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Trouble converting in design file to ePub

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
July 12, 2022
2 replies
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Been trying to convert My indesign file of my children’s book to ePub format but that happens why can any one please help me with this problem

EPUB

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Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

See ETA addendum above.

You can't "draw" in ID and have it export successfully to EPUB. Make the illustrations in Illustrator, or create them in a smaller page frame in ID, and export to JPEG. Then place them on ID pages for export.

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hammer0909

Community Expert

Only the fixed-layout EPUB format will maintain position and appearance as it appears in the InDesign document.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Brainiac

He is exporting to fixed-layout. But it won't solve the problems here. To start with, the little illustrations are dependent on a particular font, which is not exporting to the EPUB.

The short answer is that you can't do graphic drawings in ID and expect a reliable export to EPUB, even FXL. And even if enough skill and fussing and post-export work gets an acceptable result, it will change with every EPUB reader and every conversion to another file type, which is endemic in the e-book world.

EPUB is not PDF. Its ability to render "fixed" text pages is adequate, but once you start piling and positioning fonts, graphics and other little bits, it's going to come unraveled. Exactly as it has here.

The correct approach is to make those little illustrations images, by exporting part of the ID pages to JPEG or PNG, then placing those images on ID pages and exporting to EPUB. That will give as "reliable" a result as EPUB can.

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Shepler Studios

Participating Frequently

Hi, James,

Would exporting each page from InDesign as a jpg image, then importing those images into a new InDesign document, and exporting a new epub from that new document work?

James Gifford—NitroPress

Brainiac

I assume you mean the change of the A and B from narrow block font to the more ordinary sans-serif font?

Fonts in EPUB are a headache and trying to do anything but let readers use their default fonts requires leaping through some hoops. It is difficult to export to fixed-page EPUB (FXL) with embedded/specified fonts.

Are you using defined styles for those letters? Or are they spot-formatted? What font are you using? Is it licensed for export to EPUB?

If you want or need specific letter images for "illustration" purposes, it may be best to convert them to images, either JPEG or AI to outlines to SVG. Make each of the letters part of the illustration, not text.

The more complex method would be to use CSS to control the export more precisely.

ETA: EPUB, even fixed-layout, is not a "print" format. For print or PDF, you can use any method or elements to "draw a page" and have it come out looking exactly like your layout. EPUB is a fluid format and has to be constructed and structured to let readers display the content according to their own rules. I don't think there's any approach of trying to use ID design (combining text, fonts, graphic elements and other artwork) that will let you do these little illustrations. You will have to create the illustrations and then place them in an ID layout.

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WillDog85Author

Known Participant

No I am trying to not have the images move to random parts of the page

James Gifford—NitroPress

Brainiac

How would I do that if you can explain it to me I know I can do it

ps this is an example of what happens when I do a ePub fixed lay out with pngs placed on each page

I think, except for details, that's as good as you are going to get. The one thing you could do is adjust your page size to that optimal 16:10 ratio so that most readers would show no margins.

I am not sure what page size you are working with, but in Document Setup, change the size to some convenient dimensions close to what you already have. If the pages are 6x9 (inches), change them to 5x8 (for the vertical layout). If you want a landscape layout, change them to 8x5. If you're working with letter-size pages, either scale down to that 8x5 or use 64x40 picas. (Don't worry that that's an odd amount in inches... it's the proportion that matters. If you're working in inches, enter the values as '64p' and '40p' and ID will convert it to inches on the fly.)

Then adjust all the background rectangles and position of the little letter illustrations, and your book should show on most readers with a full page, no margins. But tablets and any readers that don't have a fixed 16:10 ratio will show margins in one direction or the other, and I don't know of a fix for that with fixed page layout.

Feel free to ask if that's not clear enough. 🙂

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