Inspiring

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InDesign to ePub

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
December 20, 2024
5 replies
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I used InDesign to lay out a 600 page novel. It is set up to be published as a paperback. There are 6 main sections that are actually separate ID documents which are linked in ID as a book. The 6 sections are separated with full-bleed illustrations, and there are chapter headings at the beginning of each chapter. In addition each page has a header with page numbers and section titles, etc. (see attached PDF)

Now I want to export an ePub file to use as the platform for a Kindle ebook. I exported a trial epub file from ID, and all the text and illustrations are there, but unfortunately there are two problems:

1) All the text is sort of smashed together with no breaks between the various chapters.

2) There is no TOC information to help an ebook reader navigate the ebook.

Do I need to completely reformat the paperback ID file in a different way to be useful for epub?

If so, is there a good tutorial on how to set up an ID project to work for epub exporting?

Thanks for your help.

Proxima_sample.pdf

EPUB

Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

Thank you James for the details. It makes for a LOT of paragraph styles to fine tune an epub, doesn't it?

I actually had figured out how to use 'space before' and 'space after' in the paragraph settings, as well as checking Split ePub in the export tags. All that was working.

One issue I was having was the book title on the very first page. Even though I set the 'book title' style for 1 inch space above, that space was not showing in ID becuase there was nothing above it. So, I thought it wasn't working. Now I see that when exported to epub and viewed in an app like Apple Books, that space above does show up.

Thanks again for all your help.

Marc

It doesn't necessarily mean a lot of styles unless you have the (bad) habits of using just a few styles and then spacing things with extra returns and overrides. Especially for something as structurally simple as a novel, a dozen styles will probably do it. But each has to be optimized for EPUB export and used correctly, within a methodically planned structure. You do have to have a defined style for each and every variation, so the trick is to minimize those variations where you can.

First pages are usually easy in that they are the true top of the EPUB's single page; space-above etc. is usually respected there without any problems. (It's on later, virtual pages that there is no actual "top" and the extra formatting is needed.) And all EPUB reades, along with Kindle, are different, so you either have to accept varying presentations or fine tune them for each resale portal (Kindle and Apple especially, with Smashwords/D2D usually being happy with a fairly vanilla version).

It gets easier to fine-tune and fix EPUB exports once you make the jump to CSS style management; on the one hand, you have to add that knowledge, but afterwards you're no longer dependent on ID's defaults and quirks.

M

mpkadobeAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you everyone for your great replies. Very helpful. I can see the only option for me it to make a separate copy of the project, conflate all the separate documents into one, and rebuild it as a ePub focused ID file.

I do love a challege and learning new stuff.....

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Yep. Again, EPUB is deceptive in that it seems to be another pushbutton export option... and ain't. But it does yield to a learning curve.

Two quick points: if you're going to reconstruct the book anyway, combining it into one file will make things easier. But you don't absolutely have to; you can export to EPUB from a Book as well. BUT but – consider before you set up another project using the Book structure. It's not a necessary thing, it doesn't add a lot to a project or simplify it, and it does add another layer of overhead and management.

Use a Book when –

The component chapters will need a lot of separate development, especially by multiple authors or editors.
The book overall is quite large or uses a lot of images, so that breaking it into smaller files speeds up the editing and layout process and helps keep one glitched file from taking the whole project's updates and work with it.

Otherwise, a single-file project and making use of features like sections, articles and simple page-break chapter headings makes life a lot simpler, all the way to print and/or export.

Happy to answer all the questions you might have. 🙂

M

mpkadobeAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you James for the tips. I chose to separate the project in 6 sections because the novel is broken into 6 sections and is 600 pages overall, so I thought it would be easier to navigate that way.

Working on the ePub version now, I have already conflated the 6 into 1 and am getting my head wrapped around how to format everything (for flowable epub) so that the text is neatly separated as needed.

Again, thank you for your help.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

No, EPUB from InDesign isn't easy. And as Randy nails it, it can be even harder to go from a layout developed for print than one developed from the beginning either for e-book or dual-format export. Most first timers have some expectation that it's like print or PDF or JPEG export — point, click, go, perfect. It's not. Even from perfect source material, getting an acceptable EPUB result, much less a 'perfect' one, takes extra work that isn't necessarily... obvious.

To start with, here's a rundown of the general concepts: http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/DPR/dpr_indesign_epub_basics.php . That covers pretty much everything from a cold start to a good grasp of what's involved.

The problem is that EPUB demands absolutely meticulous document structure and format, even in the invisibile details. A typical print layout, by a designer who doesn't sweat the small details (uses shortcuts, spot formatting, little hacks to get the results they want), will not make it to EPUB format successfully. It's a bit like the difference between a clay mockup of a car, and an actual car: they may look the same, but only one is going to drive on out of the shop. Everything that's "inside" matters a great deal.

It also sounds as if you exported to Fixed-Page EPUB, FXL. Don't. FXL has a few remaining niche uses, mostly for 'picture page' books, but is difficult, obsolete and a very poor choice for text books (that is, books that are all or mostly text). Reflowable EPUB is the right mode.

It's probably too late to back up and make your print InDesign file optimal for EPUB, or dual-format, so the best path is to create a complete duplicate of the project so that you can re-carve it into a form that will give you the EPUB export you want. (It will no longer be suitable for print, in most cases, so you don't want to try to tweak your existing layout. It is possible to create dual-format ID docs that export to both PDF and EPUB, but that is both an advanced technique and one that needs to be in mind pretty much from the start.)

So absorb that reference essay, and come on back with your next questions. 🙂

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

@James Gifford—NitroPress I got the impression that the OP was making (or trying to make) and flowable ePub.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

The comments about text being smooshed etc. make me think FXL; also, most first-timers make the natural, but wrong assumption that it's the right or simple choice since it's "just like PDF" and other familiar things. I could be wrong. 🙂

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

I usually use the Articles panel to orgainize the order of parts of the ePub. I'm not in front of my layout computer right now, but I don't think you can use it for a book file. If that's accurate, you might want to move all the pages into one file for the ePub (Pages panel menu>Move). Another option to try to to set the content order on page order, but I think the Articles panel is better.

I suspect James Gifford will reply to this since making ePubs is one of his specialities.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Randy Hagan

Community Expert

As a general rule, It's much easier to tailor an InDesign document created with ePub output in mind than it is to repurpose a print pub into an electronic one. Beyond that, there are various types and versions of ePub files to consider that can affect how your digital book will appear (or in unfortunate circumstances, may not appear) in ePub readers.

To get a good explanation of ePub specifications, and how best to use InDesign to meet them, I recommend Adobe Help documentation you'll find through this link. If you jump into the rabbit hole and follow the accompanying follow-on links listed in that help file, it'll give you a lot of insight in determining what kind of ePub formatting will work best for you and how InDesign can help you get the results you'd like to have.

Hope this helps,

Randy

BobLevine

Community Expert

Impossible to answer without seeing the file but generally speaking the document should be one long threaded text story with the images anchored within. The use of styles is also very important to break the chapters and generate a TOC.

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