Inspiring

Answered

Page transitions don't work in EPUB or interactive PDF

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
December 7, 2022
4 replies
3852 views

We make guidebooks, currently sold as interactive PDFs with plans to convert to fixed layout EPUBs.

I understand from posts here that page transitions only work in interactive PDFs if you are willing to jump through hoops. We can't make them work, whether in Acrobat full screen mode or not. We have tested a variety of transitions at different speeds on many pages, but none work in Acrobat or Apple Books.

However, I thought from posts here that they would work if converted to fixed layout EPUB. We have tested them in both Adobe Digital Editions and Apple Books without success. Are there EPUB hoops we're not jumping through?

Thanks.

EPUB

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Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

ADE is a lousy EPUB reader, and Apple's reader is a highly proprietary one that diverges a long ways from basic EPUB standards. Don't use ADE at all, and if your target is Apple users, you will need to optimize your docs for iBooks etc.

The problem you encountered with PDF is that, by and large, the interactive features don't work on mobile devices. And interactive EPUB will be very dependent on the reader. (And fixed-page EPUB is an increasingly obsolete format that should not be used for new projects in this era, but that's an aside. I'd go to reflowable EPUB if you want to maintain that direction.)

If you want an interactive doc that will work on mobile devices, there are adjunct tools that can do it (In5 is frequently recommended). Myself, I'd do it in HTML, which is platform-independent and adaptable to nearly any modern browser. And less of a stretch than you might think; EPUB is, after all, just a packaged web page.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

I feel the need to say this: if I bought a guidebook, I would NOT ever want to see fancy effects like page transitions. A guidebook needs to be a well structured source of information. Page transitions are simply a delay in the process of getting the information, they would drive me crazy.

A

adieuAuthor

Inspiring

Admit I agree 🙂

We just wanted to see how they would look. We put different transitions at different speeds on many pages, but didn't get to see any of them. I was hoping for a quick fade out/in, but now we will never know.... 😞

While our EPUB versions have not been optimized for iBooks, the guides do look good in the app. However, there is a shiver to the pages as links within the doc resolve. I was hoping a transition might smooth out the shiver, though perhaps I should first optimize the files for Apple Books and see if that smooths things out.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

That's a funny coincidence. Don't fact-check me!

I downloaded the Kindle previewer and opened the file. I see what you mean. It might be a simple issue to fix, not that I would know how. I also notice that none of the hyperlinks work, whether internal or external. That would be a killer, of course. Some googling suggests links might not be so simple to fix, though one page I found says sometimes links don't work in the previewer but do in the finished product. A bug maybe? Does your book get into fixing these issues?

I need to do some research. Thanks for the input.

Oh, I don't know half enough about the island's geography and ports to even spell-check the names. (Especially PNW names...) And funny, this is the second overlap. The guy who publishes The Coffee News (?) was asking questions here the other day. On a Zoom call with my brother, I asked about it, and he holds one up — "You mean this?" Maybe it's fate.

Anyway, both issues (the missing images and the links) are quite fixable if you wanted to go with Kindle publication. Both should work fine; I can guess at some of the causes they don't work in this sort of hack test. Both are specifics somewhat above the coverage of the — my! — guide, but within reach, I think.

Even with your focused market, Kindle might be an excellent replacement for direct PDF sales. A reader is available for pretty much every device and everyone (pretty much) has an Amazon account.

A

adieuAuthor

Inspiring

I am aware of in5 and we have installed their free version to test, but it is frustrating to have to subscribe to an InDesign plug-in, for virtually the same price as a complete Creative Cloud membership, to just have access to a small feature that is broken in InDesign... especially when in5 will not even export in the format you desire.

I agree that ADE is junk. Our pages look and act like trash in it. Our unoptimized docs at least look as they should in Apple Books. Will transitions work in iBooks if fixed layout EPUB pages are optimized?

Adobe seems to have a lot of money to buy competitors. If they are unwilling to use some of it to fix their products (or even tell you which features don't work so you don't waste your time), maybe they will purchase in5 and incorporate it into InDesign.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

One of the attractivnesses of InDeisgn is the ability to build and integrate plugins to do things that are not 'out of the box' solutions. InDesign was originally created as a page layout tool for print and it's being post-fitted with tools into exporting to other formats. Which is fine - moving with the times, there's more to publishing these days than just print.

In5 see a gap in the market and produce a plugin that is optional for you and if it works for you and you're making money from Adobe and In5 then in turn they make money, hence, money is making the world go round.

Anyway ------

I was convinced that Page Transitions were divided and labeled as PDF or ePub only... but after checking they are not, perhaps that changed.

If you have ideas/improvements you can make them here

https://indesign.uservoice.com/

A

adieuAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks Eugene,

If only for demonstating so clearly what it means to be tagged as a "Community Expert".

BobLevine

Community Expert

I have read that page transitions in Acrobat on Mac have been troublesome for quite some time. I tested it here on Windows and they function as they're supposed to.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

I guess one solution is to not use fancy page transitions. Simple ones add a tiny bit to a presentation... not sure they are anything but glitter and tinsel in a publication. 🙂

James Gifford—NitroPressCorrect answer

Legend

ADE is a lousy EPUB reader, and Apple's reader is a highly proprietary one that diverges a long ways from basic EPUB standards. Don't use ADE at all, and if your target is Apple users, you will need to optimize your docs for iBooks etc.

The problem you encountered with PDF is that, by and large, the interactive features don't work on mobile devices. And interactive EPUB will be very dependent on the reader. (And fixed-page EPUB is an increasingly obsolete format that should not be used for new projects in this era, but that's an aside. I'd go to reflowable EPUB if you want to maintain that direction.)

If you want an interactive doc that will work on mobile devices, there are adjunct tools that can do it (In5 is frequently recommended). Myself, I'd do it in HTML, which is platform-independent and adaptable to nearly any modern browser. And less of a stretch than you might think; EPUB is, after all, just a packaged web page.

A

adieuAuthor

Inspiring

I have heard others speculating that fixed-page EPUB is obsolete. Perhaps I am missing something. Is it not the only format which ebooks unsuited to a flowable format must be to be accepted by Apple's store?

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

This maybe isn't the place to go into a deep dialogue on EPUB's past, present and future, but I believe in using a medium to its strengths, not trying to make every platform do every job. Between the near-perfection of PDF as a medium for fixed pages of nearly any complexity and layout that can be easily read on nearly any device or platform out there, and the many advantages of reflowable content for books and long content, FXL EPUB is sort of an aging stepchild without any good place in the mix.

Its one remaining niche is for those who insist in using EPUB (or must comply with a publishing service that does) and have books that are essentially image-based — children's books, graphic novels, reference and how-to that are largely image-based, etc. PDF still does a better job with these as a publication (which is why you don't see online product manuals in EPUB, for example), but there are no good options for selling or vending DRM-enabled PDF, so FXL persists to try and bridge the gap.

That said, I see and deal with too many author/publishers who are intent on doing books that are entirely suited to reflowable format, but can't let go of the idea that book pages should look like book pages. Which, IMVHO, is disrespecting the medium... Ab initio...

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