Is Bloom right for my project?

Bloom offers an integrated approach to book-making, providing a robust and sustainable means for language communities to author, translate, adapt, publish, and distribute books in their own languages.

Despite these awesome qualifications, Bloom is not the right tool for every situation.

When using Bloom is a good choice

Bloom is a good tool to use under the following circumstances:

• The people writing books have limited computer skills.
• The books people want to create are relatively simple in design.
• People want to adapt existing books to new languages and cultures.
• People want to create decodable and leveled books.
• People want to create “talking books” with a synchronized audio recording of the text.
• People want to create sign language books or books for the visually impaired.
• You want to provide writers with reader templates to help them write books that meet certain specifications.

When Bloom may not be a good choice

Bloom is not good for every purpose.

Here are a number of needs that Bloom does not accommodate:

• Text does not flow from one page to the next. Rather, Bloom is page-oriented. If authors have more text than will fit on one page, they must stop typing, insert a new page with a text box, and start typing again.
• There are limitations to Bloom's page layout capability: for example, you cannot create a page where text wraps around a picture. You cannot easily create tables with rows and columns. If authors need complex page layouts, Bloom may not be the right tool.
• There are limitations to Bloom's text formatting capabilities: for example, bulleted and numbered lists are not possible.
• Currently, Bloom does not support tables.

Other limitations of Bloom

• Bloom does not have built-in tools for editing images, audio, or video. Bloom allows you to crop an image, but it cannot make any other changes to it.

When you may need a Bloom Subscription

Bloom is free to use for many kinds of projects. But some advanced features require a paid subscription. These features include:

• HTML5 widgets, for interactive pages
• Quiz pages, for testing readers’ comprehension
• The Overlay Tool, for creating more complex layouts and comic books
• Team Collections, to allow multiple team members to work together on books
• Custom branding and book designs
• A dedicated collection on the Bloom Library website

If you are working on a large project, need special support, or just want extra features, you may need a Bloom Pro or Bloom Enterprise subscription. Bloom Pro is great for individuals who want more book creation features. Bloom Enterprise is perfect for teams who want to work together on books or who need more publication options.

You can read more about Bloom Subscriptions here. To get started with your subscription, write to subscriptions@bloomlibrary.org.