Mumbai, July 2025 – When a major French academic publisher needed to digitize its entire catalog, it turned to Hurix Digital. The result? More than one and a half million pages have been converted into modern and searchable material.
The publisher, known throughout France for its scholarly journals and educational materials, faced a daunting task. Their collection spanned decades of academic work in French, English, and several other languages. Books sat in various formats. Some were old PDFs. Others existed as InDesign files or Word documents. Many were scanned images of printed pages. All needed conversion to Erudit XML, the specialized format their platform required.
Gokulnath Balasubramanian, Vice President of Content Transformation at Hurix Digital, reflected on the project’s complexity. “Picture handling mathematical equations that stretch across pages, technical diagrams that need perfect precision, tables with hundreds of data points. Now multiply that by 1.5 million pages. And give us just one year to complete it. That was our challenge. Each format was tackled differently, with custom workflows for LaTeX equations and scalable graphics for technical illustrations.”
The French publisher’s team shared their thoughts on the collaboration: “Thank you for your message, and thank you as well for the seriousness and the care that your teams take in handling the work that we entrust to you. We believe that we have entered into a lasting collaboration with Hurix, and we are delighted.”
The numbers tell only part of the story. Behind each converted page lay careful decisions about preserving academic integrity while adding digital functionality. Mathematical formulas required LaTeX coding to maintain their precision. Technical illustrations became SVGs, allowing readers to zoom in without losing clarity. Complex tables gained structure that screen readers could navigate. JavaScript elements brought interactivity where static pages once sat.
This digitization project demonstrates what modern content transformation can achieve. When it comes to choosing between their legacy content and going digital and taking advantage of innovation, publishers do not have to make both ends meet anymore. The right partner makes both possible. The French publisher’s vast collection now serves readers better than ever before. Students access materials faster. Researchers discover connections between works more easily. The knowledge contained in those 1.5 million pages reaches audiences the original authors could never have imagined.
Publishers considering similar transformations can learn from this success. Start with clear format requirements. Choose partners who understand academic content’s unique demands. Plan for quality control at every stage. Most importantly, recognize that digital transformation enhances rather than replaces traditional publishing values.
About Hurix Digital
Hurix Digital is transforming how digital content is experienced globally. With 25+ years of experience as an innovator of digital publishing technology, Hurix Digital powers business agility for leading publishers and corporate organizations globally with our mobility and digital content solutions. More than 10 million users across 25+ countries in 20+ languages experience Hurix Digital every day.
Hurix Digital works with customers worldwide to design & develop digital learning & content solutions for the 21st-century learner. An end-to-end digital content solution provider, they create, publish, and distribute engaging digital content across traditional and newer mobile platforms, formats, and devices. They offer a wide range of eLearning services and technology solutions, making them the ideal destination from design to delivery of digital content.
