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How to create a Digital Web Book using DeskTop Author
This product walk through will show you how to use Desktop Author
to create a generic electronic publication in the form of a Digital
Web Book. The same principal steps can be applied to the creation
of any ePublication including eBooks, eBrochures, digital
photo albums, digital catalogues, eCards, digital resumes, digital
diaries, etc.
1. Creating a new Digital Web Book
To begin with, click on the ‘New’ button on the tool
bar which will bring up the ‘Book Properties’ window.
This is where you can customise your Digital Web Book such as Digital
Web Book size, paper colour, background colour and page turn mode.
Once you have entered your settings press OK. This will bring
up the first blank page of your Digital Web Book.
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2. Inserting a Digital Web Book template
DeskTop Author comes with a selection of built-in Digital Web Book templates.
To insert a template select the drop down arrow next to the ‘Templates’
button on the tool bar. A list will drop down displaying the template
categories available. Select the category. This will open up a template
selection window for that category where you can preview the template
designs. Select the design of your choice then select ‘Use’.
This will insert the template onto your page. Ensure that the size
of your working area is the same size as the template. In this case
the working area and the template page size are both 700 x 440 pixels.
3. Inserting your images
Before you begin make sure your images have been saved as a JPEG,
bitmap or non-interlaced gif as DeskTop Author only supports these
file formats. To insert an image you can use the Image Browser to
navigate your PC and locate the image you wish to insert, Simply
select the desired image with your mouse then drag and drop it into
your template. You can also click on the image button located in
the tool bar and insert the image by using windows explorer.
Should you need to change the size of the image so that it fits
into the area provided on the template, you can do so by using DeskTop
Author’s internal image editor. The image editor also allows
you to optimise your image in order to achieve a smaller file size.
To access the image editor select the image you wish to edit, right
click with your mouse button and select ‘Edit Image’
from the menu.
4. Inserting Text
There are 2 types of text in DeskTop Author - regular text and
editable text. To insert regular text select the ‘Text’
button from the tool bar which will bring up the ‘Text Editor’
window. Here you can type in your text or copy and paste the text
from other applications. You can also format your text (font type,
appearance, size and colour), position your text and link your text.
5. Inserting Links
DeskTop Author allows you to create links for text and images.
There are a number of different links you can create such as links
to other pages within the Digital Web Book, links to web sites,
email links, links for editable text and more.
To link text, open up the Text Editor by double clicking on the
text you wish to link. In the Text Editor highlight the text you
wish to link and press the ‘Link’ button. This will
bring up the ‘Link Editor’ window. Select the type of
link you would like to use from the drop down menu. In this example
we will link the text to the contents page of our photo album. From
the Link Type drop down menu select ‘Page’, then select
the page number, which is page 2 in this case.
Linking images is similar to linking text. Select the image you
wish to link then select the ‘Link button’ on the tool
bar. This will bring up the ‘Link Editor’ window with
the same choice of links as for linking text. In this example we
are going to create a 'Send Mail' link. Creating a send mail link
will allow the person viewing your Digital Web Book to send it onto
others via email simply by clicking on the linked image. What a
great way to share your photos with family and friends!
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6. Saving and Packaging
To save your Digital Web Book simply click on the ‘Save’
button on the tool bar. You will be prompted to specify a name for
the file and save it in the location of your choice. It's best to
always create a new folder for each new Digital Web Book you create.
This saves the source (content) of the Digital Web Book for later
editing/packaging. The file type created is .dml.
Once you have saved your Digital Web Book you are ready to package
it so you can start turning those pages.
There are 2 different file formats to choose from when packaging
your Digital Web Book:
1. Packaging EXE will create a stand-alone application
that does not require the user to have a reader installed on their
PC.
2. Packaging DNL will create a data only file
that requires the end user to have the dnl reader installed on their
PC in order to be able to view the Digital Web Book . Packaging
the Digital Web Book as a .dnl file typically produces a smaller
file size that can be distributed more easily.
The dnl reader may be downloaded from http://www.digitalwebbooks.com/reader
Select either ‘Package EXE’ or ‘Package DNL’
from the tool bar. The packaging process will then begin. Once packaging
is complete the photo album will show up on the screen ready for
viewing.
7. Publish to Web
This feature allows a DNL file
to be displayed within a web browser. To initiate this process first
package DNL, then select Tools from the top menu, press Publish
to web. The publish to web dialog box will pop up and you will be
prompted to enter your server details. To learn more on how to publish
to web consult your user manual.
Note: In order to view a file in
the DNL format, the DNL reader will have to be installed on your
computer.
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