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davide69230166
Participant
June 15, 2020
Answered

EPUB export (flowable)

  • June 15, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 2900 views

Hello community,
is it possible to export a document created in InDesign, which was actually created for the PDF export, as EPUB (flowable) so that it works? The problem is especially with tables, they are completely smashed. Or do I have to create the document completely new? Does anyone know any tricks?
Thank you for your ideas! 🙂

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

    I wouldn't call them "tricks," instead strategies to minimize the amount of tweaking you need to do.

     

    1. Work with a copy of your original INDD layout file.
    2. Adjust the master pages to reflect a mobile-friendly orientation and size. Easier to do if:
      1. Your layout used a Master Text Frame on the Master Page. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/creating-text-text-frames.html#using_text_frames_on_master_pages
      2. Layout adjustment is turned on. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/laying-out-frames-pages.html#about_automatic_layout_adjustment
    3. Eliminate all manual overrides. (This fouls up on many e-readers). Turn on the Style Highlighter and ensure there is no "swimming pool green" anywhere in your document. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/paragraph-character-styles.html#override_character_and_paragraph_styles
    4. Minimize the number of paragraph and character styles used. Keep to the basics, such as Heading 1, Heading 2, Body Text, Lists, etc.
    5. Adjust all styles to NOT use ligatures or any OpenType special features. These are not yet supported well enough in EPUB devices.
    6. Adjust all styles to use open source fonts, such as those from Google Fonts.  They may or may not be used by the e-Reader, depending upon various requirements from different manufacturers. Sometimes your users will see just Times New Roman and Arial or the e-Reader's proprietary fonts. At this stage of the EPUB industry, you really can't control fonts very well in an EPUB file and across the majority of devices.
    7. Anchor all graphics as inline. Don't use any text wrapping because it is not widely supported across e-Reader devices and in EPUB itself.
    8. Use only JPEG and PNG file formats for graphics.
    9. Tables are still not workable in EPUB. They will smush down to fit the device's screen width, which in most cases makes them unreadable to everyone. One solution: Take a high-resolution screen capture of your tables and anchor them as inline graphics.
    10. Now, get out your favorite beverage or "substance" of choice.
    11. View and test  your EPUB, and note that all of your excellent graphic design has disappeared, and you're viewing the most boring, butt-ugly design your eyes have ever seen.
    12. Cry. See step 10 for help.

     

    EPUB was never designed to be a visual format, much less a "visually rich" format. It was developed out of something called DAISY, which is a file format that gives basic text access to those using screen readers and special text-to-speech technologies. Fonts, color, graphic design, etc. were never considered essential for that file format.

     

    5 replies

    G
    Gary J Moss
    Participating Frequently
    July 10, 2020

    My question remains: Can I use InDesign reliably to make a quality ePub document or must I code the ePub document from scratch using HTML and CSS?

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Derek CrossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 10, 2020

    That wasn't your exact original question – I refer you to my earlier reply.

    I would add, having created a Reflowable ePub with InDesign, which can take you 95 per cent of the way, it can sometimes be helpful to crack-open the ePub and fine-tune it – I use BBedit for this, but that's a Mac only application. There are other editing applications available.

    G
    Gary J Moss
    Participating Frequently
    July 10, 2020

    I will retry with InDesign, perhaps using classless HTML to get there, then bringing it into Sigil. I verified my ePub document and it had no errors, however it also bore no relationship to the print document that I made it from. InDesign makes beautiful print documents, faithful to the custom kern. I have not succeeded in getting it to create even the simplest paragraph indent (yes, using a Paragraph Style) correctly. 

    Sheena Kaul
    Sheena Kaul
    Legend
    June 26, 2020

    Hi there,

     

    I am hoping that your issue has been resolved till now. If not, please feel free to update this thread else let us know if any of the suggestions shared above helped you or not.

     

    Regards,

    Sheena

      D
      davide69230166Author
      Participant
      June 15, 2020

      Thanks for your answers!
      So I think getting a working flowable EPUB from that file doesn't work.
      The problem is that I primarily want to continue to provide the PDF. The EPUb is only intended to be an additional service. This means that updates should not have to be maintained in two different files.
      I will probably have to switch to creating a static EPUB. That should work.
      I will test that. Thanks again! 🙂

      BobLevine
      Community Expert
      BobLevineCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 15, 2020
      Doing a fixed layout for something that is almost all text is an absolutely horrible idea.
        D
        davide69230166Author
        Participant
        June 15, 2020

        Why is this a horrible idea? 😉
        The document has not only text, but a layout with text, tables and pictures...
        I would like to make my content available to people with e-readers who cannot handle PDF files.
        Is there another elegant way if the flowing EPUB doesn't work?

        Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
        Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.comCorrect answer
        Legend
        June 15, 2020

        I wouldn't call them "tricks," instead strategies to minimize the amount of tweaking you need to do.

         

        1. Work with a copy of your original INDD layout file.
        2. Adjust the master pages to reflect a mobile-friendly orientation and size. Easier to do if:
          1. Your layout used a Master Text Frame on the Master Page. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/creating-text-text-frames.html#using_text_frames_on_master_pages
          2. Layout adjustment is turned on. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/laying-out-frames-pages.html#about_automatic_layout_adjustment
        3. Eliminate all manual overrides. (This fouls up on many e-readers). Turn on the Style Highlighter and ensure there is no "swimming pool green" anywhere in your document. https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/paragraph-character-styles.html#override_character_and_paragraph_styles
        4. Minimize the number of paragraph and character styles used. Keep to the basics, such as Heading 1, Heading 2, Body Text, Lists, etc.
        5. Adjust all styles to NOT use ligatures or any OpenType special features. These are not yet supported well enough in EPUB devices.
        6. Adjust all styles to use open source fonts, such as those from Google Fonts.  They may or may not be used by the e-Reader, depending upon various requirements from different manufacturers. Sometimes your users will see just Times New Roman and Arial or the e-Reader's proprietary fonts. At this stage of the EPUB industry, you really can't control fonts very well in an EPUB file and across the majority of devices.
        7. Anchor all graphics as inline. Don't use any text wrapping because it is not widely supported across e-Reader devices and in EPUB itself.
        8. Use only JPEG and PNG file formats for graphics.
        9. Tables are still not workable in EPUB. They will smush down to fit the device's screen width, which in most cases makes them unreadable to everyone. One solution: Take a high-resolution screen capture of your tables and anchor them as inline graphics.
        10. Now, get out your favorite beverage or "substance" of choice.
        11. View and test  your EPUB, and note that all of your excellent graphic design has disappeared, and you're viewing the most boring, butt-ugly design your eyes have ever seen.
        12. Cry. See step 10 for help.

         

        EPUB was never designed to be a visual format, much less a "visually rich" format. It was developed out of something called DAISY, which is a file format that gives basic text access to those using screen readers and special text-to-speech technologies. Fonts, color, graphic design, etc. were never considered essential for that file format.

         

        |    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
          Derek Cross
          Community Expert
          Derek CrossCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          June 15, 2020

          You'll probably have to create a new document. For Reflowable ePubs all text must have Paragraph (and Character) Styles applied, all images must be anchored and no folios, and Master page items will not be used. Tables can be tricky, some use JPGs of their tables.

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