2017

Defining your goals and limitations
When you think about digital publishing, it's easy to assume that your first questions
should be:
• Which devices do I want to publish to?
• What format do I want to publish in?
• Which tools do I want to use?
However, this may not be the best place to start. Different devices, formats, and tools
have different strengths and weaknesses, and it's difficult to choose from among them
unless you have a clear picture of your goals, needs, and limitations. The topics below
can help you to get a better fix on these, so you can make an intelligent decision when
it comes time to choose a direction.
Characterizing your content
To some extent, the choices you make about devices and format should depend on
the nature of your content. Is your content highly designed, like a magazine or a
brochure? Is it primarily textual, with just a few pictures? Is it designed primarily for
visual impact, or for leisurely reading? The answers to questions like these can help
you decide whether you need layout view, a reflow view, or both.
• A fixed layout view lets you carefully design pages for maximum visual impact,
and allows you to include multimedia content such as sound and movies. A layout
view also lets you maintain your branding to the greatest degree possible, because
it provides maximum flexibility.
• A reflow view displays text and pictures only, usually with a user-controllable
text size and font. A reflow view is less flexible than a layout view, but may be
desirable because it makes it easy for the customer to read the text without
distraction. Reflow view is well-suited to traditional books and reference materials.
If your content is designed to make a strong visual impression, if you need to maintain
your branding, and if you want to include multimedia components, you might want
to consider creating a fixed layout ePub or Kindle eBook, HTML5 Publication or a
custom app, or using App Studio to create content that can be viewed in a custom
reader app.
8 | DIGITAL PUBLISHING WITH QUARKXPRESS 2017
DEFINING YOUR GOALS AND LIMITATIONS