FlashPaper - This is Awesome!
Permenant Link To: FlashPaper - This is Awesome!
In case you haven't heard, Macromedia has quietly announced the release of Contribute 2, their answer for enabling the average Joe the ability to easily update Web content.
While I haven't ever used Contribute, it does offer a lot of useful capabilities. While browsing the new features in Contribute 2, I came across a new feature that is absolutely awesome! It's called FlashPaper, and it is something I have been wanting for along time.
Basically FlashPaper allows you to take any printable document, from a Photoshop file to Microsoft Word, and convert it to a special SWF called a FlashPaper document. Think of this as being somewhat similar to a PDF file. The content within the FlashPaper document isn't the actual Word file (or whatever file you're converting), but it appears to be a bitmap version of the file's content (as it would appear if it were printed on a high-quality laser printer), thus it's not searchable, selectable, or editable. But it is printable. I know of a lot of circumstances where that's good enough.
This FlashPaper document has built in zoom controls, a scrollbar, page navigation controls and a print button (you can see a demo on the product info page).
Since a FlashPaper document is nothing more that a SWF, it is embedded onto an HTML page just like any other Flash movie. This means that you can provide content from Word files, AutoCAD files, or Illustrator, directly within a Web page, without requiring your visitor to click on a link to open the file. That's AWESOME!!
OK, now I've got you psyched-up, time for the fine-print. I'm in the process of confirming whether or not FlashPaper will be a stand-alone application, or if it will be available only within Contribute. Stay tuned!
Currently, FlashPaper is only available on Windows 200 and XP. Mac OSX support is in the works.
Also, as mentioned, while FlashPaper content is printable, it cannot be searched, selected or edited. That kind of functionality still falls into the world of PDFs.
FlashPaper is not perfect, but if it is released as a stand-alone application, it will provide Flash developers another tool (a very useful tool, IMHO) for their arsenal.
While I haven't ever used Contribute, it does offer a lot of useful capabilities. While browsing the new features in Contribute 2, I came across a new feature that is absolutely awesome! It's called FlashPaper, and it is something I have been wanting for along time.
Basically FlashPaper allows you to take any printable document, from a Photoshop file to Microsoft Word, and convert it to a special SWF called a FlashPaper document. Think of this as being somewhat similar to a PDF file. The content within the FlashPaper document isn't the actual Word file (or whatever file you're converting), but it appears to be a bitmap version of the file's content (as it would appear if it were printed on a high-quality laser printer), thus it's not searchable, selectable, or editable. But it is printable. I know of a lot of circumstances where that's good enough.
This FlashPaper document has built in zoom controls, a scrollbar, page navigation controls and a print button (you can see a demo on the product info page).
Since a FlashPaper document is nothing more that a SWF, it is embedded onto an HTML page just like any other Flash movie. This means that you can provide content from Word files, AutoCAD files, or Illustrator, directly within a Web page, without requiring your visitor to click on a link to open the file. That's AWESOME!!
OK, now I've got you psyched-up, time for the fine-print. I'm in the process of confirming whether or not FlashPaper will be a stand-alone application, or if it will be available only within Contribute. Stay tuned!
Currently, FlashPaper is only available on Windows 200 and XP. Mac OSX support is in the works.
Also, as mentioned, while FlashPaper content is printable, it cannot be searched, selected or edited. That kind of functionality still falls into the world of PDFs.
FlashPaper is not perfect, but if it is released as a stand-alone application, it will provide Flash developers another tool (a very useful tool, IMHO) for their arsenal.
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