Books

Set a book's type, chapter numbers and front pages, then download it as EPUB or as a PDF for print.

Book Settings holds what applies to the whole book: its typography, chapter and page numbers, page size and front pages. Preview, on the Contents page, assembles the front matter, chapters and back matter in order as a web preview, a PDF laid out for print, or an EPUB file.

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Body text

The Text settings in Book Settings apply to the web reader, the PDF and the EPUB, except where noted below. Text you write stays as you typed it; the settings change how it is set.

Font
Serif or sans serif for the whole book. A passage can use the other font, or a smaller or larger size, from More tools in the section editor.
Text size and line spacing
Small, Standard or Large text, with Compact, Standard or Relaxed line spacing. Text size applies on the web and in the PDF; in an EPUB, the e-reader sets the size.
Web text width
Narrow, Standard or Wide: the width of the reading column on the web. The Pages view and the PDF keep their own margins.
Typographer's punctuation
Turns straight quotes into curly ones and three dots into an ellipsis, in the PDF and the EPUB only.

Chapter numbers, page numbers and book size

Chapter numbers
3, Chapter 3, Chapter Three, III, - 3 - or no numbers. Front matter and back matter are not numbered, and parts are named Part One, Part Two and so on.
Chapter title pages
The chapter number and title on a page of their own, with the chapter's text starting on the next page.
Page numbers
Bottom center, bottom outside corners, top center, top outside corners or none, in the PDF and the web reader's Pages view. E-readers number their own pages.
Running heads
The author's name across the tops of left pages and the title across right pages, in the PDF only.
Book size
Pocket (5 × 8 inches), Trade (6 × 9 inches) or Large (7 × 10 inches): the page size of the PDF. Trade is the default. The web version and the EPUB fit the reader's screen.

Title page, copyright page, dedication and epigraph

These pages come before the front matter. Each is filled in from Book Settings, so none of them has to be written as a section.

Title page
The title, subtitle and author name. The author name can be a pen name.
Copyright page
The copyright year and holder and All rights reserved, with the publisher, edition and ISBN when they are filled in, in the PDF and the EPUB. Turn off the standard copyright page to write your own as front matter.
Dedication and epigraph
Each on a page of its own when it is filled in, the epigraph with its attribution.

Preview and download

Preview, on the Contents page, has three choices. Each includes the front matter, chapters and back matter in order, and leaves out the sections set aside.

  1. Web preview

    The book as it will read on the web, in the Flow and Pages views, before it is published.

  2. PDF

    Opens the book laid out for print in a new tab, with the browser's print dialog: the cover on a page of its own, the title page, the copyright page, then each chapter starting on a new page. Choose Save as PDF, or print it.

  3. EPUB

    Downloads an ebook file in the EPUB 3 format, with the book's title, author, language, contents and cover. About this book is its description. A book without a cover image will get a cover drawn in its color or assigned design.

Pictures in the EPUB and the PDF

Pictures from Your images, on the cover and in sections, are packed into the EPUB file. A picture linked from another website is left out of the EPUB, because ebook files cannot show pictures from the internet; the web version and the PDF still show it.

In the PDF, a picture's height is limited so that it fits on a page of the chosen book size.

Download your book as an EPUB.

Create a Magpie account, start a book in Books, then choose EPUB under Preview on its Contents page.

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