Guide to iBooks Author Templates

4phun wrote:

lhs63 wrote:

Is there a way to delete the TOC? I'd like to make a relatively simple book that doesn't need one.

Yes

Locate TOC in INSPECTOR and delete all the entries that IA uses to make a TOC.

You do that by highlighting them and then pressing the minus sign bottom left.

I've tried that, but it didn't work. Maybe I missed something, so I'll try again (need to borrow a friend's MBP that has Lion/IA -- I'll keep you posted).

Thanks.

I would like to see how the different parts of book, chapters, sections, pages are displayed in iBooks. i.e. screen shots of a book in iBooks that shows the different sections...

Is there any template that will work in both Pages and iBooks Author.

Thanks

Same issue here with the craft template, did you figure it out? BTW, where are the templates and other iBA assets are stored? Searched ~/Library/ w/o any luck

Steve - I am interested in the manual as well - thanks - jeff

Friends,

I highly recommend everyone download and read this free book from O'Rilley press, Publishing With iBooks Author :

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920025597.do

Reading this book and absorbing its contents will eliminate 95% of all the questions asked in this forum.

- Fabe

I would also be interested in the manual- i did download the book that Fabe suggested as well.

This book sound like what everyone is looking for, Will it have the information on developing a Template from

scratch, I had to open the software bundle and poke aroung for about 2 weeks untill I figured out how to change some things around on the templates , And now reverce looking at what was done so I can make them for myself.

I to am writer but manuels, Hacking this software is not one apple will let me publish about how to do it . So we need your book.

Thanks for doing it.

I have a small template to give away you can find it at files.me.com/whyisdaddy/lih3qh

enjoy it if it helps.

Yes, the book includes detials on how to make five different types of templates from scratch, how to break down existing templates and edit them, and also includes a lesson in page layout and design. I'm working with an illustrator to finalize parts of it now so it should be coming soon. Thanks for being patient everyone!

I talk a bit about templates in this article: http://onethousanddreams.com/blog/?p=59#more-59

Fabe wrote:

Friends,

I highly recommend everyone download and read this free book from O'Rilley press, Publishing With iBooks Author :

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920025597.do

Reading this book and absorbing its contents will eliminate 95% of all the questions asked in this forum.

- Fabe

I would like to second Fabe's suggestion and add the following observations.

First TextEdit is your OS X friend with all the services it is linked to in Mac OS.

iTextExpress for ePubs

Second iTextExpress is TextEdit on steroids so I would grab that too for your box of tools.

I set iTextExpress as the default program to open ePubs in OS X. The reason is I want to be able to save each ePub that is not heavily DRMed to RTFD by saving a copy of the ePub from iTextExpress.

VIEW PACKAGE IN FINDER

RTFD gives me several advantages of over normal ePubs in OS X. One I can use OS X right click on file name to 'View the Package' to view all graphics and other objects in the RTFD in Finder. That is really useful if I want to copy and reuse or even to modify a graphic using Preview.

BOOKMARKS AND FIND

RTFD files like the above book when converted to RTFD bring all their Bookmarks intact to

iTextExpress so you can read the book as intened in that format and jump around. There is a powerful FIND function associated with iTextExpress. As you find the points you are looking for you can set the background color to your choice to permanently markup the document. You can even add or delete from the BookMarks if you choose.

ADJUST DOCUMENT FONTS WITH A FEW CLICKS

BTW I change the font size for the whole document by selecting all with Command A and using SHIFT COMMAND + several times until the body text is 16 or 18 fonts size on a Mac Book Pro so it will be easier to view.

Now for the good stuff.

I talking to someone else I can easily select the section of the RTFD converted wPub and copy it with all illustrations intact to a new email, iBooks Author, or even this web post

Creating Complex Layouts (Tutorial)

The easiest way to learn is to do, so in this section you’re going to walk through recreating one of the layouts from the Life on Earth free sample from the iBookstore—pages 27 and 28.

Step 1: Set Up the Page Structure

First, go to Author → Preferences, and in the Rulers tab, choose Points as your unit of measurement.

Create a new document using the Basic template, and add two more blank pages after page 3 (Toolbar → Add Pages→Pages→Blank). You want your pages to form a spread—a pair of facing pages. In a printed book, if you have the book lying open in front of you, the two pages you see form a spread.

Make sure the rulers are turned on (View → Show Rulers) and your layout boundaries are showing (View→Show Layout Boundaries).

Go to View → Show Layouts, and select the Blank page layout. Click New Layout and give your layout a meaningful name….

<snip>

etc. from the above document with some of my own markup of important points

Figure 5-6. Use the Metrics Inspector (the ruler icon) to get precise sizes and positions for the elements on your page.

Anyway jump to that section using the BookMark feature and work through the step by step tutorial for creating a new TEMPLATE and you will be good to go for all kinds of unique projects of your own without the restrictions of the default ones included by Apple. You can even create new page layouts on the fly while working on just one iBook and save them to the template the book was created with.

Is your book out already? Have been looking for it, but wasn't able to locate it. Can you help?

so would I!

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Hi Stevie

Looking for your guide to learn how to create my own iBooks Author template. Is it finally available (on the iBooks Store), or not ?

Let me know.

Thanks for your help

Best

Heyyyyyyyy Steve! I dropped into this thread to discover that you've been working on your book for a little over 6 months. Hope you're still alive and inspired to finish it!