Export to Kindle in InDesign

[marcio_muniz]

Could someone help me export an ebook created in InDesign to the reading format on the Kindle?

[Derek Cross]

You need to create an ePub from an InDesign document first, by exporting to the format. There are two kinds of ePub: a Reflowable ePubs (for text-heavy books) and Fixed Layout ePubs (for illustrated books), Having created the ePub, and validated it, you can use the free converter from Amazon to create a mobi file, which is the format the Kindle uses.

Linkedin Learning have useful online video tutorials on how to create these formats. You can get 30-days free access.

[AntwanFisha]

You can also get Linked In Learning free with your local library sometimes.

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. In addition to what Derek suggested, you may click on help article https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/export-content-epub-cc.html to know how you can create EPUB using InDesign. Hope it helps.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Create/b?ie=UTF8&node=18292298011

[illustrata]

Hi, Thanks for this. I have a fixed layout ePub created by InDesign for Apple Books. Is Kindle Create still required, or helpful? So you'd need to export a PDF from InDesign, import it into Kindle Create and go from there?

[Marvest]

"So you'd need to export a PDF from InDesign, import it into Kindle Create and go from there?"

Yes, that's the way to create a Fixed Layout for Kindle. Very simple process.

[LaurynIpsum]

Hey there, I'm trying to do the same thing but I'm having trouble. I've got a reflowable epub document and I'm trying to figure out how to also create a kindle version. When I go to kindle create, it only recognizes .kcb files when I go to open existing file.

[Marvest]

For reflowable epub you need to get the app Kindle Previewer. When you open your epub file with Kindle Previewer it gets automatically converted to a MOBI file. The mobi file is used then to publish on KDP.

[jessicah0316]

This comment was sucha HUGE help to me! I am working on a 2,000 page print book that I need to get in to kindle in  a fixed layout format and KDP is pretty much no help. Learning about Kindle Create was a huge lifesaver! THANK YOU!!

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

These comments are nearly four years out of date. The Kindle system evolves quickly and Kindle Create is not a great tool for anything but simple books. Just... heads up.

[jessicah0316]

That's ok. I used it today and it did a wonderful job make a really nice file for KDP from my PDF. I did have to redo the ToC but that was the least of my troubles. 

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi,

Glad to hear that the suggestions helped. For more information on publishing ePub, please check this article. Feel free to reach out if you need further assistance.

Thanks

Rishabh

[toriamac]

Kindle Create ONLY supports input in .DOC, .DOCX, and PDF formats.

It WILL NOT convert an ePub toKindle. 

[dainiswmichel]

now it's doc docx and rtf

😞 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Just to be clear, EPUB was supported well before that post's date, as well, for Kindle submission.

No one with InDesign should really be using Kindle Create.

[Derek Cross]

Anyone producing FXL ePubs and who's on a Mac should have a look at CircularFLO:
https://www.circularflo.com

[wmrowen]

Thanks, Derek. The only hesitation is that it does not say what the price will be after the free period. Free is good but learning how costs me my time may not be a good investment if I'm back to Rich Text rebuilding later anyway. Got the email that says $99 "purchase credit" but that does not clarify if that's per page, per book, or dozen books.

[SnowWolf]

Thank you for sharing this resource, Derek. It looks very promising and now I feel even more inspired to build my ebook with InDesign, knowing ahead of time that this process is available.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I'll just chime into note that by and large, fixed-layout EPUB should be avoided unless it is the only option—which is pretty much only the case for books that are primarily illustrations, such as children's books and graphic novels.

If your book is mostly text, exporting to reflowable format is greatly preferable, if for no other reason than "that's how the medium is supposed to work." Think of FXL as doing a web page as a series of exported page images... which is, more or less, exactly what it is.

But InDesign to EPUB (either format, but especially reflowable) is a superior process to all the amateur, code-based approaches that too many still use and promote.

—

[wmrowen]

Maybe I didn't understand the pricing options before, but now CircularFlo now has a clear-cut pricing plan. I will take a look.

[JeDesignsGraphx™]

I have had the same issue; an ebook with graphics and content was created for a cookbook, but when exporting to EPUB Fixed, everything is moved around and nothing is where it should be. I am totally confused on how to fix it. I need it to look exactly like what I created on Kindle. 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I'm a little confused — do you mean you 'need it to look like the paper [KDP] edition'? Or did you successfully get to Kindle via some other path than InDesign EPUB export?

FXL EPUB problems are very difficult to fix and tend to hark back to basic layout issues — what will "dump" to print pages can't always be successfully processed to an EPUB layout. But first, what reader are you using to evaluate the EPUB export?

I'll also note that reflowable does not mean organized graphics and content can't be used. It would have a different layout, but one just as useful and (potentially) better read on small devices. Scanning and panning fixed pages on a phone is a PITA.

[JeDesignsGraphx™]

Sorry about that. What I mean is that once I export the file, the same way I designed it in InDesign, is the same way I would like it to appear in Kindle. For some reason, though, after exporting in EPUB Fixed or PDF formats, shifts everything around (pictures, words etc are moved around, nothing is in place). I hope this makes sense.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I think everything relevant has already been said in this thread — FXL is a problematic layout that either works more or less perfectly or doesn't work at all. It's useful, in some percentage of cases, to get a print book with complex pages to EPUB, but it's not a format for which books should be designed... if that makes sense. The additional jump from FXL EPUB in a compatible viewer to Kindle is another hurdle, oftentimes.

I am still not clear if you only want a Kindle edition, or parallel print (KDP, I assume) and Kindle editions. That changes the answers somewhat.

You have, more or less, three paths. One is to try and fix the InDesign layout, both within ID and using third-party tools, so that you get a successful EPUB export that Kindle will import properly. Especially if the faults go back to fundamental layout issues (even FXL EPUB demands meticulous style and element management; you simply can't get away with a sloppy layout that will print fine), this could be a long, frustrating road requiring pay tools and some pro help.

The second path is to reconstruct the book as reflowable EPUB. This means a little bit of re-envisioning, if you're fixed on complex page layouts, but it can be done and it makes the book a lot more accessible; it's also possible to do a lot more with reflowable output than the absurdly complex jigsaw puzzle that FXL generates. (This would be done in a complete separate set of ID work files that would have to be maintained in parallel with a print edition's docs.)

The third possibility, if you want both editions, is to rebuild the project from whatever level needed so that you have one InDesign project that exports to PDF for your print edition, and exports to reflowable EPUB for the Kindle edition. Not a trivial process, but IMVHO and IME an easier and more accessible road than trying to fix a faulty FXL source process, and there's no issues of having the editions get out of sync with each other.