In this Quick Tip we’ll take a look at a really useful online utility that will help us convert any PDF to a SWF virtual book with just a few clicks. Read on to learn more!

Step 1: What is a Flash Virtual Book?

A Flash Virtual Book is a Flash movie that recreates the look of a real book on screen. It is commonly used in digital catalogs or magazines. Check the demo included in this tip to see an interactive example.

Step 2: About the Tool

An excellent online tool was used to create the file from the demo, it uses a very simple interface (an HTML form) to specify the source PDF and parameters required to make the conversion.

You can find this tool on the CodeBox website.

Step 3: How it Works

With the PDF selected, the application will proceed to divide the pages into separate SWF files that will be later used by a SWF container. This SWF container will use an automatically generated XML file to load the pages and parameters. Finally, a zip file will store all the files and put them ready for download.

Step 4: Conversion

The steps to convert the file are really straightforward; just fill in and/or modify the parameters to meet your needs and press the Start Conversion button. You’ll need to wait a few seconds, after which a download link will appear when the conversion is complete.

Step 5: Test

Open the Zip file to extract and double-click either on the book.swf or the index.html file to see the book working.

Conclusion

Convert your PDFs quickly and easy with this tool!

Thank you for reading!