Adobe Digital Publishing

The newest features in Adobe Digital Publishing Suite enable publishers and organizations to drive readership, consumer purchase, and customer loyalty.  Available today, the latest features of DPS are designed to entice readers toward purchase by allowing them to view publications on a website, sample free articles within an issue, and have optimized reading experiences on iPhone 5 and Android.

Embed Publications within Websites

Web View of Adobe Inspire Digital Magazine

Many of our customers use the social sharing feature in Digital Publishing Suite. Once an article has been shared to a social network such as Facebook or Twitter from within the DPS app, readers can experience DPS articles in a web view (through what is officially known as Content Viewer for Web). Social sharing has proven valuable in helping our publishing and corporate partners reach a wider online audience and ultimately drive digital uptake of content. If you have not yet experienced the social sharing web view, view a video of social sharing that we released last year.

We have now taken this one step further. Publishers and brands can introduce new readers to your mobile publication by embedding it into your website.  The highly designed mobile reading experience can be replicated online in the context of your branded website, taking advantage of web traffic to generate awareness of high value mobile content.  In order to drive purchase of mobile content showcased on your site, you can designate specific articles as free, set up metered paywalls, and even create a web-only folio with articles designed specifically for online viewers. Watch Colin Fleming’s video, Embed Publications within Web Sites.

Free Article Preview on iPad

Readers can choose to preview an article

Publishers can set up a paywall after readers view several articles

Last release, we launched the “First Folio Free” feature. Publishers use this feature to give first-time readers immediate access to the most recent issue, allowing them to “try before they buy” and enticing them to make subsequent in-app purchases of additional issues or a subscription.

Free Article Preview on iPad gives publishers more options to convert browsers into buyers. Instead of offering an entire free folio, you can pique readers’ interest with selected free articles and encourage them to purchase the folio by displaying teasers or upsell prompts for additional premium content. Watch Colin Fleming’s video on Free Article Preview to see the full experience, as well as how to set it up paywalls associated with the free articles.

iPhone 5 Support

iPhone 5 with 4” Rendition

The iPhone 5 provides more real estate for publishers to deliver an improved reading experience.  That extra space provides easier navigation within the app and full screen video without letter boxing. Content built for iPhone 4S and below will still appear as letterboxed on the iPhone 5.

PDF Content on Android

Reduce authoring costs and improve the reader experience with new support for PDF content on Android devices. By building PDF content for Android and iOS devices, publishers can reduce authoring costs and folio file sizes, and therefore download times. Not only can readers access content sooner, but they can also scale content using pinch and zoom. During the design and preview stages of development, publishers can now view PDF content on Content Viewer for Desktop.

Watch Colin Fleming’s video, PDF Content on Android.

Updates to Analytics

Web Viewer Analytics in Site Catalyst

Web Viewer Analytics: As the web viewer becomes more integral to the DPS experience, analytics are following suit. Analytics for web viewer is available with a Site Catalyst account so that publishers can understand how many readers are viewing content via web viewer, which content is the most popular, and how often each type of overlay was started.

Track Preview: In order to understand the impact of Free Article Preview, Site Catalyst in DPS allows publishers to find out how many readers are previewing content, which articles are most frequently previewed, and the number of purchase conversions driven by free articles.

Completed Article Analytics: Which articles hold readers’ attention until the end? Now, DPS Site Catalyst customers can find out how many readers read a full article. In addition, publishers can find out if readers are using the Table of Contents to discover articles and move around the issue.

For a complete listing of all Site Catalyst data available in DPS, read the Adobe® SiteCatalyst Digital Publishing Report Guide

This blog post only scratches the surface on the latest features available in Digital Publishing Suite. View more detailed information on the following DPS sites:

• For a detailed overview of the new features, visit Bob Bringhurst’s DPS Help Site, What’s New in This Release.
• Watch Colin Fleming’s new videos for this release:
  • Embed Publications within Web Sites
  • Free Article Preview
  • PDF Content on Android
• Visit the Digital Publishing Suite Developer Center
  • Free Article Preview
  • Promoting Free Content to Gain Readership
  • Read new iPhone 5 content added to Colin Fleming’s Building multi rendition articles and DPS authoring with InDesign for iPhone and iPod Touch
  • Embedding Web Viewer Content Into Your Web Page
• Read the latest updates to the Adobe® SiteCatalyst Digital Publishing Report Guide

Today at Adobe Summit: The Digital Marketing Conference, Adobe released the first step in delivering a more integrated workflow between Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) and Digital Publishing Suite. The AEM 5.6 release includes a new Media Publisher add-on that integrates AEM Web Content Management with the Digital Publishing Suite. The Media Publisher add-on automates the packaging of AEM managed content and metadata directly with the DPS Folio Producer Service.

With this new functionality, Digital Publishing Suite integration with AEM provides a cost effective method to create, manage and produce digital content for the Web, tablet and smartphone devices. Customers can reduce publishing costs by authoring content once using the intuitive, drag-and-drop AEM interface, and then output that content to multiple channels – including not only on the Web, but also in apps for mobile devices. With the new integration, publishers and brands can automate the authoring of HTML content into apps, leverage that content across output types, and streamline the management of digital assets into tablet and smartphone devices.

Beginning in the familiar AEM user interface, designers can create HTML content using a visual, drag-and-drop interface without coding. Within AEM, designers can rapidly build pages while controlling the look-and-feel of the content through pre-defined templates. In addition, production artists can bring a publication to life by adding AEM interactivity components that are included in the app content. Once the content is created in AEM, the new AEM Media Publisher add-on allows users to automatically package that HTML content and upload it to the DPS Folio Producer Service for post-production and delivery into tablet and smartphone devices.

In addition, designers and production staff can also take advantage of AEM Digital Asset Management (DAM) capabilities to further streamline their content production. The AEM DAM enables users to include approved digital assets into their content, with the ability to version these assets and maintain control over their use.

AEM users have access to additional workflow enhancements when using the DPS/AEM integration, including improvements around horizontal and vertical layout creation, automatic content updating, and metadata. With new publishing components available in AEM Media Publisher, production staff can automate the creation of horizontal and vertical layout elements. When using publishing components, a user can include both horizontal and vertical assets in the same file. The component detects the orientation of the tablet device and displays the appropriate associated asset.

Because of AEM’s content management capabilities, users can also take advantage of automatic updating of content without having to perform tedious, manual updates. For example, when changing the title of an article, AEM has the capability to automatically update that title in the table of contents section also, further automating and streamlining content production. Finally, when using AEM to create content for use with DPS, users have the ability to add metadata directly in the Media Publisher panel. AEM Media Publisher then transfers this article metadata to the DPS Folio Producer Service, eliminating the time and error associated with manually retyping metadata into the Folio Producer Service.

By using Digital Publishing Suite together with Adobe AEM Media Publisher, publishers and brands can automate the authoring of HTML content into apps and streamline the management of digital assets into tablet and smartphone devices.

In this release of Digital Publishing Suite, the library gets a makeover, publishers have new options for app promotion, analytics and social sharing are further refined, and the viewer UI is designed for an improved reading experience. For detail on set up, visit the Digital Publishing Suite Help Site: What’s New in this Release.

New Library User Interface
The library user interface has been re-designed to look more professional and eye-catching as well as allow readers to preview more of the app. View a slideshow of the new library UI here to see a splash page, larger grid cover images, and folio preview:

Pique the Interest of New Readers: First Folio Free
Readers new to your publication may want to “try before they buy.” Now, there is a feature that allows you to distribute the latest folio for free. This feature only works with readers who have never downloaded the app before.

Tailor Content for Readers Based on Subscription Status
Enterprise publishers can create a conditional HTML article or web content overlay that displays different content depending on how the folio was obtained. For example, if the reader is new to your app, you can include a subscription promotion on the HTML article. If your reader is already a subscriber, you can use the space to sell special editions or other content.

Dynamic Subscriptions 

Sample of a subscription option dialog box

Publishers can now change, add or delete subscription options available to readers on an ongoing basis. This allows publishers to do A/B testing of subscription types and hone in on the optimum subscription packages for driving sales.

ANALYTICS IMPROVEMENTS
Video Analytics

       
Sample screenshots of the video analytics report
Site Catalyst users can view more detailed analytics for video content. For example, you can find out how often the video was watched in its entirety and, if not, the duration of time that the video was played.

Download Reports
If your account has multiple titles, the download reports available on the dashboard now show downloads by issue. You can not only see the number of downloads in aggregate, but also see how many titles were downloaded each month. 

IMPROVED READER EXPERIENCE
Automatically Open Background-Downloaded Issue (iOS only)
Readers don’t want to wait to download new folios. Now, when a new title is available on the reader’s device, it will download in the background and allow readers to tap on the cover and immediately begin reading new entitled folios. This is especially helpful for newspapers, when readers are opening content on a daily basis.

Open Folio To Last-Read Article and Position
Previously, if readers switched between issues/folios of a publication, the previous folio would reset to the title page when the reader re-opened it.  With this new release, readers can pick up where they left off in an article. For example, if they were half-way through an article on page 22, the folio will automatically open to that same reading position.

Local Storage on Android
When I’m doing a crossword puzzle in a newspaper, I don’t want to lose my work when I flip over to my Facebook app. Now, Android apps allow readers to enter information onto a page, leave the app, and return to the same content entered on the page. (This feature is already available on iOS.)

SOCIAL SHARING FEATURES
Facebook Sharing for iOS6
In iOS6, readers can enter their Facebook and/or Twitter credentials in the iPad Settings, allowing all apps on the iOS device to connect with their accounts. Once readers have set this up and share a DPS article via Facebook or Twitter, the sharing dialogue box will seamlessly open, without asking the reader to sign in.

Want to know when the Digital Publishing Suite server is undergoing maintenance? Want to stay on top of any ongoing issues with DPS services such as App Builder and Content Viewer? Bookmark the DPS Status page and sign up for the RSS feed in order to stay on top of any issues that may impede your team’s progress.

The DPS status page provides at-a-glance information about the service status of Account Management, analytics, App Builder, Production, etc. If your team notices difficulties during the production and publishing process, check out this page first to see if there are any issues. The team will let you know when the next update will be posted so that you can plan your workflow accordingly.

- Bookmark the DPS Status page.

The latest release of Digital Publishing Suite contains features that will enhance the reader’s audio and video experience, as well as allow them to provide feedback while they are in the app. For production staff, the Folio Builder tools have been redesigned to enable more efficiency for designers. Last, as you have likely heard, we announced the launch of Single Edition in Creative Cloud, allowing Creative Cloud members to publish an unlimited number of single-issue apps for free.

Name Change: “Viewer Builder” is now “DPS App Builder”
With a growing list of customers using Digital Publishing Suite, we decided to change the name of “Viewer Builder” to “DPS App Builder.” We selected the name based on interviews with customers, and learned it is more intuitive for first-time users of Digital Publishing Suite.

“Rate this app” for gathering feedback

On iOS devices, your readers can now rate your app after reading a handful of articles. Digital Publishing Suite allows you to set the number of articles that a reader will view before being asked to provide a rating. At that point, the window pictured above will appear, the reader will rate the app, and the rating will be integrated into the iTunes store, allowing publishers to receive reviews from readers who were in the midst of enjoying the publication.

Paywall for free folios in web viewer

When an article has been shared via social media, the recipient can view the article in the DPS web viewer. Up until this point, publishers could create a paywall for paid folios, asking readers to purchase the publication after reading a specified number of articles in the web view. Now, publishers can set up a paywall for free folios – such as catalogs or brochures — before providing access to the full publication. You can customize the text and the destination on the paywall to build up your existing customer database.

Inline video without controls

(iOS only) Our customers have requested the ability to embed a video that automatically plays without being paused, and stops at the final frame. For example, the Martha Stewart cover from February 2011 plays an opening video of chocolate being drizzled over ice cream. This feature allows readers to experience the full video before proceeding to the next page. Your production staff can set this up in the Video Overlays panel.

Multi-Resolution PDF folios:

When the new iPad was released, Colin Fleming created a set of guidelines for designing different renditions for standard definition and high definition iPads. Now, your production staff can create one PDF folio that targets retina and non-retina iPads, and it is not necessary to create two renditions. Renditions will still need to be created for different devices with varying aspect ratios (Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone), but not for different resolutions of the same device. It is still possible to create a high definition and standard definition versions of multi-folio apps in order to reduce folio size. View Bob Bringhurst’s DPS Help site for more detail. Stay tuned for an article from Colin Fleming in the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Developer Center.

Folio Builder panel updates

The DPS User Experience team has worked closely with designers to develop an efficient and streamlined workflow for producers. In particular, the panel menu commands contain background information, providing guidance during the design process. Other highlights include: default selections based on target device, navigation enhancements, information about folio resolution, a link to the Single Edition DPS App Builder through the panel menu, etc. Download the latest version of the Digital Publishing Suite Folio Builder panel to see it in action.

Background audio 

(iOS) Audio does not have to automatically stop when the reader turns the page. Now, when your publication includes an audio overlay, the reader can navigate to a new article, continue listening to the audio, and pause it from the top-level navigation bar. The controller will start or stop the most recent audio file that the reader played.

Customize text in the app

Digital Publishing Suite is used in over 50 countries, with many emerging use cases. Now, using XML code in the App Builder, developers can customize dialog boxes, error messages, and button text in the library. It can also be used to tailor language to the voice of your publication. As an example, the library pictured above uses “Get issue” instead of “Download,” and “Read issue,” instead of “View.”

For more information on how to set this up, see the Help Site App Details section on using customized strings.

Hot zones to activate navigation bar: (iOS) Using App Builder, publishers can designate a hot zone at the bottom of the page that pulls up the navigation bar. When this is set up, readers can tap anywhere else on the page and the navigation bar will not appear.

PDF smooth scrolling: Digital Publishing Suite now supports smooth scrolling layouts in PDF.

Single Edition launch with Creative Cloud
Creative Cloud members can now create an unlimited number of Single Edition iPad apps for free. This allows freelancers to provide extra services for clients without incurring the cost of app publication. View the Single Edition blog post to learn more.

For detailed information on the latest updates, visit the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Help page.

Targeted to design professionals working in or serving small businesses, Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition delivers integration with InDesign CS6, enabling designers to leverage their existing skills, retain creative control, and expand their design services to tablet publishing. Designers can easily create tablet apps for the Apple iPad, such as brochures, portfolios, annual reports, and more.

For customers interested in publishing to additional platforms (Kindle, Android) and publishing multi-issue apps, Adobe Digital Publishing Suite offers Pro and Enterprise editions that might be better suited to meet your needs.

Key features of Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition include:

• Ability to design and submit single-issue apps to the Apple App Store without writing code
• Streamlined workflow tailored for designers, including integration with InDesign
• Rapid testing and preview directly to iPad (Mac OS required)
• Dual-definition design: The ability to design and build one app that is optimized for HD and SD (iPad 1 & iPad2)
• Ability to update Single Edition app after it has been submitted to and approved by the Apple App Store
• Viewer Builder has been re-branded as DPS App Builder

Important information for customers who are interested in using DPS, Single Edition:

• You will need to register as an Apple Developer and pay the $99 annual fee.
• DPS App Builder is a Mac-only application. Also, Apple requires that you use a Mac to submit your app to the Apple App Store.
• You will need to install the Digital Publishing Suite Desktop Tools update in InDesign.

There will be many resources available on September 19, including:

• Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing iPad Apps with DPS, Single Edition (this will be available on the DPS App Builder and on the Getting Started Page for CC members)
• Series of Adobe TV videos, featuring Digital Publishing Suite Evangelist Colin Fleming, will be available on the Getting Started Page and also here.
• Customer stories
  • Graham Peace Design
  • Other customer stories

We are excited to announce that on September 18, 2012, at 9:01 pm PDT, Creative Cloud members will be able to submit an unlimited number of DPS, Single Edition apps to the Apple App store.

DPS, Single Edition will continue to be available as a standalone product on Adobe.com for $395 / app. The improved workflow and new features will be applicable to standalone customers as well, but only Creative Cloud members will be able to submit unlimited apps at no additional cost. Finally, DPS, SE standalone is compatible with CS5, CS5.5 and CS6.

Last week, Jeff Bezos announced the new Kindle family, including an improved 7” and an upcoming 8.9” Kindle Fire HD. As Bezos emphasized in his keynote, ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless and Wi-Fi will allow Kindle Fire HD owners to stream higher-definition video without lag or buffering, while Dolby dual stereo speakers make video and audio a more immersive experience.

These new HD devices from Amazon offer publishers the opportunity to deliver even richer reading experiences on even more devices  – which is good news for readers, publishers and Amazon.  Amazon needs amazing devices that allow them to sell even more content for consumption.  With Digital Publishing Suite,  magazine and newspaper publishers can deliver highly immersive reading experiences which will help drive demand for the Amazon devices as well as fuel additional digital revenue for publishers .

On September 14^th, when the Kindle Fire HD ships, 22 titles created with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite will be available on the 7” device, including Better Homes & Gardens, Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, and multiple Condé Nast titles.

The 7” device is here to stay

At a lower price point, more consumers are using tablets in their daily lives and embracing the content available for purchase. However, the price point is not the only appeal. As Zeke Koch noted in last year’s post on the Kindle Fire release, the 7” device is easy to hold in the hand for longer reading experiences, and the Nexus 7 is tailoring its device to a similar user experience.  In addition, the density of the new 7” screen will further unlock the reading experience. With Adaptive Design Tools in InDesign, publishers can create content for multiple screen sizes more efficiently, and be ready to be seen on every screen.

Stay tuned. We will keep you posted on the new Kindle Fire devices as they roll out.

Digital Publishing Suite has released a new set of features today that allow publishers to create a more branded and personalized experience for readers. Publishers can build a custom library, enable filtering of folios based on user preference, and share content more widely through social sharing. Zeke Koch, Sr Dir of Product Management, outlines the new features in this presentation. (Use Safari, Internet Explorer, or Firefox. There is an echo for the first two minutes only.) Visit the Digital Publishing Suite Help Center for more detailed information.

Custom Library
Similar to creating a custom HTML store, publishers who purchase the Enterprise Edition of Digital Publishing Suite can now create a custom library for Android, Kindle Fire, iPad, and iPhone applications. The custom library allows publishers to give readers an extended branded experience when downloading and managing folios. This was created because publishers want to maintain a cohesive look and feel across the application, store, and library, consistent with more traditional touch points like a publisher’s website.

The screenshot below provides an example of a custom library, which are built using Javascript APIs available in the AdobeDigitalPublishingSuiteDeveloperCenter.

Left: Out-of-the-box Library, Right: Sample Custom Library

Social Sharing on iPhone
Social sharing is now supported on iPhone, and folios can be shared across all iOS mobile devices as well as in the web viewer. For example, if a reader shares an article from an iPhone, another reader can open it on any iPad or iPhone, assuming the publisher has built renditions for each device.

Filtering Folios
Your readers may want access to a more limited selection of folios available in the app’s library. For example, if you publish a seasonal catalogue, the filter feature allows readers to select and view only the folios in their season of interest. Publishers set up the filters by adding metadata in Folio Producer. The example below shows a clothing catalogue that can be filtered into Spring and Summer.

Example: Filtering Folios Based on Season

Two Finger Swipe
Publications such as National Geographic often use “flattened stacks.” This means that readers swipe through an article horizontally, instead of scrolling down within the article. Publishers can now set up navigation so that readers use a two-finger swipe to move to the next article, bypassing the remainder of the article. In the example below, the first article is in horizontal layout, and the reader could use two-finger swipe to jump to the next article.

Today, Adobe is releasing updates to Digital Publishing Suite that provide workflow improvements and enhance your readers’ experience. For details on product updates, visit Bob Bringhurst’s Digital Publishing Suite Help Site

Now, your publishing staff can

• Streamline the review process during the design phase to facilitate meeting publication deadlines.

• Author content using the latest updates to DPS Desktop Tools  and publish to the previous release of Adobe Content Viewer. This provides the opportunity to use cutting edge features without waiting for app store approval of the Content Viewer.

Your readers can now start reading an issue immediately after purchase, instead of tapping the “View” button to open a folio.

For more details, please consult the Digital Publishing Suite Help Site

Last week in New York City, Adobe gathered with executives in the publishing industry to showcase some of the most exciting new features in Digital Publishing Suite: Content Viewer for iPhone, social sharing, and font licensing. Here is a wrap-up of the latest features Digital Publishing Suite. Colin Fleming summarizes these features in his latest videos on new sharing features, new viewer features, new design features, and new production features, . You can also check out Bob Bringhurst’s Digital Publishing help site to learn how to set up each of the features.

Publish Your Apps to the iPhone! 

With the launch of adaptive layout in InDesign CS6, it is even easier to publish to multiple devices. Content Viewer is now enabled for iPhone and iPod devices, allowing publishers to build apps for the 100 million iPhone and iPod owners. You will need to create separate renditions for iPhone 3GS (480×320 px) and iPhone 4/4S (960×640 px). Upload icons and splash screens in Viewer Builder. The same features available for iPad will be available for iPhone devices, excluding bookmarking and auto-archiving, which will be made available in future releases. Check out Colin Fleming’s guidelines for iPhone on the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Developer Center.

Social Sharing

Social sharing is integral to a strong word-of-mouth marketing strategy and Digital Publishing Suite has a sleek new tool for social sharing. Today, when your readers want to recommend articles via Facebook, Twitter or email, they can share the article with their friends. The Facebook or Twitter interface opens up within the app, allowing the reader to post the article without leaving the app. When friends click on the article, it will do one of three things, depending on the friend’s device and rights to content:

1)     If the friend tries to open the article on a tablet and does have the app, the article will open inside the app

2)     If the friend tries to open the article on a tablet and does not have the app, then the reader is prompted to download the article in the iTunes store or Android marketplace

3)     If the friend tries to open the article on a tablet and is does not have the app but is entitled  to the content, then the folio will automatically start download, bypassing the library and prioritizing download of the shared article

Web Viewer 

Not everybody has a tablet, and you still want your fans to promote your content through social media and email. Now, when one of your readers shares an article, others can view the article on the internet. The web viewer looks identical to the tablet view, and still contains most of the interactive features that the tablet version contains. For example, after reading the shared article, the reader can browse through other articles available on the web viewer, as shown in the image above.

Although the web viewer behaves very similar to the tablet versions, there are a few exceptions to be aware of:

• Web view is not available on tablet device. If the reader is consuming content on a tablet device, social sharing will try to download the app and open the article within the app.
• All articles will not automatically be shared via social channels. The publisher needs to designate shareable articles in Folio Producer.
• Interactive features not included are panorama, pan only, and nested overlays.

Once you have created prospects through social sharing, you can create a paywall and entice new readers to purchase your publication. Within Viewer Builder, publishers can designate the number of articles that the reader views before she is asked to purchase the publication. In addition, publishers can specify that some of the articles are never available for free.

Paywall in Digital Publishing Suite Web View

Extended Font Embedding Rights

Typography is endemic to design. We’re happy to announce that DPS customers using the Adobe Type Library can embed a robust subset of fonts in the .folio file format — including in PDF and HTML formats — with no additional per-use fees. This new licensing allows publishers to have crisp and clear typography in retina devices like the new iPad, enables selectable live text in magazines, and drives down file sizes through the use of PDF and HTML.

Customize Table of Contents

Up until now, all articles would appear in the Table of Contents (TOC) and advertisements would remain hidden. Today, you can designate which articles should appear in the TOC when setting up properties in Folio Builder. Not only can you designate an article as “Advertisement,” but you can also toggle, “Hide from TOC.” The default for “Advertisement” is “Hide from TOC,” but you can now allow advertisements to be seen in the TOC.

OTHER FEATURES

Background Publishing: When you click “Publish” you no longer need to wait for files to copy from the production server to the distribution server. Publishing will occur in the background, allowing you to continue working.

Keep Track of Your Downloads: Audited Professional and Enterprise customers will be able to see the number of remaining downloads on the download counter.

Desktop Viewer supports different renditions: If you want to view retina-class renditions on non-retina devices, you will be able to zoom out and see the full image on your screen.

Preview on Device: You no longer need a third party tool (such as Phone Disk) to view content on the iPad. Simply connect your iPad USB to your desktop and click “Preview on [iPad name]” in Folio Builder.

• Read the press release on the new Digital Publishing Suite features
• Visit the Digital Publishing Suite Help Site for more detailed information on the latest releases