I have a working draft of the manuscript for spreadsheet software done, so I did a test run using iBooks Author. It is one thing to read about using software and another to actually use it. I learned so much!
I had most of the terms relating to spreadsheets identified and defined. So the first thing I did was to create a glossary by adding the term to the glossary and then copying/pasting the associated definition. The glossary supports the addition of graphics and hyperlinks. I have a few hyperlinks in the glossary now. The graphics should be really helpful to readers for select terms.
Next, I copied and pasted in the text file for different sections of the eBook. Since the file was plain text (.txt), I lost the tables and bullets. The bullets were easy enough to recreate using the text Inspector. I added a table and copied and pasted the contents.
I also added a graphic. First, when I pulled it over from a Word file, iBooks Author would not allow me to caption it with the Inspector Layout Wizard. I suspected the problem was because I had not saved the file as a .png (even though it was a .png screenshot). I saved the file into Pictures and then dragged it into the eBook. What was amazing is the saved graphic was much clearer. The Inspector Layout Wizard worked with the saved graphic. I created a caption for the graphic.
Finally, I did a test run viewing the eBooks on the iPad. I connected the iPad using the USB cable and clicked Preview in iBooks Author. I can see the value of doing small builds and previewing the file each time.
I had most of the terms relating to spreadsheets identified and defined. So the first thing I did was to create a glossary by adding the term to the glossary and then copying/pasting the associated definition. The glossary supports the addition of graphics and hyperlinks. I have a few hyperlinks in the glossary now. The graphics should be really helpful to readers for select terms.
Next, I copied and pasted in the text file for different sections of the eBook. Since the file was plain text (.txt), I lost the tables and bullets. The bullets were easy enough to recreate using the text Inspector. I added a table and copied and pasted the contents.
I also added a graphic. First, when I pulled it over from a Word file, iBooks Author would not allow me to caption it with the Inspector Layout Wizard. I suspected the problem was because I had not saved the file as a .png (even though it was a .png screenshot). I saved the file into Pictures and then dragged it into the eBook. What was amazing is the saved graphic was much clearer. The Inspector Layout Wizard worked with the saved graphic. I created a caption for the graphic.
Finally, I did a test run viewing the eBooks on the iPad. I connected the iPad using the USB cable and clicked Preview in iBooks Author. I can see the value of doing small builds and previewing the file each time.
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