When to Use (and Not Use) the Preview Panel
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about working with InDesign to create apps for the iPad and other tablets using Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite tools within InDesign. They range from simple to very complex but one of the most common questions pertain to previewing articles and folios.
The number one issue with previewing is that items that look perfect in InDesign’s Preview Panel do not work on the iPad. I’ve also seen this brought up by users working on interactive PDFs and EPUBs.
Unfortunately, the Preview Panel, has a name that is a bit misleading. That panel is designed for previewing SWF export and would have been more appropriately named the SWF Preview Panel.
So what should you use to preview your work? For PDF there’s really no substitute to exporting to interactive PDF and opening it in Adobe Reader or Acrobat Pro version 9 or later. For DPS output, Adobe has provided the Adobe Content Viewer as part of the DPS folio building tools. The viewer is installed with the tools and can be accessed by pressing the preview link on the bottom of the Folio Builder Panel or the Overlay Creator Panel. There is also a Preview Folio command in the file menu.
Last but not least is EPUB. Based on HTML and CSS, it’s nearly impossible to get any kind of accurate preview in InDesign. For this, Adobe provides Adobe Digital Editions. The first release was rather buggy but I’ve had success using the beta of the next release. For those interested in checking it out you can download it here.
I hope that clears things up a bit and will point you in the right direction to avoid any unpleasant surprises when it’s time to send your work to a client. With any luck at all the engineers are working on a shiny new Preview Panel that can more accurately live up to its name.
I’d like to nominate Bob for an award, not just for writing a helpful blog article, but for doing it after 4 days of no power at his house from the snowstorm! Go Bob!
That said, I’m not sure I agree with your comments about Adobe Digital Editions… version 1.8 is adequate for reading, but whether you’re aiming at iBooks, the Kindle, or a Nook, ADE will definitely not provide an accurate preview.
You’re right. I should have pointed out there’s really no substitute for testing on the target device. I’ll blame the oversight on working in Dunkin Donuts…I’m not sure why, but sounds good. :)
Yay Bob! Are you writing this from the Dunkin Donuts? :D
And I too have a comment … what’s wrong with using the Preview panel to preview interactive PDFs? It works perfectly for that. Buttons, transitions, movies, etc. It should be called the “Interactive PDF and SWF Preview panel.”
Oh so funny, I wrote that about Dunkin Donuts before I saw your reply to David. LOL. Good guess!
The problem with interactive PDF is that many users think that the animations and other SWF only features will work.
As for DD, not only is the coffee great but it’s pumpkin muffin season. :)
Bob is right. And there are more differences than just animations between PDF and SWF. Object States also don’t work in PDF.
There are some button actions which you can create in SWF which won’t work with PDF (animation, go to state, next state, previous state, go to page). But button actions which can be included in a PDF but not SWF cannot be previewed (go to next view, go to previous view, open file, view zoom).
And the PDF Options on the Button panel menu can’t be previewed (tool tips showing from the Description field).
Using a PDF for previewing can be helpful but only if you know what works and what doesn’t.
I have found using a web browser such as Google Chrome or Safari give you pretty accurate results for testing epubs destined for iBooks.
FireFox can open a valid ePub file immediately.
Downsides: it does so in a new window (Why!?) And it’s ‘readable’, but only barely so, as the CSS support lags a bit behind.
For an unpacked file, I use Safari to view separate HTML files with ’cause it’s almost spot on with “the real thing”. There are a few slight misses but I can’t remember them top o’ the head so they must be minor ones.
I don’t know if I’m writing this in the correct place, but since Bob mentioned having been contacted by people interested in publishing for the iPad… :) I have read many tutorials for exporting in the .issue format using an Adobe Labs plugin called “Bundler”. Yet all those were written last year, and for what I’ve gathered the plugin is not available anymore and the .issue format is no longer supported. I’ve also read about the new platform Adobe is launching this month, but it doesn’t contemplate a free edition or even a trial. So small-time publishers won’t have access to publishing for the iPad (yes, I know that even with the Bundler publishing wasn’t available, but you could at least use an app in order to see it after exporting for the tablet). So is there something I’m missing or is PDF the only option for viewing a self-made publication on an iPad? — not that there’s anything wrong with it! :)
“Bundler” was what they called the Folio Builder when the DPS tools were still in beta. “.issue” is now “.folio”. You can publish .folios and preview them on your iPad or laptop with the Content Viewer.
Go here to see more info (has links to Adobe.TV videos on it, too):
https://blogs.adobe.com/indesigndocs/2011/09/this-month-in-dps-videos-and-articles.html
Thanks for the info. We use the preview panel often, but it’s good to know when to not use it as well. Have an excellent weekend everyone, keep up the good work!
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