2017

If your content is primarily textual, and you don't have any need for fancy layout,
you might want to consider using a format such as reflow ePub or Kindle eBook. This
format provides only a reflow view, and is compatible with a wide variety of readers.
If it is critical that your content be presented in a way that is uniquely yours, you can
create a custom app which is the most labor intensive. Or you can use App Studio
which is much easier. App Studio offers the most common features you may need,
and you no longer need to build an app from scratch. Out of the box, App Studio
supports multiple platforms and allows for personalized branding and presence in the
app stores without the expense of creating and maintaining a custom app.
Another question you may want to ask yourself is, do you want or need to support
multiple device orientations? Do your customers expect this functionality? If this is
important to you, you should probably consider this when choosing a format. Many
ePub readers support this functionality automatically, but not all of them. If you want
to vary your layout when the orientation changes, a better choice would be a custom
app or an issue created in App Studio. Apps and webapps (HTML5 publication) support
multiple variants (aspect ratios) for various device sizes. For example, you can create
fixed layouts that fit iPad and iPhone screens and automatically render the right variant
based on the device you are using.
If you're considering using multimedia elements such as audio and video, make sure
you have the resources necessary to produce those multimedia assets. It's easy to get
excited about the idea of using multimedia, but creating and using multimedia properly
can involve a great deal of planning and expense. You may be able to reuse materials
that your organization has already created for other media, such as the organization's
Web site.
Some other things to think about:
• Do you want to provide your users with industry-standard navigation controls
and icons that they can use without having to think about it too hard, or do you
want to create custom controls that provide a more unique experience?
• Do you plan to deliver the same content on the Web? If so, what (if anything)
should differentiate the Web version of the content from the version delivered
on handheld devices? If there are no meaningful differences between the
presentation of content on your Web site and the presentation of that content
on a handheld device, you may want to consider whether you need an app
experience at all.
• Do you need to publish in multiple formats, or only in an app presentation? Are
you porting content from another format? Can you do a single-source approach,
at least to generate the initial version of a layout that you can then customize for
release as an app issue?
For more information about the formats discussed here, see "Hardware, operating systems,
and formats."
DIGITAL PUBLISHING WITH QUARKXPRESS 2017 | 9
DEFINING YOUR GOALS AND LIMITATIONS