EPUB export support and limitations

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Learn about supported features and technical constraints when exporting Adobe InDesign documents to EPUB formats.

When exporting documents to EPUB (Fixed Layout or Reflowable), certain text, typography, navigation, and structural features are preserved, while others may be limited due to EPUB specifications and device compatibility. Review these details to ensure predictable rendering and functionality across EPUB readers and devices.

Text support

The following text options are supported when creating documents for export to the fixed layout format:

  • Text is not rasterized. This implies live text is searchable and selectable.
  • Live text can be scaled horizontally and vertically.
  • Tab leaders can be included.
  • Language attributes are marked up on tags.
  • Tags are marked up with CSS classes.
  • Hyperlinks and cross references on text are supported to URLs, text anchors, and pages.

Limitations

  • Kerning is not supported on an individual glyph and is distributed as letter spacing across all the letters of a word.
  • Alternate glyphs generated by OpenType features, including small caps, all caps, and fractions are not supported due to limited device support.
  • Middle Eastern right-to-left text frames are not properly supported.

Japanese text support

The following Japanese feature options are available for export to the fixed layout format:

  • Ruby text is live and not rasterized in the output.
  • Warichu is supported in Live text.
  • Character rotation is supported in Live text.
  • Composite fonts are supported.
  • Vertical Text Frames are supported including rotated glyphs.

Limitations

  • Japanese Tate-Chu-Yoko is not supported in vertical text frames.
  • Japanese ideographic characters lose their positioning when True Type fonts are used.
  • Japanese Kenten font is rasterized in live text.

Nested list support

InDesign supports exporting nested bulleted and numbered lists to EPUB formats. When using paragraph styles with defined list levels, the nested structure is maintained in the exported EPUB file. To maintain the intended list hierarchy:

  • Apply Paragraph Styles that define each list level.
  • Use indentation to reflect the nesting visually in the layout.
  • Review the Structure pane to confirm the correct reading order before export.
Note

To create a nested list, select the consecutive item, increase its left indent, and adjust the bullet style if necessary.

Hyperlink support

The following hyperlink options are supported when creating documents for export to the fixed layout format:

  • Text-based hyperlinks and cross references
  • Object based hyperlinks
  • Hyperlinks to Pages for both text- and object-based hyperlinks

Navigation support

The export process provides the following navigation capabilities in the EPUB output:

Option

Function

NAV landmarks

InDesign generates NAV landmarks for fixed layouts and reflowable formats based on the epub:type values specified in the Object Export Options dialog box. Only the first occurrence of the value is added to the landmarks.

EPUB 2

InDesign supports the EPUB 2 section in the OPF file. InDesign automatically detects the cover and the print Table of Contents option. To determine the text type, InDesign uses the epub:type values specified in the Object Export Options dialog box.

NAV page-list

(Fixed Layout format). InDesign generates a page-list by mapping the page number strings to the XHTML files that are generated from that page.