Adding Read Aloud to Fixed Layout EPUB

For fully illustrated books where text sits above the underlying artwork we can use Circular Software tools to separate the text from the images.

In doing so, CircularFLO manages the EPUB export in a better way than InDesign, merging base images to a background layer that provides retina quality at lower file sizes and with cleaner code.

To separate live text and base artwork onto the required layers:

1. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Live Text Tools
2. Click Lift live text from base artwork
   

CircularFLO creates FLO_BASE and INDD_LIVE_TEXT layers and the live text and base artwork are automatically moved to their respective layers.

The CircularFLO Auto specified reading order works from top to bottom of the page to determine the reading order.

Alternatively, for more complex layouts, a User specified reading order can be made before starting the process.

All the text is split out into rows of a Read Aloud panel (an InDesign table) created on the pasteboard. Where required CircularFLO will add additional columns to accommodate additional text.

All live text on each page is listed by word as a separate row in that page's Read Aloud panel.

Because the audio and highlight colour may change page by page, these are shown at the top of the Read Aloud panel. See Read Aloud preferences section for more.

Auto specified reading order

The text in an entire publication can be prepared for read aloud with an automated process:

1. Move to the required starting page
2. Ensure all live text frames are deselected
3. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Read Aloud Tools‍
4. Click Prepare Read Aloud on document‍
5. In the dialog Are you adding one read aloud audio file for this entire document? choose either Yes, audio for document or No, audio for page only.
   We recommend ideally using one track if possible as this is easier to manage
6. Choose the audio track.
   M4a and MP3 formats are both supported.
7. In the dialog Preparing read-aloud for all live text throughout the document starting from the current page click Start on page

A Read Aloud panel (an InDesign table) is created on the pasteboard of each page containing text on a new layer named FLO_READ_ALOUD.

User specified reading order

1. Select the live text frames in their requisite reading order with InDesign’s Selection Tool
   Tip: Use the Shift key to add frames to an InDesign selection in order
2. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Read Aloud Tools‍
3. Click Prepare Read Aloud on selection‍
4. In the dialog Are you adding one read aloud audio file for this entire document? choose either Yes, audio for document or No, audio for page only.
   We recommend ideally using one track if possible as this is easier to manage
5. Choose the audio track.
   M4a and MP3 formats are both supported.
6. In the dialog Preparing read-aloud for all live text throughout the document starting from the current page click Start on page

A Read Aloud panel (an InDesign table) is created on the pasteboard of the page containing text on a new layer named FLO_READ_ALOUD.

Text on a path, e.g. curved around a graphic, is treated differently. It won’t automatically be includd in the Read Aloud panel but can be added with a CircularFLO tool.

1. Select the text on a path with InDesign’s Selection Tool‍
2. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Read Aloud Tools‍
3. Click Prepare Read Aloud on selection (same button as previously used)
4. In the dialog Preparing to add the selected on path to the Read Aloud panel click OK.

Each word is converted into a graphic and the corresponding word from is added to the end of the Read Aloud panel.

If in the process a word becomes slightly cropped, it may be necessary to fine-tune its frame to reveal the entire word. This can be done using standard InDesign editing tools such as the Selection Tool, Pencil and Pen Tool.

All words in the rows of the Reading Order panels must be in the correct order for successful timestamping and playback.

To change the order of words:

1. Position InDesign’s Text Tool to the left of the first required row – it changes to a horizontal selection arrow
2. Click to select a single row or drag to select multiple rows
3. Move the pointer anywhere in the selected row(s) and drag up or down to the required position
4. Delete rows as required with the InDesign shortcut Command Backspace

In the first column of the Reading Order panel, any reading order numbers that are out of sequence will be automatically reset in the next step.

Circular Software links to an online service that automatically identifies the start time of each word. This can save hours of manual editing!

Before timestamping occurs, the words and their order should precisely match between the audio file and the Read Aloud panel.

A mismatch can happen in one of two ways:

Extra words in the Read Aloud panel

• The words on the page are correct but don't appear in the audio – such as the imprint info page or index

Any superfluous words added to the Read Aloud panel must be removed:

1. Position InDesign’s Text Tool to the left of the first required row – it changes to a horizontal selection arrow
2. Click to select a single row or drag to select multiple rows
3. Delete rows with the InDesign shortcut Command Backspace

Extra words in the Audio

• The words in the audio are correct but are not intended to be highlighted words on the page – such as an additional phrase "Published by Kids Can Press"

The additional words should be temporarily added to the document page and the Read Aloud panel as if they are to highlight on the page:

1. Create new text frame on the relvent page
2. Enter the missing text using any style
3. Select the text on a path with InDesign’s Selection Tool‍
4. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Read Aloud Tools‍
5. Click Prepare Read Aloud on selection
6. Arrange the word order as in the previous step if necessary
7. The words on the page should now be removed

Temporary words added to the Read Aloud panel must be removed following the timestamping.

Run Timestamping

Once prepared, the entire publication is automatically timestamped in one process:

1. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Read Aloud Tools‍
2. Click Generate Auto Timestamps
   
3. In the dialog Auto timestamping is in progress click Wait until timestamps are ready

A progress message indicates when the process is complete, whereupon timings of every word are added to Read Aloud panels.

The start and stop times for each page are also added to the top of the Read Aloud panels.

Amending timestamps

Although the times are remarkably accurate, there may be cases where they need adjusting. e.g. to change the highlighting time of a word before a dramatic pause.

The start times for each word are in shown in seconds with their end times set to auto meaning the highlight moves correctly from one word to the next.

Start and end times for words and pages can be manually amended in the Read Aloud panel using the InDesign Type tool.

The start and stop times for pages are used for page turning in the final ebook.

Tip: To check the timings, highlight rows of a Read Aloud panel and in the Read Aloud Tools panel click Preview Read Aloud playback

When opening a Read Aloud Fixed Layout EPUB in a ebook reading app, the reader needs to start the read aloud playback. To make it more obvious that a book contains read aloud and easier to start, a button can be added to any page.

Any InDesign object on the designated FLO_ANIMATION layer can become a tappable button that controls read aloud playback and can be repeated on multiple pages if required.

Read aloud start / stop buttons can be animated using CircularFLO Animation Tools but this is not a requirement.

To create a start / stop button:

1. Select a frame with InDesign’s Selection Tool
2. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > Animation Tools‍
3. Click Make New Animation Setting‍
4. If required choose: Animation Style (e.g. Pulse), Duration, Delay etc. and click OK‍
5. In dialog Animation selected. Would you like to apply this animation to the currently selected InDesign object? click OK.
   ‍CircularFLO creates a FLO_ANIMATION layer
   NB: The button must be on this layer to work, even if animation isn’t used with it.
6. Click Add Read Aloud start / stop

The CircularFLO Preferences Panel controls the settings and formatting at a document wide level.

To add a Preferences Panel:

1. Choose CircularFLO Window menu > CircularFLO Document Tools
2. Click Add Preferences Panel‍
3. Choose from the following options in the Read Aloud Options section
   
   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 confirmed here. To amend this, use the Add / Relink Read Aloud 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.

Tip: The highlight colour and audio paths can alter per page. These are amended at the top of the Read Aloud panel.

Once the preparation steps have been followed, the export process can be completed with no-coding required.

A free proof can be made which will be watermarked and contain a maximum of ten pages. A CircularFLO Pro credit is required to publish the final file:

1. Choose CircularFLO Tools menu > CircularFLO Main Panel‍
2. Click Create Fixed Layout EPUB / Amazon File
   Note: No Amazon file will be created in this case, as there is no support for Read Aloud in Amazon ebooks.
3. In the dialog choose between Yes, use book credit or No, run in proof mode.
4. In the dialog choose between Use first page as cover or Add a cover JPEG now.
   ‍Alerts confirm the progress of the export process.
5. In the dialogYour fixed-layout EPUB 3 is now ready choose between Open EPUB and Reveal eBook in Finder

Following the export with CircularFLO, we recommend post export validation with Pagina EPUB-Checker

Tip: select the Validate with EPUB-Checker options in the CircularFLO Preferences Panel to run this automated check at the end of the export process.

To open and check the exported read aloud EPUB (we recommend Colibrio Reader, Thorium or Apple Books).

1. Launch reader and load EPUB file
2. Tap on a varity of words and pages to spot-check the read-aloud is working as expected
3. Check the timings for page turns.

If any amendments are required, these can be manually altered in the Read Aloud panel before exporting again.