Twixl Publisher

From InDesign to iPad app in three easy steps.

Twixl Publisher is a publishing solution that takes projects from InDesign to iPad. It’s a combination of a stand-alone (Mac OS X) application and a plug-in for Adobe InDesign CS5-6 that converts and exports traditionally created documents into interactive reader applications for the Apple iPad. Twixl Publisher makes it possible to translate designs created in InDesign by integrating interactive content such as photo slide shows, audio, video, HTML5 animations and more into a seamless iPad blend. The creative opportunities that Twixl brings are infinite and take full advantage of the wealth of interactive tools in InDesign.

Basically, making an iPad app from an InDesign file takes three steps:
Design – Build – Publish.

Design

Design your interactive publication in InDesign CS5/5.5/6 and create landscape and/or portrait layouts of your book.

Add interactive content to the layout:

• Page links or URL links
• Slide shows
• Audio and video clips
• Web viewers to integrate dynamic content
• Scrollable content with optional pan and zoom
• Image sequences for 360° views
• Panorama VR views
• HTML5 animations
• Export your publication in iPad-ready format via the plug-in

Build

With the Twixl Publisher Builder, it takes just one click to convert the InDesign export into a ready-to-go iPad app. The Publisher Builder Preview uses the iPad simulator to show a preview of the app on your Mac screen.

Publish

Once your publication is finalized, you can either submit your app to the App Store and make it available worldwide, or you can choose to distribute the app in-house only.

The Many Ways to Publish and Use an App

Twixl Publisher Explore:

This entry-level version is available as a free download, and allows a user to create iPad app previews and create “Ad Hoc” builds for in-house distribution. There is a “pay-as-you-go” option for App Store builds.

Twixl Publisher Premium:

A single user version that lets you independently create an unlimited number of Ad Hoc or App Store builds. It is ideal for individual designers and smaller shops that regularly want to create branded App Store apps.

Twixl Publisher Advanced:

A 5-user workgroup version that lets you independently create an unlimited number of Ad Hoc, App Store and Enterprise builds, and integrate Google Analytics. Ideal for workgroups and companies that want to distribute in-house content via the iOS Developer Enterprise program.

Twixl Publisher Professional:

Offers all features of the Advanced version, and in addition allows you to create ‘kiosk’ apps.
On the one hand it is targeted towards magazine publishers, because it provides support for in-app purchases and subscriptions. On the other hand, Twixl Publisher Professional also lets users create ‘enterprise kiosk’ apps, that allow a company to easily manage in-house distribution of Twixl-enabled content and PDFs.

Publishing Options

Ad Hoc Publishing

“Ad Hoc” publishing allows you to distribute your application outside of the App Store on a maximum of 100 devices. The “Ad Hoc” procedure requires that the unique serial numbers (UDIDs) of the iPads you want to use for testing are registered in Apple’s iOS Provisioning Portal. Only the registered iPads will be able to install these “Ad Hoc” apps.
Distribution of such an app is usually done through synching an iPad with iTunes running on a desktop.

“Ad Hoc” publishing is often used for small in-house distribution, initially for testing purposes only, but also for small scale deployment of internal applications. The advantage is you can publish whatever you want and you don’t have to go through the App Store approval process. The disadvantage is the requirement that each iPad needs to be registered, which is a time-consuming activity, and that the maximum number of devices within a company is 100 (iPhones also count). The free Twixl Publisher Explore allows you to create your own “Ad Hoc” builds.

App Store Publishing

Publishing via the iTunes App Store is the most popular way to distribute your applications. You can either publish free or paid apps. Free apps can be distributed without having to pay any extra fees to Apple (i.e. apart from the $99 for the iOS Developer Program). For paid apps, Apple gets 30% of the revenue.

With Twixl Publisher you develop your app in InDesign, then create an App Store build with Twixl Publisher Builder, then submit your app to the App Store through Apple’s iTunes Connect Portal. You can do this completely independently. After a period of time (from a couple of days to a couple of weeks), you’ll get a notification from Apple whether your app is approved or not, and if it is, it will become available for download in the App Store.

Enterprise Publishing

Enterprise publishing is similar to “Ad Hoc” publishing, but it’s a lot easier to use for deployment because of two reasons:

1. There is no device limit (“Ad Hoc” apps have a 100-device limit).
2. You are not required to register the unique IDs (UDIDs)
   of all your iPads.

For Enterprise publishing you need to apply for the iOS Developer Enterprise Program. Once your application for that program has been approved, you are allowed to publish an unlimited number of in-house applications (i.e. within your own company and its affiliated parties — to be clear, you are not allowed to publish this type of app to the public).

This type of publishing is used by large companies, schools, universities, government departments, … to provide their employees with different types of publications. e.g. sales reps with data sheets and brochures and technicians with technical manuals.

With Twixl Publisher you can make these available on your own server. You can even create your own kiosk to present all your apps, and host the content internally. You are in control. The only cost you have is your software license. There is no monthly cost and no cost per download.

Our Enterprise kiosk solution is the only fully independent publishing solution on the market.

Click here for a Twixl Publishing Product Comparison Chart

Download your free copy at www.twixlmedia.com

For more information, please call Rods and Cones at 831-421-0131