Comments Earlier this year when WIRED Magazine launched its digital edition (and sold more issues than the newsstand version without cannibalizing print sales) we noted
that it was created with InDesign CS5 along with new publishing technologies. Today, we’ve released a short video that overviews these new technologies, including more detail on how they fit into the digital
magazine authoring workflow.
Late this summer, we’ll post these new publishing technologies on Adobe Labs so a broad set of media, corporate and retail catalog publishers will be able to create compelling content experiences. Using this Digital Magazine Solution, these publishers can create immersive content without having to hire additional developers or invest
in extensive retraining for staff. Publishers can add interactivity without writing code via InDesign and create monetizable digital magazines for the Apple iPad – with other platforms and devices expected in the future.
InDesign CS5 + Digital Content Bundler
As mentioned, Adobe InDesign CS5 software is the central component of the workflow. Using InDesign CS5, design teams create layouts and add interactivity. With layouts in hand, production teams package the assets using the new Digital Content Bundler utility that allows publishers to import vertical and horizontal InDesign CS5 layouts, add metadata, (article title & description, issue number, etc.) and export them into a new “.issue” format. Although creating both horizontal and vertical layouts is not an absolute requirement, we expect that publishers will want to do so in order to take advantage of the tablet form factor and have the content rotate along with the device.
The “.issue” Format + Digital Content Viewer
This new .issue format is a compressed file format that contains vertical and horizontal magazine layouts, metadata, code to enable interactivity, and associated assets (images, video, etc.) Once the layouts have been packaged into the .issue format, the file is then rendered and displayed to the end-user using a publisher-branded Digital Content Viewer. The WIRED Reader, for example, is the first instance of a publisher-branded viewer. This Digital Content Viewer allows readers to interact with and navigate through the magazine content (including via the innovative “browse” mode). Previously we announced the Digital Content Viewer for Apple iPad; in the future we also expect to develop the Digital Content Viewer on Adobe AIR for desktops and other devices.
Adding Interactivity
With the Digital Magazine Solution, publishers are able to retain the design fidelity of a print magazine and add the interactivity of digital – captivating reader attention and creating an immersive content experience. Using the Adobe solution, designers and production teams can add interactivity like slideshows (multi-state objects) and video to magazine layouts using InDesign CS5. At present, adding advanced interactivity (like 360° image rotations, and image panning/zooming) requires the use of a separate AIR utility, the Interactive Overlay Creator. Over time, however, the functionality in the Interactive Overlay Creator will be integrated into future versions of InDesign.
Availability on Adobe Labs
In late summer, we’ll be posting the publishing technologies involved in the magazine workflow – including the tools for adding advanced interactivity and bundling content – on Adobe Labs at http://www.adobe.com/go/digpublabs Documentation that details the process
for integrating this new technology into your existing publishing workflows
will also be made available on Labs.
—
For more information about the Digital Magazine Solution and
additional details about the digital magazine authoring workflow, check out the
following links:
- Bookmark the Digital
Publishing page on Adobe Labs and check later this summer to download the
additional publishing technologies - View the workflow video on Adobe TV
- Keep up on the latest news by becoming a fan of Adobe Digital Publishing on Facebook
- Follow the team on Twitter @AdobeDigitalPub
Hi
I need the Digital Content Bundler but i didnt find it in the download adobado labs page.
Please help, i want to try it
thanks
Here in DK it is LATE summer now. Rainy and cold.
But I stille can’t find the bundler..help!
Jan
How does the recent Apple TOS revision affect this technology?
The solution is written in Objective-C according to the rules specified by the Apple Developers License Agreement.
Thanks for the update, Dave. Can’t wait to see what you guys have been working on!
Hey Dave, Any update on ETA? Late summer…August? Or October? Any response would be much appreciated!
We’re working nights and weekends to get this out to you. Stay tuned to http://bit.ly/LabsDigPub for more details.
Dave, can you tell us if page scaling is supported? Are fonts embedded or rasterized? Is content converted to SVG? How customizable is the Digital Content Viewer? I have lots of questions, but the digpublabs, blog, and FB page don’t give much more information than this page. Is it still too early for this much detail? Thanks in advance…
is it possialble release a new version of Digitial Editions for this new format? then we can view our books/magazines on our pc/mac.
Digital Editions is a reader designed specifically for viewing content in the .epub format. The Digital Content Viewer is a reader designed specifically for viewing content in the new .issue format—which is/can be considered a native iPad app, from what I am gathering by the entries here. The two formats (.epub and .issue) address two completely different content requirements. The .issue format is designed to maintain the rich visual design of the page (along with added interactivity), which is where .epub falls short by the nature of its intent to display and reflow text with inline images. I hope I have stated this correctly, and that it makes sense.
Dave, will publishers be allowed to make their own bespoke digital content viewer or will they have to use the one provided by Adobe?
Hello Dave
Will I be able to produce .issue files for my own/clients ipads to view directly or will I have to always go through the iPad apple store view and deliver .issue solutions? I have clients who would love me to be able to provide this solution but their work is of a private nature (healthcare) and they would not like their literature to appear on the apple store.
Thanks
Martin
Martin, though I’m not affiliated with Adobe, this blog seems in limbo, so I’m going out on a limb here… I am going to assume that the Digital Content Viewer app will only be installable via the App Store. Apple is usually very tight about what how/what is installed. While you may be able to create them locally, I doubt Adobe will include the provisioning information to make them locally available, even through iTunes. This is an Apple restriction that is taken care of by registering for the Developer Program. For the type of distribution you’re referring to, I think you would need the “Enterprise” level developer package. Again, I’m just guessing on this one, based on what little I’ve been able to get on this. I hope it helps, and ultimately becomes substantiated or corrected.
Thanks Martin for your comment. We’re rushing to get you more information on how you’ll be able to distribute these apps. Stay tuned to the forthcoming release on Adobe Labs for more info.
Thanks for the reply Dave and Christopher
I’m looking at the .issue format as an opportunity to actually produce some beautiful, interactive literature direct to clients ipads without the need to distribute via the app store, I guess I’m not alone in hoping for this?
I really believe that this is a chance for Adobe to create something massive within the design/iPad community and hope that they do not just limit it to publishers selling on the app store.
I showed the wired mag to my whole agency when the first edition came out and everybody was asking when can we have this solution, they all loved it. So I believe there is a massive market for Adobe to provide this solution for the corporate world as reps and creatives would love the chance to present on an iPad using the .issue format, but if it all goes through the app store I believe that I would have to abandon the whole format and wait for android devices which would be a massive shame
Regards
Martin
Is this TLF enabled ? I mean does it integrate the new text layout framework in the output result ?
Keep In mind this format should not only be for magazines or newspapers, books. I want to create a Presentation for new employees at my company explaining beneficts, company policies, videos with examples of internal events, animations of procedures etc….
In this case maybe we don’t want to Sell the application but to use the technology for internal puroses. I Know CATALYST was done for this but our standard is InDesign and we can repurpose our materias instead of applying our efforts in only one application development like Catalyst (not to mention that Catalyst is in its infant stage) and we don’t code.
Thank you!
Benjamin, check out my response to Martin, above. Thanks, and I hope it helps.
Thanks for your feedback Benjamin. We’re hearing from many people that they are looking forward to using this technology for highly designed books and corporate publishing projects. The toolset for the Adobe Labs release, as mentioned in the original blog post, uses InDesign as its foundation; consequently it allows designers to create these engaging experiences without having to be retrained on developer-oriented tools.
hi, I work in a magazine in Central America, I want to create my magazine the way Wired is doing it, what do I need to do that… Adobe inDesign CS5 and what else?
From what we gather here, to create content you’ll need InDesign CS5 and the Digital Content Bundler (available late summer on Adobe Labs). To view content, the Digital Content Viewer, which apparently can be publisher-branded/customized, and is only currently being offered for the iPad, although an Air solution is in the works.
Is this blog routinely moderated? Should we be going to other sources for this information? This seems like too big of a subject to be treated so casually. Unless there are only 6 of us interested in what’s going on… Dave, where are you, man?
I agree with Chris, this is quite a huge area.
I don’t normally post in forums but considering I am actually posting there are definately more than 6 people interested in the .issue format.
I’m employed by a government department that are looking for a format to transfer approximately 50% of our print publications and all of their digital content to devices like the iPad.
I’m in charge of the R&D of digital publications and the workflow that follows so I’ve been eagerly waiting any details regarding the .issue format.
Things like if a reader is required, if they can be standalone applications and can we embed closed captions into video?
I guess I’ll have to wait like the rest of us till .issue formats get released.
Thanks for the encouragement, Douglas! I usually don’t comment either, but I’ve kind of adopted this blog.
hi,
I´d like to have some Information when your “Adobe Digital Content Bundler” (or anythin else to bring informations on the iPad…) is on its way, downloadable or anything else…
Thx
ray
My source says September, but early or late is anyone’s guess. I’m holding out for early…
We’re working nights and weekends to get this release to you ASAP. Stay tuned to this blog for more info, as well as the Adobe Labs page at http://bit.ly/LabsDigPub
I, too, am interested in receiving any new information as it becomes available (especially as regards latest estimated release date)–thanks!
Hi Laura. The Adobe Labs release is forthcoming. Stay tuned to this blog and http://bit.ly/LabsDigPub for the latest as the tools are rolled out!
@ Dave Dickson. Dave thanks for keeping us (your readers) in the loop, I realise that it’s quite hard to give out information that you’re either not told or can’t say because of commercial in confidence. But do you know:
- if the Digital Content Bundler is a separate Application that converts the Indesign File or will it be a plugin for Indesign?
- will it be an extra cost on top of Indesign?
- will you require an Apple Developer Licence and follow the normal workflow for submitting an app?
thanks again