The HTML5 ebook framework to publish interactive books & magazines on iPad & iPhone using simply open web standards
http://bakerframework.com
To this day, ebooks have been limited by an old standard created in the pre-Kindle and pre-iPad era. Baker is the first stepping stone to show that we could already be using the powerful HTML5 language to create books with real typography, real layouts and high-quality design.
Creating an ebook in HTML5 to be used with Baker is a three-steps operation. It's easier done than said! ;)
-
DESIGN
- Create you publication as one or more HTML5 files
- Design your publication to fit multiple screen (if you want to target iPad: 768px for portrait, 1024px for landscape)
- You can use any feature in WebKit: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (video, audio, fonts, jQuery, Google Maps, etc)
- On iPad/iPhone you can constrain the height to match the page size or make it scrollable if you need longer pages
- Consider having 1 HTML for each chapter/section/article and use the native vertical scrolling.
- ...remember: it's a publication. If you want to build an app, check PhoneGap. ;)
-
PACKAGE
- The publication must be contained in a single "book/" folder
- Each chapter/section/article (horizontally swiped on the iPad) should be a single HTML file inside the "book/" folder
- Create a Hpub book.json file: title, author, pages, etc. (see below)
- The assets must be contained within the "book/" folder or its subfolders
- Check the example book from the website for an hands-on example
-
PUBLISH
- Download the Baker Framework Xcode project from http://bakerframework.com (or GitHub).
- Download Xcode 4.2 from the Mac App Store or from the Apple Developer website.
- Open Baker in Xcode.
- Add all the files of your publication from your "book/" folder to the "book/" folder inside Baker.
- Rename the project to the name of your publication: click on the "Baker" name in the leftmost column of the project navigator.
- Replace the icon files (ios-icon-*.png, check the Apple Guidelines for reference).
- Change the bundle identifier in the plist file to the one you are going to use for your app.
- Select the Baker Scheme (Simulator or Device) from the toolbar dropdown.
- Run and check that everything works correctly both on simulator and device.
- Create an Apple iPhone Developer account to publish on the App Store.
- Follow the instructions on the Apple iPhone Developer website to submit your book to the app store.
This is an example of a minimal book.json file:
{
"title": "The Study in Scarlet",
"author": "Arthur Conan Doyle",
"url": "book://bakerframework.com/books/arthurconandoyle-thestudyinscarlet",
"contents": [
"Article-Lorem.html",
"Article-Ipsum.html",
"Article-Gaium.html",
"Article-Sit.html",
"Article-Amet.html"
]
}
For all the details and the advanced options, check the Hpub specification on the wiki.
With Baker Framework you can create books and magazines for the iPhone too.
To compile your application for iPhone follow these steps:
- Open the Baker Framework Xcode project with Xcode.
- Click on the "Baker" project in the leftmost column of the project navigator.
- On the column just left, click under Projects on "Baker"
- In the "Build Settings" tab locate the section Deployment for the configuration you would like to use for compiling.
- Under the Deployment section change the Target Device Family entry to match the devices you would like to target (only iPhone, only iPad or iPhone/iPad).
- Compile and test the application.
From inside an existing book you make with Baker you can download other books, in the HPub format.
A book in the HPub format is like the default book that's inside Baker:
- All the HTML files must be at root level (not in a subfolder, otherwise you'll get an empty book).
- Each chapter/section/article (horizontally swiped on the iPad) should be a single HTML file inside the "book/" folder
- Create a Hpub book.json file: title, author, pages, etc. (see below)
- The assets must be contained within the "book/" folder or its subfolders
When it's ready:
- Zip all the files (not the folder, remember, its content).
- Change the extension of the file from ".zip" to ".hpub".
- Upload the .hpub file on a server.
- Link to the publication on the server, using the Hpub book protocol:
book://example.org/path/bookname
(with or without extension, Baker will add ".hpub" by itself).
- Submit your bugs here: http://github.com/simbul/baker/issues
- Give us your feedback at: info@bakerframework.com
- Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BakerFramework
-
3.2 (20/03/2012)
- iOS 5.1 and Retina display support
- External links now open in internal browser, see referrer=Baker (thanks to @steiny2k)
- Custom events fired on window blur and focus
- Book.json parameters to disable tap and swipe: -baker-page-turn-tap/swipe
- Index bar dynamically sized from index.html size. Use viewport meta property to configure
- Change: referrer=Baker variable now not passed to destination website
- Fix: "white flash" workaround found
- Fix: solved issue with pre-compiled screenshots and books with more than 50 pages
- Fix: rare bug of content loaded into index view instead of page
-
3.1 (20/12/2011)
- Newsstand basic support
- iOS5/iCloud data storage guidelines support
- Pre-build screenshots in screenshot mode using -baker-page-screenshots in book.json
- Retina display support in screenshot mode (thanks to @zenz)
- Manga support: start from the last page, or any arbitrary page using -baker-start-at-page in book.json
- Email protocol support
- Change JSON library to JSONKit (thanks to @zenz)
- Fix: block idle when downloading
- Fix: spinner color and iOS4.x support
- Change: -baker-background-image-* properties are now relative to ./book/ folder, see Issue #247
-
3.0.2 (29/10/2011)
- Fix: iOS 4 support for the spinner feature available only in iOS 5
-
3.0 (18/10/2011)
- Two rendering modes to improve performances: screenshots (thanks to @pugpig) and three-cards
- index.html view on double-tap to manage navigation and menu
- Full Hpub 1.0 support
- Improved rendering speed and responsiveness
- Improved handling of internal and external links
- Memory optimization
- iOS 5 and Xcode 4.2 compatibility
- Minimum supported version: iOS 4.0
- Minor fixes and improvements
- Thanks to @francesctovar @therabidbanana @eaglejohn @ffranke for the great support
-
2.0 (28/04/2011)
- Multi-orientation books support: portrait, landscape, both (thanks to @svdgraaf)
- iPhone support
- Xcode 4 compatibility
- Added support to open a specific page of a downloaded book
- Added support to remove vertical bounce (for non-scrolling books)
- Added support to enable automatic media playback
- Changed the gesture to open the status bar to the more reliable doubletap
- Fix: page anchors now handled in internal links
- Fix: orientationchange event now fires
- Minimum supported version: iOS 3.2
- Minor fixes
-
1.1 (19/01/2011)
- Added book:// protocol to allow downloadable HPub books
- Support for zipped HPub books (to allow downloading)
- Link support (internal/external)
- Multitap page navigation
- Alphabetical ordering (WARNING: breaks previous books, check before upgrading)
- Statusbar on tap
- Full screen swipes
- Fix: now the previous page doesn't flash anymore when you change page
- Minor fixes
-
1.0 (03/11/2010)
- First release
Copyright (C) 2010-2011, Davide Casali, Marco Colombo, Alessandro Morandi
Licensed under BSD Opensource License (free for personal and commercial use)
Elementary, my dear Watson.