The iStudio Blog

iStudio Publisher 1.5.2 will run on macOS Big Sur, but very slowly, due to some of the Apple library code being broken in Big Sur. Apple may fix this in a future release of Big Sur, but in the meantime we have implemented workarounds that fix the problems.

To run on Big Sur, you should install iStudio Publisher 1.5.3, which is a free update. For installation help, click here.

UPDATE: December 1, 2020

Yesterday we released iStudio Publisher 1.5.4, which is another free update. All Big Sur users should update to iStudio Software 1.5.4.

Several users have asked whether iStudio Publisher will run on Macs with Apple's new M1 chip. The answer is "Yes", iStudio Publisher 1.5.4 runs via Apple's new Rosetta 2 translation technology. We are working towards releasing an M1 native version of iStudio Publisher, which will require a small number of third party software components included in iStudio Publisher to be updated, or engineered out. In the meantime, iStudio Publisher 1.5.4 runs fine on M1 Macs via the translation technology.

Best wishes, the iStudio Team.

iStudio Publisher is a perfect tool for adding more information to existing PDFs.

Use Case 1: Most people have at some time been emailed a PDF form to fill in and send back. Unless it's one of those electronically fillable forms this can mean resorting to a cumbersome process of printing out a copy, filling it in with a pen(!), and scanning a new PDF to email back. It's so much easier to keep everything electronic and add the required information using iStudio.

Use Case 2: iStudio Publisher can be used to add hyperlinks to any text, shapes, images, or page areas of any shape within an existing PDF. This is an ideal way of enhancing PDFs that will be viewed electronically and which were created by an app not capable of adding hyperlinks, or if the link destination wasn't known when the PDF was created.

Here are the easy steps required to add new information and hyperlinks to an existing PDF...

Step 1: Create a new iStudio document with a page size that matches the PDF page size.

Step 2: Insert a PDF into iStudio, either via the menu option Insert > PDF, or by dragging it from your Desktop or other Finder folder. PDFs are always inserted at full size, which means the only fine-tuning required is to align the PDF with the page.

Step 3: Annotate the PDF with text, shapes and images.

Step 4: Add hyperlinks to any of these items. The following screenshot shows a hyperlink being added to the "My Website" text:

Step 5: Save your iStudio document and choose menu option File > Export as PDF to export a new PDF with the annotations and hyperlinks included.

Happy PDF-ing! The iStudio Team.

In Education?

Are you a student? Do you work in education? This sale gives you an EXTRA 40% OFF the educational price.

Contact us for volume discounts, available for schools, colleges and universities.

Lost License?

Have you purchased iStudio Publisher, but lost your license?

All purchased licenses can still be used with the latest version of iStudio Publisher, even licenses from 2009!

iStudio Publisher is available as an App Store Edition (from the Mac App Store) and a Website Download Edition (includes all licensing options we sell from our website store). You will need to install whichever edition you have purchased.

To install the App Store Edition it’s necessary to sign in to the App Store with the same Apple ID you used for the original purchase.

If you purchased the Website Download Edition and your existing computer breaks or becomes inaccessible contact us and we can reset your License Activation Code.

For the latest news connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Happy publishing! The iStudio Team.

Using the new Corner Inspector you can have a lot of fun and get creative at the same time.

Start with one of the library shapes (or create your own), then experiment with the corner settings. For the best looking best results, try filling the shapes with gradient color and turning the stroke off. The loop styles provide loads of creative possibilities when combined with regular shapes. Boost the corner size up to make interference patterns.

Here's a collection of examples that each took literally seconds to make!

So get creating, and if you design something exciting then be sure to send us a screenshot or an ispx file.

The Corner Inspector is just one of many exciting additions and improvements introduced in version 1.4.1. Here's a full list of what's new in 1.4.1.

For the latest news connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Have fun. The iStudio Team.

We’re delighted to announce the release of iStudio Publisher 1.4.1 as a free update! We're really excited about the new additions and think you’ll love them too.

You can update the App Store Edition via the App Store, or update the Website Download Edition by checking for updates via the Help menu, or by downloading a fresh copy. For the licensing to continue working correctly it's important to update with whichever edition you have purchased.

iStudio Publisher 1.4.1 contains a bucketload of new features, improvements and minor fixes. Here are some highlights:

Here's a full list of what's new in this release.

A huge thank you for all your kind words, comments and suggestions, and especially to our beta testers.

For the latest news connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

We hope you enjoy using iStudio Publisher 1.4.1!

Best wishes from the iStudio Team

Happy Christmas to all of our users and best wishes for 2018!

We've been working hard on iStudio Publisher 1.4 and expect to have it ready for release in the first quarter of 2018. iStudio Publisher 1.4 will contain some great new features and be available as a free update.

The iStudio Team

We’re proud to announce the release of iStudio Publisher 1.3 as a free update! It's taken longer than we hoped, but we're really excited about the new additions and think you’ll love them too.

(Updated February 14, 2017) iStudio Publisher is available as an App Store Edition (from the Mac App Store) and a Website Download Edition (includes all licensing options we sell from our website store). You will need to update whichever edition you're using.

You can update the App Store Edition via the App Store, or update the Website Download Edition by checking for updates via the Help menu, or by downloading a fresh copy.

iStudio Publisher 1.3 is a huge update with lots of great new features and improvements. Here are some of the highlights:

Here's a full list of what's new in this release.

We've listened closely to your feedback, and iStudio Publisher 1.3 includes several of the most frequently requested features. A huge thank you for all of your kind words, comments and suggestions!

For the latest news connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

We hope you enjoy using iStudio Publisher 1.3!

Best wishes from the iStudio Team

This is a first for the iStudio Blog - a post written by a user, Brandon Davis Jennings, and providing a user's perspective. Brandon is an author, whose recent Battle Rattle Kindle Single (published by Amazon) was an Indie Pick of the Month for August, and was selected as a Best Book of the Year so Far by Amazon! Brandon has kindly agreed to share his experiences of using iStudio Publisher to design his book Battle Rattle for CreateSpace, for publishing in paper copy. Many thanks Brandon, and over to you... More

Several users have contacted us recently to ask if iStudio Publisher can be used to design and create book PDFs suitable for self-publishing with CreateSpace. CreateSpace is an Amazon company that prints books and makes books available on Amazon.com. We have investigated CreateSpace's PDF requirements and are happy to report the answer is “yes”!

If you're a budding author we thought you might appreciate this brief overview of the main considerations in using iStudio Publisher to produce CreateSpace compliant PDF files. On this CreateSpace webpage there's a link to download the CreateSpace PDF Submission Specification. Most of the CreateSpace specification requires no commentary, but here's a short a walk through some topics that have provoked iStudio Publisher related questions.

Embedded Fonts (page 19) and Image Resolution (page 23)

iStudio Publisher exports print-quality PDF files containing full resolution images and embedded font subsets, but doesn’t currently include any PDF configuration options. This website FAQ discusses the characteristics of PDF files exported from iStudio Publisher.

Transparency/Layers (page 23)

iStudio Publisher doesn’t flatten transparent objects, but this will generally be fine as the CreateSpace specification states that “We will attempt to flatten transparencies in the review process and reject if unsuccessful”. If required, as a workaround, export your iStudio Publisher document to PDF file and use Adobe Acrobat Pro to process the PDF file into the required format. There's a free trial of Adobe Acrobat Pro available here.

Basic PDF Requirements (page 27)

PDFs submitted to CreateSpace must be single page (not a spread or 2-Up). After creating your book document export it to PDF file by choosing menu option File > Export Document as PDF (i.e. don’t choose menu option File > Export Document as Booklet PDF).

Bleed (page 34)

Bleed is required if images extend to the page edges. If you have created your document in Spread Editing mode set the bleed to 0.125” on the Top, Bottom, and Outside, but set the Inside bleed to zero.

Bleed and crop marks can be enabled and set up on the Document Inspector, and get added when you export to PDF file by choosing menu option File > Export Document as PDF. When you add bleed, the bleeds are added outside the finished page size. The bleeds are shown as red lines on the document window. You should size and position any images that are to extend to the page edges so that they at least reach, or extend beyond, the red bleed lines.

Don’t choose the iStudio Publisher option to add crop marks as CreateSpace requires PDFs to be submitted without crop marks.

For more information see help pages Document Inspector and Printing and Exporting.

Margins (page 36)

To satisfy the minimum CreateSpace margin requirements set the page margins in your iStudio Publisher document to 0.25” for the Top, Bottom, and Outside page margins, and the Inside page margin according to the number of pages in your book, and as specified in the table on page 36. Keep all of your document content within these page margins (apart from any images that extend to the red bleed lines). Note that CreateSpace will accept 0.25” for the Top, Bottom, and Outside page margins, but recommend at least 0.5”.

To set different inside and outside margins in a iStudio Publisher document you will need to set it up for spread editing (rather than as a series of single standalone pages).

Cover (page 53)

Create your book cover as a separate one page document with a custom paper size having one dimension equal to two page widths plus the spine wide, and the other dimension equal to the page height.

iStudio Publisher incorporates the standard Mac OS X Page Setup dialog, which supports setting any standard or custom paper size. When entering a custom paper size enter the smaller dimension as the Width and the larger dimension as the Height. Change the page orientation from portrait to landscape via the Orientation control on the Page Setup dialog, as required. For more information refer to help page Page Setup Dialog.

Becoming a published author is really quite achievable, and we hope this post has given you confidence to get started. Happy authoring!

Here's wishing all our users a very happy holiday season from the team at iStudio Software. We have lots of exciting developments planned for the coming year, so connect with us on social media to stay informed.

The iStudio Team