FlowPaper 3.3.8 Release Notes

24 April 2020

We have a new version coming up next week! Except for general stability & performance improvements, here’s a summarized list of improvements that are worth noticing for this release.

Remember to reach out to us if you have any problems with this release or if you need any assistance at all in renewing or accessing your account due to the ongoing Covid-19 disruptions.

  • A number of improvements to the “Global Styles” section of the re:flow template including the ability to add Google fonts to your publication
  • It is now possible to add videos as backgrounds to your re:flow publications
  • It is now possible to adjust the padding in tables by dragging them
  • It is now possible to resize the height of blocks in the reflowable web page builder template by dragging them
  • Improved the stability and performance in rendering the thumbnails on the left which significantly helps when working with the re:flow template
  • Added the ability to switch working directory from the top menu in cases where your main drive is too small or you just want to store your publications on a different location such as a network drive
  • Added the ability to auto play audio clips when a user turns to a page with the ability to control play and pause via the toolbar
  • Various stability & performance improvements
  • Added the option to bind the browser back and forward button to in-publication navigation for Zine & Elements
  • It is now possible to replace pages in ‘Elements’ publications
  • It is now possible to add new pages to your publication (use the page navigator and right click on the page where you want to add your new page(s))
  • Improved parallax style maing it easier to get nice looking start blocks for your responsive web publications
  • Improved output quality in EPUB3

Kia Kaha!

Availability during Covid-19

23 March 2020

As you may have noticed, New Zealand is moving into country-wide lockdown on the 25th of March in an attempt to limit the effects from the ongoing pandemic.

This does not affect FlowPaper or our hosting services. We have a distributed team, able to work from home, spread out accross the world and we are operating as we would during normal conditions.

We’re always here to answer your questions. If you’re having difficulties in renewing your account during this period then reach out and let us know and we’ll help you out.

Kia Kaha!

FlowPaper 3.3.7 Release Notes

16 March 2020

The world is occupied with the ongoing pandemic. We’re commited to do our part to help our clients to get through this. If you’re having difficulties in renewing your account during this period then reach out and let us know and we’ll help you out.

FlowPaper 3.3.7 provides a number of bug fixes and two enhancements which we hope will provide great value to our users.

  • This version introduces “Leads” which will allow you to collect visitor/reader information from your clients. You can find the collected data for your leads in the account area.
  • It is now possible to add audio-only clips to your publications
  • General stability and performance improvements

Kia Kaha!

FlowPaper 3.3.6 Release Notes

24 February 2020

Kia Ora! FlowPaper have undergone a number of performance optimizations for our web services during January which ensures stability and performance as we’re moving into 2020.

Apart from the cloud hosting upgrades; here’s a list of summarized changes that has been peformed.

  • A number of memory performance improvements as well as output optimizations for Elements and Zine
  • It is now possible to add custom CSS rules to your publications
  • PDFTk, which was used for some operations, is no longer installed together with FlowPaper on Mac OSX
  • Minor improvements text animations in FlowPaper Elements
  • TOC will now close on small screens to make sure the underlying content is visible after navigating
  • It is now possible to add custom CSS rules to the publications (Elements & Zine)
  • Fixed a memory leak which prevented very large publications from processing properly
  • It is now possible to use branding logos up to 250 px wide
  • Fixed an issue for Zine where the publication wouldn’t rescale in all cases when going into full screen from an iframed page
  • Improved the accuracy in font rendering regarding italic/bold if the font has those properties embedded as part of the font.
  • Fix to improve the download of multiple PDF files at the same time in Zine when using split mode
  • Fix for self-hosted videos not showing when password was applied to the publication

Kia Kaha!

Which template to use? Compare and see the differences

7 December 2019

Comparing the different templates

This demonstration shows the difference between the three major templates that FlowPaper offers (Zine, Elements, Mobile-first)


Deciding which template to use

FlowPaper comes with three main templates that you can choose from, Zine, Elements and Mobile First. This tutorial will give you the basic differences between the three templates.

Zine

Zine provides an optimised experience for your publication, where your PDF is compressed and converted into a web format that will end up to ruffly a third of the original PDF size. It does this at the same time making sure it will be displayed in the best way possible for mobile devices as well as for desktops. The Zine template provides basic functionality as far as editing, including the ability to add links, images, video or audio to your publication. It also has the classical flip book look and features realistic page turns.

Elements

Elements contain the same base functionality as Zine but it is also able to display your publication in different output formats, such as a flip book, sliding pages or a folding brochure. On top of compressing the output and optimising it for mobile, the Elements template takes every object inside the PDF and converts it into an HTML5 object. It means you can affect objects in your publication on an individual level. 

This means that you can select a text snippet and add interactivity to it, or you can choose to animate the whole page if you wish. You can also move objects around or even delete them.

The Elements template also has the ability to make the digital publication more accessible. You will find these options under the settings tab on the left-hand side menu. Under the settings menu, you will also find further options, such as publication protection, which adds an additional layer of protection to your digital publication. And by turning all of your text into objects, accessibility options help by making it available for screen readers and more. While FlowPaper does this, it is also able to optimise the content so that search engines are able to pick up on the content better.

There is the same ability to switch to a mobile format as for the Zine template. All the content will be resized automatically.

Mobile-first (Re:flow) template

The mobile-first template is for users who want complete control over where content is placed in their final publication.

This means that when FlowPaper imports the PDF, you can import what sections you want on which page you want them on and in what order. Either choose to import the whole page as a static page (which usually is wanted for pages such as the front cover, or adverts), or import the page content in a reflow format, by clicking the Add tab on the right-hand side of the page you wish to import. A new window opens which lets you choose to either import the page as it is in the PDF or import it and reflow it at the same time. You can also import content by double-clicking the sections you wish to import and in what order you wish them to come in the digital version of your publication. Add videos, images or sound anywhere in the publication.

Add videos, images and links where you wish inside the template.

Since the mobile-first template acts like a micro-website, it will resize and reflow the content to fit the device it is displayed on. 

Styling FlowPaper Publications

6 December 2019

Question

Is there any way to create a TOC/bookmark panel outside of the flip book to allow navigation throughout the document?

Answer

Yep! You can add links anywhere you like and then link to specific pages by just appending #page=XX to the url, like this: https://flowpaper.com/zine/flippingbook_catalog.php#page=10

Question

Can I produce single pages that won’t default to showing as a spread when views on an iPad?

Answer

Yes you can force the viewer to only show 1 page at the time. If you're using one of the 'Elements' templates: Go into the settings section on the left (click on the cog). Set "Max Visible Pages" to 1. If you're using one of the 'Zine' templates. Go into the settings section on the left (click on the cog). Select 'Flip Single' in the starting mode drop down menu

Question

Is there a way to create a template or set default controls?

Answer

You can save your current settings into a template by using the template settings on the right hand side, under the template thumbnail in the style section). Use the "save as template" button to create a new template with your current settings. Alternatively, you can watch our tutorial here: https://flowpaper.com/How-to-create-and-save-a-style-template-for-PDF-documents/

Question

How do I remove shadow effect when the page flip?

Answer

The easiest way to do this is to use the desktop publisher and use the style section on the right hand side to disable the shadows. Then publish your document which will give you a UI_Zine.xml style file that you can use in other publications or in other places.

Question

Is it possible to remove all navigation on the bottom, the arrows, full page icons, etc...except for the side arrows in the zone format?

Answer

Yep you can disable the toolbar completely if you don't want it. If you're using the Elements viewer then simply edit out the toolbar from the index.html file once published.

Question

I have a stock photo I would like to upload and use as background. Can I do this? I am also wondering if I can have a transparent background.

Answer

Yep! You can find the background settings where you set image on the right hand side inside the desktop publisher. You can also set "Background Alpha" to 0 on the right hand side in the "Styling" section in the desktop publisher if you want the publication to float on top of a background.

Question

Is it possible to display the current page in the address bar?

Answer

Yes, it is. It gets displayed as #Page=XX per default for all templates.

Question

Is it possible to have a button showing the pdf's TOC and how do I activate it in the viewer?

Answer

You can enable the TOC button by enabling it in the "UI Components" section on the right hand side in the desktop publisher. You can also fill in or edit existing items in the table of contents by expanding the TOC tree editor on the left hand side in the desktop publisher.

Question

How do I disable scroll wheel zoom in the desktop publisher?

Answer

You can't disable only mouse wheel zooming but you can disable all zooming in the left hand panel under "Behaviour". Scroll down to the bottom of this settings panel and you'll find "Disable All Zooming”.

Question

When rendered PDF on web version, is it possible to disable page navigation which is done using keyboard arrow keys? PDF is distorted when navigated like this. We are on Zine.

Answer

Yes! there's a setting for this in the settings section on the left (click on the cog).

Question

1. When adding in the links to the pages, is it possible to change the blue at all.... apart from changing it to none? 2. Is it possible to turn off the blue fade on links when a page first opens?

Answer

  • Scroll down in the right hand side ("style" tab)  inside the desktop publisher and you'll see "Link Color”.
  • You can set the "Link Alpha" value to 0 in the right hand side of the desktop publisher (in the "Styling" tab)

    • Question

    How can I get the controls to show at the bottom of the viewer instead of the top?

    Answer

    There is a template inside the desktop publisher that allows you to do this. Select the "Rainforest" theme on the right hand side of the publisher to access this template. You also have the option to customise which buttons are visible on the toolbar.

    Question

    How do you animate a headline and other text?

    Answer

    It can be done in 2 ways. You either animate all headlines of the same size by editing the "Styling" section on the right hand side of the publisher and choosing an animation for the header size. The other way is to go into edit mode for a specific page and select the heading you want to animate. The animations you can choose from will appear in the left hand side of the edit window. The animation we have used for the business presentation link you referenced is the "3D rotate”

    Question

    Is it possible to add tabs which would appear on the e.g right-hand side of the publication for easier navigation?

    Answer

    You could add tabs on the right hand side if you use the Elements viewer. All the containing elements are fully exposed when you use the elements viewer so it would be easy to modify them to include your tabs.

    Is it possible to have TOC outside of the flip book?

    6 December 2019

    Question

    Is there any way to create a TOC/bookmark panel outside of the flip book to allow navigation throughout the document?

    Answer

    Yep! You can add links anywhere you like and then link to specific pages by just appending #page=XX to the url, like this: https://flowpaper.com/zine/flippingbook_catalog.php#page=10

    Is it possible to have single page view on Ipad?

    6 December 2019

    Question

    Can I produce single pages that won’t default to showing as a spread when views on an iPad?

    Answer

    Yes you can force the viewer to only show 1 page at the time. If you're using one of the 'Elements' templates: Go into the settings section on the left (click on the cog). Set "Max Visible Pages" to 1. If you're using one of the 'Zine' templates. Go into the settings section on the left (click on the cog). Select 'Flip Single' in the starting mode drop down menu

    Can I save my settings into a template?

    6 December 2019

    Question

    Is there a way to create a template or set default controls?

    Answer

    You can save your current settings into a template by using the template settings on the right hand side, under the template thumbnail in the style section). Use the "save as template" button to create a new template with your current settings. Alternatively, you can watch our tutorial here: https://flowpaper.com/How-to-create-and-save-a-style-template-for-PDF-documents/

    How can I customise the shadow effect?

    6 December 2019

    Question

    How do I remove shadow effect when the page flip?

    Answer

    The easiest way to do this is to use the desktop publisher and use the style section on the right hand side to disable the shadows. Then publish your document which will give you a UI_Zine.xml style file that you can use in other publications or in other places.

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