InDesign CS5 to epub and mobi Workflow - Page 2

uieluck · 10-13-2011, 06:02 PM

Hey this is a great thread.
I work for a publishing company who has put all their chips in making me Mr. eBook guy. We publish a total of 26-40 books a year, most are highly stylized and have potential to have loads of media in the digital edition. So this is the way I usually crack mine out.

• First I take the InMtnDewsign FINAL book & strip the crap outta the styles and mass simplify everything. Basically get text to come in where I want and edit hard returns etc. etc. I use the 'article' feature a bit in ID. Then I output a epub from ID.

• Then I'll open it in Sigil first and see where I'm at. I edit a lot in Sigil. I edit and correct CSS/html etc. I also edit & correct the toc.ncx & content.opf files. I also add or delete fonts and edit fonts in CSS etc.

• I also use Oxygen/Author from time to time depending how Sigil is handling the file. Or depending how frequent Sigil is crashing that day. Once I like my code and file I move forward with local testing on my machine.

• Testing I start with the Nook beta app (cause it's the most picky). Then I use Firefox with a add-on, I test in ADE (but it usually doesn't like any files). From there, I move forward with external testing. I start with the iPad,, (cause I want to be in a good mood). Once I have a solid iPad version I move forward with the other devices. I test on the Nook next and once I'm satisfied with the epub versions I make a mobi-poop. !!!! Oops, I forgot I run two validators; epubchecker (locally, and threepress' upload validator).

• This is the only time I use Calibuuur (backward program). So I take my epub file and save/export/convert to a mobi from Calibuuuuur. Then I go back and test this file on the Kindle.
• After all the files have been loaded and scan tested by 'me' they go into QA to make sure links, text, loading, fonts etc are working correctly. Then they come back to me for corrections or changes.

That's pretty much it.

Here's the software I use:
Calibre
Sigil
TextWrangler
InDesign 5.5
Oxygen Author

On a Mac using 10.6.8

I'm sure there's a better way to do this crap, but this is where I'm at.

nhmuse · 10-14-2011, 07:57 AM

thanks! I've had fair success exporting to .mobi from ID5 using Amazon's plug-in for InDesign. I do a similar workflow to you. Making a copy of the final InDesign file, cleaning it up as necessary, making sure there are few if any manual overrides. Since I create the book in ID5 myself, I began planning ahead for export to epub so this process goes more smoothly. I make another copy of the cleaned up file for export to .mobi, which includes putting an image of the book cover on the very first page, and the back cover on the last page.
The export is fairly clean, but still needs a few tweaks, so I crack open the .mobi with Springy, and edit the files in Dreamweaver using code view, or you can use any html text editor.
A number of people seem to think Word is a better tool, but I think Word sucks. For some people, though, who can't afford a professional book layout tool like InDesign, Word is their only option.
I am confident (well, hopeful at least) that Adobe will hear our cries and make the export process go more smoothly in the future. Come on ID6! But only if they fix the epub export - and the footnote function - it would be nice if that were spiffed up too!

barncat · 03-09-2012, 10:26 AM

I'm just launching myself into this workflow. I'm on CS 5.5 and the .mobi plugin seems to work like a charm - except that I can't get Springy to let me open it at all, while it will open a .mobi created on a PC, probably through conversion of the ebup (a friend did it). So I guess there are problems there. I'm stymied by this. I have to learn more about getting into the .toc. And will have to experiment more with the workflow to find out if the problem is there. And try Sigil. My books are novels, so the task isn't terrible, and I've managed to set up four books that are accepted easily by my Kindle Fire - including one that's a knitting pattern, set up for my own reference on a trip. Are you guys still here? It's an old thread.

nhmuse · 03-09-2012, 10:42 AM

Springy will open .mobi files exported using the InDesign plugin from Amazon, if I remember correctly. Sigil is what I use to massage the epub exported from InDesign. I use the Amazon Kindle Previewer to see if I get any error messages for the Kindle version, and Adobe Digital Reader to check for errors on epubs. Still here. I've been using BookBaby conversion service lately for novels because they also do the distribution. I pay them $99 and they do the rest, and the book appears in all the online bookstores in the proper format. It's worth it for me, because it takes a whole day of my time (worth $300 to me) to do it myself. But you still have to massage what you send to them -- follow their easy guidelines. hope this helps

barncat · 03-09-2012, 02:37 PM

Somehow, I hate the idea of an aggregator. But my husband has been trying to get me to use bookbaby - he likes it for music, and thinks it's solid. So they charge $100 to do all the formats? Hmm. I think I'm doing this because I want to know what's under the hood. And it doesn't take that long, really - but if I could get somebody to pay me $300 a day for what I do - yeah. I'd do the same. Thanks for the response.

nhmuse · 03-09-2012, 04:07 PM

Yes - I also insist on knowing what goes on under the hood! it's the control freak in me. Really, what is most valuable about their service is that the book gets distributed to a number of different vendors in the proper format -- that part I still have not figured out entirely. And I don't want to spend my time setting up numerous accounts to be able to sell the digital book!

03-09-2012, 02:37 PM	#20
barncat Member Posts: 18 Karma: 20 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kindle Fire	I'm learning Somehow, I hate the idea of an aggregator. But my husband has been trying to get me to use bookbaby - he likes it for music, and thinks it's solid. So they charge $100 to do all the formats? Hmm. I think I'm doing this because I want to know what's under the hood. And it doesn't take that long, really - but if I could get somebody to pay me $300 a day for what I do - yeah. I'd do the same. Thanks for the response.

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10-13-2011, 06:02 PM	#16
uieluck Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Denver, Colorado Device: iphone, ipad, kindle, nook	Hey this is a great thread. I work for a publishing company who has put all their chips in making me Mr. eBook guy. We publish a total of 26-40 books a year, most are highly stylized and have potential to have loads of media in the digital edition. So this is the way I usually crack mine out. • First I take the InMtnDewsign FINAL book & strip the crap outta the styles and mass simplify everything. Basically get text to come in where I want and edit hard returns etc. etc. I use the 'article' feature a bit in ID. Then I output a epub from ID. • Then I'll open it in Sigil first and see where I'm at. I edit a lot in Sigil. I edit and correct CSS/html etc. I also edit & correct the toc.ncx & content.opf files. I also add or delete fonts and edit fonts in CSS etc. • I also use Oxygen/Author from time to time depending how Sigil is handling the file. Or depending how frequent Sigil is crashing that day. Once I like my code and file I move forward with local testing on my machine. • Testing I start with the Nook beta app (cause it's the most picky). Then I use Firefox with a add-on, I test in ADE (but it usually doesn't like any files). From there, I move forward with external testing. I start with the iPad,, (cause I want to be in a good mood). Once I have a solid iPad version I move forward with the other devices. I test on the Nook next and once I'm satisfied with the epub versions I make a mobi-poop. !!!! Oops, I forgot I run two validators; epubchecker (locally, and threepress' upload validator). • This is the only time I use Calibuuur (backward program). So I take my epub file and save/export/convert to a mobi from Calibuuuuur. Then I go back and test this file on the Kindle. • After all the files have been loaded and scan tested by 'me' they go into QA to make sure links, text, loading, fonts etc are working correctly. Then they come back to me for corrections or changes. That's pretty much it. Here's the software I use: Calibre Sigil TextWrangler InDesign 5.5 Oxygen Author On a Mac using 10.6.8 I'm sure there's a better way to do this crap, but this is where I'm at.

10-14-2011, 07:57 AM	#17
nhmuse Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Rye, NH Device: ADE, Kindle, ipod	thanks! I've had fair success exporting to .mobi from ID5 using Amazon's plug-in for InDesign. I do a similar workflow to you. Making a copy of the final InDesign file, cleaning it up as necessary, making sure there are few if any manual overrides. Since I create the book in ID5 myself, I began planning ahead for export to epub so this process goes more smoothly. I make another copy of the cleaned up file for export to .mobi, which includes putting an image of the book cover on the very first page, and the back cover on the last page. The export is fairly clean, but still needs a few tweaks, so I crack open the .mobi with Springy, and edit the files in Dreamweaver using code view, or you can use any html text editor. A number of people seem to think Word is a better tool, but I think Word sucks. For some people, though, who can't afford a professional book layout tool like InDesign, Word is their only option. I am confident (well, hopeful at least) that Adobe will hear our cries and make the export process go more smoothly in the future. Come on ID6! But only if they fix the epub export - and the footnote function - it would be nice if that were spiffed up too!

03-09-2012, 10:26 AM	#18
barncat Member Posts: 18 Karma: 20 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kindle Fire	I'm just launching myself into this workflow. I'm on CS 5.5 and the .mobi plugin seems to work like a charm - except that I can't get Springy to let me open it at all, while it will open a .mobi created on a PC, probably through conversion of the ebup (a friend did it). So I guess there are problems there. I'm stymied by this. I have to learn more about getting into the .toc. And will have to experiment more with the workflow to find out if the problem is there. And try Sigil. My books are novels, so the task isn't terrible, and I've managed to set up four books that are accepted easily by my Kindle Fire - including one that's a knitting pattern, set up for my own reference on a trip. Are you guys still here? It's an old thread.

03-09-2012, 10:42 AM	#19
nhmuse Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Rye, NH Device: ADE, Kindle, ipod	Springy will open .mobi files exported using the InDesign plugin from Amazon, if I remember correctly. Sigil is what I use to massage the epub exported from InDesign. I use the Amazon Kindle Previewer to see if I get any error messages for the Kindle version, and Adobe Digital Reader to check for errors on epubs. Still here. I've been using BookBaby conversion service lately for novels because they also do the distribution. I pay them $99 and they do the rest, and the book appears in all the online bookstores in the proper format. It's worth it for me, because it takes a whole day of my time (worth $300 to me) to do it myself. But you still have to massage what you send to them -- follow their easy guidelines. hope this helps

03-09-2012, 04:07 PM	#21
nhmuse Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Rye, NH Device: ADE, Kindle, ipod	Yes - I also insist on knowing what goes on under the hood! it's the control freak in me. Really, what is most valuable about their service is that the book gets distributed to a number of different vendors in the proper format -- that part I still have not figured out entirely. And I don't want to spend my time setting up numerous accounts to be able to sell the digital book!