CircularFLO Preferences Panel

CircularFLO will run successfully without a Preferences panel added but, to be in control and alter many of the default settings for your ebooks it is recommended to add one.

To add a Preferences Panel, choose the Add Preferences Panel button in the CircularFLO Document Tools panel.

The CircularFLO Preferences panel is an InDesign table placed in the pasteboard to the right of the current spread. It can be moved to anywhere in the document, but we recommend placing on the first spread of the first document in your publication.

Sections and headings are shown on the left. Default values are shown in the right column and can be altered to suit your needs.

Lots of options make the panel quite large! It will split to multi columns if there is not enough space for in the document. Unneeded rows may be deleted and the default values will still apply.

The panel is laid out in the following sections.

Output options

Export Amazon ready file: CircularFLO can output ebooks to EPUB3 and Amazon ready files to upload to Amazon KDP. The default here is no, change to yes to include Amazon files in your output.

Export MasterPlan package: The default is no, change to yes to prepare EPUBs and associated files ready for uploading to MasterPlan from Circular Software, a sister product to securely search and share publications online.

Validate with EPUB-Checker: Passes the exported EPUB to Pagina EPUB-Checker for validation. The default is yes, change to no to not automatically check for EPUB validation.
Note: that Pagina EPUB-Checker needs an update for this feature to work on macOS Mojave and later.

Check accessibility with ACE: Passes the exported EPUB to ACE BY DAISY for accessibility checking. The default is no, change to yes to automatically check for EPUB Accessibility on export.

Cover image options

Use first page as cover: To indicate whether the first page should be also used to generate the cover image of the eBook. The default is no, changing to yes will mean the dialog to choose a cover is not shown when making your ebook.

JPEG export options

JPEG quality: The quality setting used for background images can be chosen here by entering either low, medium, high or maximum. Remove the words to leave the preferred value. The default setting is high quality and this is recommended unless your file sizes become too large.

Megapixels per page: The total number of megapixels per page background (1 megapixel = 1 million pixels). A higher number gives more potential quality for fine zoomed-in detail but also means larger file sizes. The default of 3.2 is recommended for books up to one hundred pages. Maximum value is 4.

Export RGB images: By default all background pages use RGB JPEG graphics. The default is yes, changing to no for mono books to reduce file sizes by using greyscale graphics. This setting does not affect the cover, only all inside pages.

Simulate overprinting: When working with existing print files or PDFs it may be necessary to simulate the overprint settings used in order to get the same visual effects in your eBook. Default is yes, Pro users may change this value to no if necessary.

Fixed Layout Reading options

Lock Orientation: By default the EPUB document can alter how it is displayed, in most Ebook readers, according to the device orientation (which way round the reader is holding a tablet or phone). The default is no, change to yes to force an ebook to be fixed in either portrait or landscape mode.

Add Region-Based Navigation: The default is no. Switch to yes to add an extra file into the valid fixed layout EPUB output that contains the positions and reading order for region-based navigation. This method require a modern EPUB reader that supports region-based navigation.

Left to right page progression: The standard setting for western books is to read from left to right. The default is yes, changing to no to present the pages to the reader in a right to left reading order. Suitable for Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hebrew, Yiddish.

View double page spreads as double page spreads: Many illustrated books make use of being viewed as 'double page spreads', the left and right pages shown together, as part of their design. This can also be true for ebooks. The default is yes, change to no to split any facing pages in InDesign into single pages in the ebook.

Read Aloud options

Read aloud audio track to use for the document: If choosing to use a single audio track for the entire read aloud ebook then the path to the audio track is shown here. This value is not hand entered but instead is set when using the CircularFLO Read Aloud Tools.

Read aloud highlights added as background colour: When highlighting text or images along with an audio track, there is a choice whether to alter the colour of the text or image itself, or whether to add a background colour. The default is yes, changing to no means read aloud highlights are not applied as a background colour.

Read aloud highlight colours: The colours used for read aloud highlighting can be consistently applied or quickly altered across the whole document by amending these applied colours, using the InDesign swatches panel.

Text and font options

Main Language: The language used for the ebook is declared within the ebook itself. This language is detected from the InDesign file but can be altered here. A tool to only offer valid options is coming soon… but until then it is advised to pick a value from the official ISO Language list.

Prefer InDesign live text: Use InDesign's method of exporting text. This is recommended for accuracy and accessibility (once exported with CircularFLO!) The default is yes, change to no to embed any text which is not on the FLO_LIVE_TEXT layer.

Export InDesign CSS: The styling of live text used on the ebook page is written as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) in the ebook's internal code. The default is yes, the option to change to no is included for experienced users who may find it useful to not included InDesign's own CSS when adding alternative CSS files.

Add external CSS: Experienced users may find it useful to add alternative CSS files instead of or in addition to the styles exported from InDesign. The paths to one or more CSS files to include in the ebook are added using the Add / Relink external CSS tools in the CircularFLO Document Tools panel.

Use Font Obfuscation on FLO_LIVE_TEXT layer: InDesign automatically applies 'font obfuscation' to ‘mangle’ the fonts in the ebook so they are no use outside the EPUB package. If using local fonts for text on the CircularFLO live text layer then the font obfuscation can be avoided. The default is no, change to yes to add the entire original font into the EPUB.