eMagCreator

The Changing Revenue Profile of Newspapers in America

se — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:47:31 +0000

Tried and true newspaper revenue models are seeing a shift as more readers make the switch to digital editions. New revenue sources, such as mobile advertising, are beginning to make a major impact. While reimagined subscription models, which include digital, are creating ever-important circulation increases. Take a look the revenue profile of newspaper publishers in the United States in 2012:

Source: The American Newspaper Media Industry Revenue Profile 2012 – Newspaper Association of America, April 2013

Mobile Activations in Print Media – Integration Tools or Interruptions?

se — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:25:01 +0000

For mobile readers, interaction is natural and expected with any content they consume. But print readers don’t necessarily share this mentality. Maybe the idea of getting a print reader to continue their experience on mobile is stretching too far. Or maybe the right trigger has yet to be developed. QR codes are an eyesore, watermarked images are overlooked, and other types of activations are little-known or platform-specific.

MediaPost’s recent article on mobile activations in print mentions that there were 8448 mobile activations in print magazines last year. The majority of these were associated with advertising rather than editorial content. Video, social media and contests were the most popular triggers, and QR codes the most popular activation tool. The interest from advertisers is there, the implementation is growing, but not enough readers are taking the bait. Why is this?

While mobile editions are becoming ever more important to subscription numbers, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the reader is wanting the two medias to interact. Why not provide print subscribers with a free copy of your digital edition or App? Given the choice, some may switch to the more interactive digital version. And it’s really easy to get your print magazine mobile and include interaction directly in the edition. If you currently have mobile activations in your magazine, you will already have the print version and the interactive online content- all the elements to make a great online edition that can supplement print subscriptions, encourage conversion, and will not disrupt the consumption patterns of print or digital readers.

So what do you think- is there a way to include mobile activations in print editions without interrupting the consumption flow of the reader, or is it more wise given the current trends to keep the two medias separate, and encourage readers to engage with the more interactive version over time?

Join the conversation on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Source: Steve Smith via mediapost.com

Image: golanlevin via the Flickr Creative Commons License

From PDF to App in 4 Simple Steps

se — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:21:25 +0000

So you have PDFs that you want in an App. Here is the simple 4-step process to get them there!

1. Talk to an eMagStudio sales consultant about creating your customized App. The App creation process can take 40 days or longer, due to the approval waiting times with Apple and Google, so make sure to plan ahead! Your sales consultant will give you all the information you need to submit the App creation materials quickly and successfully.

2. While you wait for your App to be created, make sure your pdf is web optimized. You can refer to this tutorial to find out how: How to create a PDF that’s ready for the web

3. Open your PDF, add rich media, links, web content, and publish with eMagStudio. Our YouTube channel has a ton of step-by-step tutorials to get you started. You will need at least one published eMag to finalize your App for approval.

4. After your App is approved by Apple and/or Google, you will be able to manage the content in real-time through a dedicated module in the customer portal. Switch out your content as much or as little as you need, and manage your custom tab content.

Print isn’t dying – the case of Forbes

se — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:25:51 +0000

Forbes is undoubtedly a content leader when it comes to finance and success. Recently, they provided a great overview of how they have managed to move from print to cross-platform, with an innovative and brand-loyal approach which still holds print as a critical part of the business. Here are some of the key takeaways:

“Clarity is key to innovation” – If your vision is clear, your voice strong, and your content consistent, then the mixing of on- and offline media will be a less intrusive step. Your key content pieces should consistently represent what your brand is all about. With this approach, adding additional media pieces and scaling your content will be a transparent process which will not alienate your readership.

“Online, the audience wants to mix it up” – While straight content and clear editorial pieces may be perfect for a print magazine, it just won’t fly in a digital environment. Multiple engaging content channels are needed to supplement editorial content online. But that also doesn’t mean that editorial and multimedia can’t be combined to form innovative and immersive content- it just takes a bit of creative journalism.

Social media can extend print edition awareness – Forbes has gone all-in with social media, and reaped the benefits of such dedication. Social interaction has increased awareness of their print edition and led them to develop a mobile version which unifies all of their platforms- print, interactive and social. With consistent social media interaction, it’s possible to increase awareness of any type of content with multiple distinct target groups.

Forbes is proof that print is not dead, and that with the thoughtful implementation of a clear, cross-platform business plan, the print magazine can thrive in the digital world. Their newsstand sales are up while the industry as a whole is down. By refocusing their brand message to include all modern channels and staying true to their core message, Forbes has become a case study in magazine sustainability in the digital age. They have found a balanced mix of print and digital, and we recommend that all print publications aim to do the same.

Source: Forbes.com, “Inside Forbes – How a magazine can help drive a powerful digital publishing platform“ April 2013
Image: B.K. Dewey via Flickr Creative Commons License

Competition – Show us your best!

se — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:07:04 +0000

It’s your turn to show off!

We’re always talking about how much you can do with digital publishing software. It’s so much more than a pdf to page flip solution, and we want to see how far you can take it! Send us a link to your best example of a digital book, magazine or catalog created with eMagStudio and you could win big.

What can you win?

An eMagStudio License – whether it’s your first license or an additional license

Need some ideas of what to include?

- Add a background, custom navigational buttons or a logo to brand the look and feel. How?

- Include videos, links, audio or Flash animations to engage your readers. How?

- Pop up a Google map, shopping basket, form or more to unite all of your online media. How?

How immersive your publications can be using eMagStudio is only limited to your own creativity.

How to enter

1. Open up eMagStudio 2.6 or contact sales to get a full trial

2. Create your best publication

3. Send a link to your published entry, along with your name and the name of your company to se@papeer.com before 26 April 2013. The winner will be announced the first week of May.

So put your thinking caps on, and start creating. We will feature some of the best entries on our Facebook, Linkedin and Google+ pages during the contest, so keep an eye out for your entry or to get some more inspiration.

Terms and conditions

Any submissions may be used for promotional purposes by eMagCreator by Papeer International ApS on emagcreator.com, The eMag Blog, Linkedin, Google+ or Facebook. Any submission used for promotion will be visibly credited to the account from which it was submitted. One winner will be chosen in the first week of May, 2013 by employees of eMagCreator by Papeer International ApS, based on successful use of eMagStudio features, visual appeal and timely submission. Submissions created with the 2 week full trial will be disabled after full trial expires, as per trial terms. The winner will be contacted via email before being announced on the eMag Blog, LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook. Facebook, Google and LinkedIn are in no way affiliated with this competition. Prize is non-transferable and has no cash value.

eMag stuck on the Loading screen

tlo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:56:54 +0000

eMags created with eMagStudio rely on advanced flash-in-flash loading and can therefore be impacted by certain server-specific settings. One of these is the gzip option of many servers, which conflicts with most advanced Flash content and can cause eMags to stall during the loading process.

Turning off gzip for Flash is entirely unproblematic, and is in fact the correct setting as Flash has no benefits at all from this feature. Please refer to this tutorial for instructions on disabling gzip: http://support.gotomultimedia.com/kb/general-use/solving-loading-stucks-problems

Security Sandbox violations on an RSS feed

tlo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:56:54 +0000

Probably your domain is not on the “white-list” (also called a cross-domain policy<http://wwwmacr-sjc0.adobe.com/devnet/articles/crossdomain_policy_file_spec.html>)
of the website you are trying to load a feed from. This means that they
will not allow you to fetch their RSS feeds. You should either
contact the administrator of that site or bypass the restriction using a
proxy. Here is a short tutorial on how to do this using Yahoo Pipes (a
free service provided by Yahoo):

* Log into http://pipes.yahoo.com (Yahoo Pipes)
* Click the "Create a pipe" link
* Drag the "Fetch feed" module onto the work area
* Insert the feed into the URL box
* Click and drag the bottom dot of the "Fetch feed" box and connect it to the "Output" box
* Click "Save"
* Give your pipe a name
* A message will appear at the top of the screen saying "Pipe Saved" – Now click "Run Pipe…" (right next to the message)
* A new window will pop up with the newly created feed, click "Get as RSS"
* Substitute pipes.yahoo.com with pipes.yahooapis.com in the feed url
* Use the new URL in the eMagStudio RSS feed plugin

Project file cannot be saved

tlo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:56:54 +0000

Please check if a name of the project file doesn't contain spaces and special characters like ä, ö, ü, ß as well as the name of the folder where the files are saved. eMagStudio has known issues with folders and files containing nonstandard latin characters, and we recommend that you name your files and folders using only standard latin letters and numbers.

Adding flipping sounds to pages in eMagStudio

tlo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:56:53 +0000

eMagStudio has no built in function for adding sounds to page-flips, but using the Events & Action system the same effect can easily be accomplished. Simply follow these steps:

In the Toolbox, select the "On-Page" layer from the "Work Area" palette
Click the publication pages to select the "View" (They are showing the pages of the publication)
In the "Properties" palette, select the "Events" tab
Double click the "On leave page" event
Set the page that triggers the event to "Any"
Select the "Play sound" action from the "Media" group
Select your sound

Your eMag will now playback the selected sound every time the pages of the eMag is flipped

My eMag seems slow to load, is my PDF file too big?

tlo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:56:53 +0000

The size of the PDF file has little impact on the size of the eMag. Most eMags will end up at more or less the same size, depending on the number of pages in them and the resolution they are generated at. As a general rule, eMags are quite bandwidth intensive due to their rich-media nature, and should be hosted on a high performance hosting service. eMags can benefit greatly from being hosted on a Content Distribution Network, such as Amazon CloudFront (http://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/), CacheFly (http://cachefly.com/) or similar.