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What's new in iBooks Author

Learn about the latest features of iBooks Author.

What's new in iBooks Author 2.4

  • ePub templates now support the Pop-Over widget

  • Minor usability improvements to the ePub templates

What's new in iBooks Author 2.3

  • iBooks for iPhone now supports books made with iBooks Author

  • Create Multi-Touch books using new ePub templates

What's new in iBooks Author 2.2

  • Moving existing ePub and InDesign content to iBooks Author is easier than ever.

  • Create a new Multi-Touch book from your ePub file, and the text will automatically flow into a template of your choosing.

  • Import your Adobe InDesign file, and iBooks Author will keep the layouts and styles that you set in InDesign.

New Blank templates for truly personalizing your book's design

  • You can have complete control over the look and feel of your book, from start to finish.

More options for hyperlinks

  • Link to a specific chapter, section, or page from anywhere in your book.

  • Link from an image.

  • Link to a specific part of your book from anywhere, even outside of iBooks Author.

  • Learn more about links in iBooks Author.

Set your widgets to play directly on the page

  • Media, Keynote, and HTML widgets can now play in place on the page of your book.

  • Widgets can also be set to auto-play on the page when your readers reach that page in the book.

Additional Apple-designed templates

  • iBooks Author includes new Landscape with Portrait and Portrait Only templates.

What's new in iBooks Author 2.0

Create new gorgeous portrait-only books

  • iBooks Author now supports portrait-only books with complete control of layout.

  • Starting with a Portrait Only template enables creation of books in fixed portrait orientation, and the orientation switching UI will be disabled in iBooks Author.

  • Instead of using the text flow format of a landscape book in portrait orientation, portrait-only books provide the same navigation, table of contents, and interaction as would be available to a landscape book in landscape orientation.

Embed custom fonts into books for complete control over text appearance

  • Support for TrueType (.ttf) and OpenType (.otf) fonts.

  • Font files are obfuscated (protected) when they are written into the iBooks file on publish or export.

  • The author or publisher must secure appropriate rights to the fonts used (in keeping with similar rights for use of images, text, and media).

  • Learn more about using custom fonts in iBooks Author.

Add even more interactivity with new Scrolling Sidebar and Pop-Over widgets

  • This release adds two new Multi-Touch widgets, the Scrolling Sidebar and the Pop-Over.

  • Scrolling Sidebar provides a vertically scrolling region that may contain text and images larger than the initially defined area. Readers may scroll through this region to read the enclosed content.

  • The Pop-Over widget provides a custom image that acts as a trigger to display a scrolling region similar to the Scrolling Sidebar. The Pop-Over may also contain text and graphics.

Support for mathematical expressions

  • Authors can insert sophisticated mathematical expressions using LaTeX and MathML notation.

  • Equations are beautifully rendered directly in iBooks Author.

  • Invalid LaTeX and MathML expressions are flagged.

  • Authors can also use MathType 6.7d (and later) as an external equation editor with round-trip editing support.

  • Learn more about using LaTeX and MathML in iBooks Author.

Automatic optimization of media for iPad

  • iBooks Author now supports all media formats supported by QuickTime.

  • Media files are automatically optimized to meet the requirements for video and audio on iPad.

  • Optimization is triggered when a media file or Keynote file containing a media file is added.

  • Media files are optimized one at a time. If you add multiple files, they are queued while awaiting optimization. Book editing may continue while optimization progresses.

  • Files are compressed to reduce file size without compromising quality.

  • Movies are placed in .m4v containers, and audio files are placed in .m4p containers.

  • Learn more about using media files in iBooks Author.

Improved support for embedded audio including custom play image

  • iBooks Author now supports all audio formats supported by QuickTime.

  • Audio file playback is possible through three interaction models:

    • iBooks Author can provide a scrubber bar.

    • iBooks Author can display a play/pause button.

    • The author can supply a custom play/pause image. Only one image may be supplied (not different images for play and pause).

Improved publishing workflow

  • iBooks Author leads the author through a series of screens to ensure a simpler publishing process.

  • iBooks Author checks the book for errors before exporting it for iTunes Producer.

  • Authors are presented with the option to automatically create a sample book based on a selected chapter.

Version numbering for books

  • Authors must enter a new version number when publishing an update to a book already available on the iBooks Store.

  • Authors must enter a version number when exporting a book.

  • Authors may not enter a version number when exporting a book as a sample.

  • About the Version Number:

    • iBooks Author supplies a default version number of 1.0.

    • The version number is displayed with the book on the iBooks Store.

  • About the Version Number format:

    • Use dot-separated integers, with a maximum of two dots, three components, and four integers per component. For example: 1111.1111.1111

    • Initial zeros are ignored. 1.01 is read as 1.1

    • 1.10 is considered larger than 1.9.

    • Letters are not permitted.

  • Readers upgrading to a new version of a book will have highlights, notes, and bookmarks preserved in the new version.

Enhanced to take advantage of the Retina display on the new MacBook Pro

  • iBooks Author takes full advantage of the MacBook Pro with Retina display, providing a wonderful experience with vivid graphics and sharp text.

Additional Apple-designed templates

  • iBooks Author includes new Landscape with Portrait and Portrait Only templates.

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