Fixed Layout Cookbook

Rivkah Lewis

Tagged: cookbook, eBook, epub, pdf

This topic has 13 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 9 months ago by Annette Murray.

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- October 27, 2013 at 1:28 am #65994
  
  Rivkah Lewis
  Member
  
  I was asked to design a cookbook. Now that the design has been approved, the client mentioned that actually, the book will be an eBook and only printed once sales pick up.
  I’ve never done an eBook before. I researched and it seems that in order to do a fixed layout eBook, there is a lot of code-like content to be dealt with including absolute positioning with CSS. The cookbook will be 100+ pages and the process sounds very time consuming. Is there a faster way of doing this? I’d like to take the course on Lynda about it, but I also need to get back to the client and tell them if they are asking me for something that is more work than the project I originally quoted for. Can a pdf be viewed accurately on a Kindle an iPad? Is there a quick way to convert a complex pdf to epub format? Everything I read seemed to say that there is no perfect converter.
  I need help!
- February 4, 2014 at 12:38 pm #66966
  
  Trinity Bourne
  Member
  
  I wondered if you’d found any more about this. I thought that creating an ebook would e much easier than a printed book. I recently published a printed cookbook and am trying to covert it to a fixed layout EPUB.
  
  Trinity
- February 18, 2014 at 5:41 am #67227
  
  Laura Brady
  Member
  
  Three is no easy way to export to fixed-layout epub from InDesign at the moment. There are some plug-ins which Anne-Marie Concepcion reviewed in InDesign magazine in November. Flipick is a particularly economical solution.
  - February 18, 2014 at 5:51 am #67228
    
    Trinity Bourne
    Member
    
    Thank you for your kind reply.
    
    I’ve been using the Lynda.com tutorials. I am great with INdesign, but as soon as we start talking css code I just don’t get it.
    After lots of frustration, this morning I decided to re-format, frame by frame, block by block into ibooks author, because ‘Indesign to Fixed Epub’ has totally defeated me.
    
    I will check out this Flipick though – perhaps there’s hope somewhere.
- February 18, 2014 at 8:44 am #67231
  
  David Blatner
  Keymaster
  
  There are a number of third-party options, including epubCrawler (rorohiko.com), Flipick, CircularFlo… Aquafadas also has a solution.
  - February 18, 2014 at 11:01 am #67236
    
    Trinity Bourne
    Member
    
    I looked at epubcrawler the other day and find it too challenging to get my head around (perhaps that’s just me). I just don’t get all that css stuff.
    
    Flipick is looking good so far as a cost effective option that allows me simply to submit my Indesign file at which point they’ll convert it… we’ll see!
    
    I am really looking forward to Indesign coming up with a much easier solution for converting. Thankfully I’ve only needed InD for producing printed files so far (well until my recent leap into the dark void of fixed epubs).
  - March 30, 2014 at 11:05 pm #67802
    
    Douglas Waterfall
    Member
    
    Hi Trinity:
    
    I lead the development team who are busy evolving the EPUB export for InDesign CC and we’re very interesting in EPUB3 Fixed Layout.
    
    Could you contact me off-list at [email protected]?
    
    Douglas Waterfall
    Architect, InDesign Engineering
- April 17, 2014 at 6:31 pm #68044
  
  Annette Murray
  Participant
  
  I, too, have a client for which I have produced a print cookbook and now she wants a fixed layout EPUB that can be sold as an iBook. I am in the middle of Anne-Marie Concepcion’s videos on Lynda.com. I look forward to seeing what the development team for InDesign CC comes up with in the next update.
- June 9, 2014 at 12:54 am #68883
  
  Rivkah Lewis
  Member
  
  Annette:
  Have you come up with anything?
  The cookbook I’m working on is almost done (a lot of feet dragging on the client’s side) and they are giving it over to someone else to do the conversion, but from the people I spoke to who work in the field, its going to be an enormous job. But it is something I’d love to know how to do myself…
- July 2, 2014 at 11:00 am #69258
  
  Monica Singh
  Member
  
  Hi Annette and Rivkah,
  InDesign has now released its latest version 2014 in which you can layout your cookbook as you want it and export it to fixed layout.
  The fixed layout epub format will help you get the as it is appearance of your document in the exported file.
  
  If you love to learn it, its now much more easier now than ever.
  
  ~Monica Singh
- July 4, 2014 at 10:00 am #69307
  
  Annette Murray
  Participant
  
  Thank you, Monica. I have a CC license but unfortunately, at the moment, my mac is too old to allow the installation of CC 2014.
- July 5, 2014 at 10:53 pm #69321
  
  Rivkah Lewis
  Member
  
  I’m on CS6…
  Thanks for the info, though!
- July 6, 2014 at 4:01 pm #69332
  
  Anne-Marie Concepcion
  Keymaster
  
  The updated version of my lynda.com video title on creating a fixed layout epub is out. I added a short chapter on CC2014, and a few new videos for previous InDesign versions.
  
  Look for the blue “NEW” tags next to the new vids.
- July 8, 2014 at 7:45 pm #69384
  
  Annette Murray
  Participant
  
  Thanks, Anne-Marie. I will be sure to watch them.
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