How to teach DPS 2015 without previewing app?

[roym83079218]

I have taught a class for a few semesters using the Digital Publishing Suite which allowed me to have students test, demonstrate and share iPad apps with me via the Content Viewer.

It seems clear from reading many posts here and elsewhere about previewing (and watching the Getting Started videos), that previewing apps is not possible without credentials and signing the app. This is VERY burdensome for a simple introductory project. Is it the case that there is no way to interact with a "published" app without getting a developer account (with Apple, since we'd only be using the iPad platform)?

I found an Institutional Developer program for iOS developer licenses for schools, but to get this agreement would be with the entire University and seemingly involve legal departments!

I, and I imagine many other educators, urgently hope for a tool that, like the Content Viewer, allows for experimentation, training, instruction etc., without having to formally engage Apple, Google or Microsoft pretending that we're actually app developers

Fingers crossed, but not very hopeful...

Thanks.

[BobLevine]

This is not about Google, Apple or Microsoft. It’s about Adobe.

The preflight app is publicly available on all of the stores but it requires a DPS account with Adobe. It is an enterprise level service with a price tag to match.

[roym83079218]

Thanks...but, geez...

I just called a colleague of mine at another University who revised their curriculum to include a digital publishing component in several graphic design courses. They bailed completely on the idea (weeks into the semester) after realizing how impossible it has become to economically, and logistically, do this in an educational setting.

If this doesn't change, I don't see how we can continue either...

Since I'm committed on the syllabus, I'm going to have my students install CC 2104 and use the old tools one last time...

Mea culpa for not catching on to this sooner.

[BobLevine]

Trust me, I feel your pain. I have a DPS course on lynda.com that isn’t going to benefit from this either. Not only they moving to the more robust DPS2015 I’m pretty confident they’re going to really start pushing HTML a lot more once Muse goes responsive.

And FWIW, I don’t blame them. HTML is a far better platform.

[Ivan_Mironchuk · Accepted solution]

Roy as an educator you currently have a few options:

1) Continue to use "DPS Classic" with Folio-based workflows. We still support every aspect of the older environment.

2) Have students sign up for their own DPS 2015 Trials and all will have fully functioning accounts for 30 days. With the publicly available DPS Preflight App (our new version of the Content Viewer) you do not need to create a custom app to preview the content.

3) Have your department reach out to their Adobe sales rep to discuss the pricing structure for EDU.

I've worked with a number of universities and colleges and my advice to them is to continue teaching InDesign workflows for print, but also educate them on HTML workflows for Web and Mobile. We're trying to create as many on-ramps as possible for getting content into the platform. An excellent article by David Hicks talks about where InDesign fits in mobile design: http://www.fipp.com/news/opinion/is-indesign-becoming-redundant-for-digital-publishers

Tools like Adobe MUSE will become nice options for creating fluid and responsive content for DPS.

If the DPS route doesn't work out for your class consider looking at creating Fixed-Layout EPUBs or using the Adobe InDesign Publish Online feature released in 2015.

[teryg]

I just added DPS into one of my classes for the Spring 2016 semester. I think the environment is something our students really should learn to use. I'm sorry Adobe has made it so difficult to teach and learn DPS. I'll have to rethink all of this next year. I guess I can drop it from the program and figure they'll learn on their own if/when they need to, though I think it's a shame to put them in that position unnecessarily.

But my immediate problem is next semester. I don't have access to older versions of InDesign, nor do I know how to use the DPS Classic and Folio-based workflows. I did see from trying to learn DPS through lynda.com that the 2015 interface for DPS in InDesign is different from the earlier interface.

I can have students create Adobe IDs and sign up for their own 30-days-and-out trials. The problem then is me. In order to learn DPS, I signed up for a trial account, which I am now using. I'll need access so I can show students what to do, but by the time I need DPS for class, my 30 days will have run out. I'll have my IT dept look into the EDU pricing structure but I have a feeling it's going to be out of reach for half a semester of one class. Is the only other solution for me to sign up for another Adobe ID that I'll use only for another 30-day trial?

[davidhicks_dps]

Thanks Ivan. Check's in the post.

[teryg]

‌My IT department spoke with our Adobe rep this morning and were not given an option of edu pricing. They were told the trial with individual IDs was the only option.

[davidhicks_dps]

There is definitely an Education option - you must get in touch with Adobe directly. Good luck.

[teryg]

Thanks. I'll keep trying Adobe. Just got off 60 minutes on hold without getting through to anyone. They do not make this easy.

Tery

[yableka]

Another educator here trying to pick up the pieces after this massive change. It's a bummer because students absolutely LOVE this project. I have them design a print publication and then translate it to an interactive digital edition, and they almost all get far more excited about the digital edition.

I think I will teach the 2014 software this term, and reevaluate after this term. I don't love the idea of teaching obsolete software, but I also hate to have them design static documents. It takes so much away from the benefits of reading a magazine on a mobile device!

[yableka]

Does this mean that if we download the trial of "Solution", that we can only preview it on a computer screen? No previewing on an iPad?

[davidhicks_dps]

No, you can use the Adobe Preflight app - just like the Content Viewer app. You sign in with the Adobe ID you use for DPS2015 and onwards from there is easy.

[BobLevine]

But you can’t access anything to use that tool without a DPS license.

[yableka]

Even if I am in the trial month?

[BobLevine]

If the trial is active you can use it.

[teryg]

I've been asking on other forums what people are doing. Someone suggested fixed layout EPUBS, which have a lot of capabilities. I'm looking at that. If I decide I want an app solution, people have recommended some non-Adobe products for that.

[davidhicks_dps]

All you need is an Adobe ID, and you have a free trial to the best platform there is. And - get a new ID and you can carry it on. Its a trial, so one couldn't publish anything to devices in the main, aside from trial apps and the Preflight app.

So its a great option - you just have to start again each period...

Otherwise DPS Classic (Suite) is still running.

Nothing else compares though or even comes close, as a code-free environment right now that's easy to pick up in a matter of days.