How to create your PDF pages and thumbnails for your app.
Your app content is driven by PDFs. PDFs are the common denominator among the pushing and graphic design community so using this format is the most effective way to deliver your core content. It’s quick and easy to create the PDFs, but to get the best out of your App it’s essential you follow the instructions. These instructions are for creating new PDFs, to convert your existing print PDFs for your app please select the help option from the menu on the left.
1. Output PDF
When outputting your PDF from QuarkXPress, InDesign, or other publishing software, you need to change your PDF settings to output as follows. Also, avoid multiple layers as they may slow down your App.
Colour mode: Composite RGB or sRGB
Fonts: Embed All
Crop Marks: Off
Bleed: None
Resolution: 150dpi, (264 dpi max)
PDF Type: Single Pages (no double page spreads) in one PDF document
Size: Your app will size your PDF to fit all device screen sizes. If creating pages especially for your App, the ideal aspect ratio is 1536 (w) x 2048 pixels, which is 147.4mm x 197mm at 264 dpi.
2. How to create your thumbnail
A Thumbnail image of your front covers will appear on the home screen of your App. Creating thumbnails is quick and easy using Adobe Photoshop. Follow the instructions below and then save as a .png file ready to upload to your App.
i. Take a screenshot of your cover, or open an image of your cover.
ii. Under the ‘Image’ menu, select ‘Image Size…’ and change the width to 122 pixels. The height will change automatically (as per image below). Press OK.
iii. Select ‘Save as’ under the ‘File’ menu, and save the file as a PNG file.
iv. Your saved file is now ready to upload. You can close your original image (no need to save here as your PNG file is already saved)
3. How to add interactivity to your PDF with Acrobat Pro
You can enhance the user’s experience of your pages by adding interactivity. It’s very quick to do and you can make web links live, add email links and embed video streaming from YouTube. If you need to optimise your PDF, do so before adding interactivity. Click the ‘How To Optimise Your PDF’ link in the support tab for more information.
i. Interactivity is added using the ‘Link’ tool under the ‘Tools’ > ‘ Content’ > ‘Add or Edit Interactive Object’ button:
ii. Once you click on the ‘Link’ button, select the area of your PDF you wish to make interactive.
iii. Then click on the ‘Open a web page’ radio button as below
(note: open a web page is selected for all interactivity including email and video)
iv. To add a web link, type the domain but you must include http://www or links may cause your app to crash. As below.
v. To add an active email link, type the email address after ‘mailto:’ and then after the email address you must include a subject. You do this by adding ?Subject= plus the name of your subject, after the email address. See example below.
vi. To embed a YouTube video that will enhance the user experience in your App, you need to select the full web address of the YouTube link, then change ‘http’ to ‘embed’ as per the example below.
