iBooks Author Building Table of Contents Layout
In the last tutorial, we began building your book in iBooks AuthorR by customizing the Book Title layout with your own title and book cover illustration. Now, it’s time to tackle the Table of Contents.
We have already learned about the iBooks Author default Table of Contents and how its meta data works. We also discussed some popular changes to this default TOC requested by authors of children’s books and that those changes are included in my iBA template.
How To Make The Template Yourself
If you are using another iBA template and wish to keep the default TOC, you can skip this tutorial. If you wish to use the custom TOC in my template or modify another template, let’s get started.
The first decision you will want to make is about the background graphic. The custom background graphic in my template, with its colorful border, may not match the style or theme of your book. If this is the case, you will want to design your own background graphic.
The Retina size for this graphic is 2048 x 1496 pixels and the standard size is 1024 x 748 pixels. If you are using the placeholder text box at the top, the text box on the left or the icon definition box on the right, you will need to take the placement of these elements into consideration in your background design. Finally, the bottom of the page will display the thumbnail navigation for your book. So, do not place design elements in that area.
On the other hand, except for the section list on the left, all of these placeholders are optional. All placeholders can be repositioned. As you can see in this example, I used only the icons and their labels and omitted everything else. I also restyled the labels to the Noteworthy font.
How the User Will Customize Your Template
We have already learned about the iBooks Author default Table of Contents and how its meta data works. We also discussed some popular changes to this default TOC requested by authors of children’s books and that those changes are included in my iBA template.
How To Make The Template Yourself
If you are using another iBA template and wish to keep the default TOC, you can skip this tutorial. If you wish to use the custom TOC in my template or modify another template, let’s get started.
The first decision you will want to make is about the background graphic. The custom background graphic in my template, with its colorful border, may not match the style or theme of your book. If this is the case, you will want to design your own background graphic.
The Retina size for this graphic is 2048 x 1496 pixels and the standard size is 1024 x 748 pixels. If you are using the placeholder text box at the top, the text box on the left or the icon definition box on the right, you will need to take the placement of these elements into consideration in your background design. Finally, the bottom of the page will display the thumbnail navigation for your book. So, do not place design elements in that area.
On the other hand, except for the section list on the left, all of these placeholders are optional. All placeholders can be repositioned. As you can see in this example, I used only the icons and their labels and omitted everything else. I also restyled the labels to the Noteworthy font.
How the User Will Customize Your Template
- To replace the background graphic, drag your jpg or png from the Finder window and drop over the upper right corner of the placeholder graphic.
- To add the title of your book, double-click the placeholder text and type the title. To remove the title, select and delete the placeholder text box. To restyle the text, select all the text and apply a new style from the Styles drawer or Format Toolbar.
- If necessary, restyle the text in the left placeholder text box.
- To remove all or some of the contents in the How to Use This Book box, select and delete the design elements that you wish to omit.
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