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.kpf files?

Community Beginner ,
Mar 19, 2019 Mar 19, 2019

I just purchased CC 2019, only to discover it doesn't export as .kpf. Amazon accepts ONLY .kpf for paperbacks (unless you want to use the Word app; I don't).

Is there any way to convert InDesign files into .kpf, or did I just waste a lot of money for nothing?

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Explorer ,
Mar 19, 2019 Mar 19, 2019

Huh? Amazon gladly accepts PDF files for print paperback books and EPUB (and MOBI) for eBooks, both of which can be created in InDesign. As far as I know, the KPF format can only be generated by Amazon’s own Kindle Create software, and it is only for eBooks and not for print books. For print books you almost certainly want to send them a PDF, for eBook either an EPUB or MOBI. You do not need a KPF file at all.

InDesign is arguably the industry standard for creating PDFs and, perhaps a bit less arguably, for creating EPUBs. Many of us use it regularly to design both print books and eBooks that are destined for Amazon as well as elsewhere. For eBooks, after creating an EPUB in InDesign, you can run it through Amazon’s Kindle Previewer app to generate a MOBI (and to see what your eBook is likely to look like on various Kindle devices). The resulting files can all be uploaded successfully to Amazon KDP (provided that you have followed Amazon’s print and eBook publishing guidelines).

If you would like a good starting point for learning to use InDesign I can think of little better than David Blatner’s and Anne-Marie Concepción’s many InDesign video courses on Lynda.com (also now known as LinkedIn Learning). I believe that a 30-day trial membership is free, and full membership is available through many public libraries (at least in the US).

Be prepared, however, for a rather steep learning curve. InDesign is a professional-level app used by, and largely intended for, professional designers. It will gladly allow you do almost anything that you would ever want to do—and then some—but do not expect it to be either easy or painless to learn. That said, the users here on this forum (and the many good folks at InDesignSecrets.com) are here to help as best we can whenever you run into difficulties.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 20, 2019 Mar 20, 2019

Sorry, I was misled by information on the Adobe website: "In your KDP account, you'll upload the file you saved after formatting your manuscript. If you're publishing an eBook, this is the .kpf file you saved after formatting in Kindle Create. If you're publishing a paperback, this is the .doc(x) file you saved after formatting with Kindle Create Add-in for Microsoft Word." 

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202187860

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Community Expert ,
Mar 20, 2019 Mar 20, 2019

That's Amazon's website, not Adobe's.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 20, 2019 Mar 20, 2019

Oops!

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Explorer ,
Mar 20, 2019 Mar 20, 2019

Yes, Amazon’s KDP website is rather a mess these days. It carefully attempts to steer you toward the lowest common denominator of semi-automated design from Word documents, presumably because they want anyone and everyone to be able to submit books with one click—better for their business, I suppose, but not better for the look and feel of books.

In any case, I found these two links deeper into the KDP site that seem relevant:

Supported eBook Formats

Paperback Submission Guidelines

When you get to either of these pages you will also find a morass of related materials in the sidebar on the left of the page. You need to dig around quite a bit on the KDP site to find anything beyond the most dumbed-down instructions, and even then it is utterly confusing if you are looking for something in particular, something beyond what they are feeding you. This is rather annoying for those of us who care what our books look like, but perhaps, sadly, this is also indicative of the future of anyone-can-write-a-book publishing.

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Explorer ,
Mar 20, 2019 Mar 20, 2019
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Not entirely relevant, but I do not seem to be able to find on the KDP site either the Amazon Kindle Publishing Guidelines or the KDP Print Publishing Guidelines, both of which used to be available as downloadable PDFs if you looked hard enough. I have to wonder if they have now gone completely web-based with these guidelines.

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