouts to HTML5. Both systems offer a variety of options for handling these applications/documents.
for example this yearPePcon: Printing + Electronic Publishing-KonferenzJerry Silverman showed that you can export a document with in5 and then use AdobePhoneGap(Part of Creative Cloud membership) Quickly and easily convert HTML5 packages into native iOS and Android apps.
EPUB, PDF and other document formats
When people get so excited about building apps, I think of creatingdocumentGenerally preferable for most editors and creative professionals. For example, many people are very frustrated after putting tens or hundreds of hours of hard work into developing an app that is rejected from Apple's App Store because it looks too much like a book. Apple doesn't want interactivity at all; they want an immersive app-like experience! This is hard.
Also, creating an application is much more difficult than creating documentation. Achieving interactivity in InDesign is fun, but when it comes to the next step - getting it on the App Store - well, I recently heard a publishing IT guy describe the process as "brutal". Of course, if you're building an app with multiple issues, you only need to submit the app once (until the OS changes, you usually need to deliver an update), and then it's easier for each "issue". .
But compare that to exporting and distributing documents as PDF files. You choose File > Export. complete.
The problem with PDF files is that the interactive features don't work well on some devices. For example, buttons and videos generally don't work on an iPad. If you don't have Flash on your computer, even Acrobat can't handle the amount of rich media (like audio or video) you can fit into a PDF.
Fortunately, there's a new kid: fixed-layout EPUB (FXL). You can use the latest version of InDesign to create highly interactive FXL files (with hyperlinks, videos, buttons, animations, slideshows, etc.).documentYou can distribute it in different ways. You can publish them on Apple's iBookstore, or sell them on your own website, or distribute them... You can create amazing sales slideshows and put them on salespeople's iPads; You can make children's books and sell them in different stores...
FXL is not perfect. It's still a relatively new format. As long as you have modern EPUB3 reading software, you can view it on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. For example,iBooks da Apple,Adobe Digital EditionSoftware,Kobo app, EReadium Chrome Extensionare free options for reading FXL files. You can't play it on Kindle because Amazon doesn't support EPUB (they have their own proprietary format).
how to learn more
We are in the midst of a publishing revolution and nothing is stable. You can stay current and learn to publish in all of these ways.PePcon: Printing + Electronic Publishing-Konferenz.I hope to see you there!
Additional links to learn more about DPS and FXL:
- Ana Maria ConceicaoCreate fixed-layout EPUBs with InDesign CCVideo titles at lynda.com
- Mike RankinsCustomize print layouts for digital publishingVideo titles at lynda.com
- Adobe is disabling DPS single version support for Creative Cloud
- More InDesign DPS Tips
