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There are many ways to create epub files. One of these is via InDesign. Since most books move through InDesign at some stage, this is likely to be a popular route for many designers and production teams. Unfortunately, this isn’t yet a simple process. I hope that one day these notes will stand as a testament to how hard this used to be.

There are two routes to epub to consider here.

• If the book is already typeset, consider carefully whether it is worth your time reworking the file in InDesign for epub export. It may be quicker and ultimately cheaper to send the file, and/or a PDF, to a conversion company (usually in India).
• If the book is not yet typeset, make sure the book is designed and typeset with epub export in mind.

We’ve included advice for working from InDesign CS3, but really, really you want at least CS4 for this.

The advice given here doesn’t yet cover CS5, we wrote this a while ago. Since then, the best guides around for CS 5 and 5.5 are probably Liz Castro’s guides, which you can buy from her for money well spent.