Comparison of Online Magazine Publishers: MagCloud, Issuu, DoXtop, Calaméo

There was a time when publishing your own magazine, even online, was more the territory of magnates and media moguls, but as the web continues to develop, having your own magazine is accessible thanks to some innovative web 2.0 products.

This week we looked at four such applications: MagCloud, doXtop, Issuu, Calameo. We paid particular attention to how easy they are to use, what features they offer, and how many networks they can reach. There’s a chart below to show how these applications stacked up, and for an introduction to this category please see: Publishing Magazines Online With Web 2.0.

We measured these applications by how users are able to post their magazines and documents, how they can share them, and how they can view them. All of the applications have a type of reader that allows users to preview pages, and all provided searching and categorization to help you find new material. Following the chart where you can see the breakdown of features we’ll talk about the applications in greater detail. If you would like to read more about any product, follow the links at the top of the chart for the full reviews.

All the applications allow users to upload magazines and documents, but we were impressed by the ability to upload multiple documents and create text files with doXtop. While the other applications limited themselves to uploads, doXtop allows users to combine files to make magazines – even if they have been posted by someone else. Users using this feature, called the “magazine” feature, are then able to create their own magazines from their favorite documents. In fairness this is a similar function as a “collections” or “favorites” in Issuu and Calameo, yet doXtop also has a collections feature that allows them to group articles without including them in documents.

In terms of interface, and the most attractive application, Issuu rises above the others with a clean design and quick return for commands and searches. While doXtop floods their pages with reds and oranges, Issuu gives space for the reader’s eyes and couples this with thumbnails and a viewer that is well constructed. All of the applications had a reading pane of some kind, but only Issuu presented a pane that flipped the pages quickly. Options such as comments, flagging, rating, and the ability to embed the article within your site (or social profile) were features common to doXtop, Calameo, and Issuu, yet only Issuu offered them all.

MagCloud was an application of a different ilk, and while it did offer some of the same functions, is designed to bring users traditional publishing options. None of the other applications offered a chance for users to sell their magazine, or had a marketplace, as MagCloud does, but MagCloud is limited. Since it is designed to sell it does not offer full views of the magazines, nor does it have any of the sharing features that the others have. For users wanting more than a digital copy, however, MagCloud is the only one to offer a print copy of your work, printed professionally and shipped to you. Another drawback to MagCloud may be temporary; while in beta publishers must be approved, though the number of magazines has been increasing.

Running second in interface and design is Calameo, which has a loose interpretation of “magazine”. To Calameo online publications are more than magazines; and the publication list bears this out. Comics, magazines, articles, albums, brochures, books, catalogs, manuals, multimedia, newspapers, reports, presentations, and sheet music are listed in Calameo’s directory, making Calameo a resource for any user looking to publish (and share). Calameo’s “MiniCalameo,” the exportable widget is also an attractive way to export content to social sites and blogs.

Each of the applications this week had a strength, whether it be the European sites Calameo and doXtop, or the well designed Issuu, but users looking to promote their publications online may be advised to use all of the above, since each has its own audience.

To find these applications and applications like it there is the Listio search: publish+magazines.

Previously in this series: DoXtop: Online Magazine Publishing With Options

Application: doXtop
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/doXtop/
Website: http://www.doxtop.com

doXtop is a Web-publishing platform that lets you share your expertise with people, communities and systems around the world—and reap the rewards.... Learn more

Application: Calameo
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/Calameo/
Website: http://www.calameo.com

Calameo turns your ordinary word documents into attractive and interactive flip-page magazines. Users import files from your computer (be it an OpenOffice, PDF, or Word document) and are presented options to insert media, forms, or links. Calameo documents can be published and shared publicly or ca... Learn more

Application: Issuu
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/Issuu/
Website: http://www.issuu.com

With Issuu anyone can convert their documents into interactive online publications. It only takes a minute and it's free. Upload any PDF file and have it instantly converted to an online publication, join a living library where you and your friends comment, share and have fun. Enjoy online publ... Learn more

Application: MagCloud
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/MagCloud/
Website: http://www.magcloud.com

From HP Labs, MagCloud is a tool for publishing magazines on demand, allowing users to leave the cost out of publishing. Just upload a PDF and MagCloud takes care of the printing, mailing, subscription management, and more. Distribute through the MagCloud site, or on your own. Subscribers can also... Learn more

New to Listio? Our tag cloud search offers an easy way to narrow your hunt for the perfect web application or service. No more second guessing of search terms. Just click on one tag, then as many more as you'd like to narrow your search results. It's easy and ensures you get to the listing you want. Finding web 2.0 was never so easy.

Tags: explore, find, magazines, online, print, publish, sell, share
Posted in: Magazine Publishing, Product Comparisons | Respond
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