The ultimate guide to digital publishing

In PUBLISHING
12 January 2021
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The first thing you need to know about digital publishing is that it’s simple. So simple, in fact, that you might already be doing it! Professionals, teachers, entrepreneurs, aspiring creatives, students, freelancers and people everywhere with something to share online turn to digital publishing every day.

That’s why the second thing to know about digital publishing is why it’s such a popular choice—and how to do it better. In this article, we’ll explain all the most important basics, tips to help you find the right solution and a few special extras to make the most out of your publications online. Read on to learn more about:

  1. What is digital publishing?
  2. Benefits of HTML5 publications
  3. Why businesses use digital publishing
  4. Education and digital publishing
  5. Independent digital publishing
  6. Advantages of an online platform
  7. Choosing a digital publishing platform
  8. Digital publishing UX
  9. Publishing in multiple languages
  10. Ready to start?

What is digital publishing?

Digital publishing means using online tools to make media of all kinds available via the Internet. Instead of traditionally printed books, magazines and newsletters, digital publishing makes ebooks, blogs and online publications. Readers access this content on computers, smartphones or other digital devices. In short, anyone who has documents to distribute online can benefit from digital publishing technology.

Because digital publishing covers many genres and formats, there are plenty of different options to consider. From specialized content management systems to bespoke applications, there’s something for everyone. However, digital publishing platforms stand out above the rest: They offer a convenient, fast and easy way to convert your files to online publications.

Illustration of digital publishing viewer

Benefits of HTML5 publications

Although a few platforms still use Flash technology, the gold standard is now HTML5 for online publications. But what exactly does it mean to make an HTML5 publication?

Let’s imagine you have a Powerpoint that you need to get online and send out to colleagues. Using a modern digital publishing platform, your PPT file is converted into a browsable publication built with HTML5 and hosted at a unique address on the web. Then to send to your coworkers, simply copy the link and share.

Effortless sharing is just one advantage of HTML5 publications. More key benefits include:

  • Visibility. Unlike a basic file upload, your HTML5 publications are easy to optimize for search. Help searchers find your content thanks to smart keywords, structured data and automatically indexed text.
  • Compatibility. Never worry about problems opening your documents again. Your HTML5 publications work with all devices, all operating systems and all browsers. Better yet, there’s no extra software, downloads or plug-ins required.
  • Versatility. HTML5 publications are ready for anything. You can enrich them with audio and video content, add links and images, and embed them in your own website or blog. Plus, customize the presentation with your own logo, branding and design.
  • Usability. Above all, your HTML5 publications are always available online. View, share and update from anywhere, anytime.

Want to go beyond email attachments and plain PDFs? No matter what type of content you have to distribute online, digital publishing can help you get more out of it.  

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Why businesses use digital publishing

The name might make you think it’s all about novels, but digital publishing is actually a powerful tool for a wide range of businesses. Since an online presence is essential for companies in every sector, having smart digital content matters. Depending on your goals, the best reasons to take advantage of digital publications may differ. Here are three of the most common businesses uses.

Marketing

To create irresistible online materials. Traditional marketing formats like brochures and modern channels like video work together perfectly in digital publications. Marketers can mix and match to produce content that works for their target audience. A light footprint and detailed analytics make it practical for A/B testing, too.

Communications

To connect content with people. Newsletters, magazines, how-to guides and employee handbooks need to be online. Digital publishing platforms make it easy not just to upload content, but also to manage it. Advanced privacy controls and distribution features help communications pros get their message out there, the right way.

Sales

To modernize the sales funnel. Today, content and sales are closer together than ever. Both sales teams and ecommerce operations can make good use of digital publications. For example, email a personalized prospectus for leads to browse on the go. Or transform a PDF catalogue into an interactive, shoppable experience for customers online.

Education and digital publishing

One of the biggest challenges currently facing education is adapting to virtual learning. However, online publishing offers a user-friendly solution for digitizing teaching material. All that students and teachers need is access to an Internet connection to exchange documents securely. Because the best digital publishing platforms can handle multiple file types, converting assignments, tests and more to HTML5 publications is simple.

As a result, digital publishing can be used for many virtual learning materials like:

  • Study guides and lesson plans
  • Activities and homework
  • Presentations and projects
  • School newspapers and yearbooks

In addition, educational publishers often make sections of textbooks available online as digital publications. Expect this trend to grow while virtual classrooms continue to evolve.

Online education icon

Independent digital publishing

Before the Internet age, a creative career usually started with finding a talent agent. But now, online tools like digital publishing have opened the ability to produce and distribute to everyone. Authors and artists in every genre can choose to publish their work independently in digital formats. For instance, portfolios and media kits help show off your projects and skills, while previews and collections let audiences sample your creations. Even a whole book can easily become a multimedia digital publication to share or sell—no agent necessary.  

Advantages of an online platform

Digital publishing is an important part of the online ecosystem. So it’s no surprise that there are many options to help you make and publish content digitally, including traditional software. However, there are several serious advantages to an online platform.

First, your digital publications are accessible 24/7 on the web. Second, you don’t need to take care of hosting your publications. In other words, there are no finicky details for hosting set-up and maintenance to handle. And finally, you don’t have to deal with separate software to download, install and keep updated.

A true online platform should offer you all the features of digital publishing right on your favorite browser. To sum it up, these three advantages add up to major convenience for your content.

Digital publishing platform upload illustration

Choosing a digital publishing platform

Once you’ve decided to begin using digital publishing for your online content, it’s time to decide which tools are right for you. If you’re searching for a platform to produce and host HTML5 publications, start by considering your main needs. For instance:

  • Storage. How many digital publications are you planning to create? How large are the files that you work with?
  • Reliability. How fast do you want your publications to load?
  • Security. What privacy options would you like to have for your publications? How do you want your audience to be able to access them?
  • Customization. How much control do you want over the look and feel of your publications? Which features are priorities for your goals?
  • Support. What guidance would you like to receive? What kind of assistance is available if you need help with your publications?

Of course, there are many other potential questions you might ask according to your specific objectives. Say that you have high-quality video content to include in your digital publications. In that case, you may want to make seamless integrations with YouTube a priority. When you have a good idea of what you’re looking for in a digital publishing platform, you’ll be well prepared to find the best fit.

Digital publishing UX

A good digital publishing platform will provide you with smart options to optimize the UX of your online documents. An important part of web design, UX or user experience covers everything that shapes how people interact with digital products.

In this case, there are key UX elements to consider in the publication viewer. Most of all, you want to ensure that your audience can read your publications comfortably. Choices like Right to left reading, scroll and slide views, sharp zoom and full screen availability allow you to always define the right UX for your publications.

But another big factor to keep in mind is how flexible these and other UX options are. Since everyone’s needs are different, watch out for platforms that limit you to a “one size fits all” solution. In fact, with just a little basic tech know-how you should be able to customize the UX of your publications. From the viewer to embed options, online publishing gives you an incredible opportunity to enhance the reading experience for your audience.

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Publishing in multiple languages

Thanks to the Internet, the world is growing more connected every day. Even small businesses can serve global customers with ecommerce tools and online communication. However, it can take some extra effort to make sure you’re speaking your audience’s language.

For successful multilanguage publications, prioritize platforms whose features help you organize and manage your online documents. Double check that the languages you publish in are supported for display and search so that your readers aren’t frustrated by text mistakes and missing results. And don’t forget to match the viewer language to your publications—or create your own.

Ready to start?

We think you’ll love digital publishing on Calaméo. But don’t just take our word for it! You can start publishing today. It’s free, fast and easy to join.

SIGN UP NOW

To see great digital publishing features in action, browse our Guided Tour.

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Top 10 reasons digital publishing on Calaméo is best in class

In PUBLISHING
6 August 2020

When it comes to sharing documents online, there are plenty of tools to choose from: file sharing services, digital publishing and even good old-fashioned email attachments. Digital publishing offers lots of advantages and here at Calaméo we work hard to make our platform the best choice for everyone. That’s why all of our users can enjoy great features like in-text search, private publications and more—absolutely free. Here are ten ways that Calaméo provides the best digital publishing platform for your documents.

Publish multiple file types

Your file doesn’t have to be a PDF in order be published on Calaméo. Our advanced conversion technology transforms Word, Powerpoint and Excel files into beautiful online publications, in addition to PDFs.

Multiple file upload

We want using Calaméo to be as easy and as streamlined as possible for our users—every minute of your workflow counts. That’s why you can batch upload up to 10 files at a time on Calaméo. Just drag and drop your documents and start publishing.

Automatic link detection

Another highlight of our conversion technology is its automatic link detection. Save even more time by adding external links to your PDF before upload, publish and share.

The Calaméo Editor

Interactivity sets digital experiences apart and we’re proud to help our users create engaging online publications. Our Editor offers a user-friendly tool for adding links, video, audio, GIFs and more to your documents on Calaméo.

Table of contents

Even long documents are simple to navigate when you include a table of contents in the publication viewer. Define a table of contents using Bookmarks in your original PDF, or add one to your finished publication with our handy widget.

Slide mode

We love the fun effect and visual flair of flipbooks, but we love giving our users options even more. Slide mode provides a sleek reading experience great for presentations. Select it when choosing a Display mode in your publication’s Properties.

Easy RTL reading

Publishing in a language that is read from right to left? On Calaméo, it’s no problem. Set the Reading mode of your publication as “From right to left” in its Properties so that your readers can browse smoothly.

Remove center shadow

The design of your publication is important and there are lots of ways to customize our viewer to show it off perfectly. Users who prefer a more flat design look for their digital documents can easily remove the flipbook’s center shadow: just add the “pagefxopacity=0” parameter to the URL of your publication.

Full-screen display

Remove distractions and help readers stay focused on your publication thanks to full-screen reading. With full-screen supported for desktop, in embedded publications and on Safari for iOS, you’re sure to find the choice that fits your digital publishing needs.

Publication embeds

Speaking of embedding your publications, Calaméo makes it painless. Decide exactly how you want your embedded publications to look in your website and collect the code in one click. Plus, even private publications can be embedded for greater security and control.

These are just ten of our favorite reasons why digital publishing on Calaméo is a best in class experience. We didn’t even have space to mention great features like our generous storage limits, nifty Library Widget or how simple it is to update a document.

We also think that you’ll love the advanced features of our professional plans, from in-depth statistics to Subscriber management.

Ready to see for yourself why Calaméo is the best digital publishing platform for your documents? Register for your free account and start publishing today.

SIGN UP NOW

PUBLISHING

How to choose a digital publishing platform

In PUBLISHING
6 January 2022

When you’re ready to start digital publishing, it can be challenging to choose a platform. Because there are quite a few options out there, we’ve put together a five-point guide to help you choose the digital publishing platform that’s right for you.

First, answer a few simple questions about your basic publishing needs. Next, consider the features that are important to achieving your goals. Then review the audience access that your publications will require and other key platform elements like languages. Finally, look at plans and prices to see which digital publishing platform is the best fit for you.

Let’s dig in!

1. Basic needs

Begin with some simple facts about the content you will be publishing online.

Since you’ll want to try out any digital publishing platform you choose for free, here is what Calaméo has to offer on our BASIC plan:

2. Features

In addition to transforming files into HTML5 publications, you may also want to take advantage of some of the great features online platforms can provide. But remember, the specific features that will matter most depend on your objectives. For example:

In many cases, digital publishing platforms will ask you to sign up for a paid plan to access advanced features. Here’s what you can expect from Calaméo:

3. Audience access

Another major factor to evaluate when you choose a digital publishing platform is content access.

  • How many times can you share your publication?
  • Can you configure protected subscriber access for your publications?
  • Are multiple user profiles available for your account to make teamwork easy?

Often, subscription set-up in particular can be complex. We recommend you research privacy and subscriber options thoroughly to find the right fit for your needs.  

4. Other aspects

Although publishing basics and features are essential, it’s worth keeping a few other aspects of working with the platform in mind. For instance:

  • Is the site available in your language?
  • Can you get fast, helpful support when you need it?
  • What kind of flexibility does the platform offer via API access?

Calaméo proposes the following:

5. Price

Last but not least, look at the pricing of different plans as you choose a digital publishing platform. In some cases, the free Basic plan may have everything you need to get started. However, the cost of paid plans can vary quite a bit—from as low as $14 per month with a PREMIUM account on Calaméo up to $269 per month on other platforms.

Below, you’ll find a chart comparing the monthly cost before taxes of Calaméo’s annual plans. (In other words, you’ll pay the total yearly amount at checkout to benefit from these prices.) Please note that all prices are listed in USD.

If Calaméo seems to match your needs, why not try out the advanced features of our professional PLATINUM plan? During your PLATINUM Demo, you’ll enjoy direct downloads, full viewership statistics and much more. Request your free trial today and experience exceptional digital publishing on Calaméo.