Walk Europe

If you possess one of Apple's devices (iPhone 3GS, iPod touch or iPad) running the latest software version (iOS4) and you have installed Apple's free app iBooks, do download our sampler iBook WALK EUROPE. This digital book, which runs to some 300 pages, contains one sample walk from each of the many destination in Sunflower's Landscapes series together with scores of high-definition photographs and walking maps. It's ideal for browsing through to help decide where to plan your next walking holiday. It is also being released in an app version very shortly. To download search the iBook Store for "walk europe" or "Sunflower Books".

Using Sunflower guidebooks on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad

You can conveniently carry any of our guidebooks on an iPhone or iPad. (In fact if you wanted to, you could download every book we publish and still have plenty of space remaining for more data!) To use any of our pdf versions on an iPhone or iPad you need either

(1) to be using iOS4 software to be able to load a pdf book direct into iBooks. (You do this by copying the pdf file into your iTunes Library - select "Add to Library" from the File menu.) When you next sync, the pdf book will automatically appear on the iBooks bookshelf if you tap the pdfs option at the top of the screen.

OR

(2) if you are still using version 3 operating system for iPhone or iPad, you will need to install the Good Reader app.

GOOD READER: Purchase this from the iTunes store. It only costs 59p but it enables you to download huge pdf files to your iPhone or iPad and save them for instant recall at any time. Even if you are using iOS4, buying this app can be a good idea as it permits viewing pdfs either as single pages or as double-page spreads.

Once you've installed the Good Reader app and opened it, tap the "Web Downloads" option, then choose "Enter URL" and key in the web address we provide for downloading the pdf version you've ordered. The iPhone or iPad will then download the book (this will take anything from a few minutes up to half an hour depending on signal strength; it's much faster if you are in a wi-fi area). There is a progress bar to indicate how the download is progressing. When it is completed the download pdf name will appear with "Finished" to confirm it is now ready to view.

Now if you choose "My Documents" you'll see the name of the pdf version you have downloaded. Tap it and the book cover will appear. Move to the first page by tapping "turn page" or by sliding your finger upwards. Choose a specific page by keying in the relevant page number * or by sliding your finger down the page selector bar on the left-hand side of the screen. If you wish to view pages with the iPhone or iPad turned sideways use the app's settings page to turn on this option. You can search for place names or anything else in the book which you wish to find. Choose "Help" for a wealth of information about the app's features. In addition to viewing pages just as they appear in the printed book version, you can also choose to view car tour or walk descriptions as text.

In this mode, illustrations and maps do not appear, but you can read the description as a continuing scroll with the screen in upright or sideways viewing and choose your preferred type style and size of type. You can even use an option for automatic scrolling - the text then moves up the screen slowly and you can adjust the speed to your preference for comfortable reading. Note that the option to change type size and style is only available when you use the text scrolling mode. (In order to preserve illustrations and maps in the correct relative position in the text, it is not practicable to make such changes when viewing the complete pages as they appear in the printed version.)

With the sideways viewing option turned on, when you are viewing a page on an iPhone, using it turned sideways will automatically increase the text to fit the 3inch screen width. This results in a type size that is 50% larger than when you view with the screen in upright mode. However, whichever mode you are using the pdf, you can magnify the page by spreading two fingers or by tapping the part of the page you want to enlarge). This feature is especially useful on the maps, as you can zoom in to a specific part of a map with definition remaining crystal clear no matter how much you increase the size. Even the large touring map found in most of our guidebooks will initially appear with the entire map on the iPhone screen, but can be selectively enlarged to just the area you are in (or intend to visit) so that every detail can be read comfortably even on the iPhone's 2inch by 3inch screen.

We would be interested to hear from users who have loaded any of our guides onto their iPhone or iPad for use in this way. If you encounter any problems in using pdfs on an iPhone or iPad, we may be able to help - just contact us explaing exactly what you have done and what resulted.

* When using the page search option, remember that pdfs start numbering from the first page of the pdf file. So on a pdf book, page one is the cover. Since all the text pages in the original printed book are normally numbered starting from the title page, you sometimes need to add one when seeking to locate the relevant page in the pdf version - for example, to locate page 99 of the original printed book, you may have to instruct the pdf to find page 100.