To start
Before opening InDesign, make sure you have installed the Twixl Publisher plug-in according to these instructions.
When you have started InDesign, select the Window menu, then navigate to Extensions -> Twixl Publisher to open the palette. You will notice a number of options are available in the palette.
If no object is selected in InDesign, the publication management options will be available.
If a certain object (like a movie or image) is selected, depending on the type of object, the relevant options for different interactive elements will be displayed.
Article-based or publication-based workflow
When creating InDesign content with Twixl Publisher, there are two different approaches to creating your content:
1. Article-based
Create individual articles that can be uploaded to a collection on the Twixl platform - this works best when multiple designers are working on content for the same app, or when you have an app with frequently updated content.
2. Publication-based
Create a complete publication, using an InDesign book to manage the different articles - this works best if only one designer is working on the publication. When importing a Twixl publication to an app on the platform, it will automatically be split into a collection with individual articles for each of the InDesign articles.
1. Article-based workflow
You can decide to create and export individual articles separately. When you export an article, the exported file will have the extension .article.
Just zip that .article file, and it can be uploaded to the platform.
For more details about adding content to your app, please check Working with Content Items.
Twixl Publisher supports 5 different sizes, each of them in landscape and portrait:
- iPad (1024x768 and 768x1024 pixels)
- Android 10 inch (1280x752 and 752x1280 pixels)
- Android 7 inch - Kindle Fire (1024x552 and 552x1024 pixels)
- Phones (568x320 and 320x568 pixels)
- Phones XL (852x393 and 393x852 pixels)
New articles or publications created by the Twixl Publisher plug-in will use a specific naming convention for the alternate layouts:
- iPad: "iPad H" for landscape and "iPad V" for portrait
- Android 10 inch: "Android 10" H" for landscape and "Android 10" V" for portrait
- Android 7 inch: "Kindle Fire/Nook H" for landscape and "Kindle Fire/Nook V" for portrait
- Phones: "Phone H" for landscape and "Phone V" for portrait
- Phones XL: "Phone XL H" for landscape and "Phone XL V" for portrait
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you create documents manually, i.e. by selecting New Document from the File menu instead of using the plug-in's 'New article' menu option), make sure your alternate layouts use the naming convention above, and that your documents have the page size Twixl Publisher expects. If you have layouts with a different name, you'll receive an error message during preflight.
2. Publication-based workflow
Select "New Publication". Once you select a publication name and optional issue number, the plug-in will create a "book" in InDesign.
An InDesign book file is a collection of documents that can share styles, swatches, master pages, and other items.
There are two options for displaying your Table of Contents (TOC):
- Title Bar Button (default)
- If you do not want to display a TOC viewer at all, select the option "None"
If you choose "Title bar button…" a TOC icon will appear in the right corner of the title bar, that will become visible when tapping anywhere on a page of your publication. If you also defined a hamburger menu in your app, it will appear to the left of that menu.
Title bar button
Initial article
You can create the first article of your publication, as well as select its title and optional tagline (these will be displayed in the TOC Viewer).
You can also select your starting template. The template you select for your first article will become the default template for that publication.