First published on FlipbookIQ, the flipbook maker from Kixlogic. Try it free.
A price list tells a reader what you charge. A calculator tells them what they would pay. That is the difference between a brochure someone skims and a page someone uses.
FlipbookIQ lets you put a calculator behind any page of a flipbook. The page stays an ordinary picture, so it still prints, searches and sits in the PDF. A button over it opens the calculator.
What a calculator is made of
- Inputs. The numbers a reader can change: a loan amount, a quantity, a percentage, or a choice from a short list.
- Results. What it works out from them, each with a formula you write, such as **price * qty or pmt(rate / 100 / 12, years * 12, amount)**.
- A starting point. Every input starts at a value you choose, so the first thing a reader sees is a real example.
A result can use the inputs and any result above it, so a quote can work out a subtotal, then a discount from the subtotal, then tax on what is left.
Four starters
You do not have to begin from nothing. The Studio offers a loan payment, savings growth, a quote with a discount and tax, and a tip-and-split calculator. Pick one and change the labels, the numbers and the formulas.
Adding one
- Open the flipbook in the Studio and choose Pages.
- Choose Add a calculator on the page it belongs to.
- Pick a starter, or build your own inputs and results.
- Watch the preview on the right. It is exactly what readers will see, and a formula that does not work is explained as you type.
- Save. The page now has an Open the calculator button.
Formulas, in plain terms
Formulas use the usual arithmetic: + - * / and ^ for powers, with brackets. A few functions help: round, min, max, if and pmt for loan payments. A percentage is written as a number divided by 100.
When a sum cannot be worked out, such as dividing by zero or leaving a box empty, the reader sees a dash rather than a wrong answer.
What stays private
The sums happen in the reader's own browser. What a reader types is not sent to us, not stored and not logged. When they close the page it is gone. We only serve your calculator's definition: the labels and formulas you wrote.
Good to know
- Calculators are part of the paid plans.
- A flipbook that is for sale cannot have one.
- Publishing a new version of the flipbook removes its calculators, because the pages they belong to have changed. Add them again to the new version.
- A calculator is an estimate for illustration. Say so in the small print under the results, and give the figures that count to the people who need them.