Flipping Book Software: Flipbooks v/s PDFs

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is the document sharing format of choice since it was developed in the early 90s. It is stable, cross platform, and it has a fixed structure on every device. However, with the changing digital technology, the demands of your audience change, too. The modern readers seek to find interactive and engaging experiences that a simple PDF is not able to offer.

Enter the flipbook. It is also possible to convert a regular PDF file into a dynamic online publication with page-turning effects using flipping book software. This format is currently becoming popular with businesses and educators because it can provide content in a more interactive and user-friendly manner. When choosing between working with a conventional PDF and moving to a flipbook, the presented guide will highlight the main distinctions between the two to allow making the right decision regarding the content.

PDFs vs. Flipbooks

Then what makes the difference between these two formats? Although both are used with the same purpose of passing information, they have a strikingly different user experience. We will compare them on some of the major areas.

Interaction and participation

The PDF files are innately fixed. They are limited in their interactive ability though they can have hyperlinks and clickable table of contents. Its user experience is simple, scroll, zoom and click. This may leave long documents to be thick and boring forcing the reader to get bored easily.

Flipbooks, in their turn, are interactive. The page flipping effect is used to simulate the feeling of using a physical book, which is more rewarding as compared to scrolling. More to the point, by using flipping book software you can incorporate a broad selection of interactive media directly in your document which includes:

• Video clips: Showcase product demos, tutorials, as well as brand stories.
• GIFs and pop-ups: These help to catch the eye and add more details without overloading the page.
• External links: attract traffic to your web site, social, or online store.

It is an opulent multimedia combination that transforms the dull reading activity into an active activity, which keeps your audience longer.

Accessibility & UX

The PDF files need to be downloaded before one can view them, and this can be a big hindrance particularly to those in mobile devices or with a slow internet connection. After the download, it is known to be a tedious task to scroll through a huge PDF by using pinching and zooming to get into the large file and then absorb the information.

Flipbooks are web-based, which implies that a person can open and read it immediately, just by clicking on it, no need to download it. They are entirely responsive and automatically adjust to any size of the screen and have a smooth feel on desktop, tablets, and smartphones. The book-like navigation is intuitive and hence allows the reader to move through the content at his or her own pace.

Branding and Customization

Although it is possible to add a logo to a PDF, the customization possibilities are usually few. The appearance and touch are significantly determined by the standard PDF viewer, and there is not much to be done to show the unique look and feel of your brand.

Flipping book software provides a wide scope of branding. The digital reader may be customized with your company logo, company brand colors and a custom background to create a unified brand experience. Such degree of personalization gives strength to your brand and makes your publications appear more professional and polished.

Analytics and Insights

A limitation of PDF is tracking which is one of the largest. After downloading a PDF, there is no way to know whether it is read or not, whether it was opened, and what links have been opened. This renders your content effectiveness incomparable.

Flipbooks give comprehensive analytics. You can track metrics such as:

• Total visitors and unique viewers
• Average time spent on each page
• Link clicks and video plays
• The geographic location of your readers

This knowledge is gold in knowing how your audience engages with what you are publishing which can then help you streamline your strategy and even better future publications.

Conclusion

Although the PDFs have not yet been fully replaced by docs with minimal or no interactivity or tracking capabilities, their lack of interactivity and tracking is evident. Flipbooks are better suited to your purpose in case you aim at engaging your audience, strengthening your brand, and making actionable decisions.

Converting your PDF files into interactive flipbooks facilitates you to make the complete process of reading more engaging & remarkable by your readers. Such a mere exchange can dramatically enhance interaction and can assist you to meet your communication objectives in a better way.

In case you need to convert PDFs to flipbooks, you can have a 15-day free trial of a good flipping book software i.e. PageTurnPro flipping book software.