Advantage of iBooks Author over Pages?

I was very excited when iBooks Author was released and spent the afternoon producing my first book. Then I learned that iBA doesn't make a conventional (paged) portrait version, that it wipes out the pictures (or some of them), that there are limitations in the Chapter/Section business, and so on. So I went to Pages, download Apple's template for starters, and used that.
What I discovered was that Pages was almost as simple to use as iBA and much more flexible, and makes great and correct books that work in both landscape and portrait mode, and has none of the limitations of iBA.
So now I'm wondering: what are the supposed advantages of iBA over Pages? Anyone want to make a list?

A few things comes to my mind:
- iBA is free, Pages is not.
- iBA is designed very specifically for 1 type of device for the best possible output, Pages is printer oriented.
- iBA produces much better looking book (when using their templates) than Pages.

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Header or Index facility on iBooks Author and Pages?

I'm an academic who has just published an eBook.
I used iBooks Author to write it, thinking that would be as convenient as Apple equipment normally is....
BUT: Neither iBooks Author nor Pages has
a) Index facility
b) Header facility.....
Finally, to use the Publish facility on iBooks Author one must have a US Tax code.
This limits the use of iBooks Author to USA Residents only.
I'm shocked by this restrictive, exclusive limits from Apple iBooks Author...
PLEASE can this be changed, Apple?!!
Till then, I feel obliged to write my next book with Microsoft Word: though I shouldn't think iBooks will be able to accept a Word index....!!
Mark

Hi Mark
Apologies for the confusion in not finding the 'masters' - coming from a print background, I tend to use the terminology of the main software I use. iBA calls them 'layouts'.
These can be accessed from top of the sidebar by going to the two horizontal lines next to the word 'Book', and dragging it down. There you will see the layouts for chapter, sections, etc. Looks like this:
These are the pages on which are used as the basis for the pages in the book. They can be changed (by clicking on the appropriate thumbnail on the sidebar), copied, or deleted (by right-clicking, and selecting from the options provided). I strongly recommend taking time to familiarise yourself with how these 'layouts' work, and really understanding them. Getting the template right from the outset is imperative. Take a look at the layouts for section and chapter starters. These already have text boxes which are set up to include Chapter name, section name, etc. 'Text variables', if you like. If you scroll down this list in the sidebar, you'll get to some alternative layouts for individual pages – 1 col, 2 col, 3 col, etc.:
Now - as you rightly point out - iBA has no idea what a facing page is - they are not relevant to what it does - make Apple-only ebooks. but if you wanted an 'illusion' of a facing page, this is where you could make it, by adapting one (or making a copy of one and adapting that), and sticking your name at the top of the page.
The problem is, this layout would not be used by default. You'd have to select every other page, right click on the thumbnail in the side-bar, and choose "Change Page Layout", whereupon you'll be able to select the layout you created for facing pages:
One final caveat - you say you want to create a print book from a PDF of this. You say "Print publishers always accept PDF files of my book, and iBooks easily creates PDF versions of the eBook". Have these printers ever used a PDF from iBA to print from before? It might not be as straight-forward as assumed. Print PDFs include crop marks (for imposition), will have 'bleed' if necessary (bleed is where images or colours actual go over the edge of a page), and will use the CMYK colourspace - used in both litho and digital print. The PDFs from iBA have no crops, and so do not support bleed, and the one I have tested was RGB, so you could expect colour variation conversion from one format to the other. And that's without taking into account page size/proportion, etc.
I would create a dummy book and make a PDF of that, and send it to your publisher/printer, and get them to see if they can use it first.
In my experience, the print books have always come first - done in specialist software (InDesign/Quark, etc), then the text content is then exported (either via a Word format, or .idml in the case of InDesign), and the resulting file is imported into iBA, and the images formatted (i.e. changed from CMYK to RGB .jpgs) resized, and images imported into iBA.
Hope that helps.

IBook Author: my pages' background are 100% boring white. How to add texture to my book's pages?

iBook Author: my pages' background are 100% boring white. How to add texture to my book's pages?

See this thread for the answer.
Cheers,
Michi.

IBooks or iBook Author opening page setting

During the testing phase the book has been installed on the iPad using 'Preview'. In this mode the book always opens on the iPad with the page that was open in iBooks Author when starting the 'Preview' process.
I am exporting the book with the 'Book Title' as the active selection on the assumption that you want this to be the startup page.
The book has an Intro Media Video mp4v format plays in Preview mode without any issues.
In iBooks on the iPad [first generation] I am deleting all versions of the book and previews before installing the actual exported *.ibook version.
The issue is for what ever reason the book does not open with the Intro Media Video perhaps it has some memory as to the last page that was opened
for that book.
Is this issue resolved with a setting and if so what is the magic? Cheers Ant..

Worked on this problem for the best part of half a day. It was only resolved after I restored the iPad to factory settings and re-installed iBooks which in the scheme of things appears to be a bit drastic. Cheers Ant..

Do I need to put a tag on making a layout editable on iBooks Author?

Hello,
I am teaching iBooks Author. And one of my students asked me why there is a tag to make a layout editable on iBooks Author.
So I tried to figure out the objective of using a tag on iBooks Author. But, I haven't found the reason that we put a tag into the process.
Is there anyone who already found the answer?
Thanks,

Hi,
they are known as smart tags in ibooks author for page layout.
They identify books:
body part -- convert text box into linkable textbox
main image -- image will be act as media place-holder and will reflect in table of content
you can try other option in the drop down.
Thanks,

In ibooks author how to make an existing page start a new section

I have imported a Pages document into ibook authors (version 2.1.1 in OS 10.9.1) using the Classic Text Template. The original Pages document was basically a book, with title and table of contents and forward and several sections. Now everything is one huge unit. During the import I can choose a layout, but only a chapter or a section. Then all of the document is regarded as having that layout -- every page is regarded as having the section layout, for example, though only the first page has the smaller text area and the large text as a header. I can see all the layout possibilities in the Layouts sidebar, and they include section and forward and 1 column. When I hover the cursor over a particular page the book sidebar I see the little triangle that has been mentioned, and it offers options for changing layout, but it does not allow me to make that page a new section or a forward. I can only make the page 2 column or put a sidebar on it. I cannot see how I can import the book and be able to create chapters and sections with ibooks author. I can insert a new section layout, or a new page, but I do not see how to to change a page, after it is imported and is considered to be the text of a chapter or section, into the start of a new chapter or section. I do not find anything in the inspector or on the menubar or in the help center that makes this change. The "add a chapter title" does not change the layout to make the text box smaller, as it should for a layout. Is it actually possible to convert a Pages book into an ibook authors book, or must I create the blank chapters and sections in ibook authors and then cut and paste each section from Pages?

The advice given for iBA, is to preplan your book. Modify an exsiting template as your layout suits you, to present a quality book to your readers.
iBooks Author is really more "app" than a book maker like inDesign or even Pages, - and users should really get to know how to use it before starting out on a serious project.
The insert options are clear - you can insert a Chapter from MS Word or Pages in iBA a "chapter" is a distinct "standalone" part of a book which can include sections and pages as required. Sections can be moved up or down within their chapter or can be copied from one chapter to another. The pages in any chapter are static and the only way to change content location is copy and paste.
From your post, its seems you decided to create you book using Pages and in one chapter expecting iBA to reformat it.
I would suggest a solution is to count your chapters and add that number into an iBA new book, then copy your Pages chapters. I would guess that the whole process would take less than 30 minutes.
Apple recieves feedback and suggestions for improvements, however the last update made very few changes to the application and none of those seen in many posts - such as being able to move pages. This indicates that Apple at least, are satisfied that the version is functional enough for how Apple see books being made for its store. 12 months ago this forum was taking hundreds of posts per day asking advice, its now a trickle- which I take to be in indicator that as a group, iBA users have taught themselves how to use the application and its many options and third party add on's. iBA is more suited to the interactive side of publications as Apple intended, creating a mainly text only "novel" seems to be considered by Apple as the easy part!

On Ibooks Author, my programmed image for the Chapter page no longer shows up on new pages, just appears as a question mark inside a box, How do I fix this?

On Ibooks Author, my programmed image for the Chapter page no longer shows up on new pages, just appears as a question mark inside a box, How do I fix this? Please help, its the same when I try and copy and paste the same image within Ibooks author.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/24420017#24420017
You may have moved or removed content on your page or its possible you used the"Adjust Image" and over sharpeed one or more images.
I assume you mean it does not show up of new Chapter pages... have you checked the template?
Where you see the ? you need to either reduce teh box outline size - or drop anther copy of the original image onto it, it may fill the ? box or sit on top.... delete the ? box.
If its Chapter page only related, its better doing this in the template.
Is you image .jpg or .png?

IBooks Author seems to have stopped counting words at a bit under 20,000. Page count is wrong too. Anyone else seen this or know what's wrong?

I believe I'm updated to the latest version of iBooks Author, and have crossed over 20,000 words on my book, and it seems to be stuck at 19,267 words. My page count is up to 91 but iBooks Author says 85 (that one is easier to verify, but word count simply isn't moving at this point. I browsed a bit but didn't find the issue reported elsewhere. Is there perhaps an option I'm missing or something? It seemed to be just fine, and when I got things transferred from Pages the word count was at least similar to what it was so I think it's been working.

Fabe, thanks for asking clarifying questions. Inspector in iBooks Author tells me there are 85 pages, and the page count next to the thumbnails tells me a different number, saying the last page is 91. That is not including front matter so, yes, there are more pages. In fact, many more since there is a quite a bit more white space in the iBooks version. As for word count and being able to enter more text, I really didn't notice that the word count was not changing until I had checked back several times and noticed it hadn't crossed over 20,000 words and then noticed that the number looked awfully familiar. In my case, it certainly seems to be stuck at 19.267 words, and I don't see any other negative effects.
Steve

How do I change the size or orientation of the Title Page in iBook Author

I'd like to customize the shape and size of the Title Page in my book, I noticed that many books have custome sized Title Pages (one example is the free iBook The Yellow Submarine).

The 'Book Title' page in iBooks Author – top of the list in the Book sidebar – is fixed in size and orientation. What you are seeing with customized cover graphics are covers independently created and uploaded through iTunes Producer. - Fabe

How do I move a page to a new location within iBooks Author?

I've just started to play around with iBook Author, and I can't seem to discover how I can do something as basic as move a page to a new location within the chapter, or outside the chapter for that matter. It won't allow me to drag and drop it, and there is no menu selection for it. I also would like to be able to insert a new page at the current cursor location, and that doesn't work either.
Has anyone had any luck doing either of these tasks?

You can't. You can move entire chapters or sections but can't move individual pages because of the reflow capability. It is mentioned in the help and the FAQ I believe.

Does anyone know how to add a preface page at the beginning of the book in ibooks author once the book is written? No matter how I try to add a Preface page, it goes to the end of the book.

Does anyone know how to add a preface page at the beginning of the book in ibooks author once the book is written? No matter how I try to add a Preface page, it goes to the end of the book.

Thanks. I've tried this and apparently the template I'm using is one of those where it doesn't work. I've tried dragging it as well as cutting a pasting but it always travels back to the end of the book. Maybe I can try changing the template temporarily, move the preface page, and then convert back to the original template. I'll experiment a little.

I created a book at the Ibooks author. But there are pages where the number of the page does not appear. How I can solve this problem? I thank you very much for any tip.

I created a book at the Ibooks author. But there are some pages which the number of page is not visible. What can I do to see the number of the page?

Have you changed the template?
Some pages may not have numbers in place as default. If you have changed the page or the template page, you may have added a object which as pushed the number out of view, or an image may be in a layer on top of the text.
If you select one object on the page...then go to Edit, select all, you should see the outlines of any content no matter that content may not be seen. Look at the bottom for a page width rectangle outline.. IF its there, you need to shuffle the content until you find that box, and use Arrange > bring to front.

Why do I need Pages 5 to open iBooks Author documents?

I am a TA at a college and I have been grading students' iBook submissions for a class. However, this week when I went to open their submissions I got the following error message: "You need a newer version of Pages to open this document." Clicking the "Learn More" button sent me to the Pages 5 website, which said I had to pay $20 for Pages. I do not currently have Pages on my computer (MacBook Pro OS X 10.7.5). Do I really have to pay $20 to do my grading? Is there any way around this? Can the students save their submissions as an older version?

I've just had this issue. Edited an .iba file on a different computer and then when I tried to open it again on my old iMac that it was originally created on it gave precisely that error: You need a newer version of Pages to open this document." Google points to this webpage, but all the answers above miss the point the op was making which is that iBooks Author is giving a stupid error message. The fix was to update iBooks Author to the latest version on my old computer. (Basically the other mac had a more recent version of iBooks Author on it.)
What a waste of a morning, installing the hideous Yosemite, fixing the god-awful look of the thing, upgrading pages (unnecessarily it seems), and finally getting iBooks Author upgraded.
Anyway, I hope this answer might help others avoid similar.
I

Creating a template in Pages is straight-forward as answered here previously. Is there and equivalent for iBooks Author which can start with a blank page and build up the template as required? or can one only adapt a ready made template?

Creating a template in Pages is straight-forward as answered here previously. Is there an equivalent for iBooks Author which can start with a blank page and build up the template as required? or can one only adapt a ready made template? This has proved unsatisfactory to me so far. Lines are left in etc.

There are two basic menus for fonts - one from the main menu bar and one from the toolbar. You can also bring up the font manage dialog.
I don't recommend trying to hard to force an otherwise foreign font, as it inevitably needs to be usable/supported on iOS as well, and that can get tricky w/3rd party fonts, as an example, even with the expanded font support in the latest iBA.
If you need to discuss fonts more, I suggest starting a new thread....preferably with a slightly more brief title, thanks.

How do I import a PDF to iBook author as an object and be able to read page by page

How do I import a PDF to my iBook author and retain the ability to read page by page like a photo gallery

Can you put the audio to work throughout the reading of the chapter? Today, when I change the page, the audio stops

Advantage of iBooks Author over Pages?

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