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 It is also ten years old and ten versions out of date.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 I ran a design firm for over 20 years and am fully aware of how out-of-date I am.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.

[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.

[Jain Lemos]

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.

[Jain Lemos]

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.