Can't make a fixed layout epub.

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
September 16, 2025
2 replies
325 views

I'm using the latest version of InDesign, I'm trying to make a fixed layout EPUB of a book for a client. It goes through the process like normal, but the first few pages are too big for the ebook window, and the fonts are all different weights. I made a fixed layout EPUB of the same book in May, and it was perfect. I have now tried the second book in the series, and again, the same result: the first few pages are too big, and the fonts are messed up. I have now tried a totally different book from a different publisher, and it's the same; the first page is too big, and the fonts (different from the other book) are also screwed.

It's getting really frustrating, everything I change in the settings, and it produces the same epub. Can anyone help?

BobLevine

Community Expert

What EPUB reader are you testing this on? Most of them, quite frankly, are garbage. I was pretty excited about fixed layout epub years ago but I've pretty much soured on it.

R

Richard249348591hmnAuthor

Participant

Yes, I have the Books app, which is rubbish and also Adobe’s Kindle
preview3. Ebooks are not the biggest part of my work, my focus is the print
books, I have never had issues making epubs before. As I say when I
produced the book back in May the ebook was perfect, now I can’t even get a
acceptable epub copy out. No matter what I changed in the settings nothing
changed, in what it produced, it became very frustrating!

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Yes, I fully updated it to the latest version.
Thanks

Hi @Richard249348591hmn,

Thanks for sharing all the details. To better understand what's happening, could you share one of the affected sample files along with a short screen recording showing your workflow? It would be really helpful to see the document in InDesign and then how it looks once exported to EPUB. This will allow me to check the behavior more closely with the team. If the file is confidential, share it via DM on the community. You can use any of the public cloud sharing services like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

What OS and version?

What version of InDesign?

What settings are you choosing when exporting to fixed layout EPUB?

Mike Witherell

R

Richard249348591hmnAuthor

Participant

Mike, hi. I'm on Mac OS15.4. I'm on the very latest InDesign, but I also tried older versions. Settings: Epub3; all pages; rasterise first page; no contents; disable spreads (again I tried all versions). I have now spent six hours converting the client a reflowable epub, but has has a sister book that I'm still trying to find time to work on.

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