There's a new and efficient way of exporting Adobe InDesign documents to HTML5.
Export HTML5 Package – now available in the latest version of Adobe InDesign – allows you to output the HTML, css, images and other assets required to host documents on a website.
Before jumping into the tutorial, it's important to know the differences between the new Export HTML5 Package and HTML (Legacy).
What's the difference between HTML5 Package and HTML (Legacy)? Well, if you've tried exporting the HTML from an InDesign document in the past, you'll know that the HTML (Legacy) option will output the HTML that doesn't honor the layout from the InDesign doc.
The new HTML5 Package feature "aims to mimic the layout of the InDesign file in the output HTML5 from the start," according to Adobe's website. "HTML (Legacy) is a bottom-up approach to creating HTML from an InDesign file and it has limited similarities with the original file."
In order to get the new HTML5 Package option, you will have to install the 2025 version of InDesign (20.0).
In the exercise files, you can open the Silvergate Asset Management document to follow along in this tutorial.
Export HTML5 Package
There are two ways you can export the HTML5 package:
Go to File > Export and in the Format dropdown, choose HTML.
Click Save
This launches the Export HTML5 Package dialog, where you can export HTML Text Tags or HTML SVG Tags. If you choose the HTML Text Tags, ensure to select the Copy Fonts option.
Exporting the HTML package this way, will export all the pages in your document. To have more control, you can also access the HTML5 Package option in the Publish Online dialog.
To access this, go to File > Publish Online.
In the Publish Your Document Online window, apply the settings as you would if you were publishing the document online using the Adobe-hosted server.
Click on the Export HTML5 Package button to launch the same Export HTML5 Package dialog.
Here is how the published document will look like with the Export HTML5 Package feature:
Comments