Publishing and marketing company Blurb has made improvements to its e-book platform and plug-in for Adobe InDesign that allow users to design fixed format e-books for iPad, optimize them via a new online editing tool, and then sell their work in the Blurb Bookstore.
The updated plug-in is an extension of the company's current integration with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. While standard e-books are fine for text-heavy books, they often overlook layout and design—a problem for e-books that feature art and illustrations. Blurb e-books are fixed format—meaning that e-book layout will display on the iPad just as it was designed.
"We've been hearing from our Adobe InDesign users that they want a straightforward way to design and create beautiful books for the iPad that respect their design decisions," Blurb founder and CEO Eileen Gittins said in a statement. "So, we are truly delighted to respond with such a rich set of capabilities.”
Echoing Gittins’s sentiments was Lauren Pattison, senior VP of marketing at Blurb, who stressed that the options for authors of graphically rich e-books have traditionally been limited. "With this update Blurb offers professional designers a unique and affordable way to produce a distributable ebook which can be read on the fastest selling digital device of all time and not have to compromise on design,” Pattison said.
