Where did my epub dimensions come from?

Report · Nov 06, 2019

Hello,

My book in Indesign is 297mm by 210mm (A4 size). Im also trying to make it into an fixed-layout epub file. When it export it, i select the 300ppi. When I look at the xhtml file, it says <body style="width:595px;height:842px"> . 210mm = 8.2inchs; 8.2*300=2,460 . Does anyone have any idea why my epub is only 595px wide , a long way off 2,460? thanks

Report · Nov 06, 2019

It comes from the output measurement of the page in Pixel ruler units. If you set the ruler units of your A4 (11.69" x 8.27") page to Pixels it will be 842 x 595 px ( 11.69 x 72 = 841.68). The Resolution choice under Conversion Settings refers to placed images, not the page size.

Report · Nov 06, 2019

thanks for the reply Rob. So does this mean I have to redesign my epub with different dimensions, sorry im a bit lost. 842px by 595px seems too small for an epub doesn't it?

Report · Nov 07, 2019

Not necessarily.

The epub should be responsive to device that it is read on—the 595 pixel width would adjust to the device‘s width. So the question would be do the images on the page have a large enough pixel dimension to look good when they scale on a large or high res device? If you have a placed image scaled to the full width of your A4 page, its width in inches would be 8.25". If you export the epub with the resolution set to 300ppi, the pixel width of the placed image would be 2475 pixels—that should be enough for even a large tablet. For images, 300ppi is the limit, so if you wanted larger pixel dimensions, you would have to design with larger document dimension.