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How To Create A Magazine Flip Book App
By Kim Dixon, MyPhotoApp Training Guru
Created: September 20, 2017, 11:19 pm UTC Last updated: February 21, 2019, 3:49 pm UTC
MyPhotoApp now includes a fantastic new magazine gallery option which makes it amazingly easy to take all of those marketing magazine layouts you have lovingly created in Photoshop for publications and turn them into beautiful visual flipbooks that you can share everywhere in a fully branded App in just 3 easy steps. they make the perfect lead magenet to entice potential clients to opt into an email sequence so you can build trust in your brand and educate them so they will hopefully book with you.
1. Save Your Individual Page Spreads As Jpegs
If you have already created a PDF welcome magazine or style guide in Photoshop you will need to save each single page spread as a Jpeg image, you can also upload gif and png but to be honest, jpeg makes more sense. There are a few things to remember when creating magazine pages for your App:-
Choose your page size, traditionally this was determined by the print option available and so most US magazine templates adopt the 8 x11 inch layout size whilst in the UK magazine templates generally use A4. You can choose any size you want, so you could choose to match the aspect ratio of popular mobile devices an iPad, for example, is 3:4 (usually 6 x 8"). BUT every page layout you use MUST be exactly the same size for the Magazine flip action to work.
If you originally created your magazine as double spreads you will need to crop and save each individual page as a separate Jpeg file making sure that the image dimensions are the same for each page file. If you previously uploaded your PDF's to services such as Issuu or Magcloud you have probably already done this.
To ensure that the pages can be automatically sorted by file name you need to use a common naming style, for example, that includes a prefix and the consecutive number for each page like this - FamilyGuide-1, FamilyGuide-2 or FamilyGuide-01, FamilyGuide-02. If have previously named pages and called the cover image 'cover' you will need to rename your pages so that this is page 1 in the sequence.
2. Upload Them To A New Gallery And Select The New Magazine Layout
Now you have saved your individual page spreads you are ready to upload them to your App. Add a new Gallery to your App and click or drag to upload your Jpeg files. Once your images are uploaded click on the settings cog to open the Gallery settings and choose the Magazine option from the gallery layout dropdown list. Next click on Sort Photos By Name to auto-sort your pages. Click on Other Settings to add an optional label for the section and then click on Save to update the Gallery.
Tip: if you have added an SEO section to this App, and if you haven't then you should, it's a good idea to add some keywords as a Caption to the cover image by clicking on it in the visual design.
3. Publish Your App!
Now it's time to publish your App and check out your Magazine Flip-book on your PC. Just click the cover image to open the magazine view, if you don't click anything an animated curl appears in the top right-hand corner to indicate that you should click here.
Unlike the standard gallery options, the new magazine layout option is smart and it automatically adjusts from a single page spread view when viewed in portrait to a double page spread when viewed in landscape, such as on a PC and automatically changes when the device orientation changes from portrait to landscape.
Pages can be turned in the same manner as when reading an ebook:
On a PC:
Click any corner to flip the pages, clicking on a right corner will advance and clicking on a leftcorner will go back (once you have moved past the cover page).
Use the left & rightnavigation keys on the keyboard to advance or go back.
NOTE: On some Firefox browsers magazine pages may not turn by clicking the corners and the navigation keys should be used. This is a browser specific limitation and is beyond MyPhotoApp's control.
On a Mobile Device:
Tap any corner to flip pages, tapping on a right corner will advance and on a left corner will go back (once you have moved past the cover page).
Press and swipe in any corner, the longer you hold the bigger the pagecurl effect will appear.
The magazine page turning functions the same as you would find in any eBook or PDF with flip transitions and should, therefore, be familiar to your clients. But to avoid any possible confusion you can always provide a guidance note in a document or tile section above the magazine gallery with instructions on how to navigate the magazine such as:
"Click The Image To Open The Style Guide And Click Or Swipe Corners to Turn the Pages"
All you have to do now is finish off your App and you are ready to share your new magazine App with your clients.
We can't wait to see all your awesome designs in the Facebook group!
How To Create A Magazine Layout
Magazines layouts are typically created in Photoshop or InDesign for those more used to graphic design. Simply create a single page layout file in the size you have decided to use and add any guides or page shadows, text boxes and image placeholders you want and save as a master template, ready for you to create individual pages and add your text and images.
Don't panic if you feel this is beyond your skill set as there are plenty of welcome magazines and style guide templates available to purchase on sites such as Etsy, Creative market, and Design Aglow if you are prepared to pay for someone else to do the design work for you. Prices range from $45 for a simple magazine spread layout to $249 for a stunning contemporary women's portrait style guide set such as the one you can buy from photographer Emily London and depends on how specialized the templates are and how much content that you are free to use is included.
Here is a Sample App I created earlier using a "what to wear Family portrait" style guide:
One of the key things you can do to attract new clients is to provide them with something they want and need and a style guide is a great choice. Traditional PDF guides have always been an ideal resource to use as a valuable lead magnets in your advertising campaigns to build your email list. Now you can achieve this in a beautiful customised, branded App without the need to payout to create, print or host your PDFmagazines and guides online.
For information on how to obtain your own fullyeditablewhat to wear guides for family, seniors, engagement, and headshots together with information on a course to learn how to use "what to wear guides" as a lead magnet to attract new clients, check out this link:
An easy way to create a sharable advert for your free magazine resource is to create a simple landing page / lead magnet App with a sign-up form that will provide them with access to your magazine App. You could also use the new Welcome section for this.
If you also add a facebook section you can design a graphic to advertise your free giveaway and even add a short paragraph of text. Don't forget to include a tracking section on the success page with the link to the magazine App.
If you'd like to learn more about how to do this watch out for the new video tutorial on creating lead page App and Lead magnets coming soon.
Magazine layouts are available right now for those with Elite level subscriptions.
