Importing XHTML Files into InDesign

Question

I just watched a series of InDesign tutorials on Lynda.com. It looks relatively simple, but one thing I'm hung up on is importing content.

I created my book as a website in Dreamweaver, so I could get some idea of how it will look. I then learned that Microsoft Word is the default for importing content into InDesign. So I tried copying text from a Dreamweaver file into Word then importing it into InDesign, but that apparently just gives me plain text.

I then previewed by Dreamweaver file in a browser and copied the text from the browser into Word. When I import it into InDesign, I get most of my tags, but not superscripts, and I get a ton of code bloat with extra spans, styles, etc.

I discovered that I could change my Dreamweaver file extensions to xhtml, then paste them directly into an InDesign file that has been opened with eCanCrusher. But I don't know what to do next; how do I sync the file I just pasted in with InDesign and make it part of my book?

To put it another way, can someone explain the work flow for pasting .xhtml files into an InDesign project, rather than using Microsoft Word to import the content?

EDIT

I may have to delete this question. I just realized that eCanCrusher opens finished epubs, not the InDesign files. I thought it was possible to work with HTML in InDesign, but I can't even remember how to access HTML files in InDesign documents. I'll have to ponder my question a little more...

Answer 1

After doing some more research, it appears that X/HTML files can NOT be imported into InDesign. The best you can do is use InDesign to create a framework for your epub, export it as an epub, then use BBEdit to open and modify the HTML files that make up your epub. If you have to copy an entire HTML file into your epub (or delete a file), then you can use eCanCrusher to crack open your epub, giving you full access to everything inside.