diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index ab72fe9..45d0e4e 100755
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 /* this is needed only for live resize... */
 var PAGES_VISIBLE = 1
+var PAGES_IN_RIBBON = 6
 
 $(document).ready(function(){
 	$(window).resize(function() {
@@ -19,17 +20,11 @@ $(document).ready(function(){
 			swipeStatus: swipeUpdate,
 			// XXX change this to pinch...
 			swipeUp: function(){
-				PAGES_VISIBLE = 6
-				fitNPages(PAGES_VISIBLE)
+				togglePageView('off')
 			},
 			// XXX change this to pinch...
 			swipeDown: function(){
-				PAGES_VISIBLE = 1
-				fitNPages(PAGES_VISIBLE)
-				// to prevent drag while zooming to affect
-				// the resulting position set it to current 
-				// page...
-				setCurrentPage()
+				togglePageView('on')
 			},
 			click: function(evt, elem){
 				if($(elem).hasClass('page')){
@@ -40,45 +35,74 @@ $(document).ready(function(){
 		})
 
 	// XXX add splash screen...
+	// XXX
 
-	fitNPages(PAGES_VISIBLE)
-
+	togglePageView('on')
 })
 
-function swipeUpdate(evt, phase, direction, distance){
-	var pages = $('.page')
-	var cur = $('.current.page')
-	var n = pages.index(cur)
-	var scale = getElementScale($('.scaler'))
-	var mag = $('.magazine')
 
-	if( phase=='move' && (direction=='left' || direction=='right') ){
-		mag.addClass('unanimated')
-		if (direction == 'left'){
-			//$('.magazine').css({left: -n*cur.width()-distance/scale})
-			$('.magazine').css({left: -n*800-distance/scale})
-		} else if (direction == 'right') {
-			//$('.magazine').css({left: -n*cur.width()+distance/scale})
-			$('.magazine').css({left: -n*800+distance/scale})
+/*********************************************************************/
+// XXX move to generic lib...
+
+// this will create a function that will add/remove a css_class to elem 
+// calling the optional callbacks before and/or after.
+//
+// elem is a jquery compatible object; default use-case: a css selector.
+//
+// the resulting function understands the folowing arguments:
+// 	- 'on'			: switch mode on
+// 	- 'off'			: switch mode off
+// 	- '?'			: return current state ('on'|'off')
+// 	- no arguments	: toggle the state
+//
+// NOTE: of only one callback is given then it will be called after the 
+// 		 class change...
+// 		 a way around this is to pass an empty function as callback_b
+//
+function createCSSClassToggler(elem, css_class, callback_a, callback_b){
+	// prepare the pre/post callbacks...
+	if(callback_b == null){
+		var callback_pre = null
+		var callback_post = callback_a
+	} else {
+		var callback_pre = callback_a
+		var callback_post = callback_b
+	}
+	// build the acual toggler function...
+	var func = function(action){
+		if(action == null || action == '?'){
+			var getter = action == '?' ? true : false
+			action = 'on'
+			// get current state...
+			if( $(elem).hasClass(css_class) ){
+				action = 'off'
+			}
+			if(getter){
+				// as the above actions indicate intent and not state, 
+				// we'll need to swap the values...
+				return action == 'on' ? 'off' : 'on'
+			}
 		}
-		setTimeout(function(){mag.removeClass('unanimated')}, 5)
-
-	} else if ( phase == 'cancel') {
-		setCurrentPage()
-
-	} else if ( phase =='end' ) {
-		// see which page is closer to the middle of the screen and set it...
-		// do this based on how much we dragged...
-		var p = Math.ceil((distance/scale)/cur.width())
-
-		// prev page...
-		if(direction == 'right') {
-			setCurrentPage(Math.max(n-p, 0))
-		// next page...
-		} else if (direction == 'left'){
-			setCurrentPage(Math.min(n+p, pages.length-1))
+		if(callback_pre != null){
+			callback_pre(action)
+		}
+		// play with the class...
+		if(action == 'on'){
+			$(elem).addClass(css_class)
+		} else {
+			$(elem).removeClass(css_class)
+		}
+		if(callback_post != null){
+			callback_post(action)
 		}
 	}
+	func.doc = 'With no arguments this will toggle between "on" and '+
+		'"off".\n'+
+		'If either "on" or "off" are given then this will switch '+
+		'to that mode.\n'+
+		'If "?" is given, this will return either "on" or "off" '+
+		'depending on the current state.'
+	return func
 }
 
 
@@ -105,9 +129,194 @@ function unanimated(obj, func, time){
 	}
 }
 
+// Return a scale value for the given element(s).
+// NOTE: this will only return a single scale value...
+function getElementScale(elem){
+	//var transform = elem.css('transform')
+	var vendors = ['o', 'moz', 'ms', 'webkit']
+	var transform = elem.css('transform')
+	var res
+
+	// go through vendor prefixes... (hate this!)
+	if(!transform || transform == 'none'){
+		for(var i in vendors){
+			transform = elem.css('-' + vendors[i] + '-transform')
+			if(transform && transform != 'none'){
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// no transform is set...
+	if(!transform || transform == 'none'){
+		return 1
+	}
+	// get the scale value -- first argument of scale/matrix...
+	return parseFloat((/(scale|matrix)\(([^,]*),.*\)/).exec(transform)[2])
+}
+
+function setElementScale(elem, scale){
+	return elem.css({
+		'transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
+		'-moz-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
+		'-o-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
+		'-ms-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
+		'-webkit-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
+	})
+}
 
 
-function setCurrentPage(n){
+
+
+/*********************************************************************/
+
+togglePageView = createCSSClassToggler(
+	'.viewer', 
+	'page-view-mode',
+	null,
+	// post-change callback...
+	function(){
+		if(togglePageView('?') == 'on'){
+			PAGES_VISIBLE = 1
+			fitPagesToViewer(PAGES_VISIBLE)
+			//fitNPages(PAGES_VISIBLE)
+			// to prevent drag while zooming to affect
+			// the resulting position set it to current 
+			// page...
+			// XXX now this is done by fitNPages
+			//setCurrentPage()
+		} else {
+			PAGES_VISIBLE = PAGES_IN_RIBBON
+			// XXX this needs to be done before transitions...
+			fitPagesToContent(PAGES_VISIBLE)
+			//fitNPages(PAGES_VISIBLE)
+		}
+	})
+
+function getPageScale(){
+	return getElementScale($('.scaler'))
+}
+
+function fitNPages(n){
+	/*
+	if(n==null){
+		n = 1
+	}
+	var pages = $('.page')
+	var view = $('.viewer')
+	var W = view.width()
+	var H = view.height()
+	var w = pages.width()
+	var h = pages.height()
+
+	var scale = W/(w*n)
+
+	// fit vertically if needed...
+	if(h*scale > H){
+		scale = H/h
+	}
+
+	setElementScale($('.scaler'), scale)
+	*/
+
+	fitPagesTo(null, n)
+}
+
+// XXX this is a single big function because we need to thread data 
+//		through to avoid sampling while animating...
+function fitPagesTo(elem, n){
+	if(n==null){
+		n = 1
+	}
+	var pages = $('.page')
+	var view = $('.viewer')
+	if(elem == null){
+		elem = view
+	} else {
+		elem = $(elem)
+	}
+
+	// sample data...
+	var vW = view.width()
+	var vH = view.height()
+	var W = elem.width()
+	var H = elem.height()
+	var w = pages.width()
+	var h = pages.height()
+	var rW = w
+
+	// NOTE: there must be no data sampling after this point...
+	//		this is due to the fact that we will start changing stuff next
+	//		and if CSS transitions are at play new samples will be off...
+
+	// do the fitting...
+	if(W-w/H-h > 1){
+		rW = W * (h/H) 
+		pages.width(rW)
+		$('.magazine').css({
+			// NOTE: we can't use direct .width() here because of the transitions...
+			'margin-left': -rW/2
+		})
+	}
+	if(W-w/H-h < 1){
+		pages.height(H * (w/W))
+	}
+
+	// scale horizontally...
+	var scale = vW/(rW*n)
+	// or scale vertically if needed...
+	if(h*scale > vH){
+		scale = vH/h
+	}
+
+	setElementScale($('.scaler'), scale)
+	// update position using the new width...
+	setCurrentPage(null, rW)
+}
+
+function fitPagesToViewer(n){
+	fitPagesTo('.viewer', n)
+}
+function fitPagesToContent(n){
+	fitPagesTo('.page .content', n)
+}
+
+
+function swipeUpdate(evt, phase, direction, distance){
+	var pages = $('.page')
+	var cur = $('.current.page')
+	var n = pages.index(cur)
+	var scale = getPageScale()
+	var mag = $('.magazine')
+
+	if( phase=='move' && (direction=='left' || direction=='right') ){
+		mag.addClass('unanimated')
+		if (direction == 'left'){
+			$('.magazine').css({left: -n*cur.width()-distance/scale})
+		} else if (direction == 'right') {
+			$('.magazine').css({left: -n*cur.width()+distance/scale})
+		}
+		setTimeout(function(){mag.removeClass('unanimated')}, 5)
+
+	} else if ( phase == 'cancel') {
+		setCurrentPage()
+
+	} else if ( phase =='end' ) {
+		// see which page is closer to the middle of the screen and set it...
+		// do this based on how much we dragged...
+		var p = Math.ceil((distance/scale)/cur.width())
+
+		// prev page...
+		if(direction == 'right') {
+			setCurrentPage(Math.max(n-p, 0))
+		// next page...
+		} else if (direction == 'left'){
+			setCurrentPage(Math.min(n+p, pages.length-1))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+
+function setCurrentPage(n, W){
 	if(n == null){
 		var cur = $('.current.page')
 		n = $('.page').index(cur) 
@@ -122,7 +331,8 @@ function setCurrentPage(n){
 	cur.addClass('current')
 
 	var mag = $('.magazine')
-	mag.css({left: -n*cur.width()})
+	var W = W == null ? cur.width() : W
+	mag.css({left: -n*W})
 
 	return cur
 }
@@ -183,61 +393,6 @@ function prevArticle(){
 
 
 
-// Return a scale value for the given element(s).
-// NOTE: this will only return a single scale value...
-function getElementScale(elem){
-	//var transform = elem.css('transform')
-	var vendors = ['o', 'moz', 'ms', 'webkit']
-	var transform = elem.css('transform')
-	var res
-
-	// go through vendor prefixes... (hate this!)
-	if(!transform || transform == 'none'){
-		for(var i in vendors){
-			transform = elem.css('-' + vendors[i] + '-transform')
-			if(transform && transform != 'none'){
-				break
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	// no transform is set...
-	if(!transform || transform == 'none'){
-		return 1
-	}
-	// get the scale value -- first argument of scale/matrix...
-	return parseFloat((/(scale|matrix)\(([^,]*),.*\)/).exec(transform)[2])
-}
-
-function setElementScale(elem, scale){
-	return elem.css({
-		'transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
-		'-moz-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
-		'-o-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
-		'-ms-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
-		'-webkit-transform': 'scale('+scale+')',
-	})
-}
-
-
-
-function fitNPages(n){
-	if(n==null){
-		n = 1
-	}
-	var pages = $('.page')
-	var scale = $('.viewer').width()/(pages.width()*n)
-
-	// fit vertically if needed...
-	if(pages.height()*scale > $('.viewer').height()){
-		scale = $('.viewer').height()/pages.height()
-	}
-
-	setElementScale($('.scaler'), scale)
-}
-
-
-
-
 // XXX create magazine...
 function createMagazine(){
 }
@@ -268,8 +423,10 @@ function createPage(article, template){
 
 		<div class="article">
 			<div class="cover page">
-				Article Cover<br>
-				some more text...
+				<div class="content">
+					Article Cover<br>
+					some more text...
+				</div>
 			</div>
 
 			<!-- XXX do we need an Article Credits page??? -->
diff --git a/magazine.css b/magazine.css
index 8cd269c..eb72388 100755
--- a/magazine.css
+++ b/magazine.css
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ body {
 	/* XXX make this browser-sized... */
 	display: inline-block;
 	vertical-align: bottom;
-
-	overflow: auto;
+	text-align: center;
 
 	/* XXX need these to be the same as the magazine, for some reason does not work...
 	 *	one way to go is to use a fixed page layout and scale things manually.
@@ -22,15 +21,30 @@ body {
 	margin-top: -300px;
 
 	font-size: 12px;
+
+	-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease;
+	-moz-transition: all 0.2s ease;
+	-o-transition: all 0.2s ease;
+	-ms-transition: all 0.2s ease;	
+	transition: all 0.2s ease;
 }
 
-.current.page {
-}
+.page .content {
+	display: inline-block;
+	text-align: left;
+	position: relative;
 
+	/* these set the "safe" marks for page content */
+	width: 800px;
+	height: 600px;
+
+	border: solid red 1px;
+}
 
 /* general layout */
 
 .viewer {
+	position: relative;
 	/* this makes the magazine behave like a ribbon */
 	width: 100%;
 	height: 100%;
@@ -104,7 +118,18 @@ body {
 }
 
 
+/* modes */
+.page-view-mode .viewer {
+}
+.page-view-mode .page {
+}
+.page-view-mode .current.page {
+}
 
+
+
+
+/* keep this at the end... */
 .unanimated {
 	-webkit-transition: none;
 	-moz-transition: none;