Zene
Interactive Prototype
Product Design
Zene is a web-based tool that makes the art of book making accessible to everyone by simplifying the design process and bridging the gap between design completion and the physical creation of the book.
Drag to create sheets of paper.
To start a book design project, you can draw any freeform geometry and the shape you drew will be treated as a sheet of paper.
Fold a stack of paper to make a book.
When you stack multiple sheets of paper, you can then use the Bonefolder tool to fold the stack in the diretion you prefer. After folding, you can bind the stack by stapling the folding line. The corresponding spreads will be automatically generated in reading order. Now you have a book where you can start putting in the content.
Use Chrome Extension for collecting materials from the web.
Leveraging the workflow of web-based software, you can import any images or text into the Zene editor directly from the web. First, install the Zene Chrome Extension plugin, which will allow you to right-click on any images or highlighted text and save it to your current project. You can then collage it into the layout of your book.
Edit each sheet of paper, not just the page spread.
Zene provides 2 different views to your book: the Sheets view and the Spreads view. While the Spreads are your design canvases, the Sheets are the individual sheets of paper synchonized with the design of the spreads. The double view feature informs you not only how the design looks but also how to book will be constructed.
Test out different material options.
Additionally, you can define the type of paper and printing method you will use for each sheet of paper; these decisions will also be rendered in the spreads view.
Export in custom order for different printing solutions.
Once you are done and ready to export for printing, you can freely choose the order of those collated sheets based on your needs: the whole document; individual sheets, if you want to print a specific page separately; or fronts and backs, if your printer doesn’t support double-sided printing.