Episode 11: Creating an eBook with InDesign (Part 2)
November 16, 2009
In Episode 10, I introduced you to the EPUB format and I explained how it's different from a PDF file. I also started the process of setting up an InDesign document that can be accurately converted to the EPUB file format. In this episode, I show you how to create page breaks, setup a table of contents, insert hyperlinks and cross-references, and add metadata to the eBook. Then I walk you through the process of exporting the final EPUB file.
If you would like even more in-depth information on creating EPUB files, check out my article in the October/November 2009 issue of InDesign Magazine.
Watch the Episode
Posted in eBook Publishing, Layout, Video Podcasts
19 comment(s) to " Episode 11: Creating an eBook with InDesign (Part 2)"
#1
November 17, 2009
Its very good video; I like the the way he demonstrated the Table of Contents creation using cross references. I have a problem in my InDesign book where it is not showing TOC style I created. What could be the problem? Can you please help me in this regard. Thanks in advance.
#2
November 17, 2009
If the TOC Style you created doesn't appear in the TOC Style menu when you export the EPUB file, you need to do one of the following:
- Locate the document in the book file that contains the TOC Style and specify it as the style source by clicking in the column to the left of the document name. Then export the EPUB file and your TOC Style will be available.
- After creating the TOC Style, synchronize the book file so that the TOC Style is copied to all the other documents in the book. Then it doesn't matter which document is specified as the style source.
#3
December 02, 2009
Another informative episode. Thank you for providing an excellent eBook creation resource! A question - what do you think is the best font/size to set the text to in InDesign before exporting to ePub? My research indicated Georgia (because of easy legibility and the availability of italic) but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
#4
January 08, 2010
If you don't want to alter your book layout, I suggest that you continue using the original fonts and don't embed the fonts when you export the EPUB file. Even if you embed the fonts, many eBook readers ignore them and use their own default font instead. If you want to embed the fonts in the EPUB file, I recommend using Georgia. Not only because its easy to read on screen, but also because it's one of the fonts that is typically available in many eBook readers. As for the size of the font, that doesn't matter so much, because every eBook reader allows you to change the text size. So just choose a size that is large enough to be comfortably read on screen.
#5
January 14, 2010
Great video, but I am having some problems. I'm using CS3. How did you get some of your entries in TOC ID file to indent? I crated a page, and indented some of entries using a tab, but the tabs did not carry over. Also, Digital Editions created two TOCs on the left panel. Thanks!
#6
January 15, 2010
@Jillo If you want to create an indent in an EPUB file, apply a left indent to the paragraph instead of inserting a tab. Make sure that the left indent is defined in the paragraph style, otherwise the text won't be indented in the EPUB file.
As for the two TOCs being created in the left panel in Digital Editions, I think that happened because you didn't select Suppress Automatic Entries For Documents in the Contents section of the Digital Editions Export Options dialog box. Make sure it is selected. If you still can't get it to work, click the Ask a Question button at the top of this page to send me an email along with your InDesign file. I can then look into the problem for you.
I hope this helps! Good luck.
#7
January 21, 2010
Very nice and informative videos! I am struggling with getting what I want in the template.css. When I export from Indesign CS4, I don't want a color specified for my paragraph styles. How is this done? I know I can manually remove the line from template.css of course, but I would like to be able to create a nice, clean export from Indesign. For every paragraph style, there is a line in template.css color: rgb(0,0,0); Readers who want to invert color on their reading devices (dark background, light font) won't see the text if it is defined as rgb(0,0,0). If I choose Character Colour = none in the paragraph style, I can't see the text in my Indesign-file which is not very practical! I really hope there is a nice and simple solution to this.
#8
January 21, 2010
@MagdalenaK Thanks for bringing my attention to this issue! Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent InDesign from generating the color attribute in the CSS file when you have a color applied to the text. So you either have to edit the CSS file to remove the color attribute, or you have to apply the [None] color swatch to all your text before exporting the EPUB file.
I think it's easier to edit the CSS file, especially if you are using an XML editor that has a Find/Replace feature. Otherwise, you can update all your styles to use the character color of [None] just before you export the EPUB file.
#9
February 21, 2010
I had my first client contact me regarding epub. I am currently on CS3 and am wondering if there are any major holdbacks I am going to encounter being on CS3 instead of CS4 when it comes to producing the Epub document? Thanks for the info!! S
#10
February 27, 2010
@stevenp InDesign CS4 offers a couple of advantages over InDesign CS3 when it comes to creating EPUB files. You can add cross-references to an eBook. You can use local formatting instead of defined styles as the basis for generating the CSS styles (which I don't actually recommend). I particularly like using the new Live Preflight feature to check the integrity of my document as I produce it. I check for things such as overset text, low image resolution, and cross-references that are out of date. If you are only going to upgrade to CS4 for it's EPUB-specific features, it may not be worth the investment.
#11
March 12, 2010
Ehi everyone! I desperately need a suggestion to resolve a problem with InDesign CS4 Digital Editions. I want to esport for digital editions a file in which there’s also a video, and when I export, it doesn’t appear in the epub file. How can I put a video in a epub file for e book? I know readers as IPad read videos without problems … Can somebody help me? I can’t find an answer anywhere … Thank You all, best regards, Fra from Milan
#12
March 16, 2010
Gabriel, Thanks a million for all your excellent information and advice here (and all the other forums and what not you contribute to). It makes starting in ePublishing SO much less daunting. Very much appreciated. d.
#13
April 04, 2010
@Sirfr Unfortunately, video is not quite supported by most eBook readers, but it can work on Stanza on the iPhone/iPod Touch if you use the <embed> element instead of <object>. You must also use a compatible video format, such as m4v or mp4. I'm assuming this will also work for the iPad. Joshua Tallent recently demonstrated the use of video at the O'Reily Tools of Change conference. To download his demo file, go to www.ebookarchitects.com/toc.php. There is a list of sample eBooks that you can download. You want to download the eBook that demonstrates the use of video.
Once you download the EPUB file, open it in Digital Editions and notice that there's an example that uses the <object> element, the <embed> element, and a Flash video, which actually plays in Digital Editions! Then transfer the EPUB file to Stanza on the iPhone and you will be able to play the video that uses the <embed> method. At first, I had difficulties getting it to play. Make sure you tap and hold the video icon until a yellow border appears around the video, then release to play the video.
Lastly, when you export an InDesign document as an EPUB file, any videos in the file are discarded, so that is why you see a blank page in the EPUB file. To get video into an EPUB file, you have to edit it and manually insert the code and video files yourself. Study the sample EPUB file you download to see how it's done. Good luck!
#14
April 11, 2010
Thanks for the Video Tutorial. I've checked out the Magazine Article and I'm still not exactly clear how you managed to create the TOC you demonstrate. You have I guess paragraph styles 'Secton_Title' and 'ChapterNumber' set to levels 1 and 2. The TOC in the final EPub document has: Contents, Foreword and then 'Spy Killer' which is expandable; then Story Preview, etc. I'm just wondering what the actual InDesign files look like and where does the title 'Spy Killer' appear so that the Chapter Numbers are in their own sub-menu. Any recommendations on style structure and book structure would be appreciated :-) Thanks!
#15
April 25, 2010
I found both video tutorials very helpful. But I seem to be having very little luck exporting an ePub. I don't know if it's because the document has been converted from CS3 to CS4 or because it has a lot of images, hyperlinks and text anchors but the ePub always seems to have blank pages. I've tried not embedding fonts, embedding fonts, slitting the document up into it's separate chapters and amalgamating it into an InDesign Book and exporting a single document – there's always this problem.
Also, you mention it is possible to edit the code in the ePub. How do you do that? I have tried to open it in Text Edit (Mac) and Dreamweaver but don't get anything I recognize as CSS or XML.
#16
May 03, 2010
@robcubbon Your EPUB file has blank pages in it after exporting it from InDesign, because you are experiencing a bug. Upgrade to InDesign CS4 6.0.4 or InDesign CS5 and you will no longer experience this issue.
As for editing EPUB files, check out my article on CreativePro.com: http://www.creativepro.com/article/making-ebooks-indesign-part-2.
Also check out my post on editing EPUB files with Oxygen XML Editor: http://instantindesign.com/index.php?view=412.
#17
May 03, 2010
@Keith To create a TOC that appears as a navigation guide in the EPUB file, you need to first consistently apply paragraph styles to all the headings throughout your publication. You then create a TOC style (Layout > Table Of Contents Styles) that references those paragraph styles. When the EPUB file is generated, InDesign locates all the text to which the specified paragraph styles are applied and generates the TOC with that text. The order of the TOC entries is determined by the order in which you have arranged the paragraph styles in the TOC style. Hope this helps.
#18
June 17, 2010
Hi Thanks for this brilliant video. I use InDesign 6.0.5. on a Mac. When I export a document with paragraph or/and character styles set to a bold font face I always get a font-weight: normal; attribute in CSS - font is normal on my ebook reader (iPad). Is this fixed in CS 5 or can I fix it somehow in InDesign (no problem doing that in the css itself). Is there somewhere out there a list of changes to ebook related features from CS 4 to CS 5? Thanks for information Jürgen
#19
July 26, 2010
Hi Gabriel I am designing specifically for iPad which has a screen size of 768 x 1024 px at 132 ppi. InDesign does not allow for a doc to be set up in pixels. I have converted this pixel size to 576 x 1024 points and set up document to this size. I created a test image that is 768 px wide @ 132 ppi and placed it in InDesign. My monitor is 96 ppi so this 132 ppi image looks smaller than the document width. When I convert the image to 96 ppi (without resampling) it fits the full width. Does my logic work so far? I am hoping that if I rescale the image in InDesign to 576 pt (768 px) and "keep images as original" when saving to ePub that it will work. Any thoughts would be helpful and I will let you know if my test is successful.
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