Chad Chelius is back with what has to be one of the fastest turnarounds in script development. Last week’s scrollable-sidebar for fixed-layout EPUB3 and Publish Online is now a script.
Last week, I wrote up a post on EPUBSecrets.com describing a method to create scrolling frames in both Fixed-Layout EPUB and Publish Online formats. There was a lot of great feedback on this technique, both on the blog as well as twitter. Although the technique works well, it’s a bit code-heavy and requires some manual effort to produce, especially if you have several scrolling frame elements in your project. Well, there’s good news!
An Easier Way
After we found a way to create the scrolling frames in InDesign, Justin Putney of AJAR Productions sat down and whipped up an amazing extension that adds a panel in InDesign to give users a GUI (Graphical User Interface) method of creating scrolling frames in InDesign. The extension is called Universal Scrolling Frames. The real beauty for those users who are weary of anything to do with code, is that this script creates scrolling frames completely code free. The best part? He’s made it available free of charge!
How it Works
To get started, go to the Universal Scrolling Frames web page and click the I Want Scrolling Frames button. All Justin asks for is your name and e-mail address so he can keep in touch with you. After that, you can download and install the extension.
Editor’s Note: you’re reading the screen above correctly: EPUB (Reflowable & Fixed Layout). This feature does work in EPUB3 reflowable, at least in iBooks. For fun, I threw a sample EPUB into Kindle Previewer. It converted to MOBI, but without the scroll; overflow and positioning CSS properties are not supported in KF8.
Once the extension is installed, you’ll see a Universal Scrolling Frames option under the Window menu. Choosing that option will display the Universal Scrolling Frames panel.
To get started, set up your scrolling frame by creating a content frame containing the content that you want to scroll, and paste it into a container frame. For more detailed instructions, see the previous post (the panel also provides general instructions for setting up the frame). Select the container frame, then choose the desired options in the Universal Scrolling Frames panel.
That’s pretty much it! Export to FXL or Publish Online and enjoy this awesome feature! I’d like to personally thank Justin for investing his time, skills, and knowledge to create this extension for all of us to enjoy. Great work!
Chad Chelius is an Adobe Certified Instructor, author and consultant. He teaches clients around the world how to use and make the most of Adobe software and speaks at various industry conferences. Based in the Philadelphia area, you can learn more about him here and follow him on twitter.
