Kindle Previewer and Indesign

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
October 8, 2020
3 replies
10513 views

I've been trying to preview a fixed layout epub on Kindle Previewer but it keeps failing. I am now running out of time.

I've validated it and it passed. I did Flightcheck and it told me there was a problem with ligatures so I got rid of them. I also changed fonts as they seemed to be clashing. I've changed the tables to png files and nothing seems to work. I've tried to DeBug it on Calibre but its been stuck on 47% for almost 2 hours. Nothing helps.

The message I'm getting is:

'Kindle conversion has encountered an internal error while enabling Enhanced Typesetting on this book.'

It has illustrator files and tables in it.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

EPUB

Correct answer Derek Cross

If you are on a Mac, have a look at CicularFLO:

https://www.circularflo.com

B

BookFeast

Participant

After much trial and error, I found that for my titles, this came up when there were multiple languages listed in the content.opf metadata. Choosing a single language allowed Kindle Previewer to move forward.

J

Joe-New-to-ID

Inspiring

I'm new to InDesign. How did you edit "content.opf metadata"?

J

Joe-New-to-ID

Inspiring

It's just not done that way any more. Fix the source materials, not the "printout."

At one time, decade ago or more, it was the only approach, just like typing a manuscript was once the only way to write a book. (And to be fair, there is still value at looking into generated EPUBs, and a very narrow, specialized need for some structural editing.)

But "building" EPUBs using assembly and editing tools is wholly obsolete. Those who cling to those methods are like writers who don't use newfangled word processors. 🙂

And other than for troubleshooting difficult problems, validation is largely obsolete as well. There is absolutely no reason to pay for a validation tool or service; the more or less official, and wholly standards-based, EPUBcheck is both free and the core of most aftermarket, pay, nonstandard validators. You pay for little more than someone's second-guessing of the standards.

Validation is largely an artifact of the "build it" model, where many mistakes could be made in content and assembly. Put briefly, InDesign doesn't make export errors unless something is broken in the source file... which is where it should be fixed, not by editing the result as with Wite-Out on a printout.

James: Got it. Thank you. Good words of wisdom.