InDesign Book to mobi file for Kindle readers

[MebHarris]

I have an entire book laid out in Indesign that I now need to convert to a MOBI file for Kindle readers. I'm finding this is an impossible task that I used to be able to do with my older versions of Indesign. Is there a plugin that I can use for CC that will do this for me? I'm also having a lot of difficulties getting a good EPUB file. All my fonts are squeezed together and my images in one chapter are showing up at the end of the chapter instead of in the text as they should.

I'm a little upset with Adobe for not having a way to contact them with questions. They were pretty good about chatting with me when I was trying to decide to subscribe to the Cloud version... yet I'm not getting much help at all with this new problem that I've spent two days trying to figure out. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

[BobLevine]

This is not really so much Adobe's fault as it is Amazon's. You can try the Kindle Previewer app to convert to MOBI but the other issues you're talking about are impossible to diagnose without real details.

What version of InDesign? What O/S? How are you checking the EPUB? How are you exporting the EPUB?

[MebHarris]

Thanks for the Reply. I'm using the most current version of InDesign CC on Windows 7. I downloaded Adobe Digital Edition to view my EPUB. I'm exporting to EPUB through Indesign Export to EPUB in the Book Menu. None of my fonts are showing correctly even though I checked Embed all fonts, and my images are showing up at the end of the chapter instead of where they belong with the text. It's all a mess.

Also... is there a reason that all my hard returns are being stripped out when converting to EPUB?

[BobLevine]

What EXACT version of InDesign? What version of EPUB are you exporting to? What EXACT version of ADE? Are you using styles properly? Are you anchoring the images? Are the fonts OpenType?

[MebHarris]

I'm using InDesign CC (13.1 x64), running on Windows 7 Pro with Service Pack 1. Adobe Digital Editions Version 4.5.8.182857. Fonts are all open type, I can't figure out how to anchor the images and I believe I'm using the styles properly.

[Derek Cross]

Creating Reflowable text ePubs is not intuitive, I suggest you take one of the Lynda.com online video tutorials. You can get a 30-day free trial: Learning InDesign CC 2015: EPUBs

[Derek Cross]

Are you creating a Reflowable Text ePub?

(Hard returns are not recognised in HTML – you need to use Paragraph Styles with space before/after.)

[MebHarris]

I tried both reflowable text ePub and fixed text ePub.

[BobLevine]

There is a huge difference between reflowable and fixed layout.

You need to anchor the images for reflowable and export as EPUB 3

[MebHarris]

Okay... thanks. I will anchor the images. I'm currently changing my styles to have spaces before and after.

Are there any good books out there that have step by steps on how to do this? What I'm finding online is not helping.

[MebHarris]

Changed my Paragraph Styles to have spaced before and after certain paragraphs so my quotes stand out like they do in the print book... and it still isn't working. Very unimpressed with Adobe right now. I'm not a newbie to working with book layout, but since I upgraded to CC it's been somewhat of a nightmare.

[Derek Cross]

As mentioned, creating Reflowable text ePubs is completely different from creating print versions, and the format is only suitable for text-heavy simple books. The differences include, for example, you don‘t use Master Pages, there are no folios, the page size is irrelevant, fonts need to be licensed for ePubs (Typekit fonts are), and you may need to crack open the ePub file to fine-tune the HTML and CSS.

[julielarsen]

Hello Bob, I have a related question. I have been able to convert epub files to mobi in the past using Kindle Previewer, but now it gives me an error. This is a 300+ page novel with a fixed-layout epub. I am using Mac OS 10.15.1. The document was created in InDesign 15.

I tried downloading EBookConverter from the Apple store and it did the conversion, but when I open it in K. Previewer it has lost all its formatting. I have also tried converting it from a PDF file. Both work fine in Apple Books, but not on Kindle.

I also used the link (can't find it now!) on the KDP website to validate my file, and it gave me an error.

I've been searching everywhere for a solution. Can you help?

[BobLevine]

That is a question best addressed to Amazon.

[jacql18510841]

I may have found the answer: Kindle Plugin for Adobe InDesign® (Beta)

I am a newbie, and am having to transfer the text from a .docx file into InDesign, reformat everything, and finally convert it to MOBI for Kindle.

Hopefully this beta version makes it somewhat easier.

Good Luck!

[BobLevine]

Hasn't been updated in years and is only compatible up to CS6

[Derek Cross]

You use the free Kindle Previewer to convert your ePub into a mobi file.

I'd also recommend you use FlightDeck to validate and check out your ePubs and Mobi books:

FlightDeck

[jbear-oregon]

I output to epub and then open in Calibre (an open-source ebook editor and reader for Mac or Windows) and edit the HTML and css (optional step for optimal professional look).

You can upload an epub file to Kindle, and Amazon will convert it to mobi.