How to Convert a PDF File to a SCORM Package in a Few Clicks

PDF instruction manuals, guides, and how-to articles are a popular way of transferring knowledge but definitely not the best one. Do you know why? Not every person can create good-looking PDF documents and edit them on their own. To do this, you need special software and at least some design skills. Besides, such docs can hardly serve as effective learning tools, since they provide almost no interactivity. And you most certainly know that interactivity plays a crucial role in online learning, right?

A much better alternative to good old PDF documents are interactive SCORM courses. Learn how to build online courses from scratch here. And in this article, we’ll explain how to turn your existing PDF documents into SCORM courses in 5 easy steps. But first, let’s see why you need to do this. (Click ↓ to go right to the steps.)

The Benefits of Converting PDF to SCORM

There are three great advantages to be gained by transforming PDF files to the SCORM standard:

• Seamless course integration with any LMS
• Ability to monitor learner progress
• Protection from being copied

Seamless course integration with any LMS

SCORM is an international eLearning standard. If your course is published to SCORM, you can be sure that it will work with almost any learning management system (LMS). You can upload it to your platform and let your learners view a course wherever and whenever they want to. 

Ability to monitor learner progress

Can you be certain that your employees really open PDF files and study them carefully? Of course not. But once you convert your PDF documents to a SCORM package and import them to your LMS, you can keep track of what your learners are reading and how far they have progressed.

Protection from being copied

The texts in PDF documents can be copied easily – if you’re not dealing with a scanned file, of course. After they’re transformed into SCORM packages, this option becomes unavailable. Users can view the content but can’t copy and, moreover, edit it.

Also read: How to Convert PowerPoint to MP4 Video on Windows & macOS

A Walkthrough on Turning a PDF File into a SCORM Course

We’ll show you how to convert a PDF document to a SCORM course with the help of the iSpring Suite authoring toolkit. 

1. Download the iSpring Suite free trial and install the toolkit on your computer.
2. Open iSpring Suite and choose the Books tab. Select the Browse button or choose PDF in the Create From section to open your document.
3. Click on Preview and select a device and screen orientation to see how it’ll look on a desktop, a smartphone, and a tablet.
4. Click on the Publish button and choose the LMS tab. Now, you have all your publishing options for an LMS.
   Start by naming your file and selecting where it’ll be saved. Then you can customize the quality options. You may choose a preset from high to low quality, or get the quality you need by changing the image compression or by adjusting the image quality slider.You may want to add a password to protect your file and make it visible only for the people who have the password.
5. Choose the profile which your system supports. iSpring Suite can publish not only for SCORM, but for a wide variety of eLearning standards like SCORM 1.2 and 2004, AICC, Experience API, and cmi5. Each standard has its own set of customizations.Let’s say you’re going to publish your file to SCORM 1.2. You can change your course name, write a course description, or add keywords.
6. Click on Publish again after you save the changes. You’ll get a ZIP file ready for uploading to any LMS that supports.

After uploading your SCORM course to the LMS, you can get reports on your learners’ status and progress.

Example of a PDF File Converted to SCORM

iSpring Suite allows you to turn PDF files into SCORM e-books with a pageflip effect. They look like a printed book, with pages that can be flipped and turned, but include interactive elements like links and navigation.

Click on the demo to see for yourself how it works:

Conclusion

iSpring Suite is not just a PDF-to-SCORM converter. It’s a robust authoring tool that allows you to create compelling courses with quizzes, interactions, and dialogue simulations, and publish them to any format you like, including SCORM.

Test drive iSpring Suite free for 14 days and explore all of its features right away.