Help! InDesign file to HTML for email

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
October 25, 2012
4 replies
55485 views

Yes, I know, I do everything with InDesign and have successfully for years. When I had to design an email blast, I designed it in InDesign, and sent it to a company to convert it to html for me, and then they sent it out with our list as a blast.

My new company, does everything internally, and wants me to do a email blast, and they're real cheap on sending anything to a vendor for help. I don't work at all in DreamWeaver, and know nothing about html.

Is there any 'easy' way to take a document in Indesign and get it into html, or something suitable for an email blast????? Or save it in such a way, it can be brought into Constant Contact????? Arghhhhhhh......

This topic has been closed for replies.

Steve Werner

Community Expert

Locking this thread - old and out of date

Rik Ramsay

Participating Frequently

The best advice I can give you is to use Constant Contacts free HTML email templates: http://www.constantcontact.com/email-marketing/html-email-templates/index.jsp

These templates are easy enough to edit and have a foundation already set for email clients. Typically they will be constructed in tables with inline CSS. Constant Contact also have basic templates without any design: http://www.constantcontact.com/email-marketing/html-email-templates/basic.jsp

Using InDesign for this job is really not the way to go. In fact, using any graphic application other than an HTML editor is only going to give you a headache. If this is going to become a regular thing in your job, start learning HTML and make your life that little bit easier. There are a vast amount of resources available online to help you get the basics down.

@2. timm.hughes, don't even go down that road!

A

Anonymous

all I know, is the company I used took exactly what I designed in indesign and turned it into html easily, and sent out the blast. I tried constant contact, but it seemed counter intuitive to me, coming from indesign, and I hate templates. I like to design freely. And it was just clouding my brain.

But, then again, I hear what you're saying, that I need to learn something new, but is the way to go, to force myself to learn dreamweaver or constant contact...???? Or just keep sending it to this company?

thx for your feedback.

Rik Ramsay

Participating Frequently

You learn HTML and CSS - not Constant Contact or Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is an editor but you need to know the basics of HTML to even understand what Dreamweaver can do. Constant Contact is just your Service Provider so it will take what you create and send it out.

I understand what you are saying about the templates but as you have already designed your email, why not find a template that is similar to your design and then adjust it to suit? "It will have text, graphics and a few links" does not sound like a complicated email so it should be fairly easy to find a template that fits.

As for the company converting it, yes it's fairly easy to "convert" what they see in InDesign to a HTML design if they know what they are doing. I would be surprised if they actually converted it though - more like taking your elements but creating the structure from scratch. If you had designed the email in InDesign using tables, it would be a little easier to "convert".

tim.hughes

Participant

Hi there

Does your "blast" need to have working links/live text or can it just be an image?

Tim

A

Anonymous

It will have text, graphics and a few links. I typically at my other job, took it to an email vendor, and they turned everything into html for me, I wonder how long that takes to do, if you know what you're doing, and I assume, they're doing it in Dreamweaver. How come Indesign doesn't convert?