How to prepare PDFs to create the best quality flipbooks?

Occasionally, clients ask us about our suggestions regarding the PDFs they use for creating flipbooks. Although there are no strict rules in this regard, there are some useful tips to know and we will present them in this short guide.

What type of PDF you should use?

When it comes to formats, you can use almost every PDF. However, there is one exception. If you use XFA, which is the format for creating tables to fill in, you need to change your file into a standard PDF before converting it. Please note that the tables and forms created in XFA will not work as previously when changed into an ordinary PDF.

There are many different PDF versions and as we wrote before most of them will work fine when converting into flipbook format, although to get the smoothest effect we recommend PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5.0).

How to prepare your text for flipbooks?

To show you how to do it, we will use Adobe Acrobat DC as an example.

When working with PDFs, it’s crucial to ensure that the text in the document is the actual text. You can do it in many ways, as described in the details below:

• Text has assigned font
  
  Make sure that your text is actual text by selecting it and then checking the area, which in the screenshot below is surrounded by a red frame (in this example it’s Lato Light font).
  If the name of the font appears there, it means that the font has been properly assigned.
  
  
  
  
• Text has assigned color
  
  Make sure that your text has color assigned. Select a text and check the area which in the screenshot below is surrounded by a red frame (in this example it’s white).
  If you see any color there, it means that the selected text is an actual text.
  
  
  
  
• Text assigned font size
  
  Make sure your text has an assigned font size by selecting it and checking the area which in the screenshot below is surrounded by red frame (in this example it’s size 26).
  If you see any size there, it means that the selected text is an actual text.
  
  
  
  
• You can copy and paste your text
  
  Make sure that you can copy and paste your text by selecting it, using the right mouse click, choosing copy, and trying to paste it into a different place or document.
  
  
  

During the upload, your text will be converted into an SVG image which will maintain quality and clarity when zoomed in.
Moreover, your readers will be able to find it using the search function, and it will be indexed in search engines like Google or Bing.

 

How to prepare your images for flipbooks?

When it comes to images, 200 PPI is a resolution that works just well. When converting your PDF into a flipbook format we change the size of your images anyway so that they don’t take ages to load.

 

What to do when your pages are of different sizes?

We recommend that all your pages are the same size. If your pages are of different sizes we will need to add a frame to them or crop them so that they work well in the HTML5 format.

If you would like to unify your flipbook’s page sizes, try Sedja.

Is there a size limit for your PDF?

The size limit of your PDF is connected to your subscription plan. Publuu’s limits are 150 MB for Basic, 250 MB for Optimum, 500 MB for Professional, and 1 GB for Premium plans. For more details on available subscription plans have a look here.

If the plan you subscribed to seems not enough and you exceeded the size limit, try optimizing your PDF to compress images and delete any redundant items.

To optimize your PDF try the following options:

• iLovePDF – https://www.ilovepdf.com/compress_pdf

All you have to do here is upload your PDF, select the compression level, click on compress PDF and download the compressed file.

• Smallpdf – https://smallpdf.com.

This is a payable service with a limited free version and a free trial period which you can subscribe to. To compress your PDF upload it, select the compression level, click on choose option and download the compressed version of your file.

Is there a page limit for your PDF?

No, there is no page limit, so you can create a PDF containing all the information you need, without worrying about the number of pages.

If you need to split your PDF into sections that are easier to handle (not just for you, but particularly for your readers), for example into chapters, you can try iLovePDF – a great tool for doing so, or create bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat that will be later imported to your flipbook as an interactive table of contents. To learn how to do it properly, go to this page: How to create a table of contents in Adobe Acrobat?

Still having trouble with your PDF?

If after checking all of the steps above, you can still see the difference between your original PDF file and your flipbook, please try saving it as an Optimized PDF in Adobe Acrobat DC before uploading it to Publuu.
To do it, please follow the steps below:

Click on the MENU located in the left-right corner of the screen. Then select Save As Other and Optimized PDF.

After that, tick all the boxes which contain an element you are having an issue with and click OK.



Then you can save your optimized file, upload it to Publuu and enjoy your flipbook.

We hope we covered everything you may need to know before converting your PDF. If there is anything else you are worried about or are keen to discuss when preparing your PDF, get in touch with us.