Desktop Author is an authoring program used to create eBooks in DNL format.

[edit] Overview

DeskTop Author is an electronic publishing software that allows you to quickly and easily create 3d page turning electronic publications such as eBooks, eCatalogs, eBrochures, ePresentations, photo albums and much more.

A free evaluation version and a purchased version are available. This is a Windows only application but should work in a windows emulator on a Mac or Linux box. The eval version has all the features of the standard version but is limited to a 2 page document.

DNL documents can now be read on a Mac as well.

Desktop Author can be used to create:

• eBOOKS
• SHAREWARE eBOOKS (Read part of the eBook before DRM is required.
• eBROCHURES
• eCATALOGS
• PHOTO ALBUMS
• VIDEO ALBUMS
• ELECTRONIC MANUALS
• DIGITAL TEXT BOOKS
• ELECTRONIC TESTS & QUIZZES
• ELECTRONIC COURSES
• eCARDS
• DIGITAL PHOTO ALBUMS
• eANNUAL REPORTS

ePUB eBooks can now be imported to DeskTop Author. You can also create eBooks that will update themselves.

[edit] Details

The Authoring tools claims to be simple but it is certainly not intuitive. You will need the manual to learn how to use it. Templates are available to aid in formatting specific eBook types.

You create books by defining the pixel size for the page and then click on the text box to insert text into the page. The text appears as a box in the document. This can be resized and moved as needed. RTF files can be imported by pasting. They recommened wordpad as a source editor. Images can be inserted similarly, BMP, JPG and GIF images are supported. A source file book is saved in DML format which an internal format for the book. This data cannot be exported. A package DNL file can be created at any time and viewed. You can also create a standalone executable file for viewing on a Windows pc but this could be attacked by a virus.