Convert InDesign to DPS Article

[TimHaslam]

I am working on converting an InDesign magazine into a DPS article, but I can't export it as a DPS article because the ratios don't match. Is there a work around for this?

[TommyDAQ-Bates]

Well, the content must conform to the aspect ratio of the target device (Phone or Tablet). If you don't want to resize all of your content, you could letter box it to get it to the proper aspect ratio, or adjust all of the layouts, or redevelop the content as responsive HTML. As it sounds like you would like a quick fix, I would recommend letter boxing to get to the proper aspect ratio.. Hope this helps...

[TimHaslam]

Thanks for the reply.

So my next thought was to create my own test document with these steps:

1. Create a new document with the intent of Web Publishing.

2. Select iPhone as the Page Size, hit okay and it creates the document.

3. Now, when I go to export and make the target device an iPhone 6, it gives me the error that the ratio isn't the same.

I get why it's happening, but isn't it weird that when I select iPhone in both spots, it won't work?

Is it possible to create one file that works on all iPhones?

Let's say I create a file that works well on iPhone 6, wouldn't it break for iPhone 4?

[Tof_Jossic]

You need to think of the article as an envelop to your Indesign document, hence the size / ratio requirement.

The best way to have a single article that fits all devices is to create an HTML article - see https://helpx.adobe.com/digital-publishing-solution/help/creating-html-articles-dps.html

If you use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) with Media Queries for responsive design it will create reflowable content for tablets and phones of different sizes.

[TommyDAQ-Bates · Accepted solution]

Also Tim, when you select "iPhone" as a digital media preset, InDesign Defaults to a low-res iPhone 4 resolution of 320 x 480. Then, when you go to export it and you select iPhone 6 resolution, it IS a different aspect ratio.

When initially setting up the document in which you are going to develop the content, override the preset with the phone dimensions you are targeting, and make sure you use those same dimensions when you export.

At Bates, we typically will develop at an iPhone 4-retina resolution of 640 x 480. This will resolve properly on a 4S and get letter boxed (across the top and bottom) on the 5 and the 6 (it actually resolves nicely on an iPad mini too!). However, if you design for the 5 or the 6, it will get letter boxed vertically on the smaller screens which just looks very unnatural! 

Just make sure whatever size you set up the document with, is the same dimensions (or at least aspect ratio) that you use when you export - They can be overridden at each point.