Creative Book Reader for iOS

You can now read HTML5 books easier on iOS since Creative Book Reader for iOS is just released.

Creative Book Reader is a new way to read HTML5 books generated by Creative Book Builder. 

Features

• Manage a list of HTML5 books 
• Read HTML5 books offline 
• Search HTML5 books 
• Sort HTML5 books by book title or modified date

Here is the download link:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/creative-book-reader-read/id1053050111

Creative Book Builder v3.3.3

New features:

1. Fix the problem of using space for indentation

2. Fix width problem for fixed layout book in edit mode

3. Keep cover image's elements after switching to Image Mode

4. Photo Picker Enhancement: list view with detail information

5. Import HTML5 book

6. Preview whole book

Creative Book Reader Chrome App

We believe that the future of ebook is HTML5 book. We just launched new Chrome app called Creative Book Reader. It provides a new way to read HTML5 books easier on Mac, PC or chromebook.

You can open chrome browser and browse the following link to download Creative Book Reader:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/creative-book-reader-html/bhjghhhendjffcmgekdpkffnfnajaibo

Here is the help manual:
https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B85Nly7Q2HIvZnNvdHgxVXdVZWc/index.html

Unleash the power of Creative Book Builder (4): Multiple output format

After you complete the content of the book, CBB offers different format for your book:

EPUB
CBB can generate EPUB format for re-flowable or fixed layout books. CBB supports most features of EPUB.

More information can be found here:
http://getcreativebookbuilder.blogspot.com/2015/05/unleash-power-of-creative-book-builder.html

HTML5

HTML5 book is a mini HTML5 app that consists of one master page (index.html), some full screen pages and some resources (e.g. videos, photos, javascript files). It can be viewed using any browsers on any platforms because file format is standard HTML5 format. Therefore, any embed codes should work.

More information can be found here:
http://getcreativebookbuilder.blogspot.com/2015/08/introducing-html5-books.html

PDF
Besides EPUB, you can export your book into PDF format for printing purpose or send PDF to others who do not have EPUB readers installed in device.

Podcast
Usually you may include audio recording, song and video to your book. You have an option to share these via Podcast.

More information about Podcast Generation can be found here:
http://getcreativebookbuilder.blogspot.com/2015/08/podcast-generation.html

Audio
This option allows you to combine all audio files into one audio as great audiobook.

Video
This option is supported for Fixed Layout books only. You can add any content on each page and add audio as well. When the book is converted into video, page content will be shown and particular audio on that page will be played at the same time. After the audio finishes playing, another page will be shown and another audio will be played until all the pages are shown. It works like a slideshow.

Podcast Generation

One of nice feature introduced in version 3.3 is: Podcast Generation.

When your book contains audio or video in each page and you want to reuse content, you can publish book as Podcast. The book information is shown as podcast's information. The cover image becomes podcast's cover. The first audio or video in each page becomes podcast's item. You can add title and description to audio or video and those information will become the title and description of podcast's item.

How to generate Podcast

1. Tap Publish button, and then select Podcast
2. Tap Preview Podcast button to view your podcast's items
3. Tap Upload to Google Drive (Hosting) button to upload necessary files to Google Drive for web hosting
4. Tap Go to Podcast button to subscribe that podcast to your podcast app
5. Tap Email Podcast button to send podcast link to your subscribers

Introducing HTML5 Books

What are the problems of EPUB?

Did you try to add Google Forms to ebooks? Did you try to add embedded widgets from internet to ebooks, e.g. YouTube video, games, Twitter posts, Facebook posts ? None of them is possible because EPUB readers did not support them.

Are you being rejected when you submit book with embedded video to Apple?

Did your book contain a lot of videos and photos to make the book size too large?

Did other people say that they cannot view your books because they did not have iPad or did not install EPUB readers on their devices?

Now, we have a solution: HTML5 book !!!

What is HTML5 book?

HTML5 book is a mini HTML5 app that consists of one master page (index.html), some full screen pages and some resources (e.g. videos, photos, javascript files). It can be viewed using any browsers on any platforms because file format is standard HTML5 format. Therefore, any embed codes should work.

HTML5 book looks like a reader embedded in the browser.

• When the book is launched using browser, book cover is shown.

• There is a navigation bar on the top, a previous page button on the left, and a next page button on the right.  When you tap next page button, it will turn to next page, tap previous page button, it will turn to previous page. 

• When you tap TOC button, it will switch to Table of contents. You can jump to any page from here. 

• When you tap Resume button, it will switch back to the book.
• By default, two-pages (left page and right page) are shown each time. When the screen size is not enough, one page is shown instead. When you resize the window or rotate the device, the book will be automatically resized to fit into the window. 

• Tap any part of the page, navigation bar, previous page button and next page button will be hidden. Tap again, they will be shown again.

• If you choose to host your book in Google Drive or other web servers, you can just simply share the link to anyone. Your readers can view your book without any installation of EPUB readers.
• If you choose to generate zip version of HTML5 book, you can just simply send zip file to anyone. Your readers simply unzip the file and then tap master page (index.html) to get started.

How can I generate HTML5 book?

When you are editing HTML5 book, you can now add embed codes and iframe element that are not supported in EPUB.

• You can copy any embed codes from anywhere, and paste them into your books using HTML elements, e.g. Google Forms, SlideShare, Haiku Deck, etc.
• There is a new category called "HTML5 Book Widget". You can also add embed codes from that category. 
• YouTube and Vimeo elements are converted to embed code for HTML5 Book automatically.

After you finish your book,

• Tap Publish button. There is a new option called "HTML5". Select "HTML5".
• Tap Generate HTML5 Book button to start generation process.
• Tap Upload to Google Drive (Hosting) button to upload the book to Google Drive for web hosting.
• Tap Generate ZIP file button to generate zip version of HTML5 book. You can unzip the file and upload all the extracted files to your favorite web server for hosting or just send zip file to others for offline browsing.

Here are some examples:

Getting Started (Classic Book)
https://goo.gl/iqc3yg

Getting Started (Fixed Layout Book)
https://goo.gl/eXAIq1

Creative Book Builder v3.3

New features:

1. Introduce HTML5 Book: New way to publish your book for anyone to read in any browser on any platform

2. Convert book to Podcast: One video/audio in each page

3. Integrate with Box

4. Insert embed html or iframe element into HTML5 Book

5. Create 360 degree image slider (fixed layout book only)

6. Support panorama image

7. Allow more than one slideshow on the same page

8. Indicate position and size when moving or resizing element in fixed layout

9. Photo Picker Enhancement: group by day, month, year, size, and orientation

10. Add True & False Question quickly

11. Option to overwrite file when uploading to Google Drive

How to import photos from Google Photos

With Google Photos, you can now backup and store unlimited, high-quality photos and videos, for free. Please follow the steps below to connect Google Photos with Google Drive:

1. Please go to Google Drive via http://drive.google.com and select "Google Photos"

2. Please tap the button "Add Folder to Google Drive"

3. Finally you can access your photos through the folder "Google Photos".

Once the connection setup is completed, you can import your photos from the folder "Google Photos" in Google Drive into CBB app.

Import Posts From WordPress

WordPress is a popular blogging system in the world used on millions of sites every day. Do you want to import content from your WordPress blogs to your book ? Now, Creative Book Builder offers an easy way to import it.

First, you tap import button (down arrow) and then select WordPress. Import screen will be shown.

WordPress.com is the official hosting platform. By default, the host is "https://wordpress.com". If you have self-hosted WordPress platform or some other platforms based on WordPress (e.g. edublogs.org), you can change host accordingly. Please note that the specified WordPress Platform should enable XML-RPC.

Next step is to log on to your WordPress Platform by tapping Login button. After you log on successfully, you can select one of the blogs. Then you can change search criteria: tag, sorting order, and date range. Finally, you tap Start Import button. When import process is completed, new book is created.

Unleash the power of Creative Book Builder (3): Reuse your existing content

Everyone has already written a lot of content on blogging sites, online word processors and social network. Everyone may also have tons of word, powerpoint, pdf files, etc. You may imagine how to reuse those content with copy and paste all the time. CBB puts a lot of efforts on integration with different online services to make your life easier.

Evernote, Blogger, WordPress, RSS/Atom Feed
Many people write notes on Evernote and posts on Blogger or WordPress or other blogging sites daily. CBB provides a quick way to import all the notes or posts (filtered by date or tag) and generate a new book. The files stored outside the targeted sites will also be downloaded automatically. E.g. RSS feed may contain links to audio or video files, which are downloaded also.




Google Documents
Many people are using Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets or Google Drawing to write their documents because they are all browser based and free of charge. Google Drive API provides HTML as export format for Google Docs. CBB parses HTML and convert content into CBB's elements. Google Drive API also provides PDF as export format for all documents. CBB leverages this feature to download PDF format for Google Slides or Google Sheets.

TouchAppCreator
If you already have built web apps using TouchAppCreator, those content is highly compatible with CBB so that you can convert web apps into ebooks. On the other hand, you can convert ebooks into web apps using TouchAppCreator as well.

Dropbox, Google Drive & OneDrive
A lot of apps contain a function called "Open In..." to bring file from that app to another app. However, in this case, it supports one file at one time only. Therefore, CBB makes use of Dropbox API, Google Drive API and One Drive API  to let you import multiple files at one time.




Quizlet, Flickr, URL
CBB also integrates with Quizlet to download content from Quizlet and convert them into image or paragraph elements. If you prefer to use Creative Commons Images, CBB can download your favorite images from Flickr too. Besides, any URL of image, video or audio can also be downloaded using File From URL feature in CBB.

Unleash the power of Creative Book Builder (2): Powerful and flexible widget

We all know that interactive content is very important for ebooks. It helps people better understand the content and feel more interesting. CBB supports a lot of powerful and flexible widget to make your content more interactive.

Read Aloud
For any read aloud books (fixed layout only), iBooks can play audio and highlight the word at the same time. It can turn the page automatically. CBB allows you to add read aloud features to your book easier by taking 3 simple steps: add text, record audio, and finally mix text with audio.

Quiz & Question
CBB supports multiple choice questions. Quiz can contain a set of questions. Each question and answer can contain text and image. The readers choose their answer, and then they check if it is correct or not. It is useful for them to revise the content they have read before.

Slideshow
Slideshow can contain a set of slides. Each slide can contain image and audio. When you play slideshow, audio will be played at the same time for each slide. You can even record your voice for story telling purpose.

Chart
Sometimes, you may need a simple chart to illustrate the figures for convincing or reporting purpose. CBB supports bar chart, line chart, pie chart, etc. You can input the data and customize the look and feel of the charts.

Equations (LaTeX)
If you know LaTeX syntax, you will find that it is one of great feature to input mathematical formula or equations to build math or science book easier.

Table, Drawing & QR Code
You can present summary and figures as table format. You can draw using finger. You can insert QR Code that represents any link.

Not enough ? We will continue to explore and add more widgets. Stay tuned.

You can also submit your request to our support anytime.

Unleash the power of Creative Book Builder (1): Different types of books

CBB allows you to create different types of books in terms of layout, page turning, and even vertical text.

There are 5 types of layout: Classic (Reflowable), Fixed Layout, Landscape, Portrait and Square. Classic book can adapt its presentation to output device. Elements in Classic books are displayed linearly. Other types of books have fixed size. Elements in other types of books are displayed at the fixed position. You can convert Fixed Layout books into Classic books by using Copy To function.

There are 4 types of direction: Left-to-right, Right-to-left, Vertical Text with Left-to-right, Vertical Text with Right-to-left. Most of the books with English language's text are using Left-to-right direction. The traditional books with Chinese and Japanese language are usually using Vertical Text with Right-to-left direction. You can change direction by the following steps:

1. Open book
2. Tap Settings icon at the bottom toolbar
3. Tap Book Style
4. Tap Direction

Also, in the book generation interface, you can use older EPUB version, i.e. 2.0 for older EPUB readers. Some EPUB readers do not support separate CSS file. In this case, you can enable Inline Stylesheet.

By default, all the books are opened to spread two pages when you are using iBooks to view book. When you view Landscape book, you need to scroll the page horizontally until you see another page because the screen is not enough to display two pages in this case. We are aware of this and we add an option called "Open to Spread" in book generation interface. You just turn it off. Then only one page will be shown to fit the screen. You can swipe left or right to turn the page.

Display Width of Image

Previously, the width of image in terms of HTML image tag <img> is 100%. It is not flexible enough to display on the page, especially on Classic Book.

From version 3.2, CBB introduces the display width option for image. The display width can be changed to any value in terms of percentage or pixel. The display height will be adapted to maintain aspect ratio. As a result, the image is not too large or too wide to take up the whole screen. No matter the actual size of image is, the image will be displayed using display size if it is specified.

Version 3.2 Highlights

Evernote, WordPress, Blogger, RSS/Atom Feed Support

For those who have already great content on Evernote, WordPress, Blogger, or other blogging platform, CBB makes use of that content to create your own book easier now.

1. Tap Import button (down arrow)
2. Select Evernote, Blogger, WordPress, or RSS/Atom Feed
3. Type the required information
4. Tap Start Import button

Better support for Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawing

There is a specific item called "Google Documents" in Import and Add Element popover screen. It will download the specified Google Documents from your Google Drive account.

CBB extracts text from Google Docs and turn it to paragraph, turns each slides of Google Slides presentation into images, turns spreadsheets of Google Sheets into images, turns drawing in Google Drawing into images as well. It separates the function from "Files From Google Drive" which treats presentation and spreadsheet as embedded files.

Edit cover image and book information without leaving publish screen

Previously, in publish screen, if you found that some information is missing or want to modify cover image, you need to close publish screen, editing and then tap Publish button again to generate the book.

Now you do not need to close publish screen, you can change book information by tapping book title and description, and change cover image by tapping cover image's thumbnail directly.

Creative Book Builder v3.2

New features:

1. Import posts from Evernote

2. Import posts from Blogger

3. Import posts from WordPress

4. Import content from RSS feed

5. Convert PDF to slideshow

6. Thumbnail view for books

7. Thumbnail view for pages

8. Copy and paste pages (tap and hold)

9. Access shared folder of Google Drive

10. Set display width of image

11. Edit cover image and book information without leaving publish screen

12. Better support for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawing

13. Revamp Add Element Interface

14. Support online image

Issues about Google Drive

When you upload documents to Google Drive, it will be converted to Google Docs editor format automatically. When CBB downloads those files from Google Drive via API, it may not return original files and CBB may get the empty files. It causes unexpected result.

You are recommended to disable conversion when upload, especially PDF files. You can refer to https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424101?hl=en to change upload settings.

Creative Book Builder v3.1.1

New Features:

1. Import web app from Google Drive's folder

2. Scan QR Code to import EPUB, PDF, image or web app

3. Bug fix

Version 3.1 Highlights

iCloud Drive

Now you can insert files (image, video, song, etc), import epub from iCloud Drive or upload epub to iCloud Drive.

Cut, Copy, Paste Element

Editing page in Fixed Layout Book or editing cover image:

1. Tap any elements and then select "Cut" or "Copy"
2. Next, go to any other page in any book
3. Tap the space and then select "Paste Element"

Editing page in Classic Book:

1. Tap and hold any elements and then select "Cut" or "Copy"
2. Next, go to any other chapter in any book
3. Tap and hold one of the elements and then select "Paste"

Rotate Element

Just use two fingers to rotate any element when editing page in Fixed Layout Book or editing cover image

Vertical Text

1. Open book
2. Tap settings button and then select "Book Style"
3. Change direction: Vertical, Left To Right OR Vertical, Right To Left

Creative Book Builder v3.1

New features:

1. Support iCloud Drive (for iOS 8 users)

2. Rotate element when editing fixed layout book or cover image

3. Cut, copy and paste elements from page to page

4. Support vertical text

5. Lock element to avoid movement

6. Add audio for each image of slideshow element

7. Show cover thumbnail when selecting book

8. Add justification option for alignment

9. Import multiple images to generate new book

10. Backup book to Dropbox automatically after generating book

11. Revamp Slideshow Element

12. Revamp Quiz Element

13. Optimized for iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus