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Show HN: web app to create flippable brochures/magazines

9 points by nbrogi ↗ HN
It's an editor that lets you create something like this: http://papermine.com/samples/julskitchen/

The publications look stunning on tablets, but pretty cool on PCs as well :-)

http://papermine.com/

What do you guys think?

6 comments

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dkoch
The example looks very clean.

Reminds me a bit of treesaverjs.com, which created automatic magazine-like page layouts for any size screen, but unfortunately seems to have run out of steam.

Do you plan on offering a complete solution for publishers including CMS integrations?

nbrogi
Hi, dkoch, thanks!

Compared to other platforms we're more about the user using a editor to create the content himself, rather than doing that automatically (like—for instance—Paperly). There is an import tool, but normally you'd want to use Papermine as a content creation tool, rather than an aggregator.

As for CMS integrations, right now we're focusing on getting the basics right. However, we do want to make it easy to create great publications: if integrating with any CMSes people use will help with that, we will certainly do it :-)

dangrossman
The only proven, lucrative market for "flippable brochures as a service" is in hosting weekly circulars for large retail chains. And that market is already locked up by ShopLocal [1]. Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Maycs, Toys R Us, Sears, Staples, CVS and over 100 other top retailers pay ShopLocal to put their circulars online; the ones hosted on their "own" sites are typically on a subdomain which is just a cobranded portal hosted by SL. Their core offering isn't just "page flipping tech" but top-notch print-to-digital conversion.

1: http://www.shoplocal.com/ http://aboutshoplocal.com/

nbrogi
Hi, Dan!

Papermine isn't for brochures, only, though. You can create pretty much whatever you want with it.

For instance (and this was actually a problem I had after I got married), wedding albums to send to family and friends via email. I actually think photographers could use this a lot in general.

It's just a nicer format than a PDF (10 times nicer on a tablet, I'd say), and more interactive.

Compared to similar products, Papermine actually lets you create the content, and it's not merely an aggregator.

:-)

dangrossman
"Who could use this" and "who will pay enough for this to build a sustainable business" are two different questions. I was addressing the more important one.
nbrogi
Oh, I got you.

I don't take care of the financial aspect, but I do see your point.

I'll take a look at ShopLocal, to be honest I'm not familiar with it. Is it used by most big companies, etc.?