Ebooks and automation
With the recent release of its latest CS5.5 version, InDesign is now the industry-standard platform for producing ebooks in formats such as epub, for reading on mobile devices such as the iPad, Kindle and Sony Reader.
InDesign CS5.5 is a significant advance on earlier versions, because it allows more natural ways of ordering content into a linear form for export; it can create an ebook cover during the exportation process; and the XHTML code it produces is considerably cleaner than that produced by earlier versions (which included quite a lot of "junk" such as unneccessary span classes).
As an Adobe certified expert in InDesign, I have extensive knowledge and hands-on experience with the application. In particular, I have specialized in various means of automating workflows for both print and electronic media.
Automation doesn't just reduce the workload and speed up the rate of production; it also minimizes the possibility of human error, which inevitably creeps in when people have to do repetitive tasks, such as inserting a large number of footnotes manually.
One way of automating the workflow is to use scripting. (A script is a small program written in a language such as Javascript or Applescript.) You can get an idea of how scripts can speed up the workflow up by trying out some of the free sample scripts that come with InDesign. I write scripts in Javascript.
If the raw material for an InDesign publication comes from a database, a further way to automate the workflow is to use XML. InDesign's ability to import and export XML is underused, in my opinion, as it is one of its most powerful and valuable features. It allows much closer integration with the web and similar technologies that at one time were far removed from preparation for print or PDF. Because XML is an area of expertise in itself, I have devoted another page on this site to it.
If you need to prepare a book for publication in print, PDF, ebook or online, please contact me for further details.