Posts Tagged EPUB

Create EPUB eBooks with Adobe InDesign

Posted by Vikrant in Design on February 29, 2012

I keep getting questions on how to create EPUB from InDesign, so am pointing out some resources on Adobe.com on how to create EPUB eBooks using Adobe InDesign. There are quite a few resources on Adobe.com, and you can use to bring yourself quickly up-to-date, and start publishing EPUBs.

I’m adding links to a few videos and PDFs here:

Videos

PDF Guides

Help articles

Let me know if it helps, or if you’re looking for specific information, I’ll try and get it for you.

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MAX 2011 | InDesign

Posted by Vikrant in Design on October 19, 2011

MAX 2011 concluded a few days ago, and as expected there was a lot of excitement. In this post I’m putting together some recordings that I found really interesting.

I’m still working my way through all the recordings available, so I’ll update this post. Below are some sessions that were nice.

Sneak Peek to Liquid Layouts

In this short video, Kiyomassa Toma gives you a sneak peek of a potential feature in InDesign to create high quality magazines that automatically re-layout across devices and screen orientation. Totally awesome stuff. A must watch for designers working on challenges for designing for an ever changing array of devices and screen sizes.

There were some other sessions, slightly longer, but as engaging.

I’m still working my way through all the recordings available, so I’ll update this post. Meanwhile, if you want go on ahead to Adobe TV and post links here.

Beautiful Typography | A crash course

In this session, Michael Ninness shows you ten practical tips for achieving consistently beautiful typography.

InDesign CS5.5 Power Shortcuts

Michael Ninness shows you how to get more done in less time by keeping your hands on the keyboard as much as possible.

Creating EBooks for distribution on digital devices

Colin Fleming gives step-by-step instructions on how to take your content from creation to publication to distribution on the Sony Reader, Kindle, and iPad.

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Add Audio and video to EPUB | InDesign CS5.5

Posted by Vikrant in Design on May 24, 2011

In this episode from Adobe TV, Colin Fleming shows how simple it is to embed audio and video content in InDesign CS5.5 for export to EPUB.

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Why do we need alt-text for Text Frames in InDesign CS5.5?

Posted by Vikrant in Design on May 19, 2011

Last week I wrote about the supercool Object Export Options, and how you can apply Alt-Text to different objects.

I had several people asking me why on earth do we need Alt-text for text frames? It’s already text, isn’t it? So I asked the product team, and this is what I learned.

Rasterize Text Frames to preserve styles, effects, and fonts

Rasterize Text Frames to preserve styles, effects, and fonts

Imagine a text frame for display type like a headline, with a bevel-emboss and drop shadow effect. In order to preserve this appearance in an HTML and EPUB export, you will need to apply custom image conversion settings (Object > Object Export Options > EPUB & HTML). In InDesign, it is still a text frame, but the resulting “image” in HTML/EPUB would need to have Alt-Text applied to describe the text that is rasterized in the export process.

You could also use it if you want to rasterize some text because you want to keep the styling/font intact. For example, a font which ePub is incapable of rendering which may be part of a logo, caption or larger design. In these cases it makes sense to first rasterize that text, and then apply some Alt-Text so when the ePub or HTML is “read aloud” then it can actually read out some text to go with what is now a raster.

Can you think of something else? Share it with us, post a comment below.

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Object Export Options for EPUB & HTML

Posted by Vikrant in Design on May 17, 2011

In an earlier post on Object Export Options, I had shown you how to specify Alt-text. In this post, we’ll see how Object Export options help us in the EPUB and HTML workflows. You can use the Object Export options to create different conversion settings on each object, with special attention spent on settings useful for different screens sizes and pixel densities (ppi).

Object Export Options for EPUB and HTML

Object Export Options for EPUB and HTML

Unlike alt text, which is supported in all three major export formats—PDF, EPUB, and HTML— the EPUB and HTML tab in the Object Export dialog box represents conversion and formatting options unique to EPUB and HTML.

The main purpose for this tab is to set image conversion properties on an object by object basis. This enables you to apply different degrees of quality on each individual object. If not specified, the global conversion options defined by EPUB or HTML export is used. To enable per object conversion settings, the “Custom Rasterization” box must first be checked.

Below is a description for the major features. (The rest are easy to understand).

Size

You can choose between fixed size or the new relative to page width size. Using Fixed results in an image with static height and width pixel dimensions based on the size of the object used in the InDesign document. “Relative to page width” setting sets a % value based on the width of the image relative to the InDesign page width. The % value enables the image to resize automatically based on the screen size of the device or the size of the browser window. “Relative” is recommended when producing EPUBs that are intended to be viewed on different devices.

Format

PNG is now supported, in addition to GIF and JPEG. PNG is a lossless format and also supports transparency. When PNG is selected, compression options are dimmed out.

Resolution (ppi)

While operating systems have standardized on either 72 or 96 ppi, mobile devices range from 132 ppi (iPad), to 172 ppi (Sony Reader), to over 300 ppi (iPhone 4). New in CS5.5 is the ability to specific a ppi value for each object selected. Values include 72, 96, 150 (average of all ebook devices today), and 300.

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