Case Study: Experimenting with

Print-to-Digital Publishing ModelsAna L. Vela

Inspiring people to care aboutthe planet.

ScienceSocial StudiesReading & English Language Learning

Content LiteracyExplorerMagazine

Previous eEditions• Viewed interactive eEdition

through web browser, using Flash• Could not be seen on the iPad• Change in order to accommodate

tablet market in schools• Print and digital development

produced by separate teams• Digital product not available till

several months after the print product

Needed Change

• build eBook on platforms that can be seen on computers and tablet devices.

• allow print content development team to also create the digital product.

Two things needed to change:

The New Publishing Environment

• You will need to ask yourself these questions each time a new project starts.• This is very challenging for longer product life spans

Do I go with the newest and trendiest platform?

Or do I go with the“less wow” platform?

How will my workflow have to change to publish to this platform?

(Which may have limited device usage)

(But can be seen on all devices)

Rise of the Dual-Platform Professionals• Print professionals now desire to create digital products• They want to do it without knowledge of coding• Desire was inspired by the launch of the iPad

Editorial

Design• Internal staff started requesting to be more

involved with the digital products• Editors wanted to write and structure content

to work on both platforms• Designers wanted to have more

control over their design• Develop a cohesive

print-to-digital content strategyand a unified program look

Rise of the Dual-Platform Professionals, cont.

Digital Publishing For All• Tools are now available to create

interactive content WITHOUT coding knowledge

• These tools are being placed in print-layout software

• Each platform has its pros and cons• These companies are fulfilling the

demand for creating digital content

The 50-50-50 ExpeditionUp High

Kaylee’s Account

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Cars of the Future Are Here!

Moving Across, Below, and Up! Zipping

AroundWhat Happened to the Dinosaurs?

Digging Up the Past

Extreme Dinosaurs

NG Ladders Common Core Readers

• Content Literacy Program• Grades 3, 4, and 5• Developed in 4 reading levels• 3 major requirements for the eBook:

- be inexpensive to produce and maintain

- be available at the same time as the printed book

- be viewable on tablet devices, as well as computers (base)

NG Ladders EPUB• Why EPUB 2.0?

- build with existing InDesign CS5.5 software- complete the print and digital at the same time

- view on practically any device - computer, tablet, smart phone, and Nintendo DS

- EPUB is an open standard format

Save time and money by having the print production vendor be your TECHNOLOGY vendor

Why Not Other EPUBs?

• Pros: - Looks almost exactly as your

printed book- Fairly simple to produce - even

possible from InDesign (plugins)• Con: Cannot be viewed on desktop

computers - very critical

• Pros: - Ability to add interactivity -

javascript, video, audio, etc.- Can also be exported from

InDesign• Con: Not many devices are equipped

to handle the standard. Market is not completely ready.

Fixed-Layout EPUB EPUB 3.0

EPUB Prototyping Process• Discovered challenges during prototype process:

- EPUB will never match the print- Deconstructing print design in to EPUB linear format could be difficult- Positioning elements was unpredictable- Had to crop large illustrations to make big enough to view on the EPUB- Had no control over VoiceOver pronunciation- eReader applications display EPUBs a bit differently (choose your target

devices based on your customer base)• Everyone understood the EPUB limitations, but were okay with it

EPUB Design Specs and InDesign Templates• Reached an approved EPUB design - created design

specs and InDesign templates• Design specs indicated:

- text elements to be converted to images- predetermined image sizing- standardized text styling- allowable layout options

• InDesign template methodology may change

bodytextAll body text same throughout EPUB

When combining InDesign templates, make sure your styles do not override each other through naming.

bodytext-Sel1Unique body text styling

bodytext-Sel2Unique body text styling

EPUB Workflow

EPUB Storyboard Meeting• Determine what the content order

should be from a spread layout to a linear EPUB layout

• Identify elements to omit cause they were “decorative” and added no value to the EPUB

• Design the layout of the EPUB• Select text to be converted into images• Decide which images required alt text

EPUB Storyboards

In 1961, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, but fans weren’t happy. Why? Because Maris had broken Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a single season, set in 1927. Ruth was a legendary player, and fans didn’t want Maris to topple his record. Some claimed that Maris didn’t break it, since Ruth’s record was set in a 154-game season, and Maris’s in a 162-game season. The 61 home runs were just part of his amazing 1961 season. Maris was also voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player and helped the Yankees win the World Series. What a season!

Fans are excited by record-setting long streaks.

Joe DiMaggio had hits in 56 games in a row in 1941!

Pete Rose’s 44-game hitting streak in 1978 is the

closest since then. Lou Gehrig played 2,130 games

in a row for the New York Yankees, earning him a

record that lasted for 56 years when Cal Ripken,

Jr. of the Boston Orioles broke it in 1995. Ripken

played in every game between May 30, 1982 and

September 20, 1998. That’s 2,632 games!

LONG !STREAKS

ROGER MARIS

1947Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American player in the major leagues since 1884.

1947The World Series is broadcast on TV for the first time.

1958The New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers move to California. They become the first major league teams west of St. Louis.

1961Roger Maris hits 61 home runs. He breaks Babe Ruth’s single-season record set in 1927.

1965The first indoor game is played. It is in the Houston Astrodome.

Joe DiMaggio

14 15

EPUB Deconstruction Challenge• Discovered fiction was

easier to deconstruct than non-fiction stories.

• What elements are important, and what is purely decorative?

• Determine hierarchy of types of text and content order.

EPUB Deconstruction Challenge, cont.• On EPUB, we generally

set images to be 100% screen width.

• The deconstruction process became easier with practice.

• Storyboard meetings went from lasting 3 hours for one book to less than an hour long.

EPUB Alt Text• EPUBs needed to be fully accessible for students with special needs• After storyboard meeting, Editorial gets a couple of days to create the alt text

spreadsheet for the EPUB• Editorial also supplies the metadata for the EPUB• Became a new skill for Editorial - with research, we developed our standard

approach for writing alt text

EPUB Workflow

EPUB Design Review• Design-only review round• Check EPUB against storyboard• Determine if correct design decisions

were made• If markups were complex, requested

a Design Meeting with the vendor.- Vendor made design revisions on

the fly - leave the meeting with an approved design.

• If not complex, skip Step 5.

EPUB Editorial Review• Editorial review begins at 2P EPUB• Meeting held with Design and Editorial

to discuss the layout, and any changes made in the design review. How does it look overall?

• Editorial does not check against storyboard, but rather the print pages

• Confirm content order still makes sense• Listen to VoiceOver of entire book with

image alt text

....which was a challenge of its own....

Challenges with VoiceOver• No control over the pronunciation of the VoiceOver function• Will be possible with EPUB 3.0

• Alt text is hidden code, it was worth doing on this project• Converted flowable text into images to force the VoiceOver to pronounce

the text as we wanted

Discovered we could cheat the pronunciation in the image alt text by purposely misspelling words

Challenges with VoiceOver, cont.

Stranger, does your journey lead you across this river?

Stranger, does your journey leed you across this river?

Challenges with VoiceOver, cont.As flowable text:

As an image:

+1884one thousand eight hundred eighty four

=

1884 =Timeline Entry: 18 84

EPUB Workflow

Validation and Kindle Conversion• Finalize EPUB and validate• Convert to Kindle format once it passes

validation• Editorial reviews in the Kindle for one

pass, to ensure no major issues occurred in the conversion process

Lessons Learned• Build the illustration pieces in layers, easier to deconstruct• Prevent low image quality with images angled in InDesign• Analyze InDesign built-elements vs art file images• Build art without leader lines in infographics and images, use numbers instead• Restructure the horizontal images differently for EPUB readability

Whatʼs Next for Ladders?• Add interactivity from EPUB 3.0 specification• Customize audio with text synchronization• Integrate videos and animation• Add assessments using Javascript• Embed fonts• The foundation is ready - we understand the workflow, task durations, and things

we need to change in building the files to move forward

Explorer Magazine App• Publish monthly magazine in

4 reading levels• Testing Adobe Digital Publishing Suite

for digital magazine- Adobe DPS does not support

computer-based viewing of the app- Develop a separate web-based

digital magazine (will never match)

Lesson We Are Learning• Thumbnail print and digital at the same time - Editorial, Design, and

Media Research• Thumbnail meetings usually last 3 hrs - now increasing by 1.5 hrs due

to adding digital concepts• Create the digital layout first, then backtrack the print• Standardize the student navigation is challenging• Ensure student with just the print product is not at a disadvantage

Redefining the Print-to-Digital Publishing Model• Determine new roles and responsibilities for content development staff• Redefine the division between the content development and technology team• Allow eBooks to be produced by the content development team• Redirect Technology to produce products that require programming, and do not

depend on the content development team• Investigate time and cost savings and scheduling effectiveness of this shift

How Do We Make These Changes?• Train staff to work with digital deliverables• Develop and standardize new pricing models• Continually evaluate workflows, and prepare for change• Analyze the new role of the dual-platform professional

Check out my blog at pubtechzombie.com

Case Study: Experimenting with Print-to-Digital Publishing ModelsAna L. Vela