The Flip book lecture type

The Flip book presents a PDF file as a book within the lecture itself, with pages the participant turns one at a time - ideal for course booklets, magazines, catalogs and other material where flipping page by page is part of the experience.

Adding the lecture

1. In the modular content editor, click Add new lecture to this topic and choose Flip book (PDF), in the Content section of the type picker.
2. Upload the PDF file directly from your computer - it is the only format accepted for this lecture type, and uploading is the only source offered.
3. The file needs to be under 50 MB.
4. Optionally, fill in the Text field, shown below the book on the lecture.

Note

The Flip book does not offer the Hosted file option (a PDF at an external URL): the editor hides that choice for this lecture type, because the book with turning pages can only be assembled from a file sent through upload. If your PDF is already published at a URL and you just want to point to it, use a Document lecture instead.

How the participant interacts

• Pages turn with a click or tap, by dragging the corner of the page, with the arrow buttons on the toolbar, or with the keyboard’s arrow keys.
• A counter shows the current page and the total (for example, “3 / 12”).
• A fullscreen button is available when the participant’s browser supports the feature.
• The Flip book works online only: for a PDF sent through upload, there is no Open document button and no download of the original file in the lecture, and right-clicking the pages does not offer “save image”.

Viewer limitations

The pages are drawn as an image, not as real text. Because of this, inside the book it is not possible to select text, search (Ctrl+F) or click links that exist in the PDF. If the participant needs these functions (or needs to download the file), use a Document (PDF) lecture instead of the Flip book, which keeps the Open document button and the download.

Tip

The Flip book is a presentation lecture: it does not grade or automatically record completion, unlike an exam or an exercise.

When the book is not assembled

In browsers that cannot assemble the viewer, or when the uploaded PDF is password-protected, the Flip book automatically shows the document in a plain frame, with a warning - the same behavior as a Document lecture. This is an expected situation, not an error: the content stays accessible, just without the turning pages.

On phones, this plain viewer is hidden, so the Open document button appears to keep the lecture accessible. On a computer, the PDF is shown in the browser’s own viewer, with the download and print toolbar hidden in browsers that allow it (Chrome and Edge). The Open document button also appears when the file is an external address on another domain: since it is not displayed inside the lecture, the button is the only way in.

Watermark

The Flip book also offers the Enable a watermark with the participant’s details floating over the content option, with the same details as video lectures - see Watermark. Over the book the text is fainter and does not get in the way: the participant keeps turning pages as usual, and the watermark stays visible in the book’s fullscreen. When the Open document button appears, the PDF opened by it has no watermark.

If the institution turned on Restrict content download? (see DRM - content protection), the Open document button also stops appearing on phones and the plain viewer never replaces the book: if the book cannot be assembled, the participant sees a notice with a button to try again.

See also

• Modular content
• Content types