Book12-Guia de E-Books PDF

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A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

How to use this e-book
Contents The author
Contents and standard reading path

Publication data
Click on any label to enter desired section of e-book
or
Click on How to use this e-book
www.the-ebook-publisher.com
Introduction
www.ebooksociety.org
Contents creation
Page layout & design
Conversion into e-book
If you have found this e-book useful why not become a member of the E-Book Society and join others in the
quest to promote the writing and use of new e-books.
To join, go to the E-Book Society web site - www.ebooksociety.org
PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

To close the e-book To print out the Current page To change screen magnification
current page click click on the appropriate button

click on this button number
on this button to zoom in or out
Using this e-book - Navigation and Control

To be able to move from page to page the reader of an e-book needs to use a set of navigation buttons, these are designed to allow
the reader to either follow the main navigation path laid down by the book’s author, or locate specific information within the e-book by
using the contents list, a specified page number, or a keyword search facility. These navigation buttons are all located at the bottom of
each page, their function is indicated on the labels below. At the top of each page are another set of buttons these make up the control
bar and allow the user to change screen magnification, print out the current page, or close the e-book.
Readers wishing to learn more about the use of each control or navigation button should simply place the mouse cursor over the
appropriate label on this page and click mouse button in order to display an explanatory text box.
To go to the next page in this tutorial click on the bottom right orange arrow.
Click on arrow to move Click on arrow to move

back to previous page Display e-book Goto specified to next page in reading
in reading sequence contents list page number sequence
Return to the last Return to next

Search for instances
page visited page visited
of keyword in e-book

Using this e-book - E-book structure

All books have a structure, in most printed books this structure is dictated by the way that the pages are bound together, the book starts on
page one and ends on the last page. This is referred to as a linear structure. An e-book can also have a linear structure, but most, like this
one, have a hierarchical structure.
A hierarchical structure, such as the one shown in
the diagram to the left, means that one can read
an e-book at several levels, from the simple
Typical multilevel e-book hierarchy overview, to the advanced. By reading the top
level, and using the page sequence defined by
Top Level Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page4 the author the reader can get a simple overview
of the subject. However, by clicking on links that
open pages that explain key topics in greater
detail the reader can start to study the subject in
Link buttons Up buttons greater depth.
In this e-book the different levels are colour
coded, and accessed using special link buttons.
Lower Level Readers can return to higher levels by using the
Up button.
Below is a typical example of such a link button,

clicking on this will take you down to a lower
Lowest Level level.
Example link button click

to go down to lower level

HIERARCHY LEVEL ONE EXAMPLE PAGE UP BUTTON
Using this e-book - Accessing

lower hierarchy levels
At the lower levels in the hierarchical structure, the pages at each
level are identified with the aid of a colour coded bar at the top of the
page, this also contains the title of that section of the structure. Thus
one level down from the top level the bar is coloured red. Two levels
down and the bar is coloured blue. Three levels down and the bar is
coloured green.
To return back to a higher level in the hierarchy click on the Up button
at the right hand end of the coloured bar

Using this e-book – Specialist links

Graphic or photo display GRAPHIC
In most cases where a graphic or photograph is associated with the text it will be displayed on the
same page. However, in some cases the text on a page needs to be associated with a number of
different graphics or photos, if there is not sufficient room to display them then they may be stored on
separate pages, or embedded within the link structure. In all such cases special graphic or photo link PHOTO
buttons will be positioned with the text and when clicked will display the appropriate image.
Pop-up information box

his is important information on any Where a small amount of additional information is required about a word or phrase occuring on a
eral subjects in greater detail using can page, such as the dictionary definition of a new term, or biographical details about a named
with pop-up information boxes individual, then a pop-up box may be used to display that information. The presence of a pop-up
box is denoted by a yellow overline of the key word, click on the overlined word to display the box.
Animation play
Where graphics can be animated the animation is controlled by two buttons, Animate and
Start Stop
Stop, positioned beneath the graphic, the first starts the animation, whilst the second stops it.
Audio play
Where audio clips are used, the audio player may be activated upon the opening
of an e-book page, or alternatively it may be activated by pressing the Audio
AUDIO
button associated with the text. In Adobe Acrobat 5.0 audio files are embedded
within the PDF file and thus do not need to be loaded separately as is the case
with video files.
External links – Internet, other PDF e-books, e-mail, Title Forum

Any PDF e-book can incorporate external links to other PDF e-books or to online resources. In this e-book online
links include URLs, e-mail addresses and a special Forum where subscribing readers can post comments about this
e-book and discuss aspects of PDF e-book creation, design, and use. All active links, such as -Send E-mail - are
underlined and printed in blue type.

The Author

Nick Hampshire has for over twenty five years been a well known UK based writer and journalist specialising in information technology. The
author of fifteen books, including the internationally best selling ‘PET Revealed’, ‘VIC Revealed, and ‘Commodore 64 Revealed’ series of books,
he has also run a small publishing company, an experience that has given him an unique insight into the book and magazine publishing
business.
Nominated for the Times-HP technology feature journalist of the year award, Nick Hampshire has been a contributor to many UK and US
computer magazines such as Business 2.0, Personal Computer World, PC Magazine and PCPro. Over the years he has also edited a number
of magazines and web sites, as well as founding and publishing a number of magazine titles and web sites.
Drawing upon his many years experience working in publishing, and especially in new media, Nick Hampshire founded the E-Book Society in
late 2003. This independent and non-commercial organisation has been founded with the aim of encouraging more people to write and use e-
books. In particular the Society seeks to promote the writing of works specifically designed for this new medium, as well as fostering the use of
e-books in education and as a means of bringing books to people previously unable to afford them.
Readers wishing to contact Nick Hampshire may e-mail him at: - nickhampshire@the-ebook-publisher.com

Publication Data

A Guide to Writing PDF E-Books is published by The E-book Publisher.com on behalf of The E-Book Society
First edition - publication date – March 1st 2004
Readers wishing to contact Nick Hampshire may e-mail him at: - nickhampshire@virgin.net
Readers wishing to contact The E-Book Society may contact them via their web site: - www.ebooksociety.org
IEPIN Number: -
Rights: Readers of ‘A Guide to Writing PDF E-books’ (the “Work”) may freely make use the ideas and the code contained within it in their
own e-books for any purpose either commercial or non-commercial. Readers are free to make copies and distribute the Work to any interested
persons for any purpose either commercial or non-commercial provided that no alterations, additions or deletions are made to the original work.
Thecomplete Work may not be reproduced in any form other than an e-book. Full and final copyright to the Work is retained by Nick Hampshire
(the “Author”) and The E-book Society (the “Publisher”). Any direct extract from the Work that is used in another publication, of any sort, must
be no longer than ten continuous pages, and collectively not account for more than 20% of the Work’s contents, every extract must be given full
attribution to both Author and Publisher including Web link to the Publisher.
Limit of liability/Disclaimer of warranty: The Publisher and Author have used their best efforts in preparing he Work and make no
representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of the Work, and specifically disclaim any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. There are no warranties which extend beyond the descriptions contained in this
paragraph. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The accuracy and completeness of the
information provided herein and the opinions stated herein are not guaranteed or warranted to produce any particular results, and the advice
and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every individual. Neither the Publisher nor the Author shall be liable for any loss of profit
or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incedental, consequential, or other damages.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in the Work are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of
their respective owners. Neither the Author or the Publisher are associated with any product or vendor mentioned in the Work

INTRODUCTION UP BUTTON
Why write and publish an e-book?

In answer to this question one could of course say that it is good to explore the creative use of new technology, or one could say that it simply
seems like a good idea, however, there are a number of very serious reasons why authors should look at creating an e-book:
Offers the author a cost effective route to self publishing. For many authors, such as first time writers, or the authors of material with a
small potential readership, self publishing has been the only option for getting a work into print. However, self publishing requires both a
considerable capital outlay and an ability to sell and distribute the printed copies. It can mean an investment of several thousand dollars, and a
great many hours, for very little return to the author except the gratification of seeing their book in print. E-books can radically change this
situation, because they are a digital product, creating extra copies costs nothing, so no big capital investment. Selling and distributing them can
be done online, so no hefty postage costs or hassles in dealing with bookshops.
Allows the author to easily reach a global readership. Because an e-book can be sold and delivered online the potential market for such a
work is a global one, as opposed to a local, regional or national one for a printed book. What might be a niche title in a national market could be
a big seller in a global market. This is an area where PDF has advantages over other e-book formats since the Acrobat PDF Reader is widely
used by millions of PC and Mac users around the world.
Gives author new ways to structure and present information or tell stories. The removal of most constraints imposed upon book form,
structure, and use opens up the possibility of creating new forms of book, and is an opportunity that will appeal to creative authors and artists, to
educators, and to those interested in making knowledge easier to acquire.
Gives the author the ability to include rich and/or multimedia content. The ability to include animations, video, and sound in an e-book
alongside more conventional text and graphics, also opens up enormous creative opportunities for authors and creators of all types of media
content. This ability to bring together text, visual, and audio media into a single new media form, the e-book, will doubtless give rise to all sorts of
new titles ranging from children’s story books with audio, and animated pictures, to audio/text language teaching books, from ‘How to’ books
with video clips demonstrating difficult procedures, to music books showing score and libretto concurrently with the audio, just a few of the
countless different ways in which this ability to bring together different types of media content will be used.

The E-book Society

The E-book Society is an independent, non-profit making organisation, and membership is open to anyone with an interest in e-publications,
including e-books and e-periodicals. Its principle aim is to promote the writing, publishing and use of e-books and e-periodicals around the
world. In particular it seeks to encourage authors to use e-book technology to create entirely new ways of presenting information and telling
stories, and help readers to understand how to best use these new types of e-book.
The Society aims to do this in four ways:
• To provide information about e-book use, authoring and publishing through a series of free publications.
• To provide news about technical, political and commercial developments in the e-book world via a regular newsletter.
• To foster contacts between creators of different types of content to enable the creation of more complex e-books that make full use of
the technology.
• To build and maintain an online database of e-books and e-periodicals from around the world, plus the issuing of related IEPIN numbers
to authors and publishers. This database will enable members to locate information about the publishers and authors of titles, or locate
works on specific subjects using keyword searches. The database will cover both commercial and free e-publications.
One important fact about the E-Book Society is that it is independent, it does not actively support any manufacturer, or publisher, or e-
publishing format. The Society sees its role as one of broadly fostering the use and creation of e-publication, rather than trying to impose any
particular technology, and takes the view that it is still far too early in the development of e-publishing to try and create such standards. Similarly
the information stored on Society’s e-publication database will, with a few very limited exceptions, not be subject to censorship or editorial
control.
In encouraging the use of e-books the Society wishes to support, in particular, their use in education and as a means of bringing knowledge
and information to people all around the world. It also wishes to encourage development of the accessibility features of e-publications.
To become a member of the E-book Society there is an annual subscription fee of $10 which is used to cover the various costs incurred in
running the society and developing the services and contents that it offers to its members.
Publications Newsletter Database Forum

Free E-Book Society publications

The following information e-books and e-booklets are currently being written by a number of different members and will be published over the
coming months, as they become available we will notify members of this fact in the Society newsletter:
• A Guide to writing PDF E-Books
• Basic Techniques for Selling E-books Online
• A Guide to Writing HTML E-Books
• Digital Photography for E-Books
• Video Photography for E-Books
• Audio for E-Books
• Multimedia for PDF E-Books
• Creating E-Books for PDA Users
• Using the E-Book Society’s E-Book Database
• Online and Offline E-Book Distribution
• Interactive Features for PDF E-Books
• Interactive Features for HTML E-Books
Any member who would like to contribute a work to this series should contact the Society.

The E-Book Society’s Newsletter

This e-mail newsletter is designed to keep members up to date with what is happening both within the society, and in the wider world of e-
publishing. Published on a regular basis it will contain news stories sent in to the Society by members from around the world relating to new
technological developments, new readers and reader platforms, new publishers, changes in laws relating to e-publications, and much more.
Members will also receive notification via the newsletter of new additions to the Society’s library of publications, as well as developments in the
other services it offers to members.
The newsletter will also contain a small-ads section where members can freely post any needs and requirements or advertise their skills, it will
not, however, be open to corporate ads, such ads will be placed in the links section of the Society web site.
The E-Book Society’s online E-Publication Database

This database has been designed to enable members to locate information about the publishers and authors of titles, or locate works on
specific subjects using keyword searches. Entries to, and use of, the database is free to both members and non-members.
Besides containing a list of titles and their authors, the database will contain a description of each title, together with a short biography of the
author/authors, and full publisher details. The e-book’s category, publication date, format, length, the language in which it is written, the price,
and what digital rights are used, are all listed, together with an online link to the publisher’s web site that will contain either the purchasing and
download details or links to the various sources from which the e-book can be obtained. The database also contains a list of keywords that can
be used to describe the title and which will be used by the database search engine to locate titles with specific subject matter.
Each book stored on the database is given a unique IEPIN (International E-Publication Identification Number) that can be used to quickly locate
any e-publication stored on the database. The IEPIN number is a 35digit number designed to cover the unique identification of all different
types of e-publication from a very large number of different authors and publishers in many versions and a range of different categories and
languages. The number is constructed as follows:
111111111111-22222-3333333333-444-55555
• The first group of 12 digits is the publisher identifier code, an unique number given by the E-Book Society to every publisher who signs
up with the system, of these 12 digits the first 3 are a country code.
• The second group of 5 digits is the language identifier code, covering all past and present human languages and combinations of
languages in multilingual texts.
• The third group of 10 digits is the publication number, this is allocated by the publisher and consists of the first 5 digits as the
publisher’s author reference and the second 5 digits as a title reference for that author.
• The fourth group of 3 digits is assigned by the publisher and indicates the version number of the title.
• The fifth group of 5 digits is a category code assigned by the publisher to indicate the main category of the e-publications subject matter

The E-Book Society’s Content Creator Forum

The Forum is seen as a very important function of the E-Book Society because of the fact that e-book creation is a new and rapidly developing
media, plus the fact that the creation of an e-book can require a lot of skills that may not necessarily be possessed by a single individual. It has
been designed to enable those members who are e-book content creators, a group that covers authors, illustrators, photographers, animators,
film makers, and computer programmers, to get together online and exchange information and ideas, or collaborate on e-book projects.
The Forum is made up of two components, a conventional online discussion forum for the exchange of ideas between members and a small-
ads system where members can post any needs and requirements or advertise their skills, these ads will be sent to members as part of the
regular Society newsletter.
BASIC TOOLS AND SKILLS UP BUTTON
Essential Skills and Tools

Basic tools and skills
The most essential tool is the word processor, whilst a simple text editor would suffice a full featured program like Microsoft Word is a
better choice since its page layout capabilities can be used to create e-book pages. These pages may be fairly basic in appearance but
will suffice in most applications and avoid the need to buy, and learn how to use, a dedicated page layout program.
The other essential piece of software that is needed is a copy of the full version of Adobe Acrobat, this is needed to convert the laid out e-
book pages into PDF format. Whilst there are other programs that can also do this conversion, Acrobat also offers the e-book creator a
whole range of additional functions that can turn a plain digital copy of a printed page into an interactive multimedia e-book. All the
features demonstrated in this e-book can only be achieved by using Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or 6.0.
More information on basic tools and skills
Interactive component creation
JavaScript programs embedded into the PDF file during the link creation process are used to
The creation of photos and create the interactive features of an e-book. The simplest way to add such programs is to
graphics copy programs that are in the public domain, however, if you wish to incorporate more
Where the content includes the use of complex interactive features then you will have to write the appropriate code.
still or animated graphics then the use More information about JavaScript programming
of a good quality graphics design
program such as Adobe Illustrator is
recommended. Similarly the appearance of scanned photos, or digital photos specially taken with a digital camera, will benefit from
the use of a good Photo editing program that will allow images to be touched up, cropped, and colour corrected. There are many
such programs on the market, such as Ulead PhotoImpact.
More information on photo and graphics creation skills and tools
Multimedia content creation
More complex page layout If you are planning to use multimedia contents then besides
Whilst a word processor like Microsoft Word is adequate for laying out pages having the necessary sound recording and/or video
using a simple page design, any more complex design or typography will recording hardware it is important to have the appropriate
require a dedicated page layout program. Something like Adobe PageMaker is software to digitize, edit and format the material to create file
a good choice for PC users, not only is this program widely used by print and suitable for inclusion into the e-book. Here too there are
design professionals but it also allows documents to be directly converted into many suitable programs on the market.
PDF format. More information on multimedia creation skills and tools
More information on page layout skills and tools

CONTENTS CREATION UP BUTTON
Contents creation – Overall structures for use in non-fiction

A non-fiction e-book is best thought of as a collection of a large number of short pieces of informative text that are linked together in a range of
different structures. These structures are designed to take the reader from one piece of information to another in a controlled and logical
manner. This division of the text into a lot of small pieces also makes the information easier for the reader to handle than long undivided tracts,
and is consequently widely used where complex information needs to be explained.
Non-fiction e-books will all retain a similar structure that takes the reader from general information to detailed information, however, by utilising
more complex structures they could also offer the reader a range of different starting points depending upon the level of the reader’s existing
knowledge about the subject. After all a reader who already has some understanding of a subject does not want to read information intended
for a complete novice, and vice versa.
Where user interactivity is included in an e-book it is possible to have still more complex structures in which the reader can follow narrative
paths that are primarily of the readers own creation rather than being imposed by the author. By using different contents structures in different
parts of an e-book the author can create an e-book that offers the reader a far richer reading experience than would be possible with a
conventional printed work. It should be noted that the potential offered by the use of different structures is still largely unexplored.
Creating complex contents structures may sound difficult, and are another one of the skills that e-book authors must acquire but so long as the
initial planning is thorough different structures can be assembled as modules and then put together when the e-book is finally assembled.
E-books offers the author unlimited ways to structure and organise information, and a good way to start planning the organisation is to begin
with a brainstorming session in which you note down all the topics you wish the book to cover. From this list select the key topics and attempt
to put them into a logically ordered sequence, and use this to create a set of pages that will make up the top, or overview, level of the e-book
structure.
When creating an e-book with a broadly non-linear structure it can be a good idea to have the top level information structured in a linear form,
since this will make it easy for the reader to print out this top level contents as a short overview of the book’s contents.
To this top level sequence of pages that make up the overview the author can then attach the subsidiary related topics developed during the
initial brainstorming session. These topics may be covered by a single page, or in multiple pages organised as a multi-level hierarchy, a linear
sequence or even a matrix.
At this stage it is useful to conceptually think of an e-book as a stack of index cards each containing a useful piece of information related to the
subject of the book. There are, of course, many different ways that these cards could be linked together, what the author is seeking to create a
reader narrative, or structure, that is both logical and best suits the desired audiences.
More on linear structures More on hierarchical structures More on matrix structures

Sequential or linear structures for non-fiction

The simplest way to organize information in an e-book is to place it in a sequence, and is by far the commonest type of structure used in printed
books, with their sequential page numbering. The way in which pages or chunks of information are sequentially ordered may be chronological,
or could be a logical series of topics progressing from the general to the specific. Alternatively the sequential ordering could be alphabetical, as
in an encyclopaedia, an index or a glossary.
Straight sequences are the most appropriate form of information organization
in cases where the author wants to closely control the order in which
information is presented to the reader. For example the reader of a ‘How-to’, or
recipe, book must start at the beginning of the process being described, and
progress step by step through the process until they reach the end, allowing
the reader to miss out one or more steps could render the rest of the
information useless.
This means that sequential information structures are ideal for any e-book that
has as its main purpose training or instruction. In such a work the reader is expected to go through a fixed set of pages where the only links
between them are those that support the linear navigation path set by the author.
Note that there is one big difference between a printed book and an e-book, in a printed book the reader can skip a page or two, in an e-book
the reader has no such option, he is forced to go from one page to the next, although, of course, there is nothing that requires the reader to
actually read what is on the page.
More complex e-books may still be organized as a logical sequence, but pages in the main sequence may have links to one or more pages of
more in depth information, notes, etc. In conventional printed works this
additional layer of information is often handled by the use of “box-outs”,
however, these have a major drawback in that they are limited in size, this
does not of course apply with an e-book where the additional layer of
information is stored on one or more separate pages that can be accessed
via a link in the main text.
In a multimedia e-book this additional layer can be used to contain a
collection of associated images, videos, sound clips, or animations; that
will enhance the information content of the main text. This technique
prevents the primary information structure from becoming overloaded with
information and different media types, and gives the reader the choice of
whether to access this additional information or not.

Hierarchical structures for non-fiction

Information hierarchies are without a doubt the best way to organize most complex bodies of information, and a lot of printed textbooks and
reference books are organised in this manner. Indeed the hierarchical structure of such works is displayed in the conventional system of having
a table of contents that divides the book into Parts, Chapters, Sections, Sub-sections etc, all presented in indented format, with each entry
labelled with a numeric and/or alphabetic sequence of characters that indicates its level in the hierarchy and its relationship to other
components of the hierarchy.
Hierarchical schemes are particularly suited to e-book organization since hierarchical diagrams are very familiar in corporate and institutional
life, so most computer users find this structure easy to understand. However, a hierarchical organization also imposes a strict discipline upon
the author’s analytical approach to the content, this is because hierarchies are only practical with well organized material.
The diagram shows a typical hierarchical organisation of
information, with the starting page at the top and increasing levels
of focus upon specific pieces of information as one goes down
the hierarchy.

Matrix or web structures for non-fiction

The most complex form of information structure that we will come across is referred to as a web structure, it is a structure that imposes very
few restrictions on the pattern of information use, and is designed to mimic human associative thought. The aim of this is to encourage the
reader to develop a free flow of ideas, thereby allowing them to follow their interests in a unique, heuristic, and idiosyncratic pattern.
Because this type of information structure involves very little author control over the reader’s movement from one piece of information to
another, it necessitates the use of dense links both to information elsewhere in the structure and to information from other sources. This is
something that newspapers are starting to employ by publishing the URL for web site links containing further information about a news story or
article.
Matrix like information structures are appropriate where a strong central narrative, or a hierarchy of narratives does not exist, however, a matrix
structure suffers from the drawback that it is often difficult for the user to either understand or predict. This means that large web structures
should be avoided if possible, and if unavoidable should be aimed at experienced users looking for further education or enrichment and not for
those seeking a basic understanding of a topic.
By using a web like information structure the author can exploit an e-book’s
power of both internal and external linkage and association to the fullest,
however, implementing such a structure can be far from easy and lead to
confusion for both author and reader.
The result is that web like information structures tend to be created and
grow in an organic way, and for this reason web like information structures
are best avoided unless they are a component of a hierarchical or
sequenced structure.
This is the case with a newspaper, the stories are all presented in a strictly
sequential chronological format, and can be organised into a hierarchical
structure of subjects of interest where all the sports items are in the sports
section, all the life style pieces in the life style section and so on. This
means that although a newspaper may appear to have a loose web like
structure it is in fact a highly structured information resource.
The same applies to e-books, they should always have a strong underlying
structure, but can also incorporate an overlying web like structure facilitating
their use by the better informed readership in a more associative manner.

Contents creation – Overall structures for use in fiction

The traditional structure of a work of fiction is linear and chronological. The traditional folk tale starts with the words ‘Once upon a time there
was’, after which there follows a sequence of events, and ends with the words ‘and they all lived happily ever after’. Such a tale has a strictly
linear structure that is based upon time and the location of a key figure in the tale, thus the events described on page five happen before the
events described on page twenty, and as the central figure moves from location to location so does the story.
Such a linear structure suited the oral story tellers of the distant past, but in more recent times writers of fiction have attempted to break away
from this linearity. The first change was to break away from having just one central figure and one location to having the story take place
concurrently in two location, this was achieved by breaking the story into chapters. A chapter may detail events at a particular location and
involving particular characters over a specified time frame, but the following chapter could cover the same time frame but involve different
characters in a different location.
This cutting from location to location, whilst maintaining the time sequence has now become very sophisticated and is widely used not just in
books but also in films.
Writers and film makers have also attempted to break the linearity of time in a story with the technique of using flashbacks, however, unless
very carefully done this can prove very confusing for the reader or viewer.
All these structures can be used in a work of fiction that is to be published as an e-book. But the absence of any physical limitation to the
structure of an e-book, coupled with the use of interactivity, means that the author can explore other possible structures, some of which offer
interesting creative possibilities.
For example an interactive work of fiction could be created that involves the reader being asked at key events in the story what he or she would
do if they were that character, depending upon which answer was chosen the reader would be taken along different story lines. This example is
an ideal structure for an e-book based work of fiction, and would result in a story with many different variations, and many different endings.
Similarly an interactive work of fiction could be constructed that would allow the reader to choose the main character of the story, this would
result in several parallel tales, each covering the same events but seen from different perspectives.
The range of possible structures for e-book fiction are considerable, particularly when the author adds interactive features and multimedia
components, most of these have yet to be explored.
More on linear structures More on tree structures

Sequential or linear structures for fiction

The simplest way to organize a story, whether it is to be published as an e-book or in conventional printed form, is to tell it in a chronological
sequence, this of course means that the book’s structure is linear, the story starts on page one and ends on the last page.
End
Start
Note that there is one big difference between a printed book and an e-book, in a printed book the reader can skip a page or two, in an e-book
the reader has no such option, he is forced to go from one page to the next, although, of course, there is nothing that requires the reader to
actually read what is on the page.
More complex e-books may still be organized as a linear sequence, but pages in the main sequence may have links to one or more pages,
these may contain an explanation of some specific point in the main plot, a digression into a sub plot, a flash back, or even link into another
related story. In a multimedia e-book this additional layer can be used to contain a collection of associated images, videos, sound clips,
animations, or interactive functions; that will enhance the main text. This technique prevents the primary story from becoming overloaded with
digressions into sub plots and non-text content, and gives the reader the choice of whether to access this additional information or not.
Start
PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE

End
NEXT VIEW
Tree structures for fiction

A tree structure offers the author the possibility of creating a new type of novel. This is a novel that demands interactive input from the reader
and thus enables the reader to identify with different characters, and follow different plot lines with different endings. This sort of structure is
only really practical in an e-book since it requires user interaction to change the course of the plot, this interaction takes place at key points in
the story where different events or actions will change the outcome.
The diagram show a typical tree structure for an e-book based work of fiction, with a single starting page at the left and progressing through a
number of branching points, to reach a number of different endings at the left.
Ending #1
Ending #2
Start
Ending #3
Ending #4
Ending #5
Point at which
reader
Ending #6
chooses plot
alternatives

Chunking and non-fiction – starting with the top level

Every work of non-fiction, whether the traditional printed version or an e-book, has a structure based on some form of hierarchical organization.
The narrative taking the reader from the most general overview of the subject down through increasingly detailed examination of various
important aspects of the subject.
This means that when building the structure of an e-book the author need to first write an overview, this can be anything from half a dozen
pages to over a hundred pages long. Starting with the point at which the reader will begin reading the e-book this can be defined as the highest
level in the hierarchical structure since it will contain a sequence of pages that present the reader with a simple general overview of the subject
that can be easily understood by any reader. Linked to this top hierarchy level there will then be subordinate levels containing increasingly more
detailed chunks of information.
This top level should be written so that it can be read in a strictly sequential form, indeed it can be a good idea when creating an e-book to allow
the reader to print out this top level so that it can be used as a conventional printed book. At points within this overview text the reader may want
to have specific subjects explained in further detail, this could range from something as simple as a dictionary definition or a biographical
summary, to a hundred pages of in depth study. These points in the overview will become the linkage points to these subordinate levels of
information.
Having created the top ‘overview’ level of text and marked the various linkage points, the next step when writing an e-book is to attempt to
organise the structure of the various chunks of information that will make up each of the linked subordinate layers of information. In some cases
the narrative will naturally flow from one chunk to another in a linear fashion, in other cases the narrative can optionally flow to two or more other
chunks in a hierarchical or web like fashion.
When creating a narrative flow through an e-book it is vital to clearly focus on the intended reader. This is because an e-book can have many
different narrative paths, each aimed at a particular type of reader. These multiple narrative paths are often referred to as tours and give the
author the advantage of being able to create multiple versions of a book each aimed at different audiences and yet packaged in a single title.
It is also very important that the information structure used to connect a particular group of chunks of information is logical, and that the flow
between the chunks is smooth and seamless. Once an information structure has been created it is a good idea to analyse its functionality. The
goal is to build an information structure that feels natural and is easy for the intended reader to use and understand.
Drawing a diagram of each subordinate information structure can help in this process since it makes the relationship between the pages much
easier to understand. Such diagrams are also very useful at a later stage when assembling the e-book as they help ensure that all the linkages
are correctly positioned.
Only when the author is really certain about the information structure that he/she has developed should any attempt be made to start writing the
actual contents. When this stage is reached it is important that the information structure is followed as closely as possible as the author writes
each chunk of information that is specified in the information structure. Adding extra chunks of information is sometimes necessary as
omissions or errors in the initial structure are uncovered, but this should always be done without deviating too far from the overall structure.

FORMAT UP BUTTON
Importance of typography

An e-book is a collection of text, images, multimedia content and interactive components assembled in a particular sequence by the author, and
it is the function of the formatting process to present this sequence of contents in a readable form. As far as any images, multimedia and
interactive contents are concerned the task simply involves placing them on the correct page and an attractive manner. However, the
presentation of text content is far more complex, it involves the centuries old craft of typesetting
Unfortunately the craft of typesetting books has been much neglected, and the reason lies in the fact that computerised word processing gives
the impression that anybody can create a book. You just type in the words, have it paginated, print it out and there’s your book. The result is
nearly always a lot harder to read than a professionally typeset page, and what applies to a printed page also applies to a page of text in an e-
book. The reason that a properly typeset page is easier to read lies in the fact that the number of words on each line and the number of lines on
the page is set, this means that the reader’s eye develops a rhythm as it reads.
The rules for good typesetting are fairly well understood by professional publishers, but unfortunately are not well understood by typical PC
users. When designing a page it has to be remembered that the choice of typeface or type size, the width of a line of text or the spacing
between lines and paragraphs is not arbitrary, it is done for very good reasons.
For example, if the line length is too long, the eye loses track halfway across the line, this means that when the reader reaches the end of the
line and attempts to go back to the beginning of the next line he can lose track of where he is, particularly where paragraphs are long. This
means that each line then becomes a jolt, and the reader loses the rhythm of reading. Similarly if the line width is too short, then you end up
with very jerky text caused by constantly having to scan back to the next line.
Character spacing is also quite important, a word processor will space characters according to information from the font that tells the computer
that to space this letter after that letter you advance this many pixels. But the spacing information is often comparatively crude, and the resulting
text can be confusing. For instance, the wrong spacing can make one word appear as two, or two words appear as one, such confusion will
slow a reader down and destroy the rhythm of the reading process.
The object of typography is to make a text document, whether on paper or on screen, easier to read, and is thus an extremely important part of
the creation of any e-book, particularly where an e-book needs to be as easy to read as possible due to limitations on display resolution.

POP-UP
LEVEL BOXES
ONE
Pop-up boxes

Pop-up boxes are a useful way of providing the reader with further in-depth information in the form of text or images in situations where there is
insufficient additional content to warrant linking to a separate page. This technique uses Forms and JavaScript to create a ‘hot spot’ on a page,
when clicked this will activate a ‘pop-up box’ containing text notes or images.
In the example this method is used to add text notes to a map showing the fields around Lower Brook Farm, if you move the mouse pointer
onto any one of the asterisks it will activate a ‘pop-up’ box telling you about that area, note how the text box disappears when the mouse pointer
is moved out of the ‘hot spot’.
Adding a pop-up box is quite simple, and involves the following procedure:

LEVEL BOXES
POP-UP ONE
With the assembled e-book loaded into Adobe Acrobat, and displaying the image to which you wish to add linked text notes, first enter the
Form Tool and use it to draw two boxes; one located over the ‘hot spot’, and the other located along the right hand edge of the image.

In the above image two ‘hot spots’ have been defined – help1 and help2 – and the associated boxes in which the text information will be
displayed – helptxt1 and helptxt2. The ‘hot spot’ buttons should be made large enough to cover the area of the image that is of interest, but
should not overlap each other. The text display boxes should be made large enough to display the necessary text and if necessary can be
overlapped so that they are virtually lying one on top of the other.
Having created the areas click on properties for help1, which should have the Type set to Button.
Appearance:
Border colour and Background are both off
Form Field - Visible
Options:
Highlight – None
Layout - Text only

POP-UP
LEVEL BOXES
ONE
Actions:
This involves use of two pieces of JavaScript code, one for Mouse Enter and one for Mouse Exit, this means that when the user moves the

mouse pointer into the ‘hot spot’ the JavaScript code will be activated to display the appropriate text box, and when the mouse pointer is moved
out of the ‘hot spot’ the code to make the text box disappear will be activated.
Select Mouse Enter – press Add
in the Add an Action box select the Type as JavaScript
Open the Java Script Edit box and enter the following piece of code:
//Mouse Enter
var help1 = this.getField(“helptxt1”);
var bTemp = this.temp;
help1.hidden = false;
this.temp = bTemp;
Then press OK and Select Action.
Now add the second piece of JavaScript
Select Mouse Exit – press Add
in the Add an Action box select the Type as JavaScript
Open the Java Script Edit box and enter the following piece of code:
//Mouse Exit
var help1 = this.getField(“helptxt1”);
var bTemp = this.temp;
help1.hidden = true;
this.temp = bTemp;
Then press OK and Select Action.
The next step is to create the text box:
Name - helptxt1 and Type - Text
Appearance:
Border Colour and Background Colour both switched on

LEVELBOXES
POP-UP ONE UP BUTTON
Border set to black or red
Background set to a pale neutral colour such as beige or grey.

Width set to Thin, Style set to Bevelled
Text Colour set to black – Font to Helvetica or the design choice. – Size to 10 or 12
Form Field is Visible
Options:
Alignment – left
Multi-line switched on
Actions: none
Format: none
Validate: none
Calculate: none
When you have done this exit the Acrobat Form Tool, and taking great care not to move the mouse pointer over the newly created ‘hot spot’ on
the image, position it in the displayed text box. An ‘I’ bar will be displayed and you can then simply type in the appropriate text, or copy and
paste text from another source. Once you have entered the text move the mouse pointer into the ‘hot spot’ area and then out of it, at this stage
the text box should disappear. Moving the pointer back into the ‘hot spot’ area should make it reappear.
If you want to create op-up images then the process is substantially the same except that when creating helptxt you should set Type to Button,
and under Options select Icons only under Layout, then under Button Face Attributes select the appropriate image using Select Icon. This
process will then give you a pop-up box containing the selected image.
Having created a ‘hot spot’ and text/image box pair go back into Form Tool and Lock each of the fields, then save the document thus preventing
any accidental changes to these fields when creating other ‘hot spot’ - text box pairs. The process can now be repeated to add further ‘hot
spots’ to the image remembering to use different names for each pair of fields and changing the appropriate help text name in each piece of
JavaScript.

LINKING TO MULTIPLE IMAGES
Linking to multiple images

Using conventional ‘hot spot’ linkages to information stored on separate pages is probably the easiest way of connecting the display of
multiple images on a single use in an e-book. The technique overcomes the problem of trying to fit several large images onto a single page,
but it does have one major drawback in the fact that the reader is forced to jump to a new page to view each piece of appended information
and then jump back to the original image page.
We can see this in the following example of ‘hot spot’ linkages being used to connect areas on an image to further images stored on
separate pages. The linkage areas on the page could be contained within the text, or consist of a number of small thumbnail images. An
interesting application could involve the magnification of areas of an image in order to show greater detail. In this case the image is the map
of a piece of countryside around Lower Brook Farm. Click on any of the asterisks on the map to see linked page of information.
The typical butterflies and flow-
ers found in the fields around
Lower Brook Farm
Adding linked images is quite simple, and involves the following procedure:

LINKING TO MULTIPLE IMAGES UP BUTTON

The main image, in this case a map, is positioned in the original document in the appropriate location. A set of pages are then created, one for
each appended image. Navigation buttons should be added to all the pages in order to return the reader to the page displaying the links.

When the pages have been converted to PDF format and assembled into the completed e-book the ‘hot spot’ links can then be added from the
main page to each of the image pages.
With the document loaded into Adobe Acrobat, open the Link Tool, and draw a box around the area on the main image that you wish to link to
the first of the additional pages of images. Make sure that in the Link Preferences box:
Appearance:
Type - Invisible Rectangle
Highlight - None.
Action:
Type - Go to View
Magnification – Fit in Window.
Then go to the additional page that contains the appropriate image and press Set Link.
On the additional page you will also need to set the return links in the same manner, so that when these are clicked the user will return to the
page containing the main image.
Repeat the process for each of the links from the image to the additional pages.
Note: The only real limitation with this technique is that the ‘hot spot’ areas have to be rectangular in shape and should not overlap. If the area to
be linked to a particular image is not amenable to being covered by a single rectangular ‘hot spot’, then it may be necessary to use multiple
small rectangular ‘hot spots’ all linked to the same piece of information, and arranged so that they cover the area.


The typical butterflies and flowers found in the fields
around Lower Brook Farm - the Small Tortoiseshell
BACK


around Lower Brook Farm - the Painted Lady
BACK


around Lower Brook Farm - meadow campion
BACK

The typical butterflies and flowers found in the fields around

Lower Brook Farm - heathland gorse
BACK


around Lower Brook Farm - the woodland primrose
BACK

LINKING TO MULTIPLE
FORM FIELD IMAGES
IMAGE LINKS
Form Field image links

This is a Link and Forms based JavaScript technique that can be used to create Link based ‘hot spots’ that when clicked will display the
appropriate photos, diagrams, and/or text, in a special Forms box area on the same page as the image. This technique is employed in the
example below, once gain it shows the map of Lower Brook Farm, and if you click the mouse on any one of the asterisks it will display the
appropriate photo in the box in the lower right hand corner of the map.
The typical butterflies and flow-
ers found in the fields around
Lower Brook Farm
Adding linked images is quite simple, and involves the following procedure:

FORM FIELD
LINKING IMAGE LINKS
TO MULTIPLE IMAGES
The technique for creating each of these ‘hot spot’ linked photos is as follows:
With the document loaded into Adobe Acrobat and displaying the image to which you wish to add linked photos/diagrams etc. first enter the

Form Tool and use it to draw two sets of boxes; one located where you want the photos/diagrams etc. to be displayed, the other set to contain
each of the photos/diagrams etc. that you wish displayed, as shown in the image to the right:
Here the photos are stored in Photo01 to Photo05 and displayed in

PhotoDisplay.
Starting with the PhotoDisplay box.
Name – PhotoDisplay and Type – Button
Appearance:
Border Colour set and black
Background set and black (gives the photo a black frame

otherwise set to white)
Form Field Is - Visible
Options:
Layout – Icon only
Press Advanced Layout and select:
Scale When - Always
Scale How - Proportionally
Actions:none
Next we come to the boxes that are used to store each of the
displayed photos, diagrams, etc. In this example there are five of
them labelled Photo01 to Photo05, but there can be as many as there

FORM FIELD IMAGE LINKS

are ‘hot spots’ on the image. Any form of image that can be stored in one of the file formats accepted by Acrobat can be used, and can
display photos, diagrams, text, or a combination.

Name – Photo01 and Type – Button
Appearance:
Border Colour set and black
Background set and black (gives the photo a black frame otherwise set to white)
Form Field Is - Hidden
Options:
Layout – Icon only
Press Select Icon:
Browse, and choose the desired image file from the hard disk
Actions: none
With all the Form fields set up the next stage is to create the ‘hot spots’. These are
created using the Link Tool, and the image to the right shows the active areas defined in
the example application.
Having defined the ‘hot spot’ area using the Link Tool open the Properties box for the
area.
Appearance:
Type – Invisible Rectangle

FORM FIELD IMAGE LINKS UP BUTTON
Highlight - None
Action:

Select Action Type – JavaScript
Open the Edit box and enter the following two lines of code:
dispPhoto01 = this.getField(‘Photo03’).buttonGetIcon();
this.getField(‘PhotoDisplay’).buttonSetIcon(dispPhoto01,0);
Press OK and Set Link.
Repeat for each of the ‘hot spots’ changing the Form field name – in the above code Photo03 – to point to the button containing the desired
photo, diagram, etc.
MULTIMEDIA COMPONENTS UP BUTTON
The use of audio in e-books

The addition of sound clips to the text and image content of an e-book opens up a whole range of potential ideas for authors. A written story
could be accompanied by an audio version, interviews with interesting people could be given in both audio and text form. A book about birds
could be accompanied by clips of recorded birdsong, whilst a book on the history of jazz could have clips from all the greatest musicians, and
the inclusion of bilingual audio files within a foreign language text book, or a travel guide, could bring the product alive and avoid the need for
accompanying audio tapes.
The incorporation of digitized audio, stored as a .WAV format file, into a PDF e-book is very easy with Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or 6.0. The audio file
is incorporated after the e-book has been converted to PDF form, and makes use of a special link command. This means that an icon or some
other form of indication of a link to an audio file must be placed in an appropriate location in the e-book during page layout. Once the link to the
.WAV file has been made the PDF file can be saved and the audio file will be automatically incorporated within it in the same way as an image
file.
Alternatively an audio file can be incorporated into an e-book so that it starts playing as soon as a page, to which the sound file is linked, is
opened.
Digitised audio can be created either by feeding pre-recorded audio, a microphone input, or data from a MIDI musical instrument into the
appropriate connector on a PC sound card and then using the card’s recording software to convert it into a digital format. Most sound cards,
such as the very popular Creative Sound Blaster, have such inputs and can be successfully used to create .WAV files for use in a PDF e-book.
Although audio files contain a lot less data than video files, a file containing a few minutes of audio can still be large enough to considerably
increase the size of an e-book, it is thus a good idea to always digitise sound using the lowest possible sampling rate and digitisation size, 8KB/
s sampling with 8bit digitisation is often fine for a mono recording of ordinary speech that is free of background noise, and has a file size that is
less that 10% of more standard sampling and digitisation rates.
Careful recording of audio material that has little background noise should always be the aim when creating audio content for use in an e-book,
not only can such material be stored as a much smaller file, but it is also a lot clearer for the e-book user to understand. This means that
recordings should be made in either a proper studio or in a location where extraneous noise can be kept to a minimum.
Of course sound files may need editing, or different sound files merged together, to produce the required content, in such cases use one of the
many audio editing programs that are on the market, a popular one is GoldWave.

Creating form field animations

Animation can be a very useful way of illustrating concepts, or procedures, which
change over time, particularly where such changes can not be easily captured using
video or stop motion photography. Animation could, for example, be used to show the
input and output waveforms on an electrical circuit, thus demonstrating the relationship
between the two in a way that would be much easier to understand than a static
diagram.
Although animated GIF images or Flash animations, can not be used in e-books created
using Acrobat 5.0 (Acrobat 6.0 will allow the incorporation of Flash images), animation
can be added by using a technique that simply takes a sequence of images and then
animates them using a small JavaScript program.
With this technique the animation is created directly in the PDF document as opposed
to being created during the design and layout of the e-book pages. All that is required at Play Stop
the e-book design stage is that enough space is left for the animated image and its two
Diagram showing two stage ripple counter circuit using
associated control buttons.
two JK flip-flops – diagram shows binary input and
output states as well as input and output waveforms.
There are two stages in the creation of such an animated image:
Press Play to run animation, Stop to stop it.
Artwork creation - a drawing need to be created for each of the images in the animation sequence; this could be as few as four
images, or as many as fifty or even a hundred, depending on the duration and complexity of the animation, and the number of images
displayed per second. In most cases the animation sequence will simply loop around repeating itself until switched off.
Form Field and JavaScript creation - The artwork should be assembled into the proper sequence of images that make up the
animation, together with the associated JavaScript software, and positioned on the appropriate PDF document page to create the
working animation.
Artwork creation Form field animation

Creating animation artwork

The animation technique being employed here involves the use of a special piece of JavaScript code to display a sequence of images, in much
the same manner as the simple flick book animation using matchstick figures often seen in children’s books.
The first point which must be made is that an animation made using this technique will only be as good as the artwork, poorly created images
will give a very jerky result that will not look professional. It is no good simply scanning in a series of hand drawn images and expecting them to
work, unfortunately there is no real substitute for using a good drawing or design program.
You do not necessarily want to create a cartoon like animation but instead show a dynamic process in action where each drawing represents a
different stage in the process. You will probably want to display them at about one image every one or two seconds, fast enough to give a sense
of movement in the image, but slow enough to allow the viewer to register the various changes that are taking place. This means that a twenty
second animation sequence will require between ten and twenty separate images.
With this in mind the first step in the planning process is to draw a time line of the dynamic process you
want to animate, this time line will show an ordered sequence of changes that take place in the process
over a given time period. Then divide this time sequence into a number of equal steps, each of which can
be represented by an image. Try to make sure that each of these steps will allow the images to show
both the changes taking place in the dynamic process, and be sensitive to the length of time that each
change takes.
This means that if there is a long time lag between one change and the next, followed by a short lag
before the next change, then it may be necessary to insert additional identical images into the sequence
with the long time lag so that this time related fact is maintained in the final animation. To test out your
animation sequence just create a little flick book using hand drawn images of the animated portion of the
image on sequential corners of a notepad, and flick through the pages to see how the animation works. If
possible try to create an animation that loops and in so doing creates the appearance of an endless Play Stop
animation.
In most animations most of the drawing remains static, only small bits actually change between frames.
The first drawing task is to create the artwork for the static part of the image. This can then be copied
and pasted into each frame, thus ensuring exact image registration between frames. Next draw the
animated portion of each image frame using your hand drawn guide. Again always check registration with the previous image of the sequence
in order to eliminate jerky movement in the final animation.
When all the images in the animation sequence have been drawn it is a good idea to put together a test animation. This test will reveal any
faults and it may be necessary to redraw some images, or simply insert new images in order to maintain the timing sequence of the animation.

MULTIMEDIA COMPONENTS
Form field animation

The creation of an animated image in a PDF e-book requires the use of both Forms, and
a couple of pieces of Java Script, it may look complicated but is actually quite straight
forward. Before starting you need to have already created a set of animation images, in
this example there are four of them, each slightly different and designed to roll through a
loop to produce a constantly moving image.
This example shown on the right is a simple animation, a rotating blue star on a red
background, and the four images that are used to generate that animation. To get the
animation to run press Play, and to stop it press Stop.
Play Stop
The first step in creating this animation is to use the Acrobat Forms Tool to create three
Buttons in the space provided in the PDF document layout for the animation, thus:
The first of these buttons is labelled Animation and is the area in which the animation will be displayed, it
should be of a size and proportions appropriate to the image, and capable of fitting within the area
allocated on the page. The other two are the control buttons that are used to start and stop the animation,
and are labelled respectively Play and Stop.

The Properties of each of these buttons should be set as follows:

For the Animation button – Name – Animation Type - Button
Appearance –
set border and background (it is always a good idea to set the background to the same colour as the diagram’s background)
set form field to visible
Options –
Highlight – Push
Layout - Text left, icon right
Button Face When – Up
Go to Advanced Layout and check that Scale When is set to Always and Scale How is set to Proportionally
No Actions
For the Play button – Name – Play Type - Button

Appearance –
set border black and background grey
set Width – Thin, and Style - Bevelled
Options –
Highlight – Push
Text – Play

Actions –
Select Mouse Up

Press Add and select JavaScript then press Edit
In the Edit Dialog Box enter the following piece of JavaScript:
Function ShowAnimation(arg)
{
this.getField(‘Animation’).buttonSetIcon(animIcons[arg],0);
}
//code to START the animation
imageCnt = 0;
animationRunning = 1;
animIcons = new Array(4);
animIcons[0] = this.getfield(‘Image1’).buttonGetIcon();
animationKey =
app.setInterval(“ShowAnimation(imageCnt++ % 4)”,100);
Then press OK and SetAction
Note: If you want an animation with more than 4 images then increase the array size:
animIcons = new Array(X);
and add in the necessary number of additional lines -
animIcons[X] = this.getField(‘ImageY’).buttonGetIcon();
To change the animation speed change the value 100 in the last line – 500 = slower animation, 50 = faster animation

For the Stop button – Name – Stop Type - Button
Appearance –

set border and background
set Width – Thin, and Style - Bevelled
Options –
Highlight – Push
Text – Play
Actions -
Select Mouse Up
Press Add and select JavaScript then press Edit
In the Edit Dialog Box enter the following piece of JavaScript:
If (animationRunning == 1) {
App.ClearInterval(animationKey);
AnimationRunning = 0;
ImageCnt = 0;
}
Then press OK and Set Action
The next step is to provide the necessary images that will be displayed by the JavaScript code, these are stored in the form of buttons, one
for each image. In the case of this example they are labelled Image1 through to Image4. and laid out next to the other form fields. There is
no need to make the form field very large since they will be hidden from view and serve simply as a data storage location for each image.

The Form layout for our example will now look something like this:

For each of the 4 Image buttons – Name – ImageX Type – Button
Where X denotes the number 1 to 4
Appearance –
set border and background off
set form field to hidden
Options –
Highlight – Push
Layout - Icon only
Press Select Icon and use Browse to choose the appropriate image file
No Actions
Now exit from the Form Tool and press the Play button, if the code has been entered properly you should see the animation, pressing the Stop
button will then stop it.
If you encounter problems double-check the code, and the properties for each of the buttons.
If you intend to use more than one animation in an e-book then it is essential that you use different variable names and different Form button
names for each animation, failure to do this will lead to seemingly mysterious interaction between different animations.

Flash animation

You will only be able to incorporate Flash animations in PDF e-books created with Acrobat 6.0 and read using Acrobat Reader 6.0. Since
Acrobat 6.0 has only been released a few months and relatively few people have got copies of Reader 6.0 it is probably best to stick with Form
Field animations for the time being since this will cause fewer complications with readers who are still using version 5.0.
Flash animations will, undoubtedly, become the standard animation technique for use in PDF e-books since sophisticated creation tools are
now commonplace, and Flash animation creation skills are possessed by many. This will allow the use of animations of greater complexity and
sophistication than is possible at present using Form Fields and JavaScript.
The incorporation of Flash animations for use in e-books offers the author a wide range of creative possibilities, and the 2004 edition of this e-
book will be looking at both the techniques and some of these possibilities.
Creating video content

There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, for a well chosen image this is certainly true, and a well chosen video clip is
worth a thousand more. The ability to incorporate video into an e-book is one of the technology’s great selling points as an educational tool and
as an information transfer medium. The inclusion of video clips within a e-book could bring the book alive and avoid the need for accompanying
text, for example a few short video clips in a ‘how to’ book would make the explanation of a complex sequence of actions far easier to understand
than either a text explanation or a series of illustrations.
The incorporation of video content does, however, pose some problems, the biggest of which relates to the size of video files. Since video files
can be very large, for even a short clip, they need to be carefully shot, edited and encoded in order to keep file size to a minimum. This means
that video is technically the most challenging multimedia content to deliver via an e-book, thirty seconds of uncompressed video requires
approximately 810megabytes of disk storage space, and even in a highly compressed form will occupy 4 or 5 megabytes.
The important thing is that the video clip must be well chosen, an e-book is not a video, it is primarily a text and graphics based information
medium. This means that where video is used it will be just in short clips, of 30 seconds or less, and used to illustrate a very specific point that
could not be easily explained using text or graphics. It also means that with a short clip, and the necessary limitations on display resolution, it is
important that the information contained in the clip is both clear and concise. This requires careful filming, editing, and compression, all done
with the aim of maximising the information content of the clip whilst minimising its size
Video thus places high demands on data storage, and the challenge lies in preparing files that are small enough to be practical and yet of
sufficiently high quality to be worth the effort. To obtain this balance of quality against file size the author needs to be willing to compromise, as
well as carefully selecting or creating video content that can be successfully scaled and compressed.
The other problem is that Acrobat 5.0 does not incorporate a video file into the PDF package in the same way that it incorporates an audio file,
this means that video files must be compliant with the platform on which the e-book will be viewed, and they must be stored within the same
directory as the e-book. Acrobat 5.0 does, however, provide full linkage facilities for placing a video file within an e-book including the use of a
still image from the video instead of an icon. This means that when the e-book is laid out the location where the video will be played need only be
marked by an empty rectangular box of the appropriate dimensions.
This problem is overcome if you are using Acrobat 6.0 since this will incorporate video files into the e-book thus allowing an e-publication to be
delivered as a single file and with no need for the appropriate video display software.
If an e-book is being produced for reading on a wide range of different platforms then it should always be remembered that playing video may
not be practical on some platforms. In such situations you will have to provide an alternative of either a text description of the video clip, the
audio track from the video clip, or a sequence of still frames from the video clip.
Filming suitable video Editing & Processing

Filming suitable video

With the availability of low cost digital video cameras, and versatile PC based video editing software it is relatively cheap and easy for the author
of an e-book to create his or her own video content. This is preferable to using existing library material, because the video can then be shot
taking into account the limitations of the e-book medium, limitations which primarily relate to the need to minimise data file size if the e-book is
to be downloaded over the Internet.
The amount of scaling and compression that is required to turn such enormous quantities of data into something that can be practically used in
an e-book is significant, sometimes so much so that it is liable to render the material useless. The only solution is to very carefully select or
create video content which can be successfully scaled and compressed, some of the key factors that can ensure this are:
• Always shoot original video, this allows the creation of video that will compress efficiently and still look good at low resolution and frame
rates. If you have to digitize material that was originally recorded for video or film, choose your material carefully. Look for clips that
contain minimal motion and are not cluttered with unessential details. Motion and detail are the main shortcomings for low-resolution
video.
• Try to shoot close-ups, wide shots contain too much detail to make sense at low resolution.
• If possible shoot against a simple monochromatic background, this will make small video images easier to understand and will increase
the efficiency of compression.
• Always use a tripod to minimize camera movement, having the camera locked in one position will minimize the differences between
frames and thus greatly improve video compression.
• Do not zoom or pan the camera since these actions will make low frame-rate movies very confusing to both view and interpret, and
because it increases the changes within the image, it will compress poorly.
• When editing a video for use in an e-book always use hard cuts between shots, the transitional effects offered by video editing software,
such as dissolves or elaborate wipes, will not compress efficiently.

Editing and processing video

Video cameras comes with certain set characteristics, for example, it may well record audio as 16-bit stereo and sampled at 44.1 KHz, and the
video content will probably have an image resolution of 640 x 480 pixels with 16million colours and play at 30 frames per second. However, such
a video in uncompressed form would require enormous amounts of disk storage, and would thus be far too large to be used in any e-book,
especially one that could be downloaded over the Internet (although would pose fewer problems if the chosen delivery method is CD-ROM or
DVD).
But video clips can be made more usable by first reducing the amount of data, this can be done during editing in several different ways:
• Downsampling the audio material to 11.025 KHz, 8-bit mono sound. This reduces file size but will also substantially reduces audio
quality.
• Trim the video clips, and make sure that they begin and end with frames that make sense as still images. In Adobe Acrobat 6.0 the first
frame will be required to create the poster image that is placed in the e-book text and on which the reader clicks to activate the movie.
• Use the video editing software to crop out unwanted noise or borders from the movie image.
• Scale the video to at least quarter-screen (320 x 240 pixels), or if storage space is really a problem even smaller, although making it too
small will eliminate a lot of the detail in the images.
• Reducing the image-quality setting of a movie will also reduce the data that is stored for each frame.
• Reducing the frame rate will substantially reduce data storage requirements but will also degrade image quality, however, frame rates can
be successfully reduced down to about 10 fps.
Another way to reduce file size is to apply compression, this eliminates redundant data, then removes the less important data in order to shrink
file size yet more. This process is achieved using a special piece of software, known as a codec. There are many different codecs that could be
used in e-books, the common ones include QuickTime, Real Media and Video for Windows, however, all of them use lossy compression, a
process that removes data from the original source material. This means that one should never compress material multiple times, because each
process will lower the video quality.
In preparing video for use in an e-book the aim is to keep files as small as possible and image quality as high as possible, achieveing this will
necessitate experimentation with different image sizes, different frame rates and different compression rates.
Some other points to note when using a codec are:
• Some codecs compress more efficiently than others do, though usually at the expense of image quality. However, you will need to
choose a codec that will generate a video file format that can be incorporated into an Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or 6.0 generated e-book.
• Compression software provides special custom filters that reduce the differences between frames, permitting more efficient
compression.

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
The CLOSE control

The control button to close the e-book is particularly important when an e-book has been created so that it opens in full screen mode with all
Adobe Acrobat Reader menu bars disabled. This is done for two reasons, the first is to force the reader to use the navigation controls
embedded into the e-book, and the second is part of an anti-copy protection.
To create the button open Form Tool and use the mouse cursor to draw a rectangular box the size of the proposed button. Once created the
button can be resized and moved to accurately locate it in the desired position.
In the Field Properties box
Name – set to close
Type box - select Button
Appearance:
Tick Border colour
Tick Background colour
Then select colours for each from the associated colour pallets, some experimentation will be required to find the right combination to suite your
design and colour scheme.
Width – suggest you select thin (choice depends upon design)
Style – suggest you select bevelled (choice depends upon design)
The choice of Text Colour, Font, and Size are again all design dependent -but would suggest Text Colour – Black, Font - Ariel, Size – 10
Under Common Properties:
Form Field Is – should be set to visible
Orientation – set to 0 degrees (unless design dictates otherwise)
Options:
Highlight – set to Push
Layout – set to text only (unless you want to use a graphics top to the button)
Button Face When – should be set to Up

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
And under Button Face Attributes:

Enter CLOSE into the Text window

Actions:
Highlight Mouse Up in the When this Happens box, then click the Add button.
In the Add an Action window select JavaScript from Type
In the JavaScript Edit window enter the following code:
//is Acrobat earlier than version 5.0

if (typeof(app.viewerType)!=”undefined”)
if(app.viewerVersion >= 5.0)
{
var reply = app.alert(“Do you want to close ‘A Guide to Writing PDF E-books’?”, 0,1,2);
if (reply == 1) // Yes Acrobat is older
{
app.execMenuItem(“Close”);
app.execMenuItem(“Show Menubar”);
app.execMenuItem(“Show Toolbars”);
}
else
{
//then do nothing//
}
}
if (typeof(app.viewerType)!=”undefined”)
if(app.viewerVersion < 5.0)
{
app.alert(“Strike Control/Command + W to close file?”, 1);
}

NAVIGATION CONTROL UP BUTTON
Press OK on the Edit window

Then press OK on the Field Properties window

The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy the button to all the pages of the e-book.
Having created the control bar CLOSE button it is only necessary to save the PDF file for these controls to be permanently added to the
completed e-book.
LEVEL ONE
NAVIGATION CONTROL
The CONTENTS control

This navigation button corresponds to the table of contents in a printed book and allows the reader to jump to other sections of the e-book by
means of a pop-up list of main contents.
The easiest way to create this navigation control button is to use the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Form Tool to both create the necessary button, and
to provide the functionality. Button creation is a relatively simple process which need only be on a single page when the e-book is fully
assembled, the Form Tool’s Duplicate command can then be used to copy the button onto every page in the e-book.
A PDF page should be selected on which the master copy of this navigation control button will be created. Since appearance is important it
is always a good idea to activate the display grid prior to trying to position and size the buttons. The grid can be activated by going to the
View drop down menu in Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and then clicking on Grid – if grid dimensions are not suitable then reset them via
Edit>Preferences>General.
To create a button open Form Tool and use the mouse cursor to draw a rectangular box the size of the proposed button. Once created the
Name – set to Contents
Appearance:
Tick Border colour
Then select colours for each from the associated colour pallets, some experimentation will be required to find the right combination to suite
your design and colour scheme.

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
Options:

Enter ‘CONTENTS’ into the Text window
Actions:
In the Add an Action window select JavaScript from Type, and click on Edit.
var c = app.popUpMenu
(“Chapter 1”, “Chapter 2”, “Chapter 3”, [“Chapter 4”, “Sub-section 1”, “ Sub-section 2”, “ Sub-
section 3”, “ Sub-section 4”]);
this.gotoNamedDest(c);
Press OK
Press Set Action
Then press OK
This piece of code will display a pop-up menu thus:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Clicking on Chapter 4 will generate a secondary pop-up menu, thus:
Sub-section 1
Sub-section 2
Sub-section 3
Sub-section 4

Each menu entry relates to named destination pages that contain the start of sub-sections 1,2,3 or 4 within Chapter 4.
To make it easier for the reader to use the above text should be changed to some more descriptive phrase, rather than Chapter 1 or Sub-section

4, choose this descriptive phrase very carefully and remember that if you are also using an Index navigation control button then this will have to
use the same named destinations.
When creating the contents data line in the JavaScript code it is very important that the format is maintained, with each entry in the JavaScript
code being enclosed in quotes and followed by a comma, and entries with a secondary pop-up menu being followed by a sequence of
secondary menu entries each enclosed in quotes and separated by a comma and all enclosed in square brackets - the table of contents can
have as many entries, and sub menus as required, one can even have sub-sub menus.
To create the linkage between the pop-up table of contents and the appropriate pages in the e-book this piece of JavaScript code requires the
setting up of named destinations within the e-book.
Go to the first of the pages in the e-book that is to be accessed via an entry in the pop-up table of contents, then click on the Windows drop
down menu and select Destinations. This will display a small window on the page, click the Destination button in this window and select Scan
Document
Press the Create new destination button, the highlighted Untitled should then be replaced with the same text used in the pop-up table of
contents, these entries must be identical, with not only the same words but also the same upper and lower case characters.
Then go to the next page to be accessed via an entry in the table of contents and repeat the process of creating a new destination for that page.
Do this for all the entries in the pop-up menu, as well as the entries in all sub menus. Finally go back to the page containing the master
navigation control buttons and test that the table of contents functions correctly. Any errors will probably be the result of either a syntax error in
creating the table of contents in the JavaScript program, or a failure to use identical names for both the destination and the table of contents
entry in the JavaScript code.
The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy the Contents navigation button to all the pages of the e-book, then save the PDF file
for the button to be permanently added to the completed e-book.

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
FIND

The Find button provides the same functionality as an index in a printed book, this displays a pop-up search box, and by entering a key-word or
phrase the reader can then jump to pages in the book that contain that word or phrase.
The easiest way to create this navigation control is to use the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Form Tool to both create the necessary button, and to provide
the functionality. Button creation is a relatively simple process which need only be on a single page when the e-book is fully assembled, the
Form Tool’s Duplicate command can then be used to copy the button onto every page in the e-book.
A PDF page should be selected on which the master copy of the navigation control button will be created. Since appearance is important it is
always a good idea to activate the display grid prior to trying to position and size the buttons. The grid can be activated by going to the View
drop down menu in Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and then clicking on Grid – if grid dimensions are not suitable then reset them via
Name – set to Find
Appearance:
Tick Border colour

Options:

Enter ‘FIND’ into the Text window
Actions:
In the Add an Action window select Execute Menu Item from Type
Click Edit Menu Item.
Select Edit>Find
Press OK
Press Set Action
Then press OK
The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy the Find navigation control button to all the pages of the e-book, then save the PDF
file for the button to be permanently added to the completed e-book.

LEVEL ONE
NAVIGATION CONTROL
The GOTO control

The GOTO control allows the user to jump to a specified page number. This function is particularly useful in situations where the reader
wants to make a note of a particular page, either because the reader wants to return to that page at a later date, or because the reader wants
to tell other readers that a particular page is interesting and useful. The latter reason is particularly important in the academic use of e-books
where the exact source of reference material needs to be cited.
The GOTO command itself is quite simple to implement, however, it is of little use unless all the pages in the e-book are numbered in the
order in which they are assembled, as opposed to the order in which the book may be read. Pages can of course be assigned numbers during
the page layout stage of the e-book creation process, but this is not that easy in a non-linear structured work, and would also mean repeating
all the layout work if a few pages are added or removed from future editions.
An easier way to add the page numbers is to create a Form Field button with a bit of JavaScript to automatically add the correct page
numbers for use by the GOTO command to the fully assembled PDF e-book. The page sequence created in this way may seem illogical to
the casual user of a non-linear e-book but will exactly reflect the order in which the pages are assembled, as opposed to the way that they are
linked. For more information on creating page numbers in this way click on the link button below.
The easiest way to create the GOTO navigation control button is to use the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Form Tool to both create the necessary button,
and to provide the functionality. Button creation is a relatively simple process which need only be on a single page when the e-book is fully
A PDF page should be selected on which the master copy of the two secondary navigation control buttons will be created. Since appearance
is important it is always a good idea to activate the display grid prior to trying to position and size the buttons. The grid can be activated by
going to the View drop down menu in Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and then clicking on Grid – if grid dimensions are not suitable then reset them via
Name – set to Goto
Automatic page numbering

LEVEL ONE
NAVIGATION CONTROL
Appearance:
Tick Border colour

Options:
Enter ‘GOTO’ into the Text window
Actions:
Select Document>Goto Page
Press OK
Press Set Action
Then press OK

The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy the Goto navigation control button to all the pages of the e-book, then save the PDF

file for the control button to be permanently added to the completed e-book.
MULTIMEDIA
NAVIGATIONCOMPONENTS
CONTROLS
Automatically numbering e-book pages

An easy way to add page numbers is to create a Form Field button with a bit of JavaScript that will automatically add the correct number to
every page of a fully assembled PDF e-book. The page sequence created in this way may seem illogical to the casual user of a non-linear e-
book but will exactly reflect the order in which the pages are assembled, as opposed to the way that they are linked.
This technique requires the creation of a special Form Field button located on the very first page of the fully assembled e-book, the
assembly must include all the pages including the cover. Here the first page refers not to the first page that the reader will encounter, but the
first page in the assembled sequence of pages, although of course the two may be the same. When this button is pressed it will then
automatically place the correct page number on every page in the e-book, the create page number button can then be deleted, and the
finished e-book, complete with all page numbers saved.
The first step is to create the page numbering function button, this can be done by opening the Acrobat Form Tool and using the mouse
cursor to draw a rectangular box the size of the proposed button, then:
Name – set to Pagenum
Appearance:
Tick Border colour
Then select grey from the associated colour pallets
Width – select thin
Style – select bevelled
Text Colour – Black, Font - Ariel, Size – 10
Orientation – set to 0 degrees

NAVIGATIONCOMPONENTS
MULTIMEDIA CONTROLS
Options:

Layout – set to text only
Enter ‘Page Numbering’ into the Text window
Actions:
var r = [840-60, 595-20, 840, 595];
// top right corner of landscape A4 page
for (var i = 0; i < numPages; i++) {

var f = this.addField(String(i+1),”text”,i,r);
f.textSize = 12;
f.textColor = color.black;
f.fillColor = color.transparent;
f.textFont = font.HelvB;
f.borderStyle = border.s;
f.strokeColor = color.transparent;
f.value = “Page “+String(i+1);
}

MULTIMEDIA
NAVIGATION COMPONENTS
CONTROLS UP BUTTON
This JavaScript code is designed to place in black 12point Helvetica the word ‘Page’, followed by the appropriate number, in the top right corner
of an e-book laid out as a landscape A4. These parameters can all be changed if required.

It should be noted that the coordinates used to position the page number use Acrobat Rotated Space system. Here the origin is located at the
lower left corner of the screen, with the X axis going to the right, and the y axis going up. The four values are respectively, upper left X, upper
left Y, lower right X, and lower right Y. The units are in increments of 1/72 of an inch.
LEVEL ONE
NAVIGATION CONTROL
The INDEX control

This navigation button corresponds to the alphabetized index at the back of a printed book and allows the reader to jump to other sections of
the e-book by means of a pop-up alphabetical list of main contents. However, because of the limitations of this technique this is not a true
index, it is rather an alphabetical version of the list of contents given by the Contents control command. This is because it can only refer to
the subject matter of a page rather than the occurrences of a particular word, to do this the FIND control command should be used.
The easiest way to create this navigation control button is to use the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Form Tool to both create the necessary button, and
to provide the functionality. Button creation is a relatively simple process which need only be on a single page when the e-book is fully
A PDF page should be selected on which the master copy of this navigation control button will be created. Since appearance is important it
is always a good idea to activate the display grid prior to trying to position and size the buttons. The grid can be activated by going to the
View drop down menu in Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and then clicking on Grid – if grid dimensions are not suitable then reset them via
Name – set to Index
Appearance:
Tick Border colour
Then select colours for each from the associated colour pallets, some experimentation will be required to find the right combination to suit

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
Options:

Enter ‘INDEX’ into the Text window
Actions:
var i = app.popUpMenu
(“Aardvark”, “Eagle”, “Elephant”, “Hyena”, “Lion”, “Tiger”, “Vulture”, “Zebra”);
this.gotoNamedDest(i);
Press OK
Press Set Action
Then press OK
This piece of code will display a pop-up menu thus:
Aardvark
Eagle
Elephant
Hyena
Lion
Tiger
Vulture
Zebra

Each menu entry relates to named destination pages, some of these will have been created for the Contents navigation control button, however,
the index will require all pages to be given named destinations, with the name chosen for each being an indication of the contents of that page

To set up the named destinations within the e-book go to the first of the pages in the e-book that is to be accessed via an entry in the pop-up
index, then click on the Windows drop down menu and select Destinations. This will display a small window on the page, click the Destination
button in this window and select Scan Document
Press the Create new destination button, the highlighted Untitled should then be replaced with the same text used in the pop-up table of
contents, these entries must be identical, with not only the same words but also the same upper and lower case characters.
Then go to the next page to be accessed via an entry in the table of contents and repeat the process of creating a new destination for that page.
Do this for all the entries in the pop-up menu, as well as the entries in all sub menus. Finally go back to the page containing the master
navigation control buttons and test that the table of contents functions correctly. Any errors will probably be the result of either a syntax error in
creating the table of contents in the JavaScript program, or a failure to use identical names for both the destination and the table of contents
entry in the JavaScript code.
The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy the Index navigation button to all the pages of the e-book, then save the PDF file for the
button to be permanently added to the completed e-book.

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
The PRINT control

A nice feature to add to the control bar is one that allows the reader to print out the current page, although most of the pages in an e-book will be
read on screen there are times when it is useful to be able to print out a page for later reference.
To create the button open Form Tool and use the mouse cursor to draw a rectangular box the size of the proposed button. Once created the
Name – set to print
Appearance:
Tick Border colour
Options:
Enter PRINT into the Text window

Actions:

In the Add an Action window select JavaScript from Type
this.print (false, this.pageNum,

this.pageNum, {bShrinkToFit: true});
Press OK on the Edit window
Then press OK on the Field Properties window
The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy the button to all the pages of the e-book.
Having created the control bar PRINT button it is only necessary to save the PDF file for these controls to be permanently added to the
completed e-book.

LEVEL ONE
NAVIGATION CONTROL
Next and Previous View controls

The second level of navigation control consists of a pair of buttons or icons labelled ‘Next View’ and ‘Previous View’. These make use of the
fact that the reader program keeps a table of the pages accessed by the reader, this can be used by the reader to go back and review
previously read pages, using the Previous View button to step through the stored sequence, and then use the Next View button to step back
to the page currently being read. This feature is particularly useful for readers of e-books that do not have a linear page structure, or where
the reader is frequently using top level navigation control to depart from the narrative path laid down by the author.
The easiest way to create these two second level navigation controls is to use the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Form Tool to both create the necessary
button, and to provide the functionality. Button creation is a relatively simple process that need only be done on a single page when the e-
book is fully assembled, the Form Tool’s Duplicate command can then be used to copy the button onto every page in the e-book.
A PDF page should be selected on which the master copy of the two secondary navigation control buttons will be created. Since
appearance is important it is always a good idea to activate the display grid prior to trying to position and size the buttons. The grid can be
activated by going to the View drop down menu in Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and then clicking on Grid – if grid dimensions are not suitable then
reset them via Edit>Preferences>General.
The process used to create the two buttons is essentially the same, all that varies is the action attached to each button.
Name – set to prev (when creating previous view button)
set to next (when creating next view button)
Appearance:
Tick Border colour


Options:
Enter PREVIOUS VIEW into the Text window if you are creating the Previous view button
Or
Enter NEXT VIEW into the Text window if you are creating the Next view button
Actions:
Select Document>Go To Previous View - if creating the previous view button
Or
Select Document>Go To Next View - if creating the next view button
Press OK
Press Set Action
Then press OK
The process has to be repeated for each of the two secondary navigation control buttons. The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to
copy the button to all the pages of the e-book.
Having created the navigation controls and navigation paths using this technique it is only necessary to save the PDF file for these controls to
be permanently added to the completed e-book.

NAVIGATION CONTROL
LEVEL ONE
The Zoom controls

In a basic control bar two buttons are used to change the look of a page. The Zoom in button allows the reader to look at a part of a page in
greater detail, the Zoom out button then allows the reader to return the page to normal viewing size. The easiest way to create these two
zoom control buttons is to use the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Form Tool to both create each button, and to provide the functionality. Button creation
is a relatively simple process that need only be done on a single page when the e-book is fully assembled, the Form Tool’s Duplicate
command can then be used to copy the button onto every page in the e-book.
A PDF page should be selected on which the master copy of these control buttons will be created. Since appearance is important it is
always a good idea to activate the display grid prior to trying to position and size the buttons. The grid can be activated by going to the View
drop down menu in Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and then clicking on Grid – if grid dimensions are not suitable then reset them via
Name – set to zoomin (when creating the ZOOM IN button)
set to zoomout (when creating the ZOOM OUT button)
Appearance:
Tick Border colour



Options:
Enter ZOOM IN into the Text window if you are creating the Zoom in button
Or
Enter ZOOM OUT into the Text window if you are creating the Zoom out button
Actions:
Select View>Zoom In - if creating the Zoom in button
Or
Select View>Zoom Out - if creating the Zoom out button
Press OK
Press Set Action
Then press OK
The process has to be repeated for both control buttons. The Form Tool Duplicate command is then used to copy each button to all the pages
of the e-book.
Having created the control bar ZOOM IN and ZOOM OUT buttons it is only necessary to save the PDF file for these controls to be permanently
added to the completed e-book.

Introduction
This book is the first of a short series of books to be published by the E-book Society, and is designed as an introductory guide to authors who

are thinking of creating a PDF format e-book. It aims to do this by both acting as an example of a fully functioning PDF e-book and as a source
of information on some of the necessary basic techniques. It also aims to demonstrate that a PDF e-book is definitely not just a print document
converted into a PDF file, it is something far more complex and powerful.
As far as most authors are concerned the problem with writing an e-book lies in the fact that it is a computer based information product, and as
such requires a degree of technical knowledge in its creation, a knowledge that the author probably does not possess and which therefore
seems quite daunting. This e-book will hopefully show that such fears are ungrounded; if you can use a PC and a word processor then you will
have little difficulty creating a simple PDF e-book.
However, the e-book is still an evolving concept, and as yet there are few hard and fast rules about how an e-book should look or how it should
be used. Many existing e-publications, including this one, have drawn heavily in their design upon the work of information scientists developed
over the last forty years, especially the theories concerning hypertext documents, but there is still plenty of room for new ideas. Consequently
this book makes no claim to be a definitive text on the subject, instead it is a work in progress, the first edition of many.
As the reader can readily see from this work, an e-book is quite different to a printed book, both in the way that it is structured, the type of
contents it can contain, the way that it is used, and of course the way that it is written. An e-book is, however, very similar to a web site, but it
differs in two very important ways, the first is that it is a ‘closed’ document, the second is that it is a portable document.
The fact that a PDF e-book is a ‘closed’ document means that it cannot be changed without also changing the date of its creation, this is
stamped on the e-book file when it is created, along with the author’s name and the book title. This means that the contents of an e-book, like a
printed book, are set in a constant form, unlike a web site where page contents may change on a daily or even hourly basis. Consequently an e-
book, like a printed book, can be authenticated and thus has ‘authority’ since its contents can be referred to by title, author, edition and page
number, a very important factor in the use of books, particularly academic books and the reason behind the creation of the E-Book Society’s e-
publication database.
The fact that it is a portable document means that it can be easily read offline, and on a number of different reading platforms. It also means
that e-books can be stored on a hard disk, or optical disk, and eventually form a personal library that can be electronically indexed and accessed
at any time and location irrespective of Internet access.
These are both very good reasons for creating a PDF e-book, as opposed to creating a printed book or a web site, and ones that particularly
appeal to the academic writer, however, they are just a couple of the many good reasons why anyone contemplating publishing a book, a
pamphlet, a magazine, or even a brochure should seriously consider producing it in PDF e-book format.
The E-Book Society Why write and publish an e-book?

Creating a basic PDF e-book

An e-book basically consists of a number of screen displays, or pages, each containing one or more types of content, and linked together in
a logical sequence. A simple e-book might contain little more than twenty pages of text content, whilst a complex e-book might consist of a
thousand pages of mixed content ranging from text, photos, graphics, animations, sound and video clips. Most e-books will be somewhere
between these two extremes, however, in learning how to create a PDF e-book it is best to start with the simplest.
There are three basic steps in the creation of any PDF e-book that is assembled using Adobe Acrobat. All three of these steps have to be
completed in order to create any PDF e-book, from the simplest to the most complex.
Step 1 – Content creation
Primarily content creation involves writing the text of the book, a process that requires both careful planning, and an
understanding of e-book structure. Content creation may also involve the creation of other non-text content, such as
drawing diagrams, and taking photographs. In more complex e-books it may also involve recording audio content,
creating animated graphics, or shooting video content. All these require special skills and equipment.
Step 2 – Page layout

The page layout process involves converting the raw content into a form that the reader will see. It is essentially the same
process as that undertaken by a publisher when he converts an author’s manuscript into typeset copy ready for the
printer. The process involves the use of a suitable page layout or DTP program to layout the text in the required font and
type size, incorporate photos, diagrams, etc.
Step 3 – PDF conversion and linking content

When all the pages of the e-book have been laid out they can be converted to a PDF file with the aid of Acrobat Distiller.
Linkages between pages, and to content, can then be added to the basic PDF file with the aid of Acrobat 6.0. At this stage
connectivity to online resources, can be added, as can interactivity through the use of embedded JavaScript code.

E-book Authoring
The creation of an e-book gives the author the opportunity to break free from many of the constraints that have been imposed by conventional

printing, and in so doing it allows us to rethink the whole authoring process.
The core reason behind this rethink is based upon the fact that a computer is being used to control the display of an e-book, this means that the
passive nature of a printed book can give way to the dynamic structure of an e-book. This move from passive to dynamic is the main reason
why readers will need to develop new ways to use e-books and authors new ways to create them.
One of the most obvious examples of such a change is the fact that the narrative sequence used in an e-book no longer needs to follow the
linear sequence imposed by the physical construction of a printed book. No longer does page one have to be followed by page two, instead the
reader can, if the author thinks it appropriate, have the choice to go to page two or branch to more detailed levels of description of the contents
of page one.
Another difference is that the reader can interact with an e-book using questions and answers to determine the narrative path. Conventional text
and image contents can be enhanced in an e-book with the addition of animations, audio clips and video clips, all of which help to create a new
dynamic reading experience.
Writing an e-book is therefore no longer simply a matter of writing meaningful and informative text contents in a logical sequence, it also
requires careful design of the structure of the work, and creation its range of non-text contents and interactive components. No longer can an
author simply write the words and then hand them over to a publisher, typesetter, and printer for conversion into a printed book, with an e-book
the author must be responsible for creating the entire work in the form and format that it will be seen and used by the reader.
The positive side to this is increased amount of work is that the author of an e-book regains control over the creation of the complete book, over
the positioning, location, design, and use of every piece of content.
However, it also means that the writing of an e-book that makes use of some or all of the potentialities of the technology will require that the
author not only rethink the authoring process in order to accommodate these new techniques, but that he or she must also be prepared to
acquire a wide spread of new skills plus of course the tools necessary to put those skills to practical use. These additional skills cover a wide
area and range from book design and typography to computer programming and film making.
More information about the

skills and tools needed to
create PDF e-books


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STEP 1 - Contents creation

There are four stages in the preparation of e-book contents, the first two of these are essential in every e-book whatever the subject matter. The

last two stages really only apply to more complex, and primarily non-fiction e-books.
Planning
The first stage in the creation of an e-book involves careful planning. Since the narrative path no longer needs to follow a
strictly linear route, the author needs to think of a new e-book, not in terms of simply a number of chapters arranged in a
logical sequence, but in terms of a complex structure composed of individual pages. This structure must be planned from the
outset, and this planning must extend to an understanding of exactly what content is on every page, and how that content
relates to other content within the e-book.
Writing
The second stage involves creating the primary content, which in most cases will be text. The text needs to be written not as
chapter length pieces, but as page length pieces, a process familiar to writers of Web based information, and known as text
chunking. This means that the text is written in short chunks, usually of a page length. Each such page must comprise a
block of information capable of standing alone. This page will be linked to other chunks in the narrative using links defined by
the author in the structural plan.
Creating images and multimedia

The third stage involves the creation of any graphics and photographic images, or multimedia components that are to be
included in the e-book. All images and multimedia must be allocated a position in the structural plan, and must be in the
correct format and the correct size. Any multimedia content, this includes animations, video and audio, which will be used in
the e-book, must be planned and created prior to assembling the book. Where necessary multimedia content must be
allocated a thumbnail image or icon that will be used to link that content to the appropriate text.
Creating interactive features

The fourth stage involves the creation of any interactive components. These need to be planned but can be created when the
e-book is assembled, and their creation will be dealt with later on in this e-book.

Contents creation – planning the structure

In a conventional printed book the pages follow a numbered sequence, page two follows page one, page three follows page two and so on, and

in consequence the narrative path followed by both author and reader tends to follows the same linear sequence. This is something that is
inherent within a printed book and is imposed by the printing and binding process.
Although all printed books physically consist of a linear sequence of pages, they may not actually be used in a linear manner. Thus the primary
logical structure of many non-fiction books is a simple hierarchy that moves the reader from an overview of the subject in the first few chapters
into increasing detail about all the main aspects of the subject in later chapters. In such books the inclusion of a Table of Contents allows the
reader to locate a chapter of interest, and the Index allows them to locate references to specific subjects. This means that the reader has been
given the tools to follow a narrative path of his or her own making.
In works of fiction the author usually wants to retain control over the narrative path followed by the reader, consequently such books tend not to
have a Tables of Contents or an Index. Of course authors use a range of different ploys to diffuse the linearity of the plot, such as flash backs,
or switching to different locations in different chapters, but essentially all works of fiction have a linear structure, they have a beginning and an
end.
Since an e-book does not suffer from any constraints imposed by printing and binding, the author, whether writing fiction or non-fiction, is free
to create narrative paths that have a non-linear structure, or indeed paths which can vary according to input from the user. This opens up a
whole range of creative possibilities for either telling stories or for passing on knowledge and information.
Of course there is no reason why an e-book should not have a linear structure, indeed this is often desirable because it is a structure that is
familiar to both the author and the reader. Another good reason is that a linear structure is amenable to being printed, this means that the e-
book, or a section of it, can then be used like a conventional printed book.
However, most e-books will not be written with a linear structure, but rather will employ a tree like structure where information accessible to the
reader via the top level pages can then be enhanced by using links to pages of more detailed information, which in turn could be linked to pages
of even greater detail, a process that can be conceptually compared with using a microscope to zoom in on an item of interest.
The first step in planning an e-book is to therefore choose the overall structure for the book, this choice will, however, depend upon whether the
work is one of fiction or non-fiction.
More about information More about information

structures used in structures used in
non-fiction fiction

Contents creation – the written text

Writing the text content for an e-book differs from writing a conventional printed book, for a start the text content is far more highly structured

and written not as chapter length pieces, or text chunks as they are often referred to. A chunk is usually of a page length, though in a work of
fiction it might occupy half a dozen or more pages, and consists of a block of information, or an episode in a story, that is capable of standing
alone. Every chunk is then linked to other chunks to create the narrative sequence defined by the author in the structural plan.
This need to think of the contents of an e-book in terms of page length chunks and the links between those chunks is one of the hardest of the
new skills that need to be acquired by e-book authors.
The idea of breaking down a large piece of information into a number of smaller information chunks, prior to reassembling them into a new
information structure, has been used by technical and academic writers for many years. Such writers have discovered that not only does the
resulting product convey complex information more effectively, but that readers also appreciate short “chunks” of information that can be located
and scanned quickly.
This method for presenting information translates well for use in e-books for several reasons:
• Small chunks of information are easier to display on a single screen ‘page’ without forcing the reader to scroll long distances and to
remember what is off-screen.
• Small discrete chunks of information lend themselves to a structure based upon the use of hyperlinks. The users of such a hyper-linked
document expect a link to lead to a specific page containing the relevant information, not a dozen pages of general content in which the
desired information is hidden.
• Chunking helps to organize and present information in a structured and logical format.
The concept of a chunk of information must be flexible and consistent with common sense, logical organization, and convenience, the author
should let the nature of the content suggest how it should be subdivided and organized. Generally the more complex the subject the smaller the
chunks into which the information is divided
Although short chunks are often preferable, it makes little sense to divide a long document arbitrarily, and the author should not overly subdivide
the text, since this will only frustrate the reader. As a rule of thumb the ideal size for a discrete chunk of information in a non-fiction e-book is a
single screen display, or page, in a work of fiction the chunk can occupy as many pages as necessary.
Writing style also needs to be appropriate for use in an e-book, for any non-fiction work brief and concise is better than long and verbose. The
reader of an e-book needs to be able to easily scan the text on the display, this means avoiding heavy blocks of text by using short sentences
and paragraphs, and make liberal use of bulleted lists and box-outs or pop-up boxes to further structure information.
More about writing e-book text

Contents creation – images and multimedia

One of the great advantages of e-books over conventional printed books is that there are no additional cost involved in putting images into an e-

book, other than the cost of their creation, this means that there are no limits on the number of such images that can be included or where they
are positioned. E-books can therefore have a very high percentage of graphic and/or photographic content, a fact that in some cases can make
an e-book much better at transferring information than a printed one, as the old saying goes ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’.
The ability to include animations, audio and video content is, of course, unique to e-books and when used carefully can enhance the value of an
e-book enormously. Such multimedia content can often convey information clearly and easily that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to
convey using text. However, the use of such multimedia content carries with it the cost of considerably increasing the file size of the e-book,
and even with the increasing use of broadband communications, large e-book files are not a good idea.
Creating photographic content for use in an e-book is simply a matter of shooting pictures with a digital camera or scanning existing
photographs, but remember that if you have not taken the photos yourself always make sure that you have written permission from the copyright
holder to use them. Use a photo editing program to crop or rescale the photo to the correct size to fit in the space allocated on the e-book page,
and save in a format that can be used by your page layout program.
When incorporating graphics into an e-book one could scan artwork produced traditionally using pen and paper, however, such scanned
images always tend to look a little fuzzy, and much better results are achieved by creating the artwork on a computer with the aid of a suitable
graphics/illustration program. Whichever technique is used the resulting image should be scaled to the correct size to fit in the space allocated
on the e-book page, and saved in a format that can be used by your page layout program.
In some cases it may be necessary to incorporate an image, such as a map, or a set of plans, that are larger than an e-book page. One way to
do this is to cut the image into ‘tiles’ that will then cover a number of pages. Alternatively a large page format in the layout program can be used
to display the whole image, this is then converted to PDF in the same format, and the page then appended to the end of the e-book where it can
be accessed using links from the relevant pages and viewed using scroll bars
Where graphics are produced for animations it is essential to use a graphics/illustrator program to create them, unless, of course, you want to
produce a jerky animation. Indeed if you really want to produce a professional looking animation it is best to use a special animation program.
The creation of audio content requires the use of recording equipment to capture the initial audio material, this then needs to be digitised, and
fed into a suitable audio editing program. This program can be used to cut out any unwanted material or sounds, compress the file, and store it
in the appropriate .WAV format ready for incorporation into the e-book. Alternatively pre-recorded audio material, such as music, can be
acquired from specialist libraries or recording studios, these will of course charge for the use of their material in your e-book, in such cases
always make sure you have full written permission from the copyright holder before using pre-recorded audio.

Contents creation – Interactive features

The creation of interactive features is probably one of the hardest tasks facing any e-book author who is not also proficient in computer

programming. This is because the creation of any interactive features requires the author to write at some computer code, or at very least to
copy pre-written public domain code from some other source, such as this book. However, despite the difficulties it is worth trying to incorporate
such features since they are what really differentiate an e-book from conventional printed books.
Interactive features can take many forms, for example a very simple interactive feature could involve asking the reader to answer a multi-choice
question, and then go to different pages depending upon the answer chosen. A more complex interactive feature could involve the reader
entering values into a calculation, and showing the result. A much more complex application could involve reader control of a simulated dynamic
system. Indeed there are really no limits, with sufficient programming expertise one could even embed sophisticated artificial intelligence
programs or computer games into an e-book.
Where interactive features are used in an e-book they need to be planned from the outset since they will be an integral part of both the e-book,
and the way that readers use the e-book. This means that the author has to be confident that the code used for the interactive feature will work,
both alone, and in conjunction with any other interactive features incorporated into the e-book.
This means that code should be written and tested at as early a stage as possible in e-book creation, and for this reason its creation is included
at this stage, even though it will not be included into the e-book until right at the end of the e-book creation and assembly process.
Example of an interactive feature - a calculator for the area of a circle
Radius R = 3 Cms Area = 28.27 Cms2

Enter value for radius R and press Enter key to calculate


Yes...

STEP 2 - Converting raw content into formatted content

Having carefully planned the structure and contents of an e-book, and created all the necessary contents, we come to the first step in

converting the plan and the contents into the finished e-book. This first step is creating the page design, and calls for the use of a word
processor with layout capabilities, or a dedicated page layout program. The choice of which type of software is used depends on the complexity
of the proposed page layout, and the design skills of the author.
Most modern full function word processors, such as Microsoft Word, now include fairly sophisticated page layout features that include things
like multi-column layout, the pasting of images into text, and even the ability to create simple graphics. These are the basic requirements for
creating a formatted e-book, and if the book consists mostly of text content, with perhaps a few photographs then a program such as Word is
perfectly adequate.
However, a word processor program is not well suited to creating anything other than the simple layouts, for a more adventurous use of text and
graphics than laying it out in single or double column form with the odd photo or drawing then a professional page layout program such as
Quark or InDesign is essential. Such programs give the user complete control over layout and typography, the only limitations being the users
design skills and imagination.
Unless you are content with the use of very simple navigation icons, or feel happy using public domain graphics downloaded off the Web, then
you will also need access to a reasonably good graphics design program. The graphics in this e-book were created with the aid of Adobe
Illustrator, but there are many other programs on the market that are capable of doing the job.
If the e-book includes photographic, or graphic, illustrations, then you will also require a reasonable quality image-editing program. This will be
needed to crop and scale images so that they both fit within the page design, and do not display unwanted content.
Having assembled all the necessary tools for formatting an e-book the next phase of the process is to create an overall design look for the book,
this should be done before any pages are laid out and involves two steps:
Page design and typography

This step involves choosing the page size and layout, the typefaces and sizes that will be used, decisions that will affect the overall look
of the whole e-book and ensure that it has a unified design.
Template creation
This step involves using the design and typography developed in the previous step to create a basic page template into which the
content for each page will be pasted, and which will contain the navigation icons, space for navigation and control buttons and of course
space for the content.

Page size, design and typography

The first stage in the design process is to determine the page size, its orientation, and the typography. Ideally an e-book should be displayed as

a single page viewable in its entirety on the screen at standard viewing zoom level, there should be no need to use scroll bars and all navigation
controls should be clearly visible.
The page size that is chosen should therefore fit within the dimensions of the display of the target reader device, in most cases this will be a
desktop or laptop PC. Computer displays today have a fairly high resolution, 1024x768 pixels or greater, with about 70 pixels per inch, and this
means that the contents of a page 21cms high by 29cm wide - a landscape A4 – created by a page layout program should be clearly viewable
at 75% zoom. For most computer systems a landscape page orientation is preferable since it makes maximum use of the screen area (this e-
book is laid out using an A4 landscape page).
This of course may not be possible when an e-book is to be read on a small screen PDA, where resolutions are typically 320x320 pixels, in such
cases it will be necessary to either use a very small page size with inherent limits on both layout and controls, or use a scrolled page. Fortunately
PDA displays are improving, and within a couple of years should offer at least twice this resolution and thus overcome what is currently a rather
serious limitation to the use of PDAs for reading e-books.
Having determined the ideal page size and orientation for the e-book page the next step is to choose the type face for the text content. In
contrast to printed books the typeface used for an e-book should be a non-serif face, such as Arial, Helvetica or Verdana, since these are
sharper when read on a screen. In most cases when choosing a typeface stick to just one face, and use different sizes and styles for different
purposes, using more than one typeface on a page can make it look messy, the exception is where there is a clear differentiation in the
information being delivered, thus this book is set using Arial, however, where program code is displayed Courier, a serifed non-proportionally
spaced face used in old manual typewriters, is used to clearly denote the difference between program code and explanatory text.
The last decision concerns the size of the typeface used for body copy type, a size of about 12points is ideal at a 75% zoom. When this choice
has been made the next step is to choose the size and style for different applications, thus one could use a 24point type in bold for page titles, a
12point in bold for sub headings, and a 12point in italics for image captions.
The aim of these decisions concerning page size, design and typography is to produce an e-book that is easy to read, with text that is highly
visible. This means that the spacing between lines of text should be kept quite large, and there should be at least a text high space between
paragraphs. Just as paragraphs should be kept short to make the e-book easier to read so it is important to add plenty of white space during
design and layout to further improve readability.
It is also important to decide how other components of a page will look, components such as box outs, pop-up boxes, and illustrations,
considerations such as borders, border colours, and positioning of captions. It is also important at this stage to create any link buttons or icons
that will be used to either link to multimedia content, or to lower levels in a hierarchical structure. Make sure that these buttons have a uniform
design and are clearly labeled.
Importance of typography

Page template creation

Having decided on page size, orientation and typography, the next stage is to design a standard page layout template into which the contents

can then be pasted page by page. A template is basically a page without any text and image contents, just the navigation controls, and perhaps
the page number, and the title of the book. Template creation is important because it helps to define a unified design look to the e-book.
If we look at the basic page template used in this e-book, it consists of an A4 landscape page, and is coloured cream, within this page there is a
slightly smaller white page, the area where the text and graphic content are displayed. The cream coloured border that has thus been created
between the contents area and the outside of the A4 page is used to contain the navigation and control buttons, at bottom and top respectively,
at the center top is the page number, whilst down the right hand side is the e-book title and the publisher contact button.
The design should include control and navigation bars, these can be to the head and foot of the page or down one edge, or both. The buttons
on the navigation/control bars should be clearly visible and can use either an icon or, like the ones on this page text. With the exception of the
page turning arrows these buttons are inserted after conversion to PDF format as Form Fields. Since the navigation bars appear on every page
the space on the page that they will occupy must form part of the layout template, as must the two page turning icons.
If the e-book includes the use of non-linear structures then you will also need to create templates for pages situated at lower levels in a
hierarchical structure, these template pages should be designed so that they clearly show the reader that he/she is in a hierarchy structure and
the appropriate button to take them back up the structure. Note that page turning icons may not be necessary on such pages, so make several
versions of these templates with different combinations of icons.
If you are using a word processor, such as Word, to do the layout then you will have to be content with a very basic page template design. The
Header and Footer functions can be used to create the control and navigation bar areas, set the background colour to something different from
the main text area in order to visually identify the two bars. Then paste the two page turning icons into the correct position in the footer bar,
these icons can be easily created using Word’s AutoShapes graphics design facility.
If you are using a full function page layout program such as InDesign, especially if you are also a good graphics design program, then the page
template can be much more imaginative. For a start so long as it fits within the designated display area neither the template or the contents
display areas need to be rectangular, and the border area can make full use of colour and graphics imagery. However, when designing a page
template always remember that border graphics or backgrounds should not visually overpower the actual contents of the page.

Laying out the content

Having decided upon the basic design look and typography, as well as created the master page template with its page turning icons and space

allocated for navigation and control buttons, the next step is to paste the text, and image content, plus any multimedia icons or thumbnails, into
the template pages in accordance with the plan for the overall structure and design of the e-book.
However, before embarking on the major task of laying out the entire e-book contents it is worth checking two things. The first is that all the
contents have been created, and that the structure diagrams showing where each piece of contents goes is also available. It is important to
check this carefully otherwise it is very easy to miss important components, particularly in an e-book with a complex structure.
The second thing to check is the design, it is a good idea to lay out a few sample pages, making sure that they contain most of the design
elements that will be used in the e-book, including a sample hierarchical structure if such structures are being used, and then convert them into
a single sample PDF file. This will give you an idea of how the final e-book will look, you can also check its usability by adding a few basic page
links. Careful testing of design and usability with a small number of sample pages allows any detected errors to be more easily corrected than
attempting to do so when the complete e-book is laid out.
If all contents and structure diagrams are present, and the design checked and any faults corrected the next step is to start on the full layout. It
is best to start with all the pages that make up the top-level structure since these will all be in a linear sequence and thus linked by page turning
icons. This is a fairly straight forward process and will result in a single file containing all the top level pages. Remember to include all the icons
to off-page multimedia content and all buttons to lower level text pages.
The next stage is to lay out all the pages on lower level pages structures, here the pages will probably have to be done one at a time and each
stored with its own file name. At all times use the structure diagrams to ensure that the correct template is being used and the right contents
inserted, also remember to include all the icons to off-page multimedia content and all buttons to lower level text pages.
Since the final result of the lay-out process will be a lot of files, mostly containing single pages, it is essential that file labeling is done
methodically and details added to the structure diagrams. Taking care at this stage will make it much easier when it comes to final assembly of
the e-book.

Designing the cover and introductory pages

With the text laid out all that remains is to design the e-book’s cover and introductory pages. The cover is the first page that the reader sees

when opening the e-book, it is also the page that will be used in online e-book catalogs and bookstores. The main link page comes immediately
after the cover and will typically provide the reader with brief list of links to the e-book’s contents, and perhaps links to pages detailing how to
use the e-book, about the author, any credits to other contributors, and introductory text summarizing the reasons for the books creation.
Cover
For the cover it is a good idea to use a piece of visually striking artwork, or photograph, something that, in thumbnail size, will attract the
attention of someone looking through an online catalog of e-books. The text content of the cover should be limited to title and author, with a
simple link taking the reader to the main link page.
Main link page
This page contains a simple list of the main contents sections of the e-book, these should be displayed as link buttons that will allow the reader
to quickly jump to any desired section of the e-book. It is also a good idea to graphically show the links between the various contents sections in
case a reader wishes to read the book in a more linear fashion. There should also be links to pages covering: Publication data, Using the e-
book, Author and credits, and Introduction. This page, should also show the e-book’s title, the names of its authors and main contributors.
Publication data page
This page, should show the e-book’s title, the names of its authors and main contributors, as well as it publisher, publisher contact details, its
publication date, its version number, and its IEPIN number, plus any copyright and legal messages.
Using the e-book
A concise tutorial on how to use the e-book, the function of the various navigation, control and link buttons.
Author and credits
A short biography of the author/authors and other content contributors, plus credits to any other sources of contents material or information.
This page can also be used to give the reader e-mail links back to the authors and contributors.
Introduction
The introduction is a page of text that allows the author to explain to the reader why he/she has written the book, and what the aim of the book
is.


Yes...

STEP 3 - Converting formatted e-book files to PDF

After completion of the two previous steps, contents creation and formatting, the e-book consists of a large number of single pages, or short

sequences of pages, all fully formatted in a uniform style using a page layout program and complete with all images, navigation and link
buttons. The last and final stage in creation of an e-book is therefore one of linking all these pages together using the structure diagrams
created when the book was first planned.
Before attempting to link the pages together they must all be converted into PDF format files, this can be done using the Adobe Acrobat
Distiller, but if you are using a program like Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign to do the page layout it is far easier to use the Convert to
Adobe PDF button that Adobe Acrobat either installs, or is pre-installed, in these programs. Before converting any pages click on the
Change Conversion Settings in the Acrobat menu and make sure it is set to eBook.
Convert all the pages to PDF, checking each one to make sure that it looks OK when converted, remember that this is the last opportunity to
correct any errors. Make sure that all pages are correctly oriented, and if not use rotate to put in the correct orientation. Check Document
Properties > Open Options and make sure that Magnification is set to Fit in Window, and Page Layout to Single Page. Then check
Document security and make sure that Security Option is set to No Security. Finally save the page with these settings.
Once all pages have been converted to PDF, and thoroughly checked, it is time to start assembling the pages into the correct order.
If your e-book structure consists of a linear sequence of top-level ‘overview’ pages from which there are linked a number of pages structures
containing more detailed information about subjects mentioned in the overview pages, then the first step is to assemble the top-level
overview sequence of pages. Starting with the first of these pages use the Document > Insert Pages command to add the next page in the
sequence. Move to the second page and repeat. Continue this until all the pages in the top level overview have been added together in the
correct sequence as a single PDF file, then save using an appropriate file name.
Then look at each subordinate page structure that is linked to the top level using a ‘Link and UpButton’ pair, and start assembling the pages
for each subordinate page structure in the same manner as the top level. Do so in a logical manner working from left to right and top to
bottom. Save the combined set of pages for each structure as a single PDF using an appropriate file name.
Repeat this process until all subordinate page structures have been assembled.
Finally take the title and introductory pages and assemble in the correct sequence to form a single PDF file, save with appropriate file name.

Adding links to and from pages

The e-book now consists of a much smaller number of PDF files, each consisting of one or more pages belonging to a related sequence, this

could be the top level overview, the title and introductory pages, or any one of the subordinate page structures. The next process is to use the
Link tool in Adobe Acrobat to link the pages in each of these files together using the structure diagrams created when the e-book was first
planned.
By dividing the e-book into a number of structures, each consisting of a relatively small number of pages, makes linking these pages into a
structure, and checking the linkages after creation much easier.
At this stage the main links that need to be made are the forward and backward navigation arrows, and the up/down hierarchy level buttons.
When using the Link tool make sure that Type is set to Invisible Rectangle, and Highlight set to None. Also check that Action Type is set to
GoTo View and Magnification is set to Fit in Window. You may find it easier to use the Thumbnail view in the Navigation Pane to locate the
destination page when setting up each link.
Once all the links between the pages in a file have been created they should be carefully checked to ensure that they conform to the links in the
structure diagrams. Any errors in linkage should be corrected at this stage, trying to do so later on will be a lot harder.
The next step is to use the Document > Insert Pages command to paste together all of the subordinate page structure files. Make sure that they
are in the correct order defined in the structure diagrams that were created when the e-book was first planned. This combined subordinate page
structure file should then be checked to make sure that all the files are present, inserted in the correct order, and that their linkages still work
properly
Next add the title and introductory page file to the beginning, and the top level overview file to the end, of the combined subordinate page
structure file. The reason that the overview file is added to the end is to facilitate the printing out of this sequence of pages.
With all the sections that comprise the main body of the e-book combined into a single file this file should be saved. The Link tool can then be
used to connect the Title and introductory section to the top level overview section, and each of the link buttons within the overview section to the
appropriate subordinate page section, and or course the return uplinks from the subordinate page section to the top level overview section. In
every case make sure that Type is set to Invisible Rectangle, and Highlight set to None. Also check that Action Type is set to GoTo View and
Magnification is set to Fit in Window. Once again using the Thumbnail view in the Navigation Pane will make it easier to locate the destination
page when setting up each link.
Finally carefully proof read the completed e-book, double check every link and every structure against the structure diagrams, and also make
sure that the text reads logically, if pages need to be rewritten or new ones inserted this is the last opportunity to do so.

Adding image links, online links, and pop-up boxes

Having assembled all the pages of the e-book into the correct sequence and added the basic navigation links the next step is to add other types

of linkage to the pages, these are of three different categories:
Online links
Online links consist of web URLs or e-mail addresses that will be contacted when the reader clicks on that link. They can be
simply added to a page by using the Link tool to create the link then on Action Type selecting World Wide Web Link, and typing
in the appropriate URL in the full form (http://www.xxxx.com), or e-mail address in the form (mailto:xxx@yyyy.com).
Pop-up boxes
A pop-up box may contain additional text or image content that relates to an area of text or image on the page. Adding such a
pop-up box requires a special technique that involves the use of Form Fields and a small amount of JavaScript code.
Image links
These are links from text, or another image, to one or more images that are not stored on the same page. The reason for this is
that the image is too large to fit on the page, or that there is not room for all the desired images on a single page. In either case
linkage areas associated with specific part of the text, or specific spots on an image, can be used to access and display the
appropriate image. There are two ways of doing this, either have the image stored on its own page, in much the same way as a
subordinate text page, or employ a special technique that involves the use of Form Fields and JavaScript.
More on creating pop-up boxes More on linking to multiple images More on Form Field image links

Adding rich and multimedia components

One of the great things about creating an e-book in PDF is that Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and 6.0 allow the incorporation of rich media and multimedia

contents. This means that the author can add sound, animation, and even video into the more conventional text and image content of a book.
Whilst such content should not be overused, they can add considerably to an e-book’s ability to clearly and simply deliver information to the
reader.
Sound
Sounds of any sort can be used in a PDF e-book: music, speech, sound effects, or animal noises, provided they have been
recorded and stored in the appropriate audio file format. An audio file can be used in two ways, it can start playing automatically
when the reader turns to a specific page, or it can start playing only when the reader clicks on a specified link.
Animation
The animation of a graphic image can make it far easier to describe, and understand, dynamic processes. In Adobe Acrobat 5.0
the creation of an animation required uses Form Fields and a piece of JavaScript code to turn a sequence of images into an
animation. However, although this technique can still be used in Acrobat 6.0 the incorporation of animated images is made much
easier because this version allows the incorporation of Flash animations into the text, there are a great many tools for creating
Flash animations making them both easier to create and more professional looking.
Video
Like animations the incorporation of video clips into an e-book can make it much easier to describe, and understand, dynamic
processes. Whilst Acrobat 5.0 allowed linkages to external video files, the full incorporation of video files into a PDF e-book was not
possible until the launch of Adobe Acrobat 6.0, however, if video files are to be successfully used they need to be very carefully
created using the appropriate file formats and compression.
More on adding sound More on Form Field animation More on Flash animation More on adding video

Adding Interactive components

Interactivity implies that the reader can provide some form of input to the book that will affect some aspect of the e-book. Thus a questionnaire
on a page in an e-book could take the reader to different pages depending upon which answer was given, this sort of interactivity could be used
to provide a self testing feature in a text book, or in a work of fiction it would allow the reader to choose between a number of alternative narrative
paths.
Another example of interactivity incorporated into an e-book would involve allowing the user to enter values into a number of boxes and
automatically calculate a result. Conversely the data entered into the boxes could be sent online to a database and used to retrieve additional
information or order goods from an e-commerce site.
There are literally thousands of ways that interactivity can be used, especially when combined with connectivity to other computer systems, and
even other users, via the Internet. However, the incorporation of interactivity and connectivity into a PDF e-book relies upon a combination of
JavaScript programming and the forms capability built into Adobe Acrobat.
This means that the incorporation of sophisticated interactivity into an e-book will require the author to acquire some ability to program in
JavaScript, and fully understand the particular dialect of JavaScript that is used by Adobe Acrobat.
This is probably the hardest of the skills that the aspiring e-book author must acquire, however, a short cut can be taken that will still allow the
creation of an interactive e-book but will not require the acquisition of programming skills. The short cut is to use cut and paste techniques to
copy public domain JavaScript code that has been written for use in Acrobat e-books. Check the resources section of the E-book Society web
site for availability of such material.

Adding Navigation Control Bar

Every e-book requires at least some basic navigation features that will allow the reader to move from page to page. This primary level of

navigation control has already provided by the links using the two buttons at the bottom of the page. These are the equivalent of turning the
page forward or back in a printed book. These controls are usually indicated with an arrow pointing left for turning back to the previous page,
and one pointing right to turn to the next page. Exactly the same function is also provided by the link to subordinate level button and its
corresponding Up Button.
However, readers will in most cases not want to be confined to using an e-book in such a strictly controlled manner, they will also want to be
able to locate specific pages, jump to a named section, or find instances of a given keyword. To do this an e-book needs a range of special
navigation commands accessible via a navigation bar located, usually, at the bottom of each page. An example of such a navigation bar can be
seen at the bottom of this page.
The following are some of the navigation features that would be used in most e-books:
Previous/Next page view – In some cases the reader may branch away from the current page, read some more detailed
information and then return to the current page, in such cases the two page view controls are useful. These controls maintain a
list of all the pages accessed by the reader, and allow the reader to go up and down that list reviewing pages.
Contents list – Just as printed books are divided into chapters so e-books are often divided into sections, and this navigation
command allows the reader to easily move from one section to another via a pop-up box of section headings.
Find – One of the great strengths of a computer-based e-book is the ability to do logical searches based on key words or
phrases, this command will initiate such a search allowing the reader to reader to jump to the page containing that word or phrase.
Goto Page – If you are writing an e-book that other authors might want their readers to refer to then it is important that every
page in the e-book carries an unique page number. This page number can then be used in all such references and accessed using
a Goto Page command in the referred e-book.
Index – This is an alphabetical list of the main contents heading for each page in the e-book, and allows the reader to locate and
jump to specific pages.
More on VIEW More on CONTENTS More on FIND More on GOTO More on INDEX

Adding Control Features

Whereas navigation controls allow the reader to move from page to page, the control features allow the reader to change the appearance of the
page, for example by zooming in or out of the page. They also allow the reader to perform other non-navigation functions, such as printing out
the current page, or closing the e-book.
These control features are normally accessed via a control bar, this is best positioned at the top of the page, and consists of a row of icons, or
labeled buttons, which the reader can point and click with the mouse to initiate the desired function. An example of such a control bar can be
seen at the top of this page.
The following are some of the basic control features that would be used in most e-books:
Zoom in and out – These two controls allow the user to magnify a portion of an e-book page, for example a photograph, and
then return the page to normal. The zoom feature is also useful for readers with poor eyesight.
Print – The normal function of the print control is to enable the reader to print out a copy of the current page. A variation of the
print control may be used at certain locations in an e-book that will initiate the printing of a complete section of the e-book, in
particular the top level text.
Close – This command is used to close the e-book and restore the Acrobat display to normal. This is necessary because all the
control functions of Acrobat are usually disabled when the e-book is loaded.
More on ZOOM More on PRINT More on CLOSE

Final E-book Assembly

The e-book is now fully assembled, with all necessary links, navigation and control features, pop-up boxes, and graphics, plus all interactive,

rich media and multimedia components. The result, even when writing a simple e-book, is quite a complex system, so the next step is to take
this fully assembled version and read and test it. If possible give copies to several different people and ask them to read and test it. This is the
stage when it any non-functioning links should be detected, as well as any undesirable interactions between different pieces of JavaScript
code.
Once the main book has been thoroughly tested and any faults corrected, it is time to add the cover artwork page as the first page in the file
and add appropriate links between it and the contents.
The Metadata stored in the Document Properties>Document Summary should be filled in at this stage. This contains details of the e-book’s
title, subject, and author as well as keywords and is the part of the document that will be scanned by Web search engines if it is distributed
online.
All that now remains is to create the final version ready for distribution. This involves setting the e-book’s Document Properties>Open Options
and Document Security>Security Options.
The Open Options will be primarily used to ensure that the e-book opens in full screen mode, this will hide all the Acrobat Reader control,
navigation and tool bars, thus forcing the reader to use the navigation and control features provided with the e-book. This not only ensures that
the reader uses the e-book in the way that the author intended, but also provides a primary level of copy protection particularly if all the Interface
Options are checked. It is also important that the starting page is set to one, the cover, and that Magnification is set to Fit in Window, and Page
Layout set to Single Page
Adobe Acrobat’s security options can, if desired, be used to add further anti-copy and security measures. Anti-copy features allow one to
prevent the user copying or extracting any contents, printing out any contents, or changing the document and its Form Fields. The security
measures allow one to only allow access to the e-book to individuals possessing the appropriate password. However, the fact that these
security options exist does not mean that they should be used, many readers will resent the imposition of too many restrictions upon how an
e-book may be used.


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CLOSE BOOK PRINT PAGE PAGE 2 ZOOM IN ZOOM OUT

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

Contents The author

Contents and standard reading path

Page layout & design

Conversion into e-book

To join, go to the E-Book Society web site - www.ebooksociety.org

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

Using this e-book - Navigation and Control

Click on arrow to move Click on arrow to move

Return to the last Return to next

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

Using this e-book - E-book structure

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

Below is a typical example of such a link button,

Example link button click

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

HIERARCHY LEVEL ONE EXAMPLE PAGE UP BUTTON

Using this e-book - Accessing

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

Using this e-book – Specialist links

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

Pop-up information box

External links – Internet, other PDF e-books, e-mail, Title Forum

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

First edition - publication date – March 1st 2004

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

Why write and publish an e-book?

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

The E-book Society

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

Publications Newsletter Database Forum

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

Free E-Book Society publications

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

The E-Book Society’s Newsletter

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

The E-Book Society’s online E-Publication Database

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

The E-Book Society’s Content Creator Forum

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

BASIC TOOLS AND SKILLS UP BUTTON

Essential Skills and Tools

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

CONTENTS CREATION UP BUTTON

Contents creation – Overall structures for use in non-fiction

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

More on linear structures More on hierarchical structures More on matrix structures

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

CONTENTS CREATION UP BUTTON

Sequential or linear structures for non-fiction

A Guide to Writing PDF E-books by Nick Hampshire

PREVIOUS VIEW CONTENTS SEARCH GOTO PAGE NEXT VIEW

CONTENTS CREATION UP BUTTON