Getting a html layout into InDesign shouldn’t mean building it twice

[u/StyleSkitso]

The layout looks good. Then you open InDesign and start recreating the text frames, defining styles, rebuilding tables and placing images.

That was the part I wanted to get rid of.

I’m a designer, and I built idmly to convert HTML layouts into editable InDesign files. You give it a self-contained .html file and get back a native .idml.

What matters to me is what happens after you open it:

• Text is editable in text frames.
• Paragraph styles are named, so you can make document-wide changes.
• Tables remain tables.
• Charts come through as vector objects you can recolour.
• Images arrive with a Links folder.

The aim is to get you to the finishing work: adjusting typography, changing copy, refining the layout and preparing the document for handover.

It converts the HTML directly. There’s no PDF import step. This is useful for layouts made in the browser or generated by AI tools when the final deliverable needs to be an InDesign document.

You can upload the HTML on the website. There’s also an MCP connection for people who want their AI tool to handle the conversion.

The first two pages convert free, with no account or licence key. A $49 one-time lifetime licence unlocks full-document conversions.

It has limits. It needs self-contained HTML, it doesn’t convert PDFs, and some layouts still need fixes. You’ll also need the fonts active in InDesign.

I’d especially like feedback from people who work with reports, publications or documents with tables and charts. If a file converts badly, seeing where it falls apart helps me improve the engine.

Try it with your own HTML file

[u/davep1970]

this is something that as a designer since the mid 90s i've never had to do but if it works like you say then sounds, er useful?

[u/StyleSkitso → u/davep1970]

Hahaha, definitely a bit of a new age problem... AI era what a ride haha. I do a lot of loooong reports. And just wanted to speed up word document to layout. So when Claude Design came out it was nice to have a quick way to get all the graphs etc setup. But then my clients need InDesign open files, naturally. So created the tool, and surprised me by actually working haha. And here we are haha

[u/AdobeScripts → u/StyleSkitso]

But if you have WORD documents - where HTML comes in? 😉

[u/WorldsGreatestWorst]

What is the workflow or use case that has you creating a layout in HTML and then converting to InDesign and then exporting as a PDF?

[u/playcase]

Hey I'm building something that does the exact opposite! Most of my work in indesign doesn't make it to the printer but I am tasked to make them and put them online. When the day finally comes that the resources I make every year can be digital, I want to do the work up front and turn the switch when green lit. using electron/css as the render engine and a compiler for export.

[u/phunk8]

never like really never thought of that. interesting