Step by step instructions for exporting a clean, lightweight PDF from Affinity Publisher that converts perfectly into an online flipbook. Includes export settings, a preflight checklist, comparison tables, common mistakes and a walkthrough for publishing the result with Flipbooks AI.
You spent days polishing a catalog, magazine or brochure in Affinity Publisher, and the last step should be the easy one. Then you export a PDF, upload it to a flipbook platform, and the pages come out blurry, the links are dead, or the file takes forever to load. The cause is almost never the platform. It is the export settings. This tutorial shows exactly how to build a flipbook-ready PDF so that the conversion on Flipbooks AI looks as crisp as your original layout.
💡 Quick answer: Use single pages (not spreads), export with the PDF (digital) preset, embed fonts, keep images near 150 DPI, include hyperlinks, skip bleed and crop marks, and compress to JPEG at a high quality setting. Everything below explains why.
A flipbook converter reads your PDF page by page and renders each one as an image or a web page with live layers. A PDF built for a print shop and a PDF built for screens are very different files. A flipbook-ready PDF is one that is light, clean and predictable.
Here is what that looks like in practice:
| Setting | Print-ready PDF | Flipbook-ready PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Color space | CMYK | RGB (sRGB) |
| Image resolution | 300 DPI | 120 to 150 DPI |
| Bleed and crop marks | Included | Not included |
| Page layout | Spreads often needed for imposition | Single pages |
| Typical file size | 50 to 300 MB | 5 to 40 MB |
| Hyperlinks | Rarely needed | Essential |
| Main goal | Ink accuracy | Fast loading, sharp reading |
A reader on a mobile connection will not wait for a 200 MB document. Search engines also favor pages that load quickly. A lean PDF keeps the flipbook responsive, which is why the rest of this tutorial is about trimming weight without hurting sharpness.
Most export problems are really document problems. Spend ten minutes on these checks and the export becomes a formality.
Choose a page size that matches how people will read it. For screens, A4 or US Letter portrait works for reports and catalogs, while landscape 16:9 or 4:3 suits presentations and lookbooks. Avoid unusual custom sizes unless the design demands them, because very wide pages shrink text on phones.
Go to File > Document Setup and confirm the dimensions. If you plan to print the same project later, duplicate the file first and keep a separate screen version.
If your document was created with Facing Pages enabled, Affinity Publisher treats pages as spreads. For flipbooks, the converter wants sequential single pages, then it builds the spread effect itself. Open Document Setup and untick Facing Pages in a duplicate file, or export pages individually (more on that below).
Open Document > Resource Manager (or the Fonts tab) and look at every typeface in use. Missing fonts show a warning, and they will not embed properly. Replace any font you cannot embed legally. Fonts with restrictive licenses can block embedding, so check this early.
⚠️ Never rely on a font installed only on your computer. If it is not embedded, the flipbook will substitute it and your carefully tuned line breaks will shift.
Open the Resource Manager and review the Images section. Linked images that went missing will export as low-resolution placeholders. Do three things:
Flipbooks shine when readers can click. Select text or an object, open Window > Hyperlinks, and add a web address, an email link or an internal page link. Use Table of Contents (Document menu) to create a clickable contents page and bookmarks. Both carry into the PDF when exported with the right options.
Now for the part you came for. Open File > Export and choose PDF as the format.
In the export dialog, the preset dropdown offers options such as PDF (press ready), PDF (digital), PDF (for export) and PDF (flatten). For a flipbook, start with PDF (digital). It targets screens, uses RGB and keeps sizes sensible.
Under Area, select All pages. Then pay attention to the Export pages as spreads option. Leave it off so every page is its own page in the PDF.
Set Compatibility to PDF 1.7 (or the newest available option). This version handles layers, transparency and embedded fonts cleanly. Make sure Embed fonts is ticked. Leave Export text as curves off, because curves turn text into shapes and break selection, search and accessibility.
On the More panel, look for the raster settings. Use these values as a starting point:
| Setting | Recommended value | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Rasterize | Nothing (unless effects cause issues) | Keeps text sharp and selectable |
| Raster DPI | 150 | Crisp on retina screens, small file |
| Downsample images | On, 150 DPI | Cuts weight from oversized photos |
| Compression | JPEG | Best size to quality balance |
| JPEG quality | 80 to 90% | Visually lossless in most photos |
| Color profile | sRGB | Matches how screens display color |
💡 Photography portfolios and fashion lookbooks can justify 200 DPI and 90% quality. Text-heavy reports almost never need more than 150 DPI.
Untick Include bleed, Crop marks and any registration marks. These belong to print workflows. In a flipbook they appear as strange margins or stray lines at the page edges.
Tick Include hyperlinks and, if offered, Include bookmarks or Create tagged PDF. Tagged PDFs also improve accessibility for readers using screen readers, which is a quiet advantage for public documents.
Click Export, name the file clearly (no special characters), and open the PDF in a viewer. Scroll through every page. Click three or four links. Zoom to 200% on a photo and a block of text. If anything looks wrong, adjust the setting and export again before uploading.
Run through this list before every upload. It takes two minutes and saves hours of re-exporting.
Different projects call for slightly different choices. This table helps you decide quickly.
| Project type | Preset | DPI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product catalog | PDF (digital) | 150 | Add links to product pages |
| Magazine | PDF (digital) | 150 | Keep text live, not curves |
| Photography portfolio | PDF (digital) | 200 | Raise JPEG quality to 90% |
| Annual report | PDF (digital) | 150 | Add bookmarks and contents |
| Restaurant menu | PDF (digital) | 150 | Large type, few images |
| Print and screen combined | PDF (press ready), then a second digital export | 300 and 150 | Always keep two files |
Even experienced designers trip over these.
If your PDF shows two pages side by side as one wide page, the flipbook will show each wide page as a single sheet. Always confirm that spreads are off.
CMYK photos can look dull or shift color when converted to RGB for screens. Convert them to sRGB inside Affinity Photo or Publisher before exporting.
The PDF (flatten) preset turns all content into images. Text becomes unselectable, links disappear, and file size often grows. Use it only when a stubborn effect refuses to export properly.
Names with spaces, accents or symbols can cause trouble in some upload systems. Something like spring-catalog-2027.pdf is safe.
Tagged PDFs help accessibility, but alt text on key images helps even more. If your audience includes readers with visual impairments, add descriptions to meaningful graphics.
With a clean PDF in hand, publishing takes a few minutes. Here is the full process using Flipbooks AI.
Flipbooks AI never adds watermarks, and the Standard plan and above gives you unlimited flipbooks. Every flipbook is mobile responsive, so the layout you exported adapts to any screen.
| If you are publishing | Try this tool |
|---|---|
| A product line | Product Catalog Generator |
| A magazine issue | Magazine Flipbook Creator |
| A showcase of your work | Digital Portfolio Creator |
| A brochure | Brochure Flipbook Maker |
| A yearly summary | Annual Report Creator |
Sometimes the PDF looks fine in a viewer but the flipbook shows an issue. Use this table to diagnose it.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Blurry photos | DPI too low or JPEG quality too low | Export at 150 to 200 DPI, quality 85% |
| Font looks different | Font not embedded | Tick Embed fonts and re-export |
| Links do not work | Hyperlinks option off | Enable Include hyperlinks |
| Wide pages with two layouts | Spreads exported | Turn off spread export |
| Slow loading | File too large | Lower DPI, remove unused images |
| White edges or thin lines | Bleed or crop marks included | Untick both options |
| Colors look flat | CMYK profile used | Convert to sRGB |
A 200 page catalog can be heavy, even after compression. Consider splitting it into chapters, such as one flipbook per product category. Readers find what they need faster, and each file stays light.
✅ Best practice: Keep a master Affinity file, one print export, and one screen export. Name them clearly so the right version always goes to the right place.
Good exports come from good habits, not luck. Build these into your routine:
A flipbook-ready PDF is not complicated: single pages, embedded fonts, screen-sized images, working links, and no print leftovers. Once you save those settings as a preset in Affinity Publisher, every future export takes under a minute.
Ready to see your layout turn the page? Get started for free on Flipbooks AI, browse all flipbook tools to find the right template for your project, and compare pricing plans to choose what suits your publishing needs. When you are ready to commit, pick a plan after creating your account and share your first flipbook today.
