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Books and the Flip Book

Set up book products so customers page through a 3D flip book, with hard or soft covers and stock looks, in the Print Editor proof step.

Book products show a 3D flip book in the Print Editor's proof step. The customer turns the pages to check the whole book before adding it to the cart. The flip book draws the editor's own pages, lit by the store's 3D Environment.

Set Up a Book Product

  1. Edit the product. On the Print Editor tab, set Preview Type to Flip Book.
  2. Choose Soft cover (the default) or Hard cover. See Preview Type.
  3. Optional: in Pricing, give the book a Cover Stock, Page Stock or Cover+Page option. Link each item to a stock in Appearance material (3D preview).
  4. Click Save.

Flip Book needs the Book proof mode license feature (Book_Proof_Mode).

Turning Pages

  • Drag a page corner. The page peels up from the corner and follows the pointer. Past halfway it completes the turn; otherwise it settles back.
  • Click the left or right half to turn that way.
  • Left and right arrow keys turn the page.
  • Touch dragging works on phones and tablets.
  • Page picker: the proof view's previous and next buttons and its dropdown move through the book. The dropdown lists spreads as they open (1, 2–3, 4–5, … and the last page). Picking a far spread flips quickly through the pages in between.

Covers

CoverHow it turns
Hard coverTurns as a rigid board and never bends.
Soft coverBends like a page.

Interior pages always bend.

Page Order

  1. The first page is the outside front cover.
  2. The second page is the inside front cover.
  3. The interior spreads follow.
  4. The second-to-last page is the inside back cover.
  5. The last page is the outside back cover.

Hidden pages are skipped. If the pages don't pair up, a blank page is added before the back cover.

Stocks and Thickness

When the book's Cover Stock, Page Stock or Cover+Page items link a 3D Material:

  • The cover and pages take that stock's look.
  • A hard cover gets board thickness.
  • The page block gets a thickness from the page count.

The spine and page block use the first value that is not zero: the item's Thickness, then the manufacturing material's thickness, then the appearance material's. With nothing linked, the book is thin, plain paper and still a complete preview. Changing a stock in the calculator updates the book at once.

Look and Size

  • Shading runs along the spine. The turning page casts a moving shadow, and a soft shadow sits under the book.
  • The open spread fits the preview area with padding. A closed book sits centered and slides over as it opens.
  • Preview-only products redraw pages as their images finish loading, so no page shows a missing image.

Limits

  • The flip book shows in the proof step only, not in the live preview panel beside the canvas.
  • There is no zoom, thumbnails, autoplay or fullscreen.
  • The spine shows the cover stock. There is no spine artwork.
  • Finishes such as "Coating - Cover Only" don't show on the book.
  • Custom-upload books are always hard cover.

Wall Art

Set up canvas, prints, mats and frames as 3D Auto products that preview in true 3D in the Print Editor and storefront.

Editor Themes

Customize the appearance and branding of the Print Editor interface.

On this page

Set Up a Book ProductTurning PagesCoversPage OrderStocks and ThicknessLook and SizeLimitsRelated Pages