Documents

A document shows a PDF file, an e-book (EPUB), or a comic book (CBZ) on the board:

• Reading: at rest it shows a picture of the pages last in view. In edit mode, scroll through the document or read one complete page at a time.
• Framing: continuous view uses the box as a window onto the pages; single-page view fits the whole page inside it. Locked Ratio scales the box without changing the view.
• Annotating: a PDF's pages take ink and text, which show wherever the document does and travel with the downloaded file.
• The file: download it from the Actions panel (a PDF with or without its annotations), pull a PDF's pages out as images, or replace it with another supported file from the Attributes panel.

Adding a document

Brings a PDF file, an e-book, or a comic book onto the board, by any of these ways:

• Operation, one of:
  • Choose Import file in the App menu and pick the file.
  • Drop the file on the board.
  • Paste the file from the clipboard.
• Needs, one of:
  • A PDF that does not ask for a password, up to 50 MB.
  • An EPUB e-book, up to 50 MB.
  • A comic book in CBZ, CBR, CB7, or CBT format. CBR, CB7, and CBT files are converted to CBZ before being added; the CBZ must be 50 MB or smaller.
• Result: the document centered where you dropped it, or in the center of the view when imported, 400 units wide and tall enough to show its first page. A placeholder with the file name stands in while the file loads.
• Tip: Convert to file card keeps the file as a file card instead, for a document you only want to hand out.

A comic that cannot be converted, or a copy-protected e-book, becomes a file card holding the original file, with a notice explaining why. The file card's 50 MB limit still applies.

You can also drop these files into an empty table cell, or choose them with Attach files… while editing the table. PDFs, EPUBs and comics become documents with page controls inside the cell; copy-protected e-books and comics that cannot be converted keep their original file as an attachment.

You can drag an existing PDF, EPUB or CBZ document into a cell and back onto the board. It keeps its reading position, view mode and appearance, along with any PDF annotations.

To read the document in its cell, double-click it with a selection tool. In the Player and with the Explore canvas tool, one tap opens it. Scroll in Continuous view or turn pages in Single page view; links and an EPUB's Contents work there too.

A click elsewhere ends the interaction, and the document stays open on the page you reached.

Copies of the same file keep their own reading position and appearance. To annotate a PDF or change its pages, move it onto the board and use the PDF tools.

Edit mode

At rest, a document shows a picture of its pages. Enter edit mode to read it; PDFs also have tools for adding ink and text.

Entering edit mode

• Operation:
  • If the document is selected, click Enter edit mode in the Actions panel.
  • If it is not selected, double-click it.
• Result: the document opens at the saved reading position.
  • Page controls: move through the document one page at a time.
  • PDF annotations: their tools appear in the Actions panel.

Leaving edit mode

• Operation: click on empty board, or click Exit edit mode.
• Result: the document shows a picture of exactly what was in view, scroll position included, until you enter edit mode again.

Reading the document

In edit mode, pages appear one below another by default. Scroll inside the document to read them, or turn on Single page in Document controls to read one complete page at a time.

The page content follows the file type:

• PDFs: continuous view fits pages to the shape's width. Single-page view fits each page independently, including pages of different sizes.
• E-books: chapters flow into pages with fixed proportions, two units wide for every three high. The text style sets how much text fits on each page; resizing the shape scales those pages.
• Comic books:
  • Page order: images follow their file names in order, so page 9 comes before page 10.
  • Spreads: continuous view pairs pages in a box wider than tall. Single-page view shows one archive image at a time.
  • Cover: stays on its own.
  • Wide pages: stay on their own.
  • Very tall pages: pages more than twice as tall as they are wide stay on their own.
• Manga: spreads read right to left when the comic's ComicInfo.xml file specifies that direction. Other comics read left to right.

Single-page view

Turn on Single page to fit the whole page inside the document and keep it centered. Resizing the shape keeps the same page in view.

• Turn pages: use the navigation controls.
• Touch screen: swipe up with one finger for the next page, or down for the previous page. Turn annotation tools off first.
• Mouse wheel and trackpad: they don't turn pages in this view. While you're using the document with the annotation tools off, they don't move the board either. A pinch still zooms the board.

Turn Single page off to return to continuous scrolling.

Page navigation

The navigation controls below the document move by page in both views, for PDFs, e-books, and comic books:

• First page: jumps to the first page.
• Previous page: goes back one page.
• Jump to page: type the page number to jump to it.
• Next page: goes forward one page.
• Last page: jumps to the last page.

In an e-book, the number and total count pages across the whole book. Each chapter may span several pages.

On a narrow document, the First page and Last page buttons disappear to leave room for the other controls.

In a PDF, the current page is the one you last clicked, or the one mostly in view after scrolling, and is outlined in the accent color. Page actions and the annotation tools work on it.

E-book contents

Click Contents below an e-book to open its table of contents. Choose a chapter or subsection to jump to the page where it starts. The current entry is marked in the accent color. Scroll inside the menu to reach entries further down.

Links

PDFs and e-books have working links:

• Within the document: a link jumps to its destination. E-book footnotes and their return links go to the page containing their target.
• Websites: a web link opens in a new tab.

Annotating the document

PDFs take ink and text annotations. Their tools sit in the Actions panel while the PDF is in edit mode, and one of them is on at a time:

• Selection: selects annotations to move, resize, rotate, duplicate, or delete them.
• Text: places text on a page.
• PDF pen: draws lines.
• PDF highlighter: draws like the pen with a square brush, and its color tints the page like a marker, so text under a mark stays readable.
• PDF eraser: removes whole strokes.

While a tool is on:

• Links do nothing.
• The wheel pans the board. Scroll the document with its scrollbar or the page controls.
• On a touch screen, a finger draws, erases, or selects. Turn the tool off to scroll.

Drawing

Adds ink to a page.

• Operation: turn on PDF pen or PDF highlighter, then draw on a page. The pointer shows the brush at its current size.
• Result: one stroke per gesture. Each tool keeps its own stroke shape, color, opacity, and width, so you can switch between writing and highlighting without changing settings. They start differently:
  • The pen starts dark, 3 points wide, and opaque, with round ends.
  • The highlighter starts yellow, 24 points wide, at 40% opacity, with flat ends. Its color tints what is under it, so text stays readable and crossing marks get darker.
• Tip: with Freehand, hold Shift to keep the stroke on one of the 45 degree directions. To turn a freehand stroke into a clean figure, keep pressing at its end and hold still for a moment: the same stroke recognition as the freehand tool applies, and the result stays ink.

Ink settings

Erasing

Removes ink from a page.

• Operation: turn on PDF eraser and drag across the strokes.
• Result: every stroke the drag touches goes. Text annotations are not affected; select those and delete them instead.

Adding text

Puts a text box on a page.

• Operation: turn on Text, click on a page, and type. Click outside the box to finish.
• Result: a text box that grows as you type, drawn above the ink. When you finish, Selection turns on with the new text selected.
• Tip: to change a text later, double-click it with Selection on, or click it with Text on. Emptying a text deletes it.

Text settings

Selecting annotations

Picks annotations to move, resize, rotate, copy, or delete.

• Operation: turn on Selection, then click an annotation, or drag over the page to take every annotation the rectangle touches. Shift with a click adds or removes one, and Shift with a drag adds more. A selection lives on one page at a time.

Moving and resizing annotations

Copying and deleting annotations

Annotations outside edit mode

Annotations show wherever the document does: in the picture the PDF shows at rest, in the Player, in image exports and Convert to Image, in the pages pulled out with the extract actions, and in the downloaded file, where they become standard PDF annotations. Converting the PDF to a file card keeps them too, written into the card's file. Replacing the file from the Fill section drops them.

Sizing

In single-page view, resizing from any handle fits and centers the same complete page in the new box.

In continuous view, the shape is a window onto the document. Its width sets the size of the pages or comic spreads, and its height sets how much of the document shows.

For PDFs and comic books in continuous view:

• Width: with the same number of pages across, a wider shape shows larger pages and less of the document. The top of the view stays in place.
• Bottom edge: reveals more of the document below, or hides it, while the top stays in place.
• Top edge: reveals more of the document above, or hides it, while the bottom stays in place.
• Corners: change the width and reveal or hide from the edge you drag, like the matching side.
• Document ends: when the edge you drag reaches the first or last page, the shape reveals more of the document from the other side. Empty space appears only once the whole document fits, and dragging back removes it before any content is hidden.
• Comic spreads: changing between these layouts keeps your place in the comic.
  • Wider than tall: pairs the pages. Each page can become smaller as two pages fit across the width.
  • Square or taller than wide: puts the pages in a single column again.

For e-books in continuous view:

• Width: scales the fixed pages. Change Text Style to fit more or less text on each page.
• Height: shows more or fewer pages below the saved reading position. The top of the view stays at that position whichever edge or corner you drag.

For every document:

• Locked Ratio: scales the whole window without changing what it shows, from any of the eight handles. Turn it on once you have framed the right part of the document.
• Resting picture: after a resize, the document shows the frame you set at rest.

Attributes

A selected document shows these sections of the Attributes panel, according to its file type.

Select a document inside a table cell to use Document controls and Fill for that attachment. EPUB attachments also have Text Style and Text Fill, with the same ranges and page-color preview.

Replacing the file keeps the attachment’s size, opacity, view and text style, and opens the new document at its beginning.

Selection info

The attributes that affect the shape as a whole.

• X: the horizontal position of the shape's pivot. Inside a frame, it's measured from the frame.
• Y: the vertical position of the pivot, also measured from the frame inside one. Which way it grows depends on the Y axis direction in the UI settings.
• W: the width of the shape.
• H: the height of the shape.
• Rotation: the angle around the pivot.
• Opacity: the transparency of the whole shape, stroke and fill included.
• Locked Ratio: keeps the proportion between width and height while resizing.

Document controls

Choose the view and page of a single selected document, while reading or outside edit mode:

• Single page: switching keeps the current page and your place in it.
  • Off (default): scroll through pages arranged one under another.
  • On: show one complete page, fitted and centered in the box, and use the controls to turn pages.
• First page: goes to the first page.
• Previous page: goes back one page.
• Jump to page: the number of the page in view, next to the page count; type a number to go to that page.
• Next page: goes forward one page.
• Last page: goes to the last page.

For e-books, the page count covers the whole book. Choosing a page updates the resting picture when the reader is closed.

PDF ink

The settings of the next pen or highlighter strokes, while one of those tools is on. See Drawing.

PDF text

The style of the text annotation being written or selected. See Adding text.

Text Style

Sets the typography of selected EPUB e-books.

• Font style: the family of typefaces to choose from.
  • Sans Serif: plain letterforms without finishing strokes.
  • Serif: letterforms with finishing strokes, as in print.
  • Handwriting: letterforms that look written by hand.
  • Mono: every character takes the same width, as in code.
  • Display: decorative typefaces for titles.
• Font family: the typeface, within the chosen style.
• Font size: the size of the text.
• Line height: the space between lines.

For e-books:

• Starting style: a serif typeface at 16 px, used throughout the book.
• Font size range: from 1 to 64 px.
• Line height range: from 0.5 to 4 times the font size.

Changing the style updates the book:

• Pages: the text is laid out again, so the number of pages can change.
• Reading position: your place in the chapter is kept.
• Resting picture: updates to the new style.

Text Fill

Sets the text color of selected EPUB e-books. New e-books start with black text.

• Text fill color: the color of the characters.

Changing the text color updates the pages and resting picture while keeping the same page breaks.

Fill

The Fill section holds the document's file controls, information, and opacity. E-books also have a Page color control:

• Fill color: the color of the fill.
• Page color in e-books: colors the pages and the space around them, with white pages while Fill is transparent. You can animate this color with an attributes block.
• File preview: shows the e-book's page color in its thumbnail and hover enlargement. Gaps between pages stay transparent.
• PDFs and comic books: keep their original page colors and a transparent surround.

The shared file controls and PDF information are:

• Replace document: choose a PDF, EPUB or comic book file from your device (Add document for an empty shape). The box keeps its size and reading starts at the beginning of the new file. Replacing a PDF removes its annotations.
• Fill opacity: the transparency of the document.
• Info, a read-only list about the file:
  • Size: the file size.
  • File type: the file format.
  • Source file: the name of the file as it was added.
  • Pages: the page count.
  • PDF type: whether the document is text-based, image-based, scanned, mixed, or unknown.

Replace document accepts the same formats as adding a document, including CBR, CB7, and CBT comics that are converted to CBZ. If conversion fails, the current document stays.

For books, Info lists:

• Size: the file's size.
• File type: whether it is an e-book or a comic book.
• Source file: the file's name.
• Title: the title stored in the book, when it has one.
• Chapters: the chapter count for an e-book.
• Pages: the page count for a comic book.

Filter

A chain of SVG filter primitives applied to how the shape is drawn. See Shape filters.

Mask

A document can be masked. See Masks.

Actions

Besides the actions every shape has, covered in What every shape shares, a document offers these in the Actions panel.

Download

Saves the document's file to your device.

• Operation:
  • For an e-book or comic book, select it outside edit mode and click Download.
  • For a single PDF, click Download PDF. When it has annotations, choose Original PDF or PDF with annotations.
• Needs: annotated PDF downloads require a PDF that is not encrypted. Encrypted PDFs can be downloaded with Original PDF.
• Result:
  • E-books: the original EPUB file. Changes to its appearance on the board stay on the board.
  • Comic books: the CBZ file of a successfully imported document. A comic converted from Title.cbr downloads as Title.cbz.
  • Unconverted comics: a file card holding the original CBR, CB7 or CBT downloads that archive unchanged.
  • Original PDF: the current PDF without the annotations added on the board. Deleted pages stay deleted.
  • PDF with annotations: a copy with ink and text as standard PDF annotations, so other PDF readers can show and edit them. The file on the board stays as it is.

Extract all pages to images

Creates a new image shape for every page of a PDF, EPUB, or CBZ. The document stays unchanged.

• Operation: select one document outside edit mode and click Extract all pages to images.
• Result: a group of JPEG images to its right, one per page at the document's width, arranged in a grid. PDF annotations are included. EPUB pages use the current font, text size, text color, and paper color.
• Progress: Cancel stops extraction and removes the attempted grid. Undo removes the complete grid in one step.

Extract current page to image

Creates a new image of the current page beside each selected document. The source stays unchanged.

• Operation: select one or more documents, or open one for reading, and click Extract current page to image.
• Needs: a selection containing only documents. PDFs, EPUBs, and CBZs can be selected together.
• Result: a full-page JPEG beside each source. An open reader uses its current page; a closed document uses its saved reading position. PDF annotations and EPUB text and paper styles are included.

Delete current page

Removes the page you are reading from a PDF.

• Operation: in edit mode, with no annotation selected, click Delete current page. With annotations selected, the same button reads Delete selected annotations and removes those instead.
• Needs: a PDF with more than one page, and one that is not encrypted. An encrypted one answers "This document cannot be modified".
• Result: the page is gone from the document, annotations included, and a later download gives the trimmed file.

Convert to Image

Replaces a document with a still picture of the view shown.

• Operation: click Convert to Image. When the conversion would lose something, a dialog lists what, and you confirm with Convert.
• Result:
  • View: an image of the visible pages, with the e-book's chosen colors and text style or the PDF's annotations. The other pages are gone from the board.
  • Detail: the document's own resolution keeps small shapes legible. Very large results are reduced.
  • Format: PNG when the view needs transparency, or JPEG when it is fully opaque.
  • Placement: the image keeps the shape's size, position, and mask, still editable.
  • Animation: the image keeps these animations:
    • Position: moves the image.
    • Rotation: rotates the image.
    • Scale: scales the image.
    • Resize: resizes the image.
    • Opacity: changes the image's opacity.
• Tip: while the image renders, an empty image marks its place and the original stays untouched, so you can keep working.

Convert to file card

Keeps the document as a downloadable card instead of showing it.

• Operation: click Convert to file card.
• Result: a file card holding the same file. When the PDF has annotations, the card holds the annotated file, the same file PDF with annotations downloads. See Convert shapes to file cards.
• Tip: an e-book or comic book keeps its original archive. Use Convert to document on the card to open it as a document again.

Player interaction

In the Player, one tap opens the document for reading, and it works like the other interactive shapes:

• Reading: an outline marks the document, and you turn pages with the controls below it. In continuous view, the wheel scrolls its pages and stops at the end without moving the board.
• Stopping: a tap outside ends the interaction. The document stays open on its page: a wheel over it moves the board, and a tap on one of its links still works.
• View: keeps continuous or single-page view as set on the board. Turning pages in the Player leaves the saved reading position unchanged.
• PDFs: page controls and links work, and saved annotations show.
• E-books:
  • Page controls: move one page at a time through the whole book.
  • Contents: opens the table of contents to choose an entry.
  • Links: jump within the book or open websites.
  • Text style: keeps the appearance set on the board.
• Comic books: page controls work, with the same page order and spreads as on the board.

Animating documents

A document takes the position, rotation, scale, resize, and opacity animations. See Transforming shapes and Revealing and hiding shapes.

An e-book's Fill color can also change with Attributes Animation.

Limits

• PDFs up to 50 MB, without password protection, with any number of pages.
• E-books up to 50 MB, without copy protection. Comic files and their converted CBZ files must each be 50 MB or smaller.
• Password-protected comics, solid RAR4 archives, and unsupported compression cannot be converted. Save the comic as CBZ to import it.
• Comic conversion allows up to 2,048 entries and stops after 30 seconds. Damaged archives, unsafe filenames, links, and archives inside the comic are refused.
• EPUB and CBZ files are archives. The files read inside them can take up to 50 MB each and 200 MB together once unpacked. An archive over either limit is refused.
• A very large EPUB can open with some chapter text or images left out.
• A copy-protected e-book becomes a downloadable file card.
• An e-book's Contents menu shows up to 200 entries and eight levels of nested sections.
• The viewer shows the pages as pictures, so text selection and search inside the document are not available.
• The annotations of one PDF take up to 1 MB together.
• In the Player, two to four documents stay open at once, depending on the device. Opening another closes the oldest, which shows its picture until tapped again.