Quote:
Originally Posted by exaltedwombat
On a related topic:
InDesign is SO about precise printed page layout that it's a less-than ideal source for an eBook. If you have the text in a simpler format, maybe as a TXT or Word document, you may want to consider using that as your eBook source.
|
It is true that InDesign was originally intended for fixed layout. But if you use it exactly as intended without hacking things, the fixed layout is just a "layer" of instructions on top of the content. In the latest version, for example, you can actually design an A4 version and a letter size version in the same document.
It was my mistake to select epub3 export. Otherwise a well formed in design file is now quite brilliant at creating an epub. Unlike even a very clean word file, the style assignments transfer correctly as class elements with few exceptions. Of course any method will require some work. But people should not be afraid to work with a well formed in design file. They have really done a good job at making it work.
The reason commercial publishing cant get away from exporting from inDesign is because of workflow. Although we work to have a final manuscript before taking it into layout, we always make corrections. So that would require keeping two versions up to date.
Moreover, in a document that has complex paragraph styles, I would always prefer to export from ID rather than use the Word file (that has been edited by various people and computers) or reapply all the styles in Sigil.
tldr; Don't be afraid of a well-formed, current InDesign file.