Quick question on article files

[Davd_Spivak_-_A]

HI there, I'm back with a few more questions:

If I have a magazine that's not 1024 x 768 can I create a .article file out of a document that isn't the size of a target device? Also, does the conversion to a .article file compress the images at all or change their color profile (I.e. CMYK to RGB)?

[Colin_Fleming · Accepted solution]

Curios question Davd;

I've found that a single-page InDesign file built for smooth scrolling can be a curiously flexible design. Let's say your ID file is 768 wide and 3000 tall, you can export that to an tablet dimension, and then export the same file to an phone dimension. These article files will scale to fit a device. So if your project has two top-level nav systems, you could have a set of tablet collections and a set of phone collections, and then you could load the two article files into the matching system.

The result would be one design file --> two article files --> that become content for two articles. Maybe an easy way to cut down on your design files, as long as smooth scrolling pixel-perfect articles is going to work for you.

As for the color conversion, it depends on whether the image is resampled in the export. All the old patterns of non-interactive and images in slideshows and scrolling frames apply here. Same deal for pass-through overlays -- they'll pass the asset right on through without conversion.

HTH

[Davd_Spivak_-_A]

‌Ahha! But when you're exporting an InDesign file an article file for an ipad, one of the dimensions MUST be either 1024 or 768. of the diminsions on one of the sides doesnt equal that, it wont export it to a .article file, right? And the export to html from InDesign is not helpful because it throws different text boxes and images around everywhere with no rhyme or reason. Trying to think of an efficient way to do this.....

[Bob_Bringhurst_]

Let's suppose you have a 768x3000 layout in InDesign. If you export it as an article with "Smooth Scrolling" selected and 768x1024 dimensions, it will look great on iPads, but you'll get unwanted letterboxing on phones. However, if you export the article a second time with "Smooth Scrolling" selected and 640x1136 dimensions, it will look good on all supported iPhones—although the text might be too small to read without zooming. You would then need to create separate phone/tablet articles and add them to the different phone/tablet top-level collections.

[Colin_Fleming]

Ah-ha back at you!

Most of the time, that's right: one dimension of the exported article must match the document dimension...

But I've found that smooth scrolling articles act differently. [dramatic music]

With a single-page design, when exported as a smooth scrolling article, you choose the dimension of the device. Your 768x3000 ID file _can_ be exported to a 640w x 1136h device dimension -- and this sets the size for the scrolling article. It's a bit like how a scrolling text frame has a dimension. Low and behold, that device dimension you're exporting becomes the "window" that's scaled on the device. -- This is a special "feature" of smooth scrolling articles.

And you'd need to be using two top-level nav in the project, and maintain parallel collection and article structures since DPS 2015 doesn't support article renditions. Who knows when/if that will be supported in DPS 2015.

[Davd_Spivak_-_A]

‌ok, everyone here is being so helpful, I really appreciate it.... So my developer team has a lot of questions; more specifically that we are trying leverage three pieces of software(DPS 2015, Experience Manager and Analytics) to do something that DPS wasn't entirely designed to do. That being said, Ive personally been an Adobe user since 1995, and I don't think I've ever 100% used any Adobe software specifically for the exact single purpose it was built for.

We are trying to convert multiple existing print publications to the dps specific size. Challenging but not impossible. We want hundreds of different publications on one DPS app... And we want to integrate the look and feel of our website into the DPS app, alla Experience Manager. So because my team has so many questions, would it be possible to get a DPS expert on the phone with my tech team? Would we need someone from Experience Manager as well? We just a cannot move forward without an expert on the phone. Would this be Gold Level support or someone else?

[Colin_Fleming]

What a glorious combination you're planning! Yes, a conversation sounds like a great idea. Drop me a line via email, I have some offline questions for you. fleming at adobe