Built for Developers
The Mimetic Books system was built with automation and algorithms in mind. Other systems are based the idea of individual page layouts, meaning a designer has to create each page. Our system was initially designed to allow the quick and simple creation of long books from databases. That means we have also done our best to separate structure from design and content. We have avoided any new or non-standard file structures.
Simple XML Structure
Our books use a simple XML structure you can easily generate from many different applications. A basic book is structured like this:
It is so simple, you can even generate a book directly from Adobe Lightroom. More importantly, you can easily generate books from your databases.
Compare that to ePub3!
book
chapter
page
textblocks
pictures
grid
buttons
links
etc.
It is so simple, you can even generate a book directly from Adobe Lightroom. More importantly, you can easily generate books from your databases.
Compare that to ePub3!
Template-based Page Designs
Page templates let you separate your content from your designs. Simply tag a page with the a template code, and it will be put together for you on-the-fly.
Templates can be created using Adobe InDesign.
A template file is a simple XML file, almost identical to a book XML file.
Templates can be created using Adobe InDesign.
A template file is a simple XML file, almost identical to a book XML file.
Super-Duper Customizable
All the settings for the book are stored in a settings.xml file, and each book can have its own. There are over 300 customizable settings in the settings file, covering positioning, fonts, colors, graphics, and more. You can also add your own graphics, sounds, and video.
Separate Data from Structure and Design
A book file can contain everything...or it can contain just the basics. You can use a template file to control how a page looks — the page's content will be fit into the template. In addition, you can use a super-simple metadata file to modify the content of the pages. The means that you can easily modify your book simply by updating a key-value text file — no need to go into your book's XML code.
Conditionals
You can add conditional tests for many elements which allows for adaptive designs. For example, you can test whether a page had an audio file, and if so, show a button for it.
Portable Book Packages
Book packages are simply TAR files containing the book and settings XML files, graphics, audio, and video. This means you can easily move them around. The WordPress library system lets you store book packages on content distribution networks (CDN's) to allow quick, cheap delivery. There are no special file formats or strange directory structures involved.
Open-Source WordPress Plugin
The WordPress publishing plugin is open-source, of course, because we are hoping you'll improve it! Currently, you can only create simple pages from WordPress, including pictures, audio, and video, but no animations or buttons.
Open-Source InDesign Javascript Publisher
The InDesign XML creator is open-source because we hope you will improve it. You can create a book directly from InDesign, but we are hoping developers will implement new features.