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iBooks & Author #1
Chris Hoch's picture
by Chris Hoch
January 20, 2012 - 5:57pm

So with the launch of iBooks Author on the app store yesterday any ideas on how we can utilize this? I haven't had a full play around with it yet but I assume you can get your images from aperture into Author no problem at all?

I was thinking about designing a layout for clients for after their events, for those who have iphones/ipads.

So as well as getting a physical hard copy album they would also get it in a digital format.

According to Apple's T&C's you can freely distribute a book but if you want to charge then you have to upload it to their store? So no charging for that, unless you charge for a PDF copy and then supply a “free of charge” iBooks version to accompany?

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
January 20, 2012 - 6:07pm

Chris,

I’m playing with it as we speak, with hopes of releasing a free (photo) book before I fall asleep tonight :)

The EULA is definitely a bit upsetting, but I’m honestly of two minds on it. On one hand I find it ridiculous that I can’t sell my product however I like, but on the other, if you think of it like an app on the App Store, you can only sell those through Apple too — and that’s worked out well for a lot of people.

I think if you sell a book to a client in a private transaction, while technically it may be against the EULA, how would Apple know and why would they care. I think the point is that they don’t want people like me selling iBooks directly on my site and cutting Apple out of their 30%. Which is fair enough, since they provided the software for free, and no one is making me use it. For a site like ApertureExpert, getting onto the iBook Store could actually be a huge benefit, and well worth the 30% cut in profit. However for other sites larger than mine, they may not benefit and in fact could lose money by being forced to share their profits.

Then again… no one is forcing anyone to use iBooks Author, or publish as “textbooks”.

For now I’m just having fun with the tool, and it’s really, really cool.

@PhotoJoseph
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Grace Suarez's picture
by Grace Suarez
January 21, 2012 - 4:27am

When you master iBooks Author (in a couple of days :)) how about doing a tutorial? I’m playing with it but I think I’m missing a lot.

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
January 21, 2012 - 4:33am

I may do that Grace, thanks for the suggestion.

Did you see the book I published already? PhotoJoseph.com/ibooks

@PhotoJoseph
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Chris Hoch's picture
by Chris Hoch
January 21, 2012 - 4:58am

Just downloaded your iBook very cool.

I think this software is going to help majorly in the marketing dept area.

I look forward to playing more with this app.

Grace Suarez's picture
by Grace Suarez
January 21, 2012 - 4:59am

Book is beautiful! You’ve inspired me to continue learning iBooks Author. But please do a tutorial. I would gladly pay for it.

You’re a wonderful photographer.

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
January 21, 2012 - 5:00am

Thanks Chris, and thank you Grace! Very kind words :)

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Grace Suarez's picture
by Grace Suarez
January 21, 2012 - 9:11am

Inspired by Joseph, I’ve begun my 2011 photo album using iBooks Author. It’s great! Drag and drop straight from Aperture. The Gallery widget is a wonderful way to put a bunch of pics on a single page.

Stuart's picture
by Stuart
January 23, 2012 - 3:40am

Hi Joseph,

I did down load your iBook (Vietnam) but when opening via iBooks 2 is starts off with the cover page and music then goes to a gray screen and just stops. Someone else on your Blog reported the same problem. Now it just locks up the screen. So I just uninstalled iBook 2 and reinstall. However the same problem occurs when I try to open your book. So I uninstalled iBook 2 again and then reinstalled. Delated your book and all worked just fine. I am running and iPad 2 64GB wifi/g3. I have noticed via the Internet that others are reporting bugs with this new iBook 2 App. Hopefully Apple will resolve this issue.

Best,

Stu

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
January 23, 2012 - 3:44am

Stu,

Yep it’s definitely a problem. I’ll release another edition tonight most likely, and I think I’ll just remove the video for now, as that seems to cause many of the problems.

thanks for checking it out!

@PhotoJoseph
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Stuart's picture
by Stuart
January 23, 2012 - 4:20am

Joseph,

Thanks for the speedy reply. At least I am pretty sure there is a bug in this iBook. I am trying out the iBook Arthur also and now know it maybe best to leave out any video for now. Will be looking forward to your update version and hopefully I will be able to view that one.

What would really be cool is if down the road you could design a photo book via Aperture and or Lightroom and upload directly to iBook.

Best,

Stu

Stuart's picture
by Stuart
January 24, 2012 - 7:36am

Joseph,

Just a followup that I went back and tried down loading your iBook again this afternoon. This time I had no problem. It worked great. Started off with the map with music then on to the book. Not sure why yesterday I had so many issues. But at least now it is working.

Best,

Stu

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
January 24, 2012 - 7:54am

Stuart, thank for letting me know. I haven’t changed anything on my end, so I guess it’s luck of the draw.

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Grace Suarez's picture
by Grace Suarez
January 24, 2012 - 8:32am

Just finished a personal photo album. So easy to use. I export to iBooks format then connect the iPad to the iMac, open iTunes and drag the book to the Books folder in IPad. That’s the fastest method. Joseph, how did you do the cool map button?

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
January 24, 2012 - 8:57am

Grace,

Cool! But you know to preview the iBook you can just click the Preview button in iBooks Author, right?

The map button is just a graphic I imported and then some text turned into a link. Problem is that the graphic itself can not be a link, which sucks. I’m removing that and doing the map in a different way.

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Grace Suarez's picture
by Grace Suarez
January 24, 2012 - 10:40am

Yup, Preview is great.

Chris Hoch's picture
by Chris Hoch
February 4, 2012 - 9:07am

This article makes iBooks more interesting now: cultofmac.com

It looks like apple has cleared up the eula issue and you can sell your books where you want to.

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
February 4, 2012 - 9:41am

Thanks for the link Chris. I think most of us understood this is what Apple meant all along. A lot of people really got their panties in a bunch over this one :)

@PhotoJoseph
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