Thoughts on the New InDesign "Export as HTML5" Feature – A Game-Changer for Interactive Design?

[Maurice1587]

It appears to be Publish Online except that it creates an HTML5 'package' that you can upload to a web server. I am a huge fan of the In5 plugin, and I'm wondering if this comes a little closer to that standard. I'll be updating ID and comparing the two. I'm a firm believer in the possibilities of custom designed websites that are  static--meaning not templated or output from a database. If Adobe is planning to put development effort to supporting this feature, I'm looking forward to a lot more creativity and less cookie-cutter interactive design.

Here's my wish list:

• Improved animation tools
• The ability to create variables for things like keeping score in a quiz
• HTML5 tricks like parallax scrolling and draggable elements

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[BobLevine]

My advice which you can take or leave: If you want a website, create one properly. There are any number of tools from handcoding (not for the faint of heart) up to WordPress). InDesign is not and never will be a tool for authoring websites. There are far too many devices and screen sizes to think a static website will produce a decent user experience.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I agree, but that mostly applies to websites as "Websites!" — if you get me. I am a champion of HTML as a somewhat forgotten long-document format, superior to both PDF and EPUB in many ways, and I've used the existing HTML export, plus CSS, to do all kinds of complex web-based documents and reference systems. I don't have any projects for that right now, but I plan to mess around with the new version soon to see if it supports these goals better than the relatively simple version it replaces.

But that's for documents — books — long-form formatted content for the web. Not interactive 'websites' with multiple pages, navigation, animation, video, etc. ID is definitely not the tool for that process.

And something less constricted, controlled and courtesy-hosted than PO would be a nice option. But ti's going to be... misused by some segment of users who focus on one tool for everything. 🙂

[Maurice1587]

Agreed. My bad--I think instead of "websites", a better phrase would have been "Web-based content".

InDesign is not a website builder, but it is a completely valid way (when exported with In5) to design interactive experiences--from HTML ads to embedded content and landing pages. I've created all of these for my previous employer and it's worked perfectly, including responsive design.

Anyone here who is advanced in InDesign owes it to themselves to at least try the interactive features paired with In5 or maybe this new package feature and see if it could work for their needs. Not to make them forget about Squarespace or Wordpress, but maybe to find out the power of using ID for digital as well as print.

[James Gifford—NitroPress · Accepted solution]

And... ugh.

I just ran a tech manual project through HTML5 export and while it works... it follows the sort of approach I dislike and think is the opposite of creating web-optimized documents.

The good news for many will be that it more or less produces a Publish Online document that is not dependent on Adobe hosting. I'm sure that will go over well with the increasing contingent that want to exploit ID's full page layout power and go to the web for it.

The bad news, in my view, is that it creates hard-defined pages, using the PO/doc-reader flicker arrows, that are closer to PDF images than actual web pages. In fact, it's indistinguishable from FXL (fixed-layout) EPUB except that any browser can display them, without need of a dedicated reader or plugin, with all the headaches that brings. Overall, it's much like a dream project of mine, to create e-books based on HTML5/CSS3, but packaged like EPUB (and there are others out there actually working on implementations, the idea to bring the benefits of EPUB with the power and simplicity of a more basic structural language).

And while hard pages will thrill those who for some reason don't want to use PDF, I find them anything but web-friendly, non-responsive, as much of a kluge and sop to poor practice as FXL EPUB.

On a code level, they use the same practice as FXL: instead of the web-like structure of reflowable EPUB (elements presented in simple code, with styles controlling all), this approach wraps every single element (down to each word) in a massive definition string precisely positioning and styling it. Repeat for 500-1000 elements per page. Completely un-modifiable after export, even though I deprecate that practice for EPUB.

I predict HTML5 export will spark little frissons of joy among the general publish-to-web crowd. I am disappointed at such a retro, limited approach and hope the useful (for creating reflowable long-doc export) "Legacy" HTML export isn't removed or deprecated. It is probably dead in the water, though, with no further updates, fixes or tweaks, which is a loss for a small contingent of users who found it valuable.

[Maurice1587]

Too bad, they did get my hopes up 🙂

Still, if they were willing to do this, it might mean there's light at the end of the tunnel for InDesign users who think that their main layout tool should be usable for digital work.

[Jeffrey_Smith]

If you are looking to create animation and parallax scrolling in an application similar to Indesign, you could look into Adobe Muse. Please note, Muse is no longer supported, but can still be used.

[Maurice1587]

Thanks Jeffrey, I was a Muse user back in the day when it was supported.

The thing is, the interactivity and animation tools in InDesign are still top notch even though they are beginning to show their age. To use an old buzzword, it's the synergy of ID layout tools with the interactive tools that gets people like me excited.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Of course, Muse is still available to download! 😁