New iBooks Features — AirPrint, Email PDFs And Better Organization


According to a rumor from 9 to 5 Mac Apple will be adding better support and organization to iBooks alongside AirPrint functionality and the ability to email PDFs.

Apple will be calling its version of Folders for iBooks Collections will let you organize your PDFs and eBooks in any way you want. However, Collections won’t let you mix PDFs and eBooks.

 Apple will be adding two new features in the coming iBooks update: AirPrint support and emailing PDFs. AirPrint should work in iBooks exactly how it does in Safari, Mail and Pages but will only support PDFs. In addition, emailing PDFs will be added but it wont be extended to eBooks. 

Reading Apple’s leaked internal document, I’m happy that they’re taking a cue from Folders in iOS 4.0. I have more PDFs than eBooks on varying topics. Sorting them in to a collection makes it that much easier to visualize my  PDFs and eBooks. However, there is no word on when the new update to iBooks will roll out.

9 to 5 also posted the leaked internal Apple documents they received that details how collections will work in iBooks.

Create, rename, or delete a collection: Tap Collections to display the collections list. Tap New to add a new collection. To delete a collection tap Edit, then tap and tap Delete. You can’t edit or remove the built-in Books and PDFs collections. To edit the name of a collection, tap its name. When you finish, tap Done.

Move a book or PDF to a collection: Go to the bookshelf and tap Edit. Tap each book or PDF that you want to move so that a checkmark appears, then tap Move and select a collection. An item can be in only one collection at a time. When you add a book or PDF to your bookshelf, it’s put in the Books or PDF collection. From there, you can move it to a different collection. You might want to create collections for work and school, for example, or for reference and leisure reading.

View a collection: Tap Collections, then tap an item in the list that appears.

You can use iBooks to send a copy of a PDF via email, or to print all or a portion of the PDF to a supported printer.

Email a PDF: Open the PDF, then tap and choose Email Document. A new message appears with the PDF attached. Tap Send when you finish addressing and writing your message.

Print a PDF: Open the PDF, then tap and choose Print. Select a printer and the page range and number of copies, then tap Print. For information about supported printers, see “Printing” on page 39.

You can only email or print PDFs. These options aren’t available for ePub books.


Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

2 Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. The new collection feature is great but not all of my PDFs show email in the forward drop down. They all show the print redirect but only for AirPrint not any of the other print apps.
    The solution never quite reaches 100%