You are an angel. I designed books 15+ years ago and have done very few in between then and now (and never an ebook). I was so lost after researching how to do it correctly. Thank you!
Hi there, very clear tutorial as usual! Please remember the word "pagina" is an Italian one and the accent falls on the first "a" so it's "pàgina" and not "pagìna" 😀
Oh! Really? Is it "PAH-geen-ah", then? I took spanish class in high school, so I tend to use a spanish pronunciation for such words. Thanks for the correction.
This video was extremely helpful! So many tutorial videos only show what to do when everything goes right...very useful to see what to do when you export it and everything looks all wrong! Also, hello from a fellow Nashvillian!
Oh my goodness I was completely stuck on how to do this. Your walk through was super helpful. It certainly changed the way I will be setting up my Indesign projects going forward. Thank you.
Thank you so much. I've been trying to learn how to export Ebooks for quite a while and this easy tutorial has been very helpful. And your pineapple shirt is great by the way! 🙂
Hi Becky, I have been an ebook formatter since 2011, but I use another alternative to create an epub. And now my client wants me to convert it from Indesign, thankfully by watching your video, it really helps. I hope I can have a copy of your sample file, so I can also check please? :)
@@beckysgraphicdesign do you have a website or anything where I can reach out. I’ve completed writing and typing everything out just need help with formatting.
Thanks for the video, you have some nice tricks. I think your ebook's TOC shows incomplete the first time because you deleted the TOC (you didn't want it to show). Usually with the TOC, even if doesn't show up in the epub as it does in the print version, it's used to maintain the structure and navigation. You can hide it in the Articles panel but select it in the Export Options under Navigation TOC - TOC Style so the structure remains.
In this ebook conversion, I am creating navigation via file structure since I am using InDesign's book function. But yes, when I have single-document books, I do utilize the TOC style option. 👍
Becky, I feel like you and I are old friends. I rewatch your videos all the time. Apparently, it all does not stick in my brain indefinitely. I love the "split" trick! I want to add all the tricks into the print version so that I have minimal work for the kindle version. What happens if you do not have room to move the line down to add the needed spaces for the style? For example, the page needs to begin at the top. I know this is not an issue in Kindle but it is for the print version.
So, what exactly are you trying to do? Start certain paragraph styles on a new page? Use Keep Options>Start Paragraph>On Next Page OR On Next Odd Page, if you're wanting to do standard book settings.
Well done, Kayla! The best explanation video I found. Thank you! A small question what is the size of the documents you are working with, and what are the margins?
This book is a 6 x 9. You want a bigger interior margin, probably around 0.75 inches for a book this size. The rest should fall around 0.5, depending on where you have your runningheaders and page numbers.
Great tutorial. I have print book that is very heavy on photographs so do I need to anchor them all? I don't necessarily want to sell this book on Amazon - is there another method of creating an ebook from a print book?
For an image-heavy, complicated book, I highly recommend using Kindle Create, which allows you to generate a KDP eBook from a PDF-yep, you heard me! For your purposes, make sure you use the "Print Replica" default setting. th-cam.com/video/XWaJw7sXYPE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OJVCPeHYx6W6J1xS
Hi Becky, I have just begun learning Indesign. My goal is to learn how to create decent ebook and paperback. May I ask one quick question? Is it more common to create paperback first and then create ebook based off of it? Or is it the other way around? I have one book ready to publish in paperback (used Affinity publisher for this) and another already published in ebook but not in paperback. Starting self-publishing, I just sort of assumed that it must be "first ebook, then paperback." That somehow looked more right. But now that I've seen this tutorial (I'll have to watch it many times over), maybe creating ebook from a print version can have many advantages? especially if you use Indesign? like keeping the elements of the interior (images and the like) intact? I used MS Word for the ebook I created, and though it looks good enough on Kindle Previewer, Word as an ebook-making tool is very limited. Any suggestions or comments will greatly be appreciated!
Yes! I find that making the print version and THEN copying that file to use as a base for my eBook is VERY advantageous. I have never tried to take an eBook file and convert it into a print book, actually.
Hi Becky, thank you for the video! I have a question, when I create the Split Styles for my Chapter title, it works! However, instead of only breaking from the previous chapter, it also breaks from the chapter body underneath. For instance, the page before is the previous chapter, the current page is the chapter title, and the next page is its body text. Like the chapter title is standing alone in a page, which I don't want that. I just want the whole next chapter separated from the previous chapter, not the chapter title separates itself from the previous page and its content. I wonder if I did something wrong in the paragraph styles or export setting. I hope that makes sense, thank you.
First, check the style for the body text. See if it is "based on Chapter Title." If that is the case, it will be pulling that Split Style from it. Instead, make it based on no paragraph style. Additionally, double-check that the little box in the .epub export settings tab is unchecked for your Body style.
When viewing an ebook on an E-reader or Kindle device, it will simply skip over page breaks, carriage returns, and other white space it deems "irrelevant." Thus, all your text will become crammed together without any space between. The only way to alleviate this-Split Style!
Hi Becky. This tutorial was super helpful, however i just cant seem to export it correctly. The fonts and alignment do not stay the same and transparent.
If it's a PICTURE of text, it will not stay transparent. Images of any kind will have a background. And in your Export settings, make sure you have CSS marked as "Relative to Text Flow." You'll also see an area where you can mark it as "centered," which often helps.
Thanks! It's been really helpful, one of the best videos on the subject. I need to make my images huge in InDesign so that they appear ok in the epub, is this normal? Otherwise they look tiny...
Sometimes, yes, that can affect the way the images appear. Also, check out my tips in this video that may allow you to skip that workaround: th-cam.com/video/fsP43buKWhg/w-d-xo.html
This was very helpful-thank you! I have a question about making a separate folder for the eBook. I've tried following your example in the beginning of your video but the indb files stays linked no matter what I do. I have to make changes for an ebook (remove art/change bullets), and when I do that I loose everything I did for my Print book layout. I discovered that InDesign books (.indb) contain fixed paths to their associated InDesign documents. If you copy a book and its associated documents to a new location and then open the book in that new location, it still retains the original path to the associated files. This is what has been happening to me. Do you have a workaround for this? I'd appreciate anything you can tell me.
Yes, depending on how smart your computer is, sometimes copying the files will work, sometimes not. If no, simply make a brand new BLANK book document for the eBook and load in the copied ebook .indd files into it.
Your tutorials are AMAZING! My ebook has never looked so good HOWEVER my inline images have been stretched to the max, covering my entire kindle screen. It looks fantastic on every other device except my kindle. I checked, and max width is at 100% but somehow it’s done height as well, I just can’t find where to fix this. Any ideas?!
This video should give you some insight: th-cam.com/video/Fl-315b3xcc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VSCfsLJugtyD59G3 You'll want to find the style (div) for your inline images, then put this in the CSS: max-width:100%; Height: auto;
Awesome tutorial, however, you do skip over quite a bit in the saving process - for instance, I assume since I already uploaded my eBook cover to KDP, I would want to select none for a cover? What about all the other items given to you to select or not? Also, I don't have the Kindle viewer on my computer yet, and when I clicked on a window to download it, I got kicked out of the save feature to make my print file into an eBook. It might be nice to preference these things prior to converting for those of us fairly new to InDesign. I love what you have done, but it may be more beneficial, if you keep in mind there will be new users to InDesign who don't know everything you know. At least you have gotten me to a better point than I was prior but will have to see if I just messed everything up and have to start over - at least now I know what to do. Thank you.
You will still want to upload the cover into the eBook file. It is contained within the .epub and is used in certain instances. The separate cover you uploaded to KDP is the "display" cover, or the image that shows the product. If you want your ebook to have a built-in cover when people (digitally) read it, you'll need to add it during export.
@@beckysgraphicdesign thank you for the clarification, I appreciate that. I watched the video all the way through, then went back and split each page only to discover my chapter 3 didn’t come through in the ebook so it looks as though I will get to go back through the whole process again unless I can somehow just add chapter 3 back in somehow?
@@beckysgraphicdesign you are awesome, I figured it out and got it taken care of. Is InDesign glitchy? I have been running into issues with it lately like not holding styles and then the missing chapter. I think I finally got it though and, thanks to you, my ebook as well! Your awesome!
Great! Sometimes, I do find that InDesign is "glitchy," but the more I use it, I realize that it is set-up to add content with whatever style I have pre-selected. (example) All of my images kept loading in-in half! I realized it was because my cursor was pre-loaded with an FX style of "Gradient Feather." Once I got rid of that, the images came in normally again. The same can happen when loading text in. If your cursor is pre-loaded with the wrong paragraph or character style, it can unintentionally be applied to all incoming text. (IE, your cursor needs to be loaded with "Basic Paragraph" and None [character style])
Hi Becky, thanks for putting this up. It helped me creating an ebook. There is one thing I could not solve. I have a very simple, little book. Just 17 pages (ipad format) in 1 file. But in between the chapters the numbering just goes from 1 to 6, from 6 to 12, 16 to 26 etc. I end up with a file of over 100 pages. I work with several text frames and have some page with just images. Are those a problem? Hope you know the answer. Thanks in advance for responding
Are your page numbers contained in text frames on each page? I suggest using page numbers on the master/parent pages. Then, the ebook will naturally skip over the page number elements, which are not necessary in a reflowable ebook.
@@beckysgraphicdesign Hi Becky, no they are not. But is seems no problem, the odd pagenumbers only appear in the preview, in other devices they are gone. Thx for your quick respons.
Hi Becky Having problems with chapter headings staying squished down to the body of text even with split style applied, am I missing something? Tried so many times.
Meaning, you want vertical space in-between your chapter titles and the body? This can be done by adding "space above" or "space below" in your Paragraph Style. A "split style" creates a page break just before that line of code.
Question: if you copy the ID book file along with the separate ID files to another location, doesn't the copy of book file still refer back to the original files, and not to the new set of copied ID files?
In the past, yes. In recent years, the copied book file seems to look first in its current location for files matching the .indd names. I always check before starting to edit my files, however!
I haven't heard of Lens before! But it sounds interesting. Are you able to save a Word .doc or other text format from Lens and then place it into InDesign?
Nope! This is one method. Recently, I've been preferring to keep everything together in one document, then use the TOC function to tell the eBook how to generate navigation. Here's one of my videos on TOCs: th-cam.com/video/3B9uTmmNLek/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WgCuHnjY00efd-8W And this is a more recent eBook demonstration: th-cam.com/video/fsP43buKWhg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=KtktD_wPVDwT6Be0
Your image will never go all the way to the edges in a reflowable .epub, but if you make a fixed format .epub or a print replica with Kindle Create, you can achieve this.
I’ve been working on a poetry book with images and the boxes outside of them are appearing in the ebook. I did anchor them, so I’m not sure what it is. If I can’t figure it out I will just remove them and keep the ebook basic. The second problem I’ve had is that there are missing spaces in between my words. I’m not sure how to fix this. I think it could be how kindle is converting my file. I did originally export as a fixed format because of the artwork. Although I’ve never had a problem with this before, it is a problem now.
What ARE the "spaces?" If they're an actual space character (hitting the spacebar), yes, those are automatically removed from an ebook, as well as double returns and other "unnecessary" whitespace. Now, you can go in and fanagle the code manually to get these things to work in a reflowable, but I would suggest watching my video on Kindle Create, where all you need to do is upload the original print PDF! th-cam.com/video/bbVmW-H-I0s/w-d-xo.html
There are two ways to work with books-make a single long document that contains all the chapters OR utilize InDesign's Book function, which pulls individual chapter files together into a "book." I use both methods, depending on how complex the content is and if it's easy/hard to reflow it. (When I have a lot of anchored images that I don't want moving around, it's much easier to use the book function rather than having all the chapters in one .indd file.)
These are the InDesign files that were used to create the print book for the first time, from scratch. See a video on from-scratch book creation here: th-cam.com/video/o6HoUknDVSM/w-d-xo.html
In your videos you're always talking about "InDesign" which I've never been rich enough to purchase! What I really want to know is how to create a very nice looking, ready to print ebook, from within Sigil from scratch! In other words, without purchasing anything extra, besides what is included with Sigil. Can you please assist me with this kind of education?
I'm trying to insert an image as a scene break within chapters, and it looks fine in InDesign but when I import as reflowable epub the pic and following scene are on a new page when I want it to be seamless (just a little space with the image). Any tips on how I can do this?
Oftentimes, anchoring the image into the text will have this effect. Try this method for a slightly better interaction with the text: th-cam.com/video/AVK1Wq7wlqo/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxtfOZa79XZdpYN-j94AaABAg
Hi Kayla, I have created the Epub following your steps but I am facing an issue when changing the fonts in Kindle Previewer. I am using two fonts for my ebook i.e. Arial for headings and Times New Roman for body. When viewing this book in Kindle previewer, I have noticed that I cannot change the Arial font wherever it is used throughout the document. Only Times New Roman is getting changed when selecting different fonts. In another instance, I have noticed that both Arial and Times New Roman is not changing. Can you please guide what could be the issue?
It depends on the viewing device. Say, you're using a Kindle from 2005. It's probably only going to have 5 fonts on it, and it can only choose from those. So it's going to use its best guess and use the one sans-serif font it has (which is probably not Arial). Now, a newer device will indeed have Arial installed and will use it.
Thank you so much for this video! I almost lost my nerves of converting a printbook into an ebook. I never did this before and the customer decided after the print version was done, that they also need the ebook. But what I still wonder is: when I create a book using the book function, do I always have to split all chapters? What if I decide to change the layout of the book, do I have to do that in all chapters individually or is that also synchronized? Many greetings from Germany :)
The purpose of splitting the chapters is so that a Table of Contents can be generated on the device side, but that isn't the only way to do it. You can also use the TOC style to generate the Table of Contents on the device side. (Meaning, the device will look for all instances of the "Chapter Header" paragraph style, or maybe "Section Title" [whatever you have assigned in your TOC] and then apply TOC navigation that way. You can choose between these two option in the Export settings on the first tab.
@@beckysgraphicdesign Yes, thats what I usually work with, I mean with ToC. I am doing a lot of magazines but never splitted the chapters. I think for eBooks it makes the most sense, right?
Is that all you have-the .epub file? There are some online, free converters that will at least get you to a .doc format. Then, you could use Word or InDesign to format the text and make it into a pretty PDF.
Check out this part of the video for a better explanation: 05:58 - Using "Split Document" Style to Create Page Breaks In short, you need to create a "Split Document" style, apply it where you want the breaks, check the "Split Document" option when you export the .epub, and make sure that the "master" ebook file has that split style in it.
APRIL 2024... When I have spaces in my InDesign document names (eg: Chapter 2), Pagina always reports errors and does not "certify" the ePub. So, I need to use an underscore or a dash to connect all my words in the original InDesign files (eg: Chapter-2). I'm surprised that you did not get the error messages that I see in Pagina. Perhaps something has changed since your video was made in 2020.
Hello! I wanted to ask if there is a way to avoid losing the blank paragraph between two paragraphs. If i just press enter to separate two paragraph that "P" is going to be not exported in the epub because it is empty (no text) and I have to add it manually in the html. But if i apply the space at the paragraph style, it affects all the paragraph text, also maybe a dialogue where I don't need space between the sentences. Does it make sense?
i reply myself to this since I found a solution: i gave the first line of a paragraph a copy of the same paragraph style with 5mm of space on the upper side, so it creates the space between two paragraph.
Every time I do the conversion to epub the result in the e-reader is that any centralised text (titles etc) ends up on the left margin. How can I prevent this please?
Oftentimes, I delete the TOC because the Kindle or E-reader will generate one based on the book's chapter files. However, if you need a TOC page in your book: 1. Open this panel: Window>Interactive>Hyperlinks 2. Insert your cursor in the text at the beginning of each chapter where you would like to place a "text anchor." 3. Open the "hamburger button" menu on the Hyperlinks panel. Click "New Hyperlink Destination." 4. Name the Text Anchor [(ex.) Chapter 1 Anchor] 5. Create a list of your chapter names. 6. Then, one at a time, highlight them and right-click to assign a hyperlink. Tell the hyperlink to go to the corresponding text anchor for each chapter. (You may be able to skip most of this process if you auto-generated Text Anchors with the original TOC.)
This really didn't help with formatting issues. I followed along with the previous lessons to create the book, but this doesn't help with the ebook screwing up the formatting of some pages. Like the chapters and the titles of the chapters being misplaced.
I would guess that you have separate text boxes for the Chapter Titles? The eBook will read the WIDEST item on the page first, so make sure your text boxes are all the same width, or at least ordered widest to narrowest.
Having the files separated makes for an easy way to generate the navigation on the ebook side. There are two ways to ensure there is an integrated TOC on the ebook side: 1. Separate the chapters by file and then select "File Name" under Navigation TOC in the Epub export settings. 2. Create, style, and save a TOC Style in Indesign. Then, that style will be selectable under Navigation TOC>Multi Level (TOC Style) in the export settings. If you don't do either of these, there won't be an easy way for users to navigate their Ebook (with the exception of Children's Books or other short works that don't need navigation. Thanks for the question!
Actually I am really confused about the ebook creation.. I have seen people have to use html and CSS for creating ebook.. But here are someone also using InDesign for creating ebook.. So what's the difference between.. And this exported EPUB files from InDesign work for Kdp publishing.. Please let someone clear my confusion regarding this..
You can certainly code an eBook from scratch, using any variable of tools, or by simply typing out the correct lines of code and assembling the files properly. By using InDesign, it gives us a pretty decent base to start with, generating the proper files, TOC, and CSS. Sure, it's not perfect, but far easier than hand-coding something!
@@beckysgraphicdesign Thank You so much for your support.. Actually I'm expert in Adobe InDesign and mostly work for Print Books Design and editorials design.. Now I'm working as a freelancer.. So whoever clients comes most of the time they also ask for ebook version.. so there i got stuck.. So I was just started to learn creating ebooks using Adobe InDesign.. Btw, I have one more things in my mind... I mostly work on complex layout and Book design.. So Can I also used the fixed layout for Kindle publishing after exporting, checking in kindle previewer one by one page and fix the upcoming issues..
You've used individual files for your chapters, but I have all of my novel in a single file because I have 86 chapters. While most of your suggestions work, not all of them do. Grateful anyway.
Oh, yes, definitely. I would use the single-file set-up in that instance as well and make sure I had automated running headers and smart text reflow on hand!
Yeah, unfortunately, ePub files haven't really changed much since they were created decades ago. And InDesign isn't the BEST at exporting ePub files, but at least it gives you a base to start with. The absolute cleanest way to make an eBook would be to code it from scratch, but I'm not smart enough for that, lol!
You are an angel. I designed books 15+ years ago and have done very few in between then and now (and never an ebook). I was so lost after researching how to do it correctly. Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Great tutorial. Thank you. I especially love the book cover design!
Hi there, very clear tutorial as usual! Please remember the word "pagina" is an Italian one and the accent falls on the first "a" so it's "pàgina" and not "pagìna" 😀
Oh! Really? Is it "PAH-geen-ah", then? I took spanish class in high school, so I tend to use a spanish pronunciation for such words. Thanks for the correction.
So far adding the split style spaces into the document is working with making it look much better. Thank you!
Excellent!
Brilliant. Thank you. So helpful. Explaining things simply isn't easy, but you've made it look as if it is.
Glad it was helpful!
This video was extremely helpful! So many tutorial videos only show what to do when everything goes right...very useful to see what to do when you export it and everything looks all wrong! Also, hello from a fellow Nashvillian!
Yes! I prefer to show the problem AND THEN the solution, cause that's what people are looking to fix.
-And wow, hello from Mount Juliet! So cool!!
Hey, Becky. You have given the brilliant information for exporting the digital conversion from InDesign. Keep it up...... 😄😄😄
Glad it was helpful!
I'm a writer. But you're a writer AND an Indesign expert.
Fantastic job - you explained it very well, and with more helpful details than other videos I've seen. Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I want to thank you again Kayla for your absolutely amazing content - you helped me and for sure thousand others SO MUCH!
You are so welcome! Happy to help!
Oh my goodness I was completely stuck on how to do this. Your walk through was super helpful. It certainly changed the way I will be setting up my Indesign projects going forward. Thank you.
Glad it helped!
Awesome tutorial! I've done several children's book epub conversions but never a chapter book. This was super helpful and saved me a ton of time!
Wonderful!
thanks so much for this! I was having issues saving my print files as ebooks and couldn't figure out what my issue was. Thank you!
Glad it helped!
Thank you so much. I've been trying to learn how to export Ebooks for quite a while and this easy tutorial has been very helpful. And your pineapple shirt is great by the way! 🙂
You're welcome! And thanks, haha. I love my pineapple shirt.
Great lesson! thank you so much. You really explained this well. I was able to have a finished epub without issues. Thanks
Awesome! Great job!
One of the best video for ebook which I was looking for. Thank you
Awesome! Glad it was useful.
Great material, form me splitting documents and anchoring objects were especially valuable.
Great!
Super video. I learned tons! Made my first proper working ebook thanks to you.
Nice work!
Oh my goodness! What an excellent tutorial. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Becky's Graphic Design! This video is a big help for me! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
first layout vid that is acutally helpful, thanks
Glad to hear that!
THANK YOU!!! I was struggling so hard with this!!
So glad you figured it out!!
Greta job! Thank you for your amazing help! I'm from Brazil and you helped me a lot!
Glad to hear that!
This was extremely helpful! I love the thorough explanation.😀
I'm so glad!
I am rating your TH-cam tutorial and your homepage with a "10" out of ten.
Thank you Ralph!
Excellent tutorial. Thank you!
This is a super helpful video!
Glad you think so!
Thank you so so much! This is extremely helpful. : )
Thank you, very helpful, especially 22:22 meta data info
Very welcome!
Hi Becky, I have been an ebook formatter since 2011, but I use another alternative to create an epub. And now my client wants me to convert it from Indesign, thankfully by watching your video, it really helps. I hope I can have a copy of your sample file, so I can also check please? :)
Thanks for sharing this is wonderful!
I’m in Nashville TN as well.. I can’t figure out how to use indesign
What are you trying to make with InDesign?
@@beckysgraphicdesign do you have a website or anything where I can reach out. I’ve completed writing and typing everything out just need help with formatting.
BeckysGraphicDesign.com
Really good information, thank you.
Our pleasure!
Great content. Your tutorial is very helpful.
Thank you very much!
This was so helpful! Thank you so much!
You're so welcome!
Thank you, this was really helpful!
Very good!
thank you so much
very helpful video
Really useful tips! Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thanks for the video, you have some nice tricks. I think your ebook's TOC shows incomplete the first time because you deleted the TOC (you didn't want it to show). Usually with the TOC, even if doesn't show up in the epub as it does in the print version, it's used to maintain the structure and navigation. You can hide it in the Articles panel but select it in the Export Options under Navigation TOC - TOC Style so the structure remains.
In this ebook conversion, I am creating navigation via file structure since I am using InDesign's book function. But yes, when I have single-document books, I do utilize the TOC style option. 👍
@@beckysgraphicdesign I just said it because the re adding the chapters seems like an extra odd process.
Becky, I feel like you and I are old friends. I rewatch your videos all the time. Apparently, it all does not stick in my brain indefinitely. I love the "split" trick! I want to add all the tricks into the print version so that I have minimal work for the kindle version. What happens if you do not have room to move the line down to add the needed spaces for the style? For example, the page needs to begin at the top. I know this is not an issue in Kindle but it is for the print version.
So, what exactly are you trying to do? Start certain paragraph styles on a new page? Use Keep Options>Start Paragraph>On Next Page OR On Next Odd Page, if you're wanting to do standard book settings.
This tutorial was so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing and keeping it simple :)
You're so welcome!
Well done, Kayla! The best explanation video I found. Thank you! A small question what is the size of the documents you are working with, and what are the margins?
This book is a 6 x 9. You want a bigger interior margin, probably around 0.75 inches for a book this size. The rest should fall around 0.5, depending on where you have your runningheaders and page numbers.
Very helpful video mam. Thanks so much.
Thank you for this. Question, does this convert for Kindle and KDP?
Yes, using these methods, you can create a reflowable .epub file, which you can upload to Amazon.
Oh my god this is fantastic!
Great tutorial. I have print book that is very heavy on photographs so do I need to anchor them all? I don't necessarily want to sell this book on Amazon - is there another method of creating an ebook from a print book?
For an image-heavy, complicated book, I highly recommend using Kindle Create, which allows you to generate a KDP eBook from a PDF-yep, you heard me! For your purposes, make sure you use the "Print Replica" default setting.
th-cam.com/video/XWaJw7sXYPE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OJVCPeHYx6W6J1xS
Hi Becky, I have just begun learning Indesign. My goal is to learn how to create decent ebook and paperback. May I ask one quick question? Is it more common to create paperback first and then create ebook based off of it? Or is it the other way around? I have one book ready to publish in paperback (used Affinity publisher for this) and another already published in ebook but not in paperback. Starting self-publishing, I just sort of assumed that it must be "first ebook, then paperback." That somehow looked more right. But now that I've seen this tutorial (I'll have to watch it many times over), maybe creating ebook from a print version can have many advantages? especially if you use Indesign? like keeping the elements of the interior (images and the like) intact?
I used MS Word for the ebook I created, and though it looks good enough on Kindle Previewer, Word as an ebook-making tool is very limited. Any suggestions or comments will greatly be appreciated!
Yes! I find that making the print version and THEN copying that file to use as a base for my eBook is VERY advantageous. I have never tried to take an eBook file and convert it into a print book, actually.
very helpful. thanks a lot!
Glad it helped!
Hi Becky, thank you for the video! I have a question, when I create the Split Styles for my Chapter title, it works! However, instead of only breaking from the previous chapter, it also breaks from the chapter body underneath. For instance, the page before is the previous chapter, the current page is the chapter title, and the next page is its body text. Like the chapter title is standing alone in a page, which I don't want that. I just want the whole next chapter separated from the previous chapter, not the chapter title separates itself from the previous page and its content. I wonder if I did something wrong in the paragraph styles or export setting.
I hope that makes sense, thank you.
First, check the style for the body text. See if it is "based on Chapter Title." If that is the case, it will be pulling that Split Style from it. Instead, make it based on no paragraph style.
Additionally, double-check that the little box in the .epub export settings tab is unchecked for your Body style.
Hi Becky! Thanks for the video :) why do you create a split style instead of inserting a page break or a frame break?
When viewing an ebook on an E-reader or Kindle device, it will simply skip over page breaks, carriage returns, and other white space it deems "irrelevant." Thus, all your text will become crammed together without any space between.
The only way to alleviate this-Split Style!
Hi Becky. This tutorial was super helpful, however i just cant seem to export it correctly. The fonts and alignment do not stay the same and transparent.
If it's a PICTURE of text, it will not stay transparent. Images of any kind will have a background. And in your Export settings, make sure you have CSS marked as "Relative to Text Flow." You'll also see an area where you can mark it as "centered," which often helps.
Great! Very Helpful :) 5 star
Thanks! It's been really helpful, one of the best videos on the subject. I need to make my images huge in InDesign so that they appear ok in the epub, is this normal? Otherwise they look tiny...
Sometimes, yes, that can affect the way the images appear. Also, check out my tips in this video that may allow you to skip that workaround:
th-cam.com/video/fsP43buKWhg/w-d-xo.html
This was very helpful-thank you! I have a question about making a separate folder for the eBook. I've tried following your example in the beginning of your video but the indb files stays linked no matter what I do. I have to make changes for an ebook (remove art/change bullets), and when I do that I loose everything I did for my Print book layout. I discovered that InDesign books (.indb) contain fixed paths to their associated InDesign documents. If you copy a book and its associated documents to a new location and then open the book in that new location, it still retains the original path to the associated files. This is what has been happening to me. Do you have a workaround for this? I'd appreciate anything you can tell me.
Yes, depending on how smart your computer is, sometimes copying the files will work, sometimes not. If no, simply make a brand new BLANK book document for the eBook and load in the copied ebook .indd files into it.
@@beckysgraphicdesign This totally WORKED!! I'm doing the happy dance right now LOL Thank you very much!
Excellent! Great job!!
Your tutorials are AMAZING! My ebook has never looked so good HOWEVER my inline images have been stretched to the max, covering my entire kindle screen. It looks fantastic on every other device except my kindle. I checked, and max width is at 100% but somehow it’s done height as well, I just can’t find where to fix this. Any ideas?!
Try adding the CSS properties of
max-width:100%;
Height: auto;
Are you using SIgil to edit your code after the fact?
@@beckysgraphicdesign I have sigil yes, I just don’t know in what line to put the code and what exactly to type.
This video should give you some insight:
th-cam.com/video/Fl-315b3xcc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VSCfsLJugtyD59G3
You'll want to find the style (div) for your inline images, then put this in the CSS:
max-width:100%;
Height: auto;
@@beckysgraphicdesign I fixed it!! Turns out I had an object style applied lol. Got rid of that, now it all works. Thank you!
Awesome tutorial, however, you do skip over quite a bit in the saving process - for instance, I assume since I already uploaded my eBook cover to KDP, I would want to select none for a cover? What about all the other items given to you to select or not? Also, I don't have the Kindle viewer on my computer yet, and when I clicked on a window to download it, I got kicked out of the save feature to make my print file into an eBook. It might be nice to preference these things prior to converting for those of us fairly new to InDesign. I love what you have done, but it may be more beneficial, if you keep in mind there will be new users to InDesign who don't know everything you know. At least you have gotten me to a better point than I was prior but will have to see if I just messed everything up and have to start over - at least now I know what to do. Thank you.
You will still want to upload the cover into the eBook file. It is contained within the .epub and is used in certain instances. The separate cover you uploaded to KDP is the "display" cover, or the image that shows the product.
If you want your ebook to have a built-in cover when people (digitally) read it, you'll need to add it during export.
@@beckysgraphicdesign thank you for the clarification, I appreciate that. I watched the video all the way through, then went back and split each page only to discover my chapter 3 didn’t come through in the ebook so it looks as though I will get to go back through the whole process again unless I can somehow just add chapter 3 back in somehow?
Is your Chapter 3 still in your Book document? If it got taken out, somehow, yes, you can simply re-add it.
@@beckysgraphicdesign you are awesome, I figured it out and got it taken care of. Is InDesign glitchy? I have been running into issues with it lately like not holding styles and then the missing chapter. I think I finally got it though and, thanks to you, my ebook as well! Your awesome!
Great!
Sometimes, I do find that InDesign is "glitchy," but the more I use it, I realize that it is set-up to add content with whatever style I have pre-selected.
(example) All of my images kept loading in-in half! I realized it was because my cursor was pre-loaded with an FX style of "Gradient Feather." Once I got rid of that, the images came in normally again.
The same can happen when loading text in. If your cursor is pre-loaded with the wrong paragraph or character style, it can unintentionally be applied to all incoming text. (IE, your cursor needs to be loaded with "Basic Paragraph" and None [character style])
Hi Becky, thanks for putting this up. It helped me creating an ebook. There is one thing I could not solve. I have a very simple, little book. Just 17 pages (ipad format) in 1 file. But in between the chapters the numbering just goes from 1 to 6, from 6 to 12, 16 to 26 etc. I end up with a file of over 100 pages. I work with several text frames and have some page with just images. Are those a problem? Hope you know the answer. Thanks in advance for responding
Are your page numbers contained in text frames on each page? I suggest using page numbers on the master/parent pages. Then, the ebook will naturally skip over the page number elements, which are not necessary in a reflowable ebook.
@@beckysgraphicdesign Hi Becky, no they are not. But is seems no problem, the odd pagenumbers only appear in the preview, in other devices they are gone. Thx for your quick respons.
Hi Becky
Having problems with chapter headings staying squished down to the body of text even with split style applied, am I missing something? Tried so many times.
Meaning, you want vertical space in-between your chapter titles and the body? This can be done by adding "space above" or "space below" in your Paragraph Style.
A "split style" creates a page break just before that line of code.
Ah! Thankyou
>>>well explained video, but is there a way to edit the pdf imported inro InDesign before exporting to ebook
Yes, there are some PDF editing softwares such as Adobe Acrobat, Foxit, and others.
Question: if you copy the ID book file along with the separate ID files to another location, doesn't the copy of book file still refer back to the original files, and not to the new set of copied ID files?
In the past, yes. In recent years, the copied book file seems to look first in its current location for files matching the .indd names. I always check before starting to edit my files, however!
Is it possible to explain how to do it from scratch? I've scanned the book with Lens already. So how do I transfer it to InDesign? Thank you.
I haven't heard of Lens before! But it sounds interesting. Are you able to save a Word .doc or other text format from Lens and then place it into InDesign?
i have just a single indesign document, do I have to split it into their multiple chapter components like you have in order for this to work?
Nope! This is one method. Recently, I've been preferring to keep everything together in one document, then use the TOC function to tell the eBook how to generate navigation.
Here's one of my videos on TOCs: th-cam.com/video/3B9uTmmNLek/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WgCuHnjY00efd-8W
And this is a more recent eBook demonstration:
th-cam.com/video/fsP43buKWhg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=KtktD_wPVDwT6Be0
Hi Beck'y, How to place full page images in epub and, can we place text on these full page images please help?
Your image will never go all the way to the edges in a reflowable .epub, but if you make a fixed format .epub or a print replica with Kindle Create, you can achieve this.
I’ve been working on a poetry book with images and the boxes outside of them are appearing in the ebook. I did anchor them, so I’m not sure what it is. If I can’t figure it out I will just remove them and keep the ebook basic. The second problem I’ve had is that there are missing spaces in between my words. I’m not sure how to fix this. I think it could be how kindle is converting my file. I did originally export as a fixed format because of the artwork. Although I’ve never had a problem with this before, it is a problem now.
What ARE the "spaces?" If they're an actual space character (hitting the spacebar), yes, those are automatically removed from an ebook, as well as double returns and other "unnecessary" whitespace.
Now, you can go in and fanagle the code manually to get these things to work in a reflowable, but I would suggest watching my video on Kindle Create, where all you need to do is upload the original print PDF!
th-cam.com/video/bbVmW-H-I0s/w-d-xo.html
Do you save each chapter as an indd in your epub folder? Looks like it. If so why, and how do you do that?
There are two ways to work with books-make a single long document that contains all the chapters OR utilize InDesign's Book function, which pulls individual chapter files together into a "book."
I use both methods, depending on how complex the content is and if it's easy/hard to reflow it. (When I have a lot of anchored images that I don't want moving around, it's much easier to use the book function rather than having all the chapters in one .indd file.)
Is this print book jpg format or you have converted them to digital text through ocr
These are the InDesign files that were used to create the print book for the first time, from scratch. See a video on from-scratch book creation here:
th-cam.com/video/o6HoUknDVSM/w-d-xo.html
@@beckysgraphicdesign thankyou so much ...im learning
In your videos you're always talking about "InDesign" which I've never been rich enough to purchase! What I really want to know is how to create a very nice looking, ready to print ebook, from within Sigil from scratch! In other words, without purchasing anything extra, besides what is included with Sigil. Can you please assist me with this kind of education?
I do not know much about hand-coding in Sigil, but some basic courses in HTML and CSS will let you know most of what you need!
I'm trying to insert an image as a scene break within chapters, and it looks fine in InDesign but when I import as reflowable epub the pic and following scene are on a new page when I want it to be seamless (just a little space with the image). Any tips on how I can do this?
Oftentimes, anchoring the image into the text will have this effect. Try this method for a slightly better interaction with the text:
th-cam.com/video/AVK1Wq7wlqo/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxtfOZa79XZdpYN-j94AaABAg
Hi Kayla, I have created the Epub following your steps but I am facing an issue when changing the fonts in Kindle Previewer. I am using two fonts for my ebook i.e. Arial for headings and Times New Roman for body. When viewing this book in Kindle previewer, I have noticed that I cannot change the Arial font wherever it is used throughout the document. Only Times New Roman is getting changed when selecting different fonts. In another instance, I have noticed that both Arial and Times New Roman is not changing. Can you please guide what could be the issue?
It depends on the viewing device. Say, you're using a Kindle from 2005. It's probably only going to have 5 fonts on it, and it can only choose from those. So it's going to use its best guess and use the one sans-serif font it has (which is probably not Arial). Now, a newer device will indeed have Arial installed and will use it.
Thank you so much for this video! I almost lost my nerves of converting a printbook into an ebook. I never did this before and the customer decided after the print version was done, that they also need the ebook. But what I still wonder is: when I create a book using the book function, do I always have to split all chapters? What if I decide to change the layout of the book, do I have to do that in all chapters individually or is that also synchronized? Many greetings from Germany :)
The purpose of splitting the chapters is so that a Table of Contents can be generated on the device side, but that isn't the only way to do it.
You can also use the TOC style to generate the Table of Contents on the device side. (Meaning, the device will look for all instances of the "Chapter Header" paragraph style, or maybe "Section Title" [whatever you have assigned in your TOC] and then apply TOC navigation that way.
You can choose between these two option in the Export settings on the first tab.
@@beckysgraphicdesign Yes, thats what I usually work with, I mean with ToC. I am doing a lot of magazines but never splitted the chapters. I think for eBooks it makes the most sense, right?
I want to do the opposite a printbook from a epub, is it possible?
Is that all you have-the .epub file? There are some online, free converters that will at least get you to a .doc format. Then, you could use Word or InDesign to format the text and make it into a pretty PDF.
convertio.co/epub-doc
@@beckysgraphicdesign thanks
You are welcome!!
Question,,,, page breaks needs on ebook how too do that,,,
When I am creating a reflow able ebook then all text massup please help me
Check out this part of the video for a better explanation:
05:58 - Using "Split Document" Style to Create Page Breaks
In short, you need to create a "Split Document" style, apply it where you want the breaks, check the "Split Document" option when you export the .epub, and make sure that the "master" ebook file has that split style in it.
@@beckysgraphicdesign thank you so much,,,
You are great my problem solved
APRIL 2024... When I have spaces in my InDesign document names (eg: Chapter 2), Pagina always reports errors and does not "certify" the ePub. So, I need to use an underscore or a dash to connect all my words in the original InDesign files (eg: Chapter-2).
I'm surprised that you did not get the error messages that I see in Pagina. Perhaps something has changed since your video was made in 2020.
Very likely. Stuff is changing A LOT in the self-publishing industry recently!
Hello! I wanted to ask if there is a way to avoid losing the blank paragraph between two paragraphs. If i just press enter to separate two paragraph that "P" is going to be not exported in the epub because it is empty (no text) and I have to add it manually in the html. But if i apply the space at the paragraph style, it affects all the paragraph text, also maybe a dialogue where I don't need space between the sentences. Does it make sense?
i reply myself to this since I found a solution: i gave the first line of a paragraph a copy of the same paragraph style with 5mm of space on the upper side, so it creates the space between two paragraph.
i Cant figure out why my image even though I cut the white spaces, put high resolution and everything, keeps appearing super small.
Are you using ePub 3.0 rather than 2.0? How large is the actual image (in kilobytes)?
@@beckysgraphicdesign Hey! Im using ePub 3.0 and the image is 373 KB
I fixed it. When exporting, under object - size of CSS - relative to text flow
Every time I do the conversion to epub the result in the e-reader is that any centralised text (titles etc) ends up on the left margin. How can I prevent this please?
In your Export Settings, try this:
Object Tab: Checkbox for "Preserve Appearance from Layout"
HTML & CSS Tab: Checkbox for "Preserve Local Overrides"
Невероятное спасибо - из России.
You deleted your table of contents in the indesign file. how do you get a table of contents in your ebook and link them to the chapters?
Oftentimes, I delete the TOC because the Kindle or E-reader will generate one based on the book's chapter files.
However, if you need a TOC page in your book:
1. Open this panel: Window>Interactive>Hyperlinks
2. Insert your cursor in the text at the beginning of each chapter where you would like to place a "text anchor."
3. Open the "hamburger button" menu on the Hyperlinks panel. Click "New Hyperlink Destination."
4. Name the Text Anchor [(ex.) Chapter 1 Anchor]
5. Create a list of your chapter names.
6. Then, one at a time, highlight them and right-click to assign a hyperlink. Tell the hyperlink to go to the corresponding text anchor for each chapter.
(You may be able to skip most of this process if you auto-generated Text Anchors with the original TOC.)
Thank you!
You're welcome!
This really didn't help with formatting issues. I followed along with the previous lessons to create the book, but this doesn't help with the ebook screwing up the formatting of some pages. Like the chapters and the titles of the chapters being misplaced.
I would guess that you have separate text boxes for the Chapter Titles? The eBook will read the WIDEST item on the page first, so make sure your text boxes are all the same width, or at least ordered widest to narrowest.
Do we need to create each chapter seperately? Why can't we just create a file that contains all chapters?
Having the files separated makes for an easy way to generate the navigation on the ebook side.
There are two ways to ensure there is an integrated TOC on the ebook side:
1. Separate the chapters by file and then select "File Name" under Navigation TOC in the Epub export settings.
2. Create, style, and save a TOC Style in Indesign. Then, that style will be selectable under Navigation TOC>Multi Level (TOC Style) in the export settings.
If you don't do either of these, there won't be an easy way for users to navigate their Ebook (with the exception of Children's Books or other short works that don't need navigation.
Thanks for the question!
This video shows how to do it: th-cam.com/video/fn-XKwsRhCE/w-d-xo.html
Please please share your 10 page's indesign template,,,
Actually I am really confused about the ebook creation..
I have seen people have to use html and CSS for creating ebook..
But here are someone also using InDesign for creating ebook..
So what's the difference between..
And this exported EPUB files from InDesign work for Kdp publishing..
Please let someone clear my confusion regarding this..
You can certainly code an eBook from scratch, using any variable of tools, or by simply typing out the correct lines of code and assembling the files properly.
By using InDesign, it gives us a pretty decent base to start with, generating the proper files, TOC, and CSS. Sure, it's not perfect, but far easier than hand-coding something!
@@beckysgraphicdesign Thank You so much for your response..
Btw, Can we use for Amazon Kindle publishing created ebook by InDesign..
Yes, you can upload a reflowable InDesign eBook to KDP, as well as use Kindle Create (a PDF converter) to make eBooks on Amazon.
@@beckysgraphicdesign Thank You so much for your support..
Actually I'm expert in Adobe InDesign and mostly work for Print Books Design and editorials design.. Now I'm working as a freelancer.. So whoever clients comes most of the time they also ask for ebook version.. so there i got stuck.. So I was just started to learn creating ebooks using Adobe InDesign..
Btw, I have one more things in my mind... I mostly work on complex layout and Book design..
So Can I also used the fixed layout for Kindle publishing after exporting, checking in kindle previewer one by one page and fix the upcoming issues..
When she said she was from Nashville, my expectations weren't exactly in the stratosphere, but I was pleasantly surprised. Good job.
You've used individual files for your chapters, but I have all of my novel in a single file because I have 86 chapters. While most of your suggestions work, not all of them do. Grateful anyway.
Oh, yes, definitely. I would use the single-file set-up in that instance as well and make sure I had automated running headers and smart text reflow on hand!
@@beckysgraphicdesign Becky, my images are blowing up when I export to epub. Why?
Thanks.
You're welcome.
Seems to be such a messy work to convert to epub, I never tried and thought it would be a clear cut way to get an epub file.
Yeah, unfortunately, ePub files haven't really changed much since they were created decades ago. And InDesign isn't the BEST at exporting ePub files, but at least it gives you a base to start with.
The absolute cleanest way to make an eBook would be to code it from scratch, but I'm not smart enough for that, lol!
thinks sister
You're welcome!
Young Timothy Lopez Lisa Clark Daniel
Very thank you!!! Your tutorial is Amazing!
Glad you like it!
Thank you!
You're welcome!