Q: How?
A: In today’s multi-platform world, publishers must think beyond the printed page to reach audiences who prefer digital formats or perhaps reside in markets where it’s difficult or too costly to distribute their printed editions. The good news is the print-ready PDFs they already produce for printers are ideally suited to power a compelling digital edition — one that brings added benefits like data insights, searchability, and mobile-friendly access.
A well-structured PDF can serve as an ideal foundation for a compelling digital edition as long as it is also adapted for mobile. It can provide a strong user experience while also reducing digital production costs and workload for the publisher, as there’s no need to reformat layouts for mobile if processed through a modern platform that can manage this. Having a platform with tools to further enrich your PDF is essential for long-term engagement — with mobile accounting for 63% of all internet traffic and growing year on year.
Some platforms will transform your print-ready PDF into an excellent mobile reading experience with automation dealing with PDF to HTML conversion (to enable vertical scrolling on mobile), text-to-speech integration, word-for-word indexing for search and translation tools. This alone can create a dynamic digital edition, however, further enhancements for digital users such as replacing static imagery in the PDF with video, adding deeper image galleries within articles and inserting hyperlinks can elevate the experience beyond what print alone can offer.
There are a few things publishers can do to ensure their print-ready PDF translates well to mobile with minimal intervention post text and image extraction. Fonts and text should be fully embedded and not flattened and images should also remain unflattened so they can be extracted separately. Publications with a clear, structured PDF layout — logical text columns and image placement — can be adapted for mobile without further adjustments from the original PDF.
Q: What are your top three tips?
1. Don’t settle for a basic PDF page-turner: While a basic page-flip viewer might seem like a cost-effective solution at first glance, it falls short of delivering a usable digital experience on mobile devices. Relying on this outdated format risks alienating a significant portion of your audience.
Despite this, many publishers continue to host archives only in these legacy formats, often deterred from modernising by concerns over time, cost, or technical complexity. However, today’s digital publishing platforms have made the transition both straightforward and affordable. Opting for a platform that supports rich media — such as video, audio, image galleries, podcasts and games — can significantly enhance engagement while helping to future-proof your digital editions. By embracing more dynamic and mobile-friendly formats, publishers can ensure their original PDF editions remain relevant and accessible in an increasingly mobile-first digital world.
2. Make your PDF digital editions accessible beyond app stores: Making your digital content available in a usable format for mobiles outside of app stores will help you reach the widest possible audience. Relying solely on app stores can introduce unnecessary friction for some readers — lengthy sign-up processes, forced account creation and complex navigation can all act as barriers to entry. This is especially true for casual or first-time readers who may not be ready to commit to a full app download.
To overcome these obstacles, it’s worth offering access to your digital editions via Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). PWAs are a modern, flexible solution that allows you to deliver both a desktop user experience and an app-like experience for mobile readers from a single platform without the need for users to visit an app store. Built using a single code base, PWAs function across Apple, Android and all desktop devices — and with fewer access barriers, can make engaging with content quicker and easier. This will also simplify development, reducing build costs and also ensuring a consistent user experience regardless of device. PWAs offer additional advantages; you can share content quickly and securely through QR codes, you maintain full ownership and control of user data — something that’s often limited within the app store ecosystem and you can avoid app store commission fees enabling a more direct and profitable relationship with readers and prospects.
3. Offer all readers your complete PDF archive to build long-term value: Your back catalogue is a valuable and often underutilised asset, especially if your editorial content is evergreen. Rather than letting archived PDFs gather dust, consider converting them into mobile-optimised, interactive editions. This approach breathes new life into past content by making it searchable, easy to navigate, and accessible anytime.
Repurposing your archives in this way increases the value you provide to both new and returning readers making for a powerful strategy for driving recurring revenue through subscription and membership models. For loyal print subscribers, it adds an extra layer of convenience and engagement. For digital-first audiences, it unveils a rich library of content they may have never encountered.
The Touch Tree mission is to help publishers execute a digital strategy to support their print publications. We believe there is huge value in digitising complete archives and operating outside of app store environments to make access to content easier, resulting in better engagement and loyalty from subscribers and prospects.
Email: jason@touchtree.tech
Mob: 07771 596 176
Web: www.touchtree.tech
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/touch-tree-technology
This article was included in the 'Celebration of Print' special, published by InPublishing in August 2025. Click here to see the other articles in this special feature.
