2.6 Edit All Export Tags

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 6

  • Subject(s):

    InDesign to EPUB

  • Resource Type(s):

    Step-by-Step

  • Audience:

    Technical

Suggested Prerequisite

Before reading this, you might want to read:

Edit All Export Tags

A slightly hidden feature of InDesign, Edit all Export Tags is the source of your EPUB superpowers. It is available from the flyout menu in upper-right corner in any of the character, paragraph or object styles palettes. 

From the paragraph style palette flyout menu, the edit all export tags option is highlighted in blue.

From this window, there is a suite of options for making better, more accessible EPUBs. 

The full edit all export tags suite of options with six columns: style, tag, split epub, include in HTML, class, and emit CSS.

In this screenshot, the items marked with ¶ are paragraph styles, those with an A are character styles, and the bottom five are object styles. The second column presents some HTML options to map those styles onto. 

Paragraph styles will default to a <p> tag unless directed otherwise. The options are <h1> to <h6>. The style “cn” (chapter number) is mapped to an <h1> tag. In the third column, InDesign is directed to split the EPUB into chapter-sized chunks by checking the Split EPUB option. 

Close up of the drop-down set of HTML tag options for paragraph styles: automatic, p, and h1-h6.

The character styles options are more limited to just <span>, <em>, and <strong>. When publishing with accessibility front of mind, these aren’t always the best choices. 

Close up of the drop-down set of HTML tag options for character styles: automatic, span, em, and strong.

In this screenshot, the italic character style is mapped to the more semantically correct <i> tag, where words and phrases marked as needing emphasis are mapped to an <em> tag. Users aren’t limited to only the options InDesign presents. Better options, like mapping to an <i> tag can be simply keyed in. 

Looking more closely at the mappings for this sample content, small caps are mapped to a <small> tag, citations to a <cite> tag, superscript text to a <sup> tag. 

Zoom look at the character style and object styles.

And at the bottom, the sidebar object style is mapped to the semantically correct <aside> tag, the caption frame to a <figcaption> tag, and the image to a <figure> tag. 

This window is also useful for controlling what can be left out of the HTML export, mapping to a different CSS name, and when to skip including something in the CSS.

Leveraging this suite of options is an ebooks developer’s secret weapon when it comes to getting a clean, accessible ebook.

Next Steps

1

Module 2, Step 7

2.7 Table Styles

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 7

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
2

Module 3, Step 1

3.1 Exporting an Ebook

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 3, Step 1

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
3

Module 3, Step 2

3.2 InDesign EPUB Export Options

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 3, Step 2

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
4

Module 3, Step 3

3.3 HTML & CSS

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 3, Step 3

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
5

Module 4, Step 1

4.1 Post-export Work

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 4, Step 1

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
6

Module 4, Step 2

4.2 EPUB Tour

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 4, Step 2

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical

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