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Can I replace my PDF without changing the URL?

Product: FlippingBook Online

After your flipbook has been up and running for some time, you may need to update some content in your PDF. Maybe you noticed a typo on page 12. Maybe there are a few pages about a product you no longer offer that are removed. Maybe you have a monthly newsletter and you want to replace the complete PDF. Whatever the reason, you don't want the URL to change because you already shared it with your audience!
In this case, you can use the Replace PDF function. This article describes all the ins and outs. Kindly note that this feature is available in Starter and higher plans.

Note! In FlippingBook Online, you can only replace the whole PDF. It's not possible to add or replace individual pages, or to modify the content of the PDF itself.

 

How to replace the PDF in my flipbook?

  1. Open the list of your flipbooks.
  2. Hover over the flipbook you'd like to change and choose the Replace PDF option from the three-dot button menu:
  3. This will open a window where you can choose the PDF file. Click the Select New PDF button:

  4. Choose the updated version of the PDF file, then click on the Open button.
  5. Your flipbook will start updating and will be ready soon.

Updating might take some time, depending on the size of your PDF file and the speed of your internet connection. Your flipbook stays available online with the same URL during the whole process. We keep showing the old version until the new one is completely finished, and then switch to the new version. This way, your clients will have access to your publication without interruption. You will receive an email notification when the update is finished.

Accidentally updated a book with the wrong PDF? Contact our support team from the Help menu! We can help you restore the previous version.  

 

Will my links, videos, and images remain intact if I replace the PDF?

If you had added links, videos, and images in your flipbook, you will be prompted to either keep them or remove them as you replace the file:

If you made a small change to your PDF, like fixing at typo or updating a single image, then almost certainly you will want to keep any links, videos and images that you added. But if you replace the PDF with a completely different one, then you probably want to remove them.

If you check the Keep changes, then any custom content that you added stays on exactly the same page as it was. Note that links, videos, and images you add to the flipbook are bound to a page number, and aren’t tied to your content itself. Perfectly fine if all your pages stay in place. But if you added a page in the middle of your new PDF, then your custom content will end up on the wrong page. 

Let’s look at an example and assume you have a flipbook with a link to https://flippingbook.com/ on page 32:

Let's suppose that you added two pages between pages 29 and 30 and then replaced the PDF. Your 'old' page 32 now becomes page 34. But your link is still on page number 32, which now looks like this:

As the link is on the wrong page now, you will need to correct this.

If you just added a couple of elements, you can move them manually. You can use the standard Copy/Paste hotkeys. But if you have a lot of elements, this is very time-consuming and frustrating. Please reach out to our support team. We can enable the Shift elements option for you. With this function, you can mass-move content on several pages at once. 

Note!If you expect to move pages regularly, then we recommend adding the links to the PDF itself, instead of using the FlippingBook Online Editor. The links will be recognized and extracted automatically when you replace the PDF.

 

 

I have replaced my PDF with an almost identical one. Even so, the content is all over the place. How to fix it?

Most likely, you replaced a PDF consisting of single pages with a new PDF containing spreads (or vice versa). Spreads are a way to have two pages on a single sheet. It means that the new PDF has half as many pages as the original one, even though the content hasn't changed.

Let's illustrate this with an example. Here's what page number six looks like in your original PDF, which consisted of single pages:

If you (or your designer) exported the updated PDF as spreads, then the new PDF has only half the number of pages of the original PDF:

The cover page is unaffected, but page two now contains the old pages 2-3 (on one single spread), page three contains the old pages 4-5, page four contains the old 6-7, and so on. After we replace your original PDF with the new version with spreads, the content is in the wrong place. For example, here's what page 6 of your PDF looks like in the FlippingBook content editor:

As you can see, the video that you added to page 6 isn't there anymore. Instead, you get all kind of content that shouldn't be there. Actually, the video you added is still on the sixth page of your flipbook, but because you use spreads, the sixth page of your PDF now contains the 'old' pages 10-11. Again, any links, videos, images you add to the flipbook are bound to a specific page number, not tied to your content.

Note! This issue also can happen vice versa if you replace spreads with single pages.

 

So how can you fix it? The best solution here is to export the PDF again with the original page setup. It means that if your original PDF had single pages, your new PDF should also have single pages. If it had spreads, your new PDF should also consist of spreads. After your new PDF is ready, replace the original PDF with a new one again. All content should return to its correct place.

If you still face any issues or need some further clarifications, feel free to contact us!
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