Book Creator app for the iPad is superb! It is easy to use and incredibly powerful for creating picture books, portfolios of work, topic summaries, collection of ideas, posters etc etc. It is great as an iPad app but is also available as an Android and Windows app!
On this page:
- Creating with Book Creator
- Sharing your product
- uploading online and embedding
- Printing Books
- Tutorials for use
- Tips and tricks (including power tips)
- Extra Notes
- Running a session on using Book Creator TEACHER TIPS BONUS
Creating Using Book Creator:
A full tutorial is further down the page, but in summary, you can choose a number of different formats including single or double page, landscape, portrait or square. (Note: portrait 2:3 Comic gives really nice options) and add all sorts of great content.
Add your content including:
- text – with 50 extra bonus fonts
- images from your device or from the web
- video from your device
- sounds – music or recording (including sharing straight from GarageBand!)
- annotations and drawings using the pen tool
- shapes, speech bubbles, backgrounds, stickers
- “panels” for very cool comic book styles
- links (highlight text then click on it for options)
Share your Masterpiece (eBook, pdf or video!)
Name and author your book by going to “My Books” and clicking on “i”. Then export, email or airdrop as an eBook (.epub file) to your desired location OR you can send it as a flat .pdf or a movie! The movie files are very clever, audio and video play automatically and the time for each page is adjusted according to its content, you can then edit and refine your movie in apps like iMovie.
Upload online and embed:
As of May the 4th (yes may the fourth be with you!) you can now upload your book with a teacher account and share it or embed it into a website like we have done below with our Book Creator fun tutorial! Or check it online at bookcreator.com
Print your books:
Printed versions of the books are pretty cool! Watching older students reading their books to younger students and Vice Versa is special! We liked the folded A5 size books by printing as booklet double sided onto A4 paper. After some testing, we found this process worked well.
To print a neat A5 size folded book with A4 paper:
– NOTE: This is best for books created using “Portrait 2:3” format.
– Go to the “My Books” menu and select the share button at the bottom.
– You will now have the option to “Export as PDF”
– Choose “Single Pages” and save or send to wherever you desire.
– Printing is best done on a computer with a double sided photocopier style printer. To get a neat A5 folded booklet, select “booklet”, “portrait” and “double sided” in your print options. Also make sure “color” is selected in properties and it does the magic of working which pages need to be where for you!
– Fold your book carefully and put two staples a couple of millimetres from the “spine” edge (a trim of the right-hand margin works a treat).
– VOILA!
Tutorials: BookCreator ePub or pdf or images.
ePub version: The best tutorial is the .epub book version! Click to download. Open in iBooks OR “open in” book creator to edit it and see the components used to make the book! Whoahh!
Or go through the tutorial below (embedded after uploading from the app)
Or go through the tutorial below:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190309144523if_/http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/klxqzlRvvZ0LJeBook Creator Overview
Tips and Tricks:
- The inspector “i” button is for adjusting settings or deleting selected items.
- Duplicate, rearrange or delete pages in the “pages” menu
- hit edit then click for more options. This is a bit hit and miss sometimes!
- to edit again click on a page
- Lock elements on a page so you don’t accidentally drag them around. GREAT when creating template books!
- Make your graphics special! Create images with transparent backgrounds for great layering or use apps like Notability to create better-drawn content.
Awesome Tip!
A book created in Book Creator can be edited by others = teachers can create a template for a book and get students to add their magic!
EXTRA NOTES:
– Books are created in fixed layout format which is not ideal for long texts such as novels. One option is to use pages and save as .epub if you want to do this.
– Saving as a pdf to print. Be aware audio or video is not packaged but links work for a book saved as a .pdf.
Running a Session on Using Book Creator: TEACHER TIPS
The Whole Kit and Kaboodle!
We have run a number of session on using book creator within the content of subjects being covered at the time. The following was our run sheet and may be useful if you are introducing this app and want to get the most out of it. It is also useful as a progression through using Book Creator.
- Welcome and intro – Why book creator?
– Show egs both digitally in iBooks with audio and video and the printed outcomes.
-Then look at Book Creator for Learning ideas from this page. - Getting Started with the app:
– Create new book after looking at templates. RECOMMENDED: portrait mode, comic book style. For panels and more choose one of the comic style templates. - Content – explore – insert – edit – using the inspector (i button)!
– Add a text box title – adjust background, text type colours and other setting for the selected item via the “inspector” (i Button)
– Speech and Sounds from your device
– Thought and speech bubbles
– Panels + unlocking panels and editing or deleting (!!COOL!!)
– Add Item – More – Photos (and movies)
– Stickers
– Pen drawing - Page Options:
– Choose “pages” then hold down on a page or choose “edit” to drag and rearrange or to “copy|insert|delete|Share”
NOTE: exit this page edit area by choosing a page to go to to edit. - The workings! Book saving and set up:
– Go back to “My Books” for book settings and sharing
– Click “i” – rename book and adjust author name
– Adjust! – iBook Display Settings – RECOMMENDED: Side by side pages and lock to Landscape especially if using images across two pages. - Output options – pdf for print, eBooks and Video!
– For full options to share do this from the “my Books” menu
– Printed books need to be saved as a pdf (see instructions above in this page)
NOTE also pages as images! Great for posters!: when editing a page click on a blank area then go to “i” and you can output that page as a Screenshot
NOTE: to be able to continue editing a book created in book creator - Bonus Goodies for those wanting to power on!
– Experiment with transparent images and how to make them.
– Drawings and handwriting from Notability
– creating images to blend into white backgrounds
– Sharing and submitting work to Schoology, OneDrive etc