What I would like to do is after creating my document in Indesign, is to be able to export to HTML. I'm disappointed in the quality and formatting changes of the exported HTML. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need additional software? We primarily use Indesign for publishing but I was told that Indesign could do both desktop publishing and web design. Also, once the quality of the HTML is high I would like to be able to place the HTML version in the body of my outgoing messages in Microsoft Outlook, can I have instructions on how to do that? thanks
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Adobe Indesign export to HTML
- Thread starter evcap
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Who told you that "Indesign could do both desktop publishing and web design"?
InDesign, PageMaker and Quark XPress all do HTML, they just do it badly.
Page layout for print is totally different than page layout for the web (in the way that design programs handle text and pictures). It is going to be many years before these programs effectively translate native page design documents to HTML (if ever).
An easy way to translate an InDesign document to HTML is to take a screen grab of your work (using high resolution display and overprint preview), trim it in Photoshop, and save it as a well compressed GIF or JPG. The text will not be searchable since it is an image but you cannot get a better conversion of layout.
The GIF or JPG can be easily placed in a web page or as an attachment to your MS Outlook email.
InDesign, PageMaker and Quark XPress all do HTML, they just do it badly.
Page layout for print is totally different than page layout for the web (in the way that design programs handle text and pictures). It is going to be many years before these programs effectively translate native page design documents to HTML (if ever).
An easy way to translate an InDesign document to HTML is to take a screen grab of your work (using high resolution display and overprint preview), trim it in Photoshop, and save it as a well compressed GIF or JPG. The text will not be searchable since it is an image but you cannot get a better conversion of layout.
The GIF or JPG can be easily placed in a web page or as an attachment to your MS Outlook email.
- Thread starter
- #3
GoLive, DreamWeaver and FrontPage are nice apps. Whether using screen grabs or re-assembling content in a web design app, there is no quick export to HTML from a print layout program. It's a nightmare.
You can get away with a lot by using screen grabs and saving as JPG/GIF...
If you are using Photoshop w/ImageReady, you could slice up your InDesign screen grab. Areas with photos, save as JPG slices. Areas with basic color art, save as indexed color GIF slices. Areas of text can be saved to 1-bit GIF slices. This would significantly cut down file size (you would not need to render text areas in 16 million JPG colors). This all depends on how you layout your original design. Overlapping text and graphics can make this selective slicing difficult.
Another option is to go PDF. If your web site users have Acrobat properly installed, a PDF can appear easily in a web browser.
You can get away with a lot by using screen grabs and saving as JPG/GIF...
If you are using Photoshop w/ImageReady, you could slice up your InDesign screen grab. Areas with photos, save as JPG slices. Areas with basic color art, save as indexed color GIF slices. Areas of text can be saved to 1-bit GIF slices. This would significantly cut down file size (you would not need to render text areas in 16 million JPG colors). This all depends on how you layout your original design. Overlapping text and graphics can make this selective slicing difficult.
Another option is to go PDF. If your web site users have Acrobat properly installed, a PDF can appear easily in a web browser.
Hello evcap! I have also tried to export from page layout software to HTML. In a nutshell it is a disaster. I once purchased a plug-in for Quark but it didn't work either. I agree with jimoblak that taking screen shots (grabbing) is probably the easiest method next to creation of PDF's.
I publish a small "snail-mailed" magazine and wanted to have a version of it online. With online viewing I thought that I could provide a color version of our magazine, without the printing costs that prohibit us from doing so on paper. We are providing an online version of our magazine with PDF's since it is the easiest method to do. Most people that subscribe to the online version of our magazine are rather "techy" and would rather go to the trouble of viewing our magazine online rather than the convenience of paper. Most of our subscribers are, and most likely will continue to be snail-mail. At least, until technology improves to make the whole process more efficient than setting one version of a document for print and one for online viewing.
It is a frustrating predicament! I'd love to hear of other options if anyone has suggestions!
I publish a small "snail-mailed" magazine and wanted to have a version of it online. With online viewing I thought that I could provide a color version of our magazine, without the printing costs that prohibit us from doing so on paper. We are providing an online version of our magazine with PDF's since it is the easiest method to do. Most people that subscribe to the online version of our magazine are rather "techy" and would rather go to the trouble of viewing our magazine online rather than the convenience of paper. Most of our subscribers are, and most likely will continue to be snail-mail. At least, until technology improves to make the whole process more efficient than setting one version of a document for print and one for online viewing.
It is a frustrating predicament! I'd love to hear of other options if anyone has suggestions!
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