Generating TOC entries for prelims / end matter in InDesign

forlor · 07-06-2010, 11:07 AM

Hello,

Wondering if anyone has insight / ideas on this...

I am converting a series of books to ePub in InDesign, which largely follow the same format (cover, title page, dedication, preface, chapter 1...etc.), though there is occasionally some variation between titles (some do not have a dedication, for instance). I am using the InDesign Table of Contents dialogue box to generate the TOC entries in ePub (mapped to the chapter heading style). However, we would also like to have TOC entries for the prelims (eg, title page, dedication) and end matter (eg, copyright page), which do not have headings associated with them.

The workaround that I've been using is to create text anchors on those pages. Though this does generate TOC entries, the problem is that it uses the text selected for the text anchor (as opposed to "Title Page" or "About the author" as we would like). I then need to go into the NCX file and manually edit the text for each of these entries.

Is there any way to get InDesign to generate the correct TOC entries the first time around?

Any ideas at all would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joseph

Jellby · 07-06-2010, 11:45 AM

Maybe you could write the title you want for the TOC entry, make it an anchor, and apply a "display: none" attribute. But I don't know how InDesign works.

forlor · 07-06-2010, 12:56 PM

Yes, that will do it. It never occurred to us to use the display attribute.

Thanks for your help!

charleski · 07-06-2010, 01:08 PM

It would be a lot easier if InDesign didn't include text on hidden layers in its epub output. But...

Chang · 07-07-2010, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellby

Maybe you could write the title you want for the TOC entry, make it an anchor, and apply a "display: none" attribute. But I don't know how InDesign works.

Do you mean to apply "display: none" in CSS or..?

Jellby · 07-07-2010, 06:18 AM

Yes, I mean in CSS, assuming InDesign lets you add CSS code (or something else that is turned into "display: none" upon conversion).

charleski · 07-07-2010, 07:51 AM

InDesign lets you specify an external css file to use for the epub. You just need to make sure that the selectors in this file match the names of the styles that you've used in your InDesign document and that's what will appear in the epub.

If you're using this feature then you have to specify all the styling in the external css file, as InDesign won't generate any styles itself. So you can create a css file like

Code:

.normal {
   ...
}

.flush {
   ...
}

.head1 {
   ...
}

.hidden {
   display: none
}

then create paragraph or character styles in InDesign named 'normal', 'flush', 'head1' and 'hidden'. Any text which has been given the style named 'hidden' will not appear in the epub, though it will still be present in the xhtml code.

Chang · 07-07-2010, 08:26 AM

Thanks a lot for both of you (again)!

I'm not so familiar with every CSS feature and didn't know that something like "display: none" exists. I have circled this same problem by deleting the unnecessary text after I have exported EPUB from InDesign. I have just moved the anchor to the next element in XHTML code. Good to know that there's this kind of option as well.

07-06-2010, 11:07 AM	#1
forlor Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	Generating TOC entries for prelims / end matter in InDesign Hello, Wondering if anyone has insight / ideas on this... I am converting a series of books to ePub in InDesign, which largely follow the same format (cover, title page, dedication, preface, chapter 1...etc.), though there is occasionally some variation between titles (some do not have a dedication, for instance). I am using the InDesign Table of Contents dialogue box to generate the TOC entries in ePub (mapped to the chapter heading style). However, we would also like to have TOC entries for the prelims (eg, title page, dedication) and end matter (eg, copyright page), which do not have headings associated with them. The workaround that I've been using is to create text anchors on those pages. Though this does generate TOC entries, the problem is that it uses the text selected for the text anchor (as opposed to "Title Page" or "About the author" as we would like). I then need to go into the NCX file and manually edit the text for each of these entries. Is there any way to get InDesign to generate the correct TOC entries the first time around? Any ideas at all would be appreciated. Thanks, Joseph

07-07-2010, 07:51 AM	#7
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	InDesign lets you specify an external css file to use for the epub. You just need to make sure that the selectors in this file match the names of the styles that you've used in your InDesign document and that's what will appear in the epub. If you're using this feature then you have to specify all the styling in the external css file, as InDesign won't generate any styles itself. So you can create a css file like Code: .normal { ... } .flush { ... } .head1 { ... } .hidden { display: none } then create paragraph or character styles in InDesign named 'normal', 'flush', 'head1' and 'hidden'. Any text which has been given the style named 'hidden' will not appear in the epub, though it will still be present in the xhtml code.

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07-06-2010, 11:45 AM	#2
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,543 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Maybe you could write the title you want for the TOC entry, make it an anchor, and apply a "display: none" attribute. But I don't know how InDesign works.

07-06-2010, 12:56 PM	#3
forlor Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	Yes, that will do it. It never occurred to us to use the display attribute. Thanks for your help!

07-06-2010, 01:08 PM	#4
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	It would be a lot easier if InDesign didn't include text on hidden layers in its epub output. But...

07-07-2010, 06:18 AM	#6
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,543 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Yes, I mean in CSS, assuming InDesign lets you add CSS code (or something else that is turned into "display: none" upon conversion).

07-07-2010, 08:26 AM	#8
Chang Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	Thanks a lot for both of you (again)! I'm not so familiar with every CSS feature and didn't know that something like "display: none" exists. I have circled this same problem by deleting the unnecessary text after I have exported EPUB from InDesign. I have just moved the anchor to the next element in XHTML code. Good to know that there's this kind of option as well.