Exporting ID CS6 indb to epub crashes, OS 10.13.6 + Kindle Previewer error & can't install New Kindl

[Marina22753184bq0c]

Hi, apologies if this has come up but I can't find anything similar to my prehistoric workflow. 

I have a rock solid mid 2012 macbook pro running 10.13.6 (High Sierra) and a duplicate set up on a 27" imac. I am running High Sierra because CS6 is paid for and my early tries at CC failed miserably, maybe because I am off the grid A LOT. 

I rarely do client design work anymore and love my very stable workflow. I need to convert a 208 page textbook in CS6 .indb file to kindle and am running into mega problems. The Kindle export software won't install on 10.13. I can't go to 10.14 becaue of CS6. The epub export is crashing ID. If I take an individual file from the .indb book and save as idml it will save as epub but the Kindle viewer doesn't see a "title" and gives me an error code. I have sent this error to Amazon but haven't heard back. 

Has anyone out there tried to do this with the same set up? Should I bail and hire someone to do this conversion (last resort)? Is there another workflow to get to Kindle I haven't seen?

Thanks so much for any and all advice out there. 

-Marina

[BobLevine]

First off, CS6 is unsupported under anything later than 10.8 or so. It is also ten years old and ten versions out of date. If there is one single reason to upgrade it's for EPUB. The toos in CS6 can only be described as archaic by today's standards.

If you can't / won't upgrade, I strongly you suggest on passing on this job.

[Marina22753184bq0c]

Thanks Bob, it's a personal project. I ran a design firm for over 20 years and am fully aware of how out-of-date I am. But, it seems I am not the only person running CS6 in this community. 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Bob's right, though. CS6 is not the tool for EPUB. If you don't want to upgrade, take one of the other routes with the freeware/community builder-editors.

[Cree WAS Publishing]

Hi James - I actually searched for "cs6" cross-ref'd to your name on here - impressed by your posts and looking at your book. But I'm in the same boat, using CS6 and trying to identify how I can cobble together a process that incorporates epub creation. Based on your answer here I take it your book wouldn't be applicable for me unless I upgrade. Since I'm on a pretty limited budget, could you tell me if there's a more-recent-than-cs6 but non-cloud-based cs that is updated enough to generate epub files? I'm hoping to avoid the subscription fee model. I guess my other thought was if I could continue using CS6 but find a way to correct errors in the epub directly (i.e., how you can use acrobat to edit PDFs directly as a workaround) but I'm getting the sense in my meandering research on this that the lack of tight controls on epub formatting plus the use of css and html means I would have more problems trying this than just doing the entirely separate process of 1) use CS6 to generate PDF for press/POD, 2) use Google docs for ebook content setup, 3) use Kindle Create to generate files for KDP, 4) use alternate software to generate epub since Kindle Create won't export actual epub files. I'd take out the step 3 but whenever I use the kindle preview tool it just gives me error messages that the file is missing a title or something else. 

Sorry this is probably longer than you have time for, I'm just going around in circles trying to maximize efficiency without sacrificing either quality or investing $$. 

thanks, Cree

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Yeah, @BobLevine puts it accurately, if too politely. While some features on ID have only improved in fine gradations over the years, I think the EPUB export has improved every couple of years by a huge margin. Meaning, unfortunately, that CS6, even if it wasn't aged out and increasingly problematic to run at all, is probably a pretty lousy tool for EPUB export.

I'd use other tools, as you are, until/when you need the power of ID anyway and it's worth the monthly cost. Then you can use it as a decent EPUB builder.

Word exported to HTML might be a good work path in the meantime. I think more of a decent visual build than I do of the "erector set" tools more concerned with the EPUB structure etc.

A lot of what I wrote is applicable to other tools and processes, especially if you dive into CSS formatting. Hope it's useful!

—

[Cree WAS Publishing]

James, thank you so much for your kind and prompt reply! I think this has settled in my mind that trying to keep duct-taping CS6 into an epub process just isn't viable 🙂

[BobLevine]

No, you're not but I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that you're not going to find too many trying to use it for EPUBs.

[Marina22753184bq0c]

Thanks for your frankness. 

[BobLevine]

Just trying to save you from some really serious headaches.

[J E L]

If it is a textbook, does that mean you want a fixed ePub? Or would a reflowable file work? Could you do ID to PDF to ePub? You can upload an ePub file for Kindle and it will convert there to KPF. Just a thought.

[Marina22753184bq0c]

Hi Jain, yes it is a textbook. Thanks for jumping in with a solution. How do you go from pdf to epub? Through Distiller or?

[Marina22753184bq0c]

And yes, fixed. Lots of graphics, charts, etc.

[J E L]

Glad it might be a workaround for you. You should be able to do this all online, but it depends on how heavy the PDF file is, as some convertors may have upload limits. Search for "Convert PDF to ePub" to find some options. Note, some free online convertors are not going to be great for image-heavy documents.

I've never tried this, but for fixed layout conversions, you can check out PDF to DJVU (Online & Free) — Convertio. From DJVU, convert to fixed ePub. Let us know how it goes!

[Marina22753184bq0c]

Thanks Jain!

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Doesn't necessarily demand a fixed layout. But it's going to challenge the free tier of tools.