PDF to Flipbook » Always be one step ahead of your competition

So one day I just got it in my head that I wanted to create a flipbook. I manage a small, image-heavy blog, and I heard that my content would lend itself really well to a magazine format. So I spent a lot of time gathering my favorite posts and images, arranging them in an order that suited me, and then finally converting everything I had into a PDF. Once I got this far though, I had no idea where to go. I had no idea how to convert it into an online free PDF flipbook. I was worried that it would either be a really difficult process or it would be really expensive to hire someone to do it for me. I tried to create a free flipbook from my PDF file myself, but after much testing, only one software was powerful enough, easy to use, and cost-free.

The Best Software for PDF to Flipbook Design

After a bit of research, I found the solution: TheCompany.com. It was one of the easiest things I have ever done. I literally just uploaded my pdf to their site and watched as the entirely automated system transformed my PDF into a flipbook. I was equally stunned with how fast the process was, all for absolutely no charge at all!

There are some alternative sites that can do a decent job, but nothing I have liked as much as this site. Flippingbook.com, for example, does a really nice job, but you can only immediately access a free trial before you have to pay for the services. Anyflip.com is nice, but it’s not tally web-based, so you have to download and install a client application in order to use the service. For people who aren’t as computer-savvy, that’s not really the best choice. Publitas.com is a company on the rise, but they also have some features locked to people who don’t pay more.

It’s just awesome, and it will work just as easy and free and simple for everyone.

Everything you need is online. You don’t have to download or install anything, which is great. The site handles everything on their end, so you can upload your document and access it from any computer. And, since cloud computing is the future, all your uploaded files will be stored in the cloud. You can log on from your personal computer, from your business computer, from a friend’s computer, or even from a public library computer, and your documents will all still be there, exactly as you left them.

It really is impressive how fast it works, too. Their website brags that “In just two minutes your magazine is online.” The impressive software will scan your pdf to flipbook for tags and headlines in order to automatically organize what you have. Of course, if you want to edit anything yourself, you’re welcome to do so after the upload.

Another great feature you get just by virtue of using the service is access to the company community. You’re able to access documents from all kinds of other people. Sometimes I go in to see what other people are doing, to get inspiration for my own publications, and sometimes people end up finding my PDF flipbook if they’re searching for related content. Who knew that creating a pdf and then converting that pdf to a flipbook would result in that much more exposure? And in addition to their community, they make it really easy to share my publications on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc. I can even embed my publication on my blog.

By far, one of the coolest features is the ability to make my free digital flipbook interactive. I mean, what’s the point of doing something online if you can’t interact with and play with the digital magazine? This feature is called the Hotspot Editor. Basically, it allows you to link sounds, music, images, other files, videos, etc. into your flipbook online! It’s one of the easiest things to use too. It all works by dragging and dropping things where you like them. The tool panel is super easy to understand and use. You can resize and reposition elements as much as you want. Youtube and Vimeo work seamlessly with this tool, so you can embed Youtube videos right into your page-flipping flipbook with this flipbook software, or you can just upload a personal video to the site itself instead and add it from there. They give you every option you need.

Navigating the flipbook is made easy through the Hotspot Editor too. It allows you to link to other elements and pages inside or outside of your PDF flip book. In other words, you can set up a link on every page that takes the user back to the Table of Contents, or you can link a word or sentence in one article to another article in the same document (just like a blog post might do). Or if there is something on your website or on another website that you want to link your image or article to, you can do that too! And, if you have a lot of images (like I do), and you want to showcase them all, but design-wise that just wouldn’t look great, you can link your images to a slideshow that opens up right from the free digital flipping book itself to show off all of your images.

I don’t have a lot of audio in my content, but after seeing the features the Hotspot Editor allows me to use, I’m considering doing an interview in the future, just so I can link it in my digital flipbook! If you have stuff like that though, music, interviews, sound clips, or whatever else, you can link all of that directly into your Flipbook solution. It makes a really nice added feature.

I should also mention that a lot of links are automated too. If you have addresses, phone numbers, or obvious links in your pdf, the Hotspot Editor will automatically grab those and link them to the appropriate content. How cool is that? Also, you can import and export documents in CSV format. This isn’t something that I have messed with a whole lot, but it does exist if you need that kind of thing.

For people who use WordPress (like me), you should know that there’s a great WordPress plugin too that allows you to put your digital flipbook right into a post, and people can read it from there, without having to download anything or open any other windows. And, of course, all of this is done in a responsive design, so your images will automatically resize to fit the screen of the user.

The Last Tool You’ll Ever Need (For PDF to Flipbooks)

While there are a few other services out there that do similar things, TheCompany really is the best. I like it more than anything else I’ve tried. Even without some of the features (I don’t even use them all!) I would still pick this service because of how fast everything is, how simple it is, and how cost-efficient it is. Anytime I ever need to convert a pdf to a flipbook, I go here.