Turn a Word document into a flipbook

A Word document is made to be edited, not read. Sent as an attachment, it can reflow on the other person's computer, show tracked changes you forgot, or arrive as one of five versions. A flipbook is a finished page layout with one link.

Two ways to do it

From inside Word. Install the free FlipbookIQ add-in, open the document, choose Flipbook on the ribbon and then Make a flipbook. In Word on Windows the pages are made on your own computer, and you publish from the pane. In Word on Mac and on the web, the add-in signs you in and opens the Studio.

From a PDF. Save the document as a PDF in Word, then open the Studio in your browser, choose New flipbook and drop the file in. It works on any computer with a web browser, with nothing to install.

Either way the pages are made on your own machine. Only the finished page images are uploaded. The file itself is not.

What comes through

• The layout, fonts and images, as you see them.
• Links, which stay clickable.
• The text of every page, so readers can search it and select it, and a screen reader can read it.

Before you publish

• Accept or reject tracked changes. A flipbook shows the document as it looks, and a visible markup would show.
• Look at the page breaks. Add a page break before a heading that lands at the bottom of a page.
• Check the headings. A table of contents is built from them, so clear headings give readers a way to jump around.
• Run Check before you share. It looks for placeholder text, dates that have passed and the same figure written two ways.

After you publish

You get a link. Change the document and publish again, and the link stays the same. Readers who have it open are offered the update.

You can also set a password or an end date, ask for an email first, and print a QR code for the document. Those controls are part of the paid plans.

Good uses

• A handbook, policy or procedure that changes.
• A proposal or a quote that you want to keep current while it is being considered.
• A newsletter, a report or a manual.
• Any document that goes to many people and should have one version.

Not a good use

If the other person needs to edit it, send the Word file. If it must be signed, use a signing service. A flipbook is for reading.

There are templates for several of these in the Studio. The employee handbook, the policy update notice and the newsletter templates are built to be published this way, and to be changed afterwards.