Compile Section Layouts: Part Two
Let’s look at some examples to understand this process better.
Strongly consider working with a Compile (tester) Collection which would include every Section Type in your Novel or Project you will be compiling. A small focused collection allows you to rapidly Compile and see the results of changes you make in Section Layouts, or any other aspects of the Compile Format Designer.
Section Layouts settings affect the formatting of all aspects of a specific Section Type including what fonts will appear, which elements like titles, numbering, prefixes and suffixes will appear for a specific Section Type. Formatting can be applied to each of these elements individually. Separators between sections (like spacing after Chapters and Scenes) all occur in the Compile Format Designer but under the Separator tab.
Let’s look at the overall interface for Section Layouts.
The Compile Format Name and whether it is a Project or My Format type are displayed in the red box in the center at the top of the screen. (You can change the name and whether it is a Project or My Format at any point in this process, but remember to click the Save button (#5) to preserve your changes. You choose the format you are Compiling for using the dropdown menu in the upper left above the Section Layout tab.
#1 These are the options you can customize in the Compile Format Designer and the current option you are working with is highlighted. (ex. Section Layouts)
#2 Is where you choose which of your current Section Layouts to use, manipulate, or duplicate to obtain the appearance you want when you Compile. Changes here DO NOT affect your project, but will change the Compile output appearance. (This section has multiple options to check which affect a Layout including Title, Metadata, Synopsis, Notes, and Text checkboxes.)
#3 Here you can change the formatting of text here. If you have a title and text you must click inside each one to be able to change the font in the format bar above this area.
#4 Are tabs which will be available to affect the appearance of every Section Layout. [I will explain how to use these for the first tab(Title), but these apply to every other tab.
#5 The Save tab will save changes you make for any Section Layout or other tab in the Compile Format Designer if you click it. Use the Save button frequently as you make changes to preserve your hard work.
#6 These options for Text and note formatting exist for Ebook settings. The option here for text based Compile outputs is a checkbox to override Text and Note Formatting.
What do these Section Layout checkbox headings mean?
You can set the case of text (upper case, lower case, etc.) and format these option choices under the Formatting tab. (You can also format text at the bottom left in the Compile Format Designer when clicking inside the text field.)
When you set this, then the changes will be reflected in the Section Layout pane of the Compile panel when you close the Compile Format Designer. (See below)
See how changes in the Formatting tab change the appearance of your title and numbering for chapters.
#2 Shows a different font and same size. Unless you click save before closing the Compile Format Designer, this change will not be saved. You must click inside the format window to have the option to change the formatting.
Let us discuss the Tab options above the formatting area. We have discussed the Formatting tab which works like the Scrivener Editor.
The tab options include:
Title-
This prints/includes the binder title of each item assigned to use this layout. The title will typically be placed on a line of its own at the very top of the section, much like a heading or chapter break would be. This checkbox is only used to bring the binder title into the content. If you only want to see the word Chapter followed by autonumbering, then the Title checkbox is not necessary. That can be accomplished with placeholders in the Title Options Tab, the Prefix, or Suffix sections.
The Title Options tab contains its own prefix and suffix sections related to the Title appearance.
The New Pages tab-
This tab affects options applied to sections after a page break. (Usually seen after Acts and Chapters). Choices including padding the page with blank lines and having several initial letters being uppercase.
Prefix/Suffix Tabs-
These position text and placeholders before or after the Title or text in a Section Layout This text can be formatted, but ONLY with any styles you have imported or created under the Styles tab in the Compile Format Designer.
Settings Tab-
Here you can change paragraph indent options. The default choice is no change.
Metadata
This includes a block of text below the title containing all metadata associated with the items printed by this layout. In the preview area, you will see a simple "Metadata: Listed Here" marker that can be used to format metadata lines in general. The precise content will depend on each document’s (attached Metadata)— for example every item will have creation and modification dates, but only some may have a line printing keywords if the document had that Metadata included. All lines of metadata will use the paragraph and character formatting you apply to the sample line.
Note: You can use placeholders to insert specific metadata or custom metadata in your section layout wherever you use placeholders.
Synopsis
The Synopsis for the item will be printed and can be formatted as a paragraph in the preview area below. Leave this box unchecked if you do not need the Synopsis to be included.
Notes
Any Inspector Document Notes associated with the item will be printed before the main text. (Your default option.) Under the … options in the upper right of the Section Layout area is an option to place notes AFTER the main text. Leave this box unchecked if you do not need the Notes to be included.
Text
The main text body of the item, such as the content of a section or chapter. Some layouts may not use this option if they are intended to be used with types of items that serve as headings, or in some cases they may be omitted to achieve an effect, such as in the "Enumerated Outline" format, where the goal is to print an indented outline of topics rather than the entire work.
If you include content, other than Title and Text, subheadings will be inserted automatically to announce them. E.g. ticking "Synopsis" and "Notes" will add their respective headings above the appropriate content. These headings can be formatted collectively to taste in the Formatting tab, or removed entirely by clicking
The • • • button (see below) allows you to uncheck/disable the Insert subtitles between text elements option.
Section Layout Creation or Editing
Add a New Layout by clicking the Plus Sign.
Delete a Layout by highlighting and clicking the Minus Sign.
Rename a Layout by double clicking on the name. (Other Projects using the same Layout will adjust the name to match the new one.)
What the … options mean:
— Include placeholder titles for untitled items
[Default is unchecked] Binder items that have been left untitled can optionally use the adaptive name generated from their content or synopses. The default behavior is for these items to never show titles, even if they are assigned to a section layout that chiefly exists to generate a title.
— Do not add prefix or suffix for placeholder titles (This option Is NONFUNCTIONAL)
— Insert subtitles between text elements
If checked, this adds automatic subtitles between different types of inserted content, such as Synopsis and Metadata. (Uncheck this box if you do not want the subtitles inserted.
— Place notes after main text
The default is to place any Inspector notes (if check the Notes box for a particular layout) above the main text for the item being compiled. When checked, notes will be placed below the main text area instead.
[REMEMBER: Backup and save your custom Compile Formats BEFORE making changes. In the Compile Panel you can click on the Settings icon in the lower left and choose Export Format. When you export the Format, you can rename or date it in a way to mark it as the original before you make changes. This will save you if you make unwanted or unintended changes and you can’t remember what you changed or how to reverse it. By saving a Compile Formats in a systematic way, it becomes easy to go back to an earlier version that worked well in the past. Feel free to frequently back up during this process, so if unwanted changes occur, you do not have to start again at the very beginning of this process.
Pro Tip: You can duplicate and tweak Section Layouts in the Compile Format designer so you can easily go back to an earlier layout if needed without remembering how to reverse the changes you made in the latest Section Layout.
#3-4 In the area below the Section Layouts make sure you have clicked the Formatting tab and inside the box containing text. Unless you click on the text, you cannot make changes. The formatting bar, ruler, and indents work like the normal Editor’s formatting bar. (Note: you may need to widen the Compile Format Designer window to see all your format options, such as line height and paragraph settings.)
#5 After you have made the adjustments you wanted then click the Save button.
#6 Here you have several options to choose on how the text is displayed (for Epub/Kindle formats)
Text-based formats like Word, RTF, PDF, and others have the option to override text and notes formatting. (see image below) This can come into play with Section Layouts that include either notes or text within them. When checked, this will replace the styles used in the Project Editor and Inspector with the Compile Styles you have chosen.
The paintbrush icon in the far lower right preserves uncommon alignments and indents for the text on this tab.
If you click this option, then you can change paragraph spacing. You must stretch the Compile Format Designer Section Layout pane enough to see the paragraph spacing option on the far right of the formatting bar. (see below)
To Reach this you must:
1. Compile to a text based Compile output.
2. Check the override text and notes formatting checkbox.
3. Click inside the text field.
4. Stretch the formatting bar enough to see paragraph spacing and click the dropdown caret and choose the other option to see the text box below #4. Here, you can change paragraph spacing. Here, you can set options about spacing around paragraphs.
Windows Tips:
Again, consider frequently backing up your Compile Format as you go through the process and check how this looks by doing a test Compile as you make changes.
You can even duplicate the Compile Format you are using and rename it Format Demo and experiment with the different Section Layout tabs to see what various changes occur due to different options in the Section Layout Appearance, without worrying about your main Compile Format.
Or it is easy to duplicate a single Section Layout and rename it as a version or by its function and change variables to achieve a new effect. Remember to click the save button to preserve the new Section Layout and to apply it to the Section Type to test out its effect with a test compile.
After Section Types have been assigned the second Compile panel will show a preview of the expected output appearance for each Section Type in your Project.
5. Consider creating a Compile Collection. You can, in the third Compile Panel in the contents dropdown, choose just a single collection to Compile. If you create a Collection with your Front and Back Matter, an Act/Part document, several chapter documents and several scenes (or include whatever other special sections are in your Compile output) a quick Compile of the collection can show you if all your elements are displaying the way you want without Compiling/printing the whole novel. This allows you to quickly assess changes as you make them and tweak the final Compile product until you get it the way you want.
Compile Section Layouts Part One
Section Layouts and the Compile Process: A Deep Dive
In order to understand how this works, we must understand how Section Types and Section Layouts interact with each other. The information in this series may repeat itself at points, but this is intentional. I will present how to approach Section Layouts from different angles to hopefully make this understandable one way or the other.
Scrivener automatically assigns each item in the Binder a Section Type based on the item’s position in the project’s structure. [Default Types by Structure] You can change/customize these assignments in the Project Settings Panel. (see below and example from my unpublished book)
Section Layouts are different formatting styles that can be applied to a specific Section Type.
The middle pane of the Compile window is the Assign Section Layouts area. This couples the Project’s Section Types to its formatting when compiled (a Section Layout). The layout you choose will change how the final Compiled output will appear. You can customize Section Layouts to obtain the results you want.
When all the Section Types have been assigned a (format) Section Layout, then the yellow warning intially visible in this section will disappear.
For example, a top-level folder inside the Manuscript folder of your novel might be assigned the Acts Section Type and the next level might be the Chapter Folder Section Type, and a text file in any level file group might be assigned the Scene Section Type (if you’re using the Novel template).
When Scrivener compiles a project, by default it uses these assigned Section Types to format the final document. However, you can manually assign Section Types, create Section Types, or change the default structure based Section Type assignments.
Based on this arrangement, there are several key points to remember:
If your Binder organization is willy-nilly (a polite version of a more common vulgar phrase), you need to clean it up before compiling or your Compile output will also be a mess.
You can override Scrivener’s section type assignments and create new section types.
Each file or folder in your Binder can have only one section type, but a specific section type can appear radically different, depending on which Section Layout has been assigned to it for a particular Compile format. Two different Compile Formats of the same book may look completely different based on which Section Layouts are used for each Section Type. For example, if your Scenes have titles, then you may want a Section Layout that shows the Scene Title with the text following below. Or you could decide to hide the Scene Titles in another Compile Output.
A Section Layout can format chapter headings, put page breaks in the right places, and more. If you want to work with/manipulate them to achieve a customized Compile output, you’ll follow a multi-step process:
Think about how you want these files and folders to coalesce in your compiled document. Do your folders—represent chapters, perhaps—each have a title that should (or should not) appear?
Does each folder, for example, contain several scenes that you want to combine?
Or does each text file in a folder have its own title that you want to use as a heading?
To create the headings in a compiled document, Scrivener can use the names of folders, the names of text files, or both (or neither).
It all depends on how you organize your project, and what’s most comfortable for you.
Default Compile Formats cannot be edited, but you can duplicate them to modify them to suit your needs.
If you need to edit layouts inside a Default Compile Format, then you must duplicate the existing compile formats BEFORE they can be modified.
These Section Layouts are especially important for getting page breaks where you want them (perhaps before the start of each chapter) and for putting numbers, like chapter numbers, in the right places.
If you are using Manuscript (Times), and want to print the folder title all on its own, the easiest way to do that is to select the Layout that does just that:
After opening File ▸ Compile... First choose a Compile output. If you need to customize the Compile output, then try different default Compile Formats until you find the one closest to your desired output. Double-click this to duplicate it. A copy of a default Compile Format can be modified and renamed. (Pro Tip- give your custom Compile Formats descriptive names.)
Now click the Assign Section Layouts button below the preview column in the middle. You will be given a choice of Layouts that can be assigned to the various Section Types in your Project. If Section Layouts have not been assigned yet, you will see a warning at the top of the Section Layout Window.
3. To Assign Section Layouts to each Section Type in your project, first click the Assign Section Layouts button at the bottom of the middle panel and follow the steps below:
A. Choose a Section Type (Every document in your project should have a Section Type assigned. This can be viewed in the Inspector under General Metadata or in the Project Settings panel (under Section Types)
B. You may need to Show unused Section Types and may need to change the Section Types for Front and Back Matter documents to achieve the results you want. (Classically, using the As-Is option allows different fonts and looks in these sections.)
C. After you choose a Section Type, now you click one of (Formatting) Section Layouts to assign its formatting to the Section Type. The appearance of this can be further tweaked in the Compile Format Designer. If none of the current Section Layouts meet your needs, you can create and save your own Layouts within the Compile Format Designer. (This will not be discussed here, but in another Blog) Note: The name of the displayed Section Layout is directly centered below the image of how it will appear.
D. Once you are satisfied then click Ok to save your settings.
E. You can expand this panel by dragging with the mouse until you show all your possible Section Layout options you can choose.
3. When you are finished choosing, then you will see a preview of how your book/paper/etc. will look. After you have clicked save in the Compile Format Designer to save the changes/choices you made you will return to the Compile Panel and see a preview of how things will look. (see below)
4. You can check what section type is assigned to chapter headings or scenes in the Inspector window under the metadata tab. This is a modified view which shows how this could look for Acts, Chapters, and Scenes. (see below)
For each section type in your compiled project, select the layout that you prefer. If you like the font option provided by the selected layout, you are all set, but if you don’t, choose one (if you are allowed to) from the Font pop-up menu at the top of the Section Layouts column. When you finish, click OK. Note: Font selection is not available for some file formats, such as plain text and ebooks (where fonts are applied by the ebook reader itself and the user can change as they desire.).
Compile Layout Facts:
Default compile formats cannot be edited, but you can duplicate them to modify them to suit your needs.
Backup and save your custom Compile Formats BEFORE making changes. [Pro Tip: Consider numbering the Compile Format as you make changes and save them. This will allow you to revert to a previous version without trying to remember all the changes you made.]
You can override Scrivener’s section type assignments and create new section types.
Section Layouts are different formatting styles that can be applied to specific Section Types.
If you click the plus sign in the Section Layout tab of the Compile Format Designer, you will duplicate the currently selected Section Layout’s settings, but with a title of New Layout. Edit the name and tweak any settings as needed. [Pro Tip- When you are experimenting, then duplicating a Section Layout allows you to try different settings out without losing the original or remembering how to reverse the changes you made. You can name Layout “Current Name” version 1, 2, 3, etc to keep track of the process and delete the steps when you get the result you want.]
Each file or folder in your Binder can have only one Section Type, but a section type can appear differently, depending on the Section Layout associated with it for a particular compile format.
For ebooks, the ereader itself will apply fonts and these can be changed by the user. Use the default font choices here.
If your Compile output does not look right, the first thing is to check your Section Type assignment to make sure it is consistent. (Ie. All Acts have the same section type, All chapters have the same section type, and finally scenes as well.)
Also check to make sure the documents you want are all included to be compiled, and you have chosen the Manuscript (Draft) or a smaller section if that is what you want. Check in the third panel to make sure the filter icon is not active (unless this is an active choice) and altering which documents are compiled.
Once you have assigned Layouts for a specific Compile Format. Opening the Compile Panel and double clicking on any of the individual Section Layouts will open the Compile Format Designer to the Section Layout tab and the specific format you double clicked on. Now, you can make any changes needed to alter the look or function of the Section Layout if its appearance in the Compile panel is not what you want.
Anytime during the Compile Process, holding the Alt Key down will change the Compile button in the Compile Panel to a Save button to save the changes you have made to the current Compile Format to preserve for future projects.
If you have multiple levels of text color from revisions or other issues, you can click the Remove text color option to return the text to the default black when compiling. This option is found under the Settings icon in the third Compile pane.
In the Compile Format Designer any Section Layouts which have been assigned to your Compile output will be in bold text, EXCEPT if the default As-Is Section Layout is used. (Classically this is used for Front and Back Matter to preserve any unique formatting you may want for these sections.)
Every Section Layout you currently have or create has the option to add Titles, Metadata, a Synopsis, Notes, or Text to the Section Type it is being applied to.
When you click Assign Section Layouts, the Layouts will appear in the order they are arranged in the Section Layout area of the Compile Format Designer.
Layout Trouble-shooting:
If your Compile Output is not what you want, Layouts are a critical area to evaluate.
Step 1 look at your Compile Preview that appears after you assign a Section Layout (the Compile Formatting) to each of your Project’s Section Types. (see below) Do the Section Layouts appear the way you want? If so, move on to step two.
Note: Once you have assigned each Section Type a Section Layout for the Compile Process, then opening the Compile Panel and double clicking any of the individual Section Layouts (shown above) will open the Compile Format Designer. This will open to the Section Layout tab and the particular Section Layout you double clicked on. Now, you can edit or change how it looks or functions.
2. If there are still issues then we will look at your Section Type assignments. Section Types are searchable Metadata. The Section type for each document is displayed in the Inspector Metadata under the General Metadata heading. You can use Project Search to search by Section type. Search Acts, Chapters, and Scenes by Section Type and make sure there are not errors in your assignments. The other tip is to look at the Section Types when you assign layouts. Are there any unexpected Section Types? If so, do a Project search for this metadata and adjust the files found to reassign their Section Type and try Compiling again. You can change multiple document’s Section Types at once by selecting the files and right clicking and choosing the Section Type and reassigning its value.
In the Screen below you can click on the Act Section Type and then choose a Section Layout, or you can right click on the Act Section Type and choose a Section Layout to assign. You must do this for each item on the left side. However, multiple items can use the As-Is Section Layout option.
There are four methods to Assign Section Types to any document or folder.
1. Right click on a folder or document and you will see options for choosing a Section Type and changing its value. If you click on this, you will see the current menu and at the very bottom of the dropdown you’ll see the option to edit an existing Section Type or add a new one. (See below)
You can select multiple files/folders using this method and change them at once.
2. Use the Menu command Project > Project Settings (Or click on the project settings icon in the toolbar (if added)). and then adjust section types.)
Section Types are assigned either by your project structure (Default Types by Structure. Note you can click on any entry below and change its Section Type.) or by Section Types. (This you can create and give any name and apply to any document(s) in your project. Click the + or - sign to add or remove types.)
Remember: How a Section Type will appear when you compile your project will depend on which Section Layout you assign to that Section Type and what edits you have made to the Section Layout. (This will be discussed in a later article.)
You can click the + sign (A) to add extra types you can then assign to Binder elements. You can also export (B) Section Types as well. Remember to click the OK button to save any changes you make here.
Classically the Section Layout As-Is is applied to documents where you want to preserve their formatting during the Compile process. Examples often used are the Front and Back Matter sections or any included glossaries.
N/A is for Root folders such as the Draft/Manuscript folder which will not be included in your Compile output or levels of folders or files which do not exist in the current project.
Note: Using the Default (Section) Types by Structure (as below) works best when your novel is organized in a classic arrangement such as Manuscript > Acts > Chapters > Scenes and the front and back matter folders are outside the Manuscript. When organized in this way, it is easy to assign available section types.
Clicking a Section Type (ONLY when viewing Default Types by Structure) will highlight all the corresponding section types in the area of the Binder which is currently visible, but you CANNOT scroll in this view.
Examples of the Binder view for various Section Types in the classic view mode.
3. Assign a Section Type to every document in the editor via the Inspector/Metadata-
You can set the Section Type under the option to include in compile within the Metadata tab.
4. The final way is during the Compile Process.
Here, in the far right Pane you can change section type assignments for a single or multiple documents at once. (*****This method is less efficient and does not change the Section Types in the project itself but only for a particular Compile output.)
Now that you have checked to make sure your Section Types have been applied correctly and consistently in your Manuscript, Front, and Back Matter it is now time to move forward. You can now decide how to format the information in each Section Type. Section Layouts are a specific formatting that the Compile process imposes on each of your Project’s Section Types when you Compile.
The Compile format designer overview on section layouts
Scrivener comes with several default Compile Formats for each type of possible output. These can not be edited as such, BUT they can be duplicated and then manipulated to fit your specific Compile needs. When you do this, the newly created format is now a Custom Format and can be edited to your heart’s content. When you duplicate a default Scrivener Compile Format, it receives a specific name. This is the original format’s name followed by the word copy. This name can be edited and changed to what makes sense to you. I suggest using a name that reveals its planned use or a special aspect of it.
After you open the Compile Panel, you can either use a Compile Format as is by selecting, assigning Section Layouts to the Section Types currently in your project and then checking the third panel for what you want to Compile. In the third panel you check on the content you will compile, metadata such as title and author information, options on things to exclude like highlighting and annotations, replacements and images for certain formats like ebooks. You must decide in the bottom of the panel whether you have front or back matter to include before hitting the Compile button.
If you need to do some customization or tweaking of a default or custom Compile Format, you have three options.
Option 1- Is to Right-Click any format (default or custom) and see the options by #1. The Edit and Delete options will be non-functional for any of Scrivener’s Default Compile Formats.
Option 2- Is to double-click on any format. All formats both default and custom can be duplicated and then customized.
Option 3- Click on the Settings icon and see the dropdown options. Here you can import/export a format, or edit/delete format. The last two options only exist for Custom Formats, these options will be non-functional for any Default Compile Formats. (However, you can export the default Scrivener Compile Format Designs.)
When importing a Compile Format, you will be asked whether to save it as a Project Format (project specific), or as a My Format (available to all Scrivener Projects)
Fives ways to open the Compile Format Designer
#1 You can double-click a Compile Format design to open the Compile Format Designer.
#2 You can right-click and choose the best option. (as shown above)
#3 You can click on the Settings cogwheel in the lower left of the Compile Panel and choose the option you want.
#4 You can click on a displayed assigned Section Layout, and the pencil icon in the upper right corner will appear. You can click on the pencil and then click on the Edit "Layout name" button in the text window that appears.
#5 You can double-click any Section Layout in the second pane of the Compile panel and open the Compile Format Designer.
You will now see the Compile Format Designer which is used to create or edit a Custom Compile Format. (see below)
#1. Shows the name given to the duplicate Compile Format. Click inside the name to edit it.
#2. Is where you save the new Compile Format in Project Formats (unique to the current project) or My Formats (which are system wide and available to all your projects on your current device).
#3. Here you decide your Compile Output file format. Different outputs will have different options that can be adjusted. (See #4 above)
#5. This is the panel which changes depending on which part of the Compile Format options (#4) you want to change and if you choose Section Layouts, this will vary depending on which Section Layout you are modifying and what elements are included with it. (ie Title, Metadata, Synopsis, Notes, and/or Text)
Note: Consider including the desired output in the name of your custom Compile Format. Such as My Ebook Format 1 to show this is your preferred Compile Format for Ebooks. (Consider including the year the format is created in the name as well.)
#6. Here you can add blank Section Layouts (+) or delete a highlighted Section Layout or add other options as shown below for a specific Section Layout. Clicking the (+) sign will DUBPLICATE the currently selected Section Layout and all of its current settings, except the name will be blank. This option can be useful when you are experimenting with different options on how your Compile output will appear without losing the current version.
#7 When you are finished making changes then click the Save button to preserve those changes.
To confirm the changes are displaying what you want, Save your changes to the Compile format and close this window. Go back to the Compile Panel and now click the Assign Section Layout button in the middle pane and you will see how your newly created and assigned Section Layouts will appear when you Compile. The Section Layout’s name is listed below it. (See the image below.)
(Pro Tip: Give them descriptive names which explains their intended function. This makes it easier to assign them and be sure you are using the right one for what you are trying to Compile.)
After you have assigned your Section Layouts to your Section Types, then you will see a preview of how this will appear. (see below) Note the Section Layout name is BELOW its corresponding Section Layout. The option to assign various Section Layouts to the different Section Types occurs in the order the Section Layouts are found in the Compile Format Designer, except for the As-Is Section Layout which is always included at the bottom by default.
These Section Layouts give you a preview of how the current options will appear for your chosen Compile output. If it does not look right here, then you will need to make further changes inside the Compile Format Designer until you achieve the results you want.
When click edit or double click on a custom Compile Format, then this window appears with a myriad of options.
Every Section Layout you currently have or create has the options to add Titles, Metadata, a Synopsis, Notes, or Text to the Section Type it is being applied to.
Titles:
If you want the Title from your Binder document applied for a Section Type, then check the Title box for the Section Layout you are editing. Any item can still have a heading (Example- Chapter 1) without checking the Title Box.
Clicking the … option at the far right of Section Layouts (see below) shows multiple options that can affect what appears or not for Titles for a specific Section Layout.
Include placeholder titles for untitled items -(If checked) Binder items that have been left untitled can optionally use the adaptive name generated from their content or synopses, as they are shown in the binder and outliner. The default behavior is for these types of documents to never show titles, even if they are assigned to a section layout that chiefly exists to generate a title.
Do not add prefix or suffix for placeholder titles
Insert subtitles between text elements - (Unchecking this) Disables automatic subtitles (such as Synopsis or Metadata) between different types of inserted content.
Place notes after main text- The default is to place any Inspector notes above the main text for the item being compiled. When this box is checked, notes will be placed below the main text area instead.
Metadata:
Metadata includes a block of text below the title containing all metadata associated with the items printed by this layout. In the preview area, you will see a simple “Metadata: Listed Here” marker that can be used to format metadata lines in general. The precise content will depend on each item— for example every item will have creation and modification dates, but only some may have a line printing keywords.
Pro Tip: You can insert images under chapters titles if you use the specific image name (without the image type) in a custom metadata text field (call it Image) added to each Chapter document you wish to add a picture/image to. You will need to use a placeholder in the Title area of the Section Layout you are using for your Chapters. Place this placeholder in the prefix or suffix section depending on how you want it to appear. You can also decide to center the image as well. You can also put parameters on the image size as well. [If the image is too big for an ebook, check the Text Layout Section of the Compile Format designer and look at the image size which triggers images to be displayed at 100% width. This may need to be adjusted.]
All lines of metadata will use the paragraph and character formatting you apply to the sample line. See an example below (the pilcrow symbol represents using the return key to move the image position. In the Compile panel when see the preview of your Compile output in the second panel area, you will only see text.)
Synopsis:
Synopsis The synopsis for the item will be printed and can be formatted as a paragraph in the preview area below if this option is checked.
Notes:
Any inspector Document Notes associated with the item will be printed before the main text unless you check the checkbox shown above which will place notes AFTER the main text.
Text:
Text will include the main text body of the item, such as the content of a section/scene or chapter. Some layouts may not use this option such as in the “Enumerated Outline” format, where the goal is to print an indented outline of topics rather than the entire work.
If you include content, other than Title and Text, subheadings will be inserted automatically to announce them. E.g. ticking “Synopsis” and “Notes” will add respective headings above the content. These headings can be formatted collectively to taste in the Formatting tab. You can choose to not have titles above the inserted text by clicking the • • • button and UNCHECKING the box to Insert subtitles between text elements.
Placeholders can be inserted to automatically use numbers, roman numerals, letters, or numbers as words for Acts and Chapters if desired.
For a list of all Placeholders, use the Menu command Help > List of All Placeholders. These types of snippets can be found in the list of Placeholders under Auto-Numbering. (Below you see the Chapter numbering is determined by the <$n> placeholder after Chapter in Title Options.)
If you want to have your Scenes titled with the text following, this might look like the image below. (Notice the descriptive name for this Section Layout makes it easy to understand its intended function. I have chosen these options to include both a title (#1) and the body of text (#2) in the Scene.
The Formatting tab allows you to adjust information in the window below the format bar AFTER you click on the text in the window which is just a placeholder and not a preview of any actual text in your project.
The phrasing in the Format Designer layout section can have text squished if the GUI Menu and Windows font is set to larger than 10 points. The columns cannot be expanded enough to correct this problem when the GUI menu font size is greater than 10.
Use the Menu command File> Options > Appearance > General to change the GUI font.
See examples of two different font sizes for the GUI Fonts and how this impacts the Section Layouts readability in the Compile Format Designer. If needed, you could change the font size just for readability when compiling the options in Section Layouts and change back for more readable menus with the rest of the Scrivener interface at other times.
In the lower half of the Section Layouts area on the right are multiple tabs. Each tab has many settings that can be adjusted to change the final appearance of any specific Section Layout. The Images below have been modified to show the various options more clearly in one image.
*** For Custom Compile Formats ONLY
You have the option of restricting a custom format to only certain types of Compile Outputs. When you open the Compile Format Designer, you can specify which types of Compile Outputs a specific Format will support. If a Compile format does not support an Output like Epub then the Compile Format will not appear in the list of Compile formats when you choose to compile an Ebook. See below where you can customize (limit) which outputs a Compile Format will support by unchecking boxes.
Note for the New Pages tab:
1. Set the amount of padding you want above your title on the page.
2. Here you can also choose to have up to the first ten opening words capitalized in either standard or small caps.
! Not in windows version but in the Mac version.
3. You can choose to have sections start on a specific page side (!)
4. A drop-down for each allows selection of Recto (Right) or Verso (left) page. (!)
The Suffix tab offers the similar options to above prefix tab.
1. You can choose to have text appear after the title or end of a subdocument.
2. If the Place suffix after subdocuments checkbox is NOT selected then the suffix will appear after the Title. Selecting the checkbox places the suffix text at the end of the subdocument.
3. As previously, the text can be formatted via the format toolbar.
The Settings tab offers several options for Paragraph first line indents.
This is a matter of personal choice. I vary depending on what I am writing.
These tabs will be discussed in further detail in another blog post.
When your Compile output is in Word (Doc/Doc X and RTF/ODT formats) and you have issues with the appearance of your final product, then look at the Compile Format Designer and its last pane, which is Compatibility.
There are multiple settings here that can affect how the Compiled document will look.
If your Word Compile output does not appear the way you want, then you should look at these Compatibility Options. Checking some or all of these may improve how the Compile Output functions/appears in the final product. (see above)
What do these Compatibility options mean?
***** Flatten footnotes and comments into regular text -
If you don’t remove all footnotes or comments during Compile, this option replaces all your footnotes and comments with endnotes and will insert a reference marker at the place they originally appeared. Use this option with Microsoft Word or other RTF-editors to ensure footnotes and comments don’t get lost.
Use Word-compatible indents for lists -
Problems with indenting bullet-listed paragraphs in Word may occur, but ticking this box should ensure those lists appear correctly in Word.
Ensure hyperlinks are colored and underlined -
To avoid hyperlinks being rendered invisible in Word, make sure the compiler colors and underlines hyperlinks has been checked.
Highlighting with exact background colors -
Highlighting colors may change between word processors, like Word, when they are using their own set of colors. Selecting this option forces your custom colors into the output document.
There will be more about using Section Layouts during the Compile Process in future blogs.
Steps before Compiling Part two
In part two of the Steps before compiling, we will start with step 6 which is Assigning Section Layouts. The Section Layout pane of the Compile Panel will give you a preview of how the Compile Output will appear. If what you see is not the result you want, then you will have to go back to the Compile Format Designer and tweak the Section Layouts until you have the desired result.
6. Assigning Section Layouts
One important step before you compile is to assign Section Layouts. This area is quite different in Scrivener 3 than in previous versions.
At the bottom-center of the middle panel of the Compile interace is a button that says “Assign Section Layouts”. Clicking on this will open a new screen with a list of section types and the list of possible section layouts you can assign to each one. This is where you’ll select the design for each “section type” or element of your book. You will have different styling options that can be applied to Chapters or Scenes. So you can choose among different choices to get the look you want. Do you want Scenes with just text, or do you want a title with the text?
Think of Section Types as different parts of a your outfit such as a shirt/blouse, pants/dress, shoes/hats. Think of Section Layouts as the types of pants you could have including jeans, dress pants, short skirt, or a full length one. The Section layout gives different ways to present Acts, Chapters, Scenes, or other elements like the Front and Back Matter sections in your Compile output.
Each Section Type must have a single assigned Section Layout. However, multiple Section types could be assigned the same Section Layout such as the As-Is Section Layout.
**** Check to make sure Section Types have been applied consistently.
If all chapters are not the same Section Type, then this can lead to an inconsistent Compile output.
There are two methods to check this. Using Outliner columns or Project Settings. Both were discussed in Part one of this series. I will review the second method again to make sure it is clear on how you should use it.
An example is shown below showing Acts, Chapters, and Scenes. To see your whole novel to check for the proper structure, you will have to open the Project Settings Panel and examine the Binder in small chunks. In this view, you cannot scroll the Binder to evaluate the different sections. You must exit this view shift your position in the Binder and check again.
Now that you know your novel is properly structured, you can assign Section Layouts confidently knowing the layouts will be applied consistently when you compile. (The Front and Back Matter folders were not shown in this example. It may be easier to check the Inspector’s Metadata Panel when you only need to check a few documents. Below you see the Compile Status and the current Section Type of the document in the Inspector Metadata pane. Clicking the dropdown caret allows you to change Section Types right here.)
In the example below, each Section Type has been assigned a Section Layout (which is the format which determines the appearance of the Section Type). The appearance of a Specific Section Layout is adjusted in the Compile Format designer.)
For a fiction book, these sections are pretty standard. They include things like Chapter Headings, Scenes, Front Matter, Part Headings (Acts), Table of Contents, etc.
The nice things about Scrivener’s Section Layouts is that if you change the style for one element (Section type), it will change it for all matching Section Types. That means that all your Chapter Headings, for example, will look uniform AS LONG AS every Chapter has the same Section Type.
Make sure that each Section type has an assigned Section Layout. Simply scan through what they have and select what looks good. Then hit OK. Each Section Type will have several different Section Layout styles to choose from. Click Ok when you have decided. Hitting ok will show the three pane view of the Compile Panel. In the second pane (below), you will see a preview of how the arrangement you have chosen will look when you compile with each Section Type labeled.
If you are not happy the preview appearance, click the Assign Section Layouts button again and choose a different arrangement. If you add placeholders other than for Chapter and Act numbers, the placeholder will appear in the section layout in the position where the object will be placed. If a placeholder runs into a title, hitting the return key will change the position of the placeholder and will usually fix this issue. Remember to hit save in the Compile Format Designer when you make changes.
Pro Tip: You can duplicate a Section Layout in the Compile Format Designer. Doing so will retain all the settings of the original without a name. As you experiment to get the look you want you could duplicate existing Section Layouts and create new versions. Example, such as Section Layout Chapter Heading version 1, 2, 3, etc. This way it becomes easy to go back to an earlier version of the Chapter Headings Section Layout and experiment with a different look WITHOUT having to remember how to reverse the changes you made.
7. Review Front and Back Matter
Write your Front Matter (ex. Dedications, Copyright and Title Page) and Back Matter (ex. About the Author, Future Projects, Glossary if needed), and a cover photo which should be the first image in the Front Matter Folder.
Front and Back Matter
1. Click the Checkboxes to add Front and Back Matter.
2. Click the caret and you will see everything to be compiled included for the Front Matter at the top of the listed files, and the Back Matter at the bottom.
3. Click the Lock Icon to lock the settings to prevent any changes, if you are satisfied. Pro Tip: You could keep a series of books in one Scrivener project and have custom Front and Back Matter folders for each one, depending on your needs.
4. When you are satisfied, click and hold the Alt key and the Compile button in the lower right will change to Save. Clicking this will save any changes you made to the current Custom Compile Format.
This is why it’s important to have this setup earlier while you’re constructing your novel. If you’ve done this properly, all you need to do is select the appropriate folder. You can also have different Front and Back Matter folders based on what Format you are compiling to. For example, with Ebooks you have the option of including a cover image.
8. Back up and save your project in at least two different save locations BEFORE COMPILING or adjusting your Compile Format Designer.
Again, Compiling does not alter your actual Project, but it is best to always back up your project in at least two different locations before making significant changes, or doing anything you are not familiar with.
9. Look at the Settings icon in the third Compile panel.
Here you will decide what to include or not include when you Compile. Choices to exclude or include are Footnotes, Comments, Annotations, Highlighting, text color, hyperlinks, etc. Options on what to include or not vary by what your final Compile output format is. When you are satisfied, hold the Alt key and the Compile button in the lower right footer of the Compile Panel changes to a Save button to save the changes you made to your custom Compile Format.
You can also change options on how things are exported or converted as well.
10. Final Checklist before Compiling
1st-Make sure that all the documents you want to appear in the compiled project are actually checked. Carefully look at the checkboxes in the Outliner, Editor, Inspector, or in the third panel of the Compile interface.
2nd-Only have one manuscript in your draft folder. If you have multiple manuscripts, it can be confusing as to which gets compiled in which book. If you have a series of books, make sure you clearly identify your current Compile target. Make sure you have chosen the right Front and Back Matter folders for the book you are Compiling. If you have different Front and Back Matter folders per output, then make sure these special output folders are clearly labeled. All Chapters and Scenes in the Draft/Manuscript folder are usually included in the compile process but do not have to be.
3rd-Move old folders from the revision process into research. You can put them in individual folders based on the stage of the revision. (This will avoid confusion during the compile process.)
4th-Make sure all filters in the third compile panel are off. It is rare for someone to use filters when compiling the full project.
5th-Is the Compile target in the third panel correct? By default, your target should be your Draft/Manuscript (#1 below) (or a custom name you assigned to this folder). If your target to compile is correct make sure everything you want included is checked to compile and you have not missed anything that you want to include in your novel. (see below)
The Filter (#2) should generally be off.
The current selection (#3) is generally not the option used to Compile your project.
Collections (#4) will not normally contain your whole project
Pro Tip: Consider a special collection to test the Compile process. A small collection including an Act, Chapter(s) (at least two to check numbering protocols), several Scenes, and Front and Back Matter allow rapid compiling of this small group of files so you can change Compile settings to get the visual result you want. In this preliminary stage there is no need to compile the whole book multiple times.
6th-Make sure the Section Types have been assigned appropriately. Side note: make sure that the section types you have created in your novel match the ones in your layout for this particular project that you are compiling.
7th-Look at your separators and make sure the settings don’t inadvertently use a page break where you intend to use a single line of return. (A Page Break triggers entries into your Table of Contents.)
8th-Make sure you are using the correct placeholders when you set up your Section Layouts. A single misplaced letter can throw off your entire layout.
9th-Under Settings in the third Compile Panel you can choose to remove text colors and highlight colors when you Compile the project. You can also remove hyperlinks. (This is important because Amazon will want you to include hyperlinks to their site, which will not be welcome on other platforms. (In the Right Compile windowpane is the Setting’s wheel icon where you will see the ability to exclude/remove the various Scrivener tools you used to mark your document while creating it.)
10th-Review the Page Setup-File > Page Setup. See the Page Setup page if you are printing the Compile project.
11th Backup your project in a safe place before you Compile AND before you start this process.
12th Backup any custom Compile Formats you have created for this Compile project for safe keeping. Saving all of these in one folder in a single folder to hold all your Scrivener customizations makes it easy to find them.
Remember: You can click the + sign in the upper right to duplicate a Section Layout. A duplicated Section Layout will retain all the settings of the layout it is based on. If you are experimenting, then making several versions of a Section Layout while working out the kinks allows you go back to a previous version of the Section Layout if a change does not produce the desired result and you do not know how to reverse the changes you made.
11. Compile and Check Output
Lastly, it’s time to compile and check your file. From the compile settings, simply hit compile, and Scrivener will produce a file for you.
Ebooks can be checked through an Ebook reader software program like Calibre or Kindle which now only will read epub files. Amazon now ONLY accepts ePub3 files for their ebooks. You can use the free Amazon Kindle Previewer to upload and convert ePub3 files to a format that any Kindle software can read and allows you to preview how the ebook will look.
Calibre download site
Kindle Previewer download site
Now you will be able to use the kindle reader to see how your ebook looks.
Print books can be checked with any PDF reader.
Because Scrivener is such a complicated program, you will likely find elements of your book that you will want to change. Perhaps you don’t like the font, or you need to adjust the margins, or your table of contents is not showing up the way you expected.
There will undoubtedly be some tweaking that will need to be done. But the good news is that almost all of this can be done from Scrivener’s compile settings. Simply go to File > Compile, find your specific book format, and play around with it until you have what you need.
Pro Tip: Use a small Compile collection which contains an example of every type of file in your future Compile project to work out the kinks in getting the look you want. Remember after you assign the Section Layouts to the Section Types, then the second panel of the Compile panel gives you a preview of what your Compiled Project will look like.
You’ll have your book in the hands of readers in no time!
12. Possible reasons why you may not be Compiling the full Draft folder and Front and Back Matter:
Documents may look to be inside the Draft folder, but in fact are located at the same root-level as the Draft Folder in the Binder. Scrivener will not include these documents in the compilation.
You removed documents from the Draft Folder since a previous Compile attempt.
You unchecked individual documents in the right-hand side column of the Compile Overview window.
You unchecked documents in batch in the Outliner View Mode with the "Include in Compile" column visible.
You clicked the down caret in the Compile window in the third pane and selected either Current Selection, a Collection, or a Project Search rather than the Draft Manuscript. (see above image)
You accidentally applied the filter to the manuscript before Compiling resulting in documents being left out. (This last possibility is a frequent cause of incomplete compilations.)
13. Consider Exporting the Compile Format for safe keeping.
Pro Tip- Consider Exporting your Compile Format if you tweak the Compile settings, then save the Compile format as a new version. You could give each version a letter or number such as My Compile v1, v2 etc. In this way you can go back and not have to remember what you did to achieve a previous result.
Right click on the Compile Format and click the edit button. You will open the Compile Format Designer and can rename it as a version of a previous Compile Format. The default naming convention when you duplicate a current Compile Format Scrivener by names it the original format name and adds the work copy. You can click on this temporary name and edit it any way you want.
Now Right click on this again after the Compile Format Designer is closed and click Export and save to a Folder for future use.
Steps before compiling Part one
1. Clean up your text
Use the Menu command Edit > Text Tidying for several essential aids.
1. Replace Multiple Spaces with Single Spaces is one that can be a cause for spirited discussion among writers. Accidental double spaces definitely need removing and this feature can do that, however some writers subscribe to the double space after end punctuation philosophy. It is a hangover from typewriter and mono-spacing days and while modern computer fonts may make it superfluous, some find reading easier with double spaces after punctuation.
2. Remove Empty Lines Between paragraphs strips out any additional blank lines between paragraphs to make spacing uniform.
3. Strip Leading Tabs removes manual tabs entered so that formatting is uniform.
2. Decide your output format and practice.
It is important to decide how you want to export your project and practice as you are writing to get the look you desire by the time you have finished your novel or project.
First, start with a preset default format. Try different options and, if not satisfactory, then chose the one closest to what you want, and then tweak to modify a copy of this to obtain the look you want.
Use a smaller version of the project to practice on. For example, with a novel in Ebook format-You will need a cover image, front and back matter (often are formatted As-Is to preserve the special needs for those sections), and pages representing (Acts/Parts-if use) Chapter Headings (do you want them numbered in order or titled?) and Scenes (where you will set the base text and font settings for your novel). This will allow you to see a abbreviated version of your output which contains all the functional elements of your project. This version can be compiled quickly so you can easily make multiple adjustments to get the look you want.
I will discuss the Layout panel of the Compiler later. Here is where you choose how each type of book part (Section Type) will appear. This Layout Section of the Compile Panel will show you a rough preview of your output after you assign Section Layouts to each Section Type in your Project you are using.
2 A. Check your metadata settings in the third panel of Compile for completeness and errors.
Metadata is a crucially important step, because the slightest typo can easily mean that your book’s name is spelled wrong across every page of your print book, for example. This starts with the default Title being your project name. However, this can be changed to any title you want to Compile with, without affecting the Project Title.
Note: the metadata is not the same as the Title Page of your book, which you should have setup in the initial manuscript. Instead, the metadata here is what Scrivener uses to fill in the information displayed in the headers or footers of your book.
2 B. Make Sure you are including what you want in your novel and it has the correct Compile Status and Section Type.
1. In the lower right footer, the small file icon will have a check mark if included in the compiling process, or you can check this in Inspector metadata settings.
2. A quicker/more efficient way to check on the Compile status of documents is to view your whole manuscript in the Outliner View and add the column Include in Compile. (see below) This Column has a check in the checkbox if it is included to be compiled. In this view, click inside the outliner view and collapse all files by using the collapse icon in the toolbar (if added), Menu command View > Outline > Collapse All, or keyboard shortcuts. Now expand all the files to fully open the Outliner View with the toolbar icon (if added), Menu command, or keyboard shortcut. Now you can review the Include in Compile column and look for any unchecked items. If a document is unchecked, is that what you want or an error? This becomes a quick way to make sure all of your novel documents you intend to Compile will be compiled.
3. While in this view, also add the column for Section Type. This way you can view this information next to the Include in Compile status and make sure all items in the Manuscript have the correct Section type (see below) and will be compiled. This becomes a quick way to ensure the Section Types in your project are assigned to the correct files/folders. Ie Acts have the same heading (ex Part Heading/Acts), Chapters all have the same heading (ex. Chapter heading), Scenes all have the same setting (Scene), Front and Back Matter all have the same setting (Front Matter- or another unique Section Type name for these folders). Note: The last sections often use the (As Is) Section Layout type to preserve the formatting for these sections.
In the Picture below, it becomes easy to rearrange Outliner columns to make sure these two columns are visible and adjacent to each other. This arrangement allows you to quickly check the Compile Status and Section Type of every file/folder in the novel to ensure a consistent approach.
Clicking the Section Type column allows you to change the order of documents from Binder order to Section Type order. In this view it is easy to see if you have assigned the correct Section Types and if all documents in the Draft (Manuscript) are set to be compiled.
If you need to change the compile status, you can click/select multiple Binder items at once and change their Compile status by clicking on the Compile icon in the Editor Footer and changing as a group from not compile to compilewhile in the Editor view.
will NOT be compiled
Check means document will be compiled
The organization of your Binder outline is of crucial importance when compiling your book. A strictly regular structure is best, but Scrivener can deal with exceptions to the rule as well.
These Units of structure can be renamed (Even Default Section Structure names) to make sense to you.
Parts (Acts) -
Used only if your writing contains separate parts (Acts).
Chapters -
A normal folder with a collection of text documents.
Scenes or Sections -
A series of text documents in a folder. If multiple scenes are contained in a chapter, then you will need a separator, be it an empty space, #, ***, or some small image divider that occurs as a transition between files in one folder. You can also give individual Scenes a title to use as the separator between multiple scenes in one chapter.
Note: Only text documents that are outside the Draft or Manuscript folders can be used for front matter or back matter and they are not compiled UNLESS you click the box at bottom of compile in the third pane on the right and choose specific folders to include when you Compile.
2.C Make sure your Section Types are right. (Another Method)
Scrivener allows you to see the default Section Types in your Binder using the Project Settings Panel.
1. Use the Menu command Project > Project Settings > Section Types > Default Types by Structure. First click the Root Folder (or Manuscript in this case). Clicking the Root Folder will highlight the Manuscript folder.
2. Now clicking on a Level Folder or File group will highlight any document on that particular level in the Binder that is visible. (You cannot scroll the Binder once you do this in the Project Settings panel.) To view the entire Manuscript you will create the view below, then check for the correct Section Types, exit, scroll the Binder further down and repeat this process until the entire Manuscript has been viewed and the Front and Back Matter folders have been checked.
3. You may need based on the Novel (Project) structure to click the plus button in the footer to add more levels to see various items in your Novel. (see below)
All my Level 1 folders are Acts. You want every Act (or Part) to be on the same level and also be the same Section Type.
All my Level 2 folders are Chapter(s) and I will view different sections of the Manuscript in the Binder to make sure every Chapter is on the same level.
All my Scenes are at Level 3 or deeper and are files.
Pro Tip- Consider using the built in Windows Snipping tool to capture images of the whole Binder Manuscript. First setup a Search collection based on Section Types and use the Scene Section Type. Now use the Windows Snip Tool (Use the Keyboard Shortcut Windows Key + Shift + S, followed by the Keyboard shortcut for the Clipboard Viewer Windows Key + V. If you open a blank document and then click on the captured image in the Clipboard viewer it will appear in the blank document where your cursor is. You can capture your scene list in a few images within a single document. Open this as Quick Reference Panel to compare as you the Scene Section Types in the Project Settings panel to ensure all your scenes have the correct Section Types as shown in Project Settings. (see above and below)
2.D Understand your Placeholders
Scrivener has an extensive list of Placeholder that can assist with auto-numbering Parts/Acts and Chapters for example. These can also provide word counts and so much more. Review these in Scrivener. These can also be used to insert images into your project and the Compile output as well.
3. Backup your project
Save a copy on an external drive, online storage, or USB key prior to starting in the rare case where this is a problem before playing with the Compile process, changing compile status values, or Section types, especially when you first begin. This strategy should be in place during the whole writing process to prevent losing your work. There are several articles on Project Backup on this Site.
4. Understand your Table of Contents (TOC)
The Table of Contents (Toc) points ONLY to documents with a page or section break.
Documents outside the Manuscript folder are essentially invisible to the compile command and are not included in your compile output unless you make certain choices such as:
Using an <$include> placeholder.
Use the Current Selection choice to Compile the items currently highlighted in the Binder.
Compiling a specific collection. Collections can include files from anywhere in your project depending on your search criteria, or files you added to a static collection.
Note: The Front Matter and Back Matter sections are added to the Compile process separately and are outside the Manuscript.
5. Recheck.
Again, check your Manuscript Structure, Compile Status, and Section Types. Now when you choose a Compile Format you will assign Section Layouts to your Section Types and edit a Custom Compile Format if any additional formatting of Section Layouts is needed. You can only use a Default Scrivener Compile Output if you do not need to edit the Compile Format.
Ask yourself these questions. Have you?
A.) Correctly structured your Project: Make sure the organization in your Binder has a sensible hierarchy—it can be simple, rather complex, or anywhere in the middle.
B.) Correctly applied Section Types: As needed, override Scrivener’s defaults to better match the structure of your project.
C.) Correctly assigned Section Layouts: As needed, override Scrivener’s defaults to determine how Chapter titles display, how the body text appears in your Scenes and whether to include a Scene title, and Front and Back matter often saved As Is.
D.) Do you need to edit the default Section Layouts formatting? If you don’t like the section layout choices available, you can create your own.
After you assign and format Section Layouts, click the Save button to save your changes to the current layout assignment or formatting within the current Compile Format Designer. This will save these changes for future use. When you reopen a Compile Panel the assigned Section Layouts will appear in the order they will appear in the book and give you a preview of what the final Compiled product will look like. (Front Matter, Acts, Chapters, Scenes, Back Matter). Placeholder tags will appear, but not any added images or separators.
E.) Choose a Compile Format, either from a Scrivener premade Format, a Standard Default format or a Custom one you have created or imported.
Available Compile Formats Include:
Default
Meant as a very simple format, its layouts will pass through editor formatting and “glue together” the pieces in your draft folder with little alteration or complexity.
— Folders will still generate page breaks by default, and it comes with a few layout choices for adding additional headings as need be.
— The current page number will be added to the center of the page footer. No other headers or footers will be applied.
— This is a good starting point for your own formats, or as a basic way to export projects that do not require any special compilation options.
— It’s also a good option if you’d rather defer formatting for work in another word processor or desktop publishing program.
The following Compile Formats are for Word processing and Web Outputs
These formats pertain to the print, PDF, RTF, DOC, DOCX, ODT and HTML types.
Enumerated Outline (titles only)
— If you need a basic outline of topics (taken from the binder titles) alone in an indented list, this format is a good starting point.
— Unlike most formats, it will not export any text, only the titles of documents.
— The four section layouts that come with this format provide different spacing and numbering schemes for your outline.
— The placeholders used to generate numbering are set in the “Title Options” tab.
— The amount of indent applied per level can be adjusted with the Add indent per outline level setting, in the Transformations format option pane. (You must assign a Section Layout to create some formatting for EACH Section Type in your Project.)
(Windows Tip: In outline formats you may want to make sure separators you choose for this format are single line and NOT page breaks between folders or files.)
You can use any mix of styles for different types of documents in your project. To create your own numbering schemes, duplicate the format and use one of the existing Section Layouts as a starting point.
Full Indented Outline (Can include BOTH Titles and a Synopsis)
— This format presents an indented, easy to read outline that includes titles and synopses for all binder levels.
— The provided layouts provide a choice between alphanumeric numbering, hierarchical or no numbering at all.
Refer to “Enumerated Outline” in the previous section for tips on adjusting the indent and numbering styles. (As with the above format, you must choose a Section Layout for EACH section type and decide which ones will include a synopsis with the title. Every Section Layout has a number of checkboxes to decide what is added to the layout. One of those checkboxes is for the Synopsis. Notice you also have chosen a numbering scheme as well.) If you do not see an included synopsis with some titles, again check the Section Layouts you have assigned with this output.
(In outline formats you may want to make sure the separator options you choose for this format are single line and NOT page breaks between folders or files.)
Manuscript (Courier)
— Formats your book using standard Courier 12 pt type and a number of common conventions such as scene separators as hash marks, double-spacing, underlined emphasis (instead of italic), page numbers, standard page headers and so forth.
— It has a broad set of section layouts capable of handling a book with parts, chapters, scenes and titled sections.
— It is thus equipped to work with all of our built-in book generating project templates, fiction and non-fiction alike.
Common Alterations include empty lines instead of a hash mark. By default, the stock compile formats considers empty lines that you create in the editor signify minor breaks in the text, such as scene transitions or changes in topic. Some formats, such as submission manuscripts, require a more clear signal of such a break than a mere empty line, and commonly use a single hash mark (#) to do so.
Manuscript (Times)
— Functionally very similar to the Courier manuscript format, only using Times New Roman, another commonly required typeface for submission manuscript.
— Italics will be rendered as italic text rather than underscored.
Scene separators remain hash marks, double-spacing, page headers and so forth. It provides the same array of layouts as the Courier format.
Modern
— Provides a fresh look, this layout is designed for printing your own copies or generating PDFs for proofing.
It includes a full complement of layout designs, working with all of our book generating project templates.
Outline Document
— This layout is designed for printing full outline information (title and synopsis), but in a standard document layout rather than an indented outline format.
— The page footer contains the title of the work, author’s name, date and page number, separated from the page with a dividing line.
— It also has several layouts to choose from that only export the title. (This could be useful for some projects where larger categorical groupings like parts and chapters may not have any specific synopses of note and just need to insert a sectional break.)
(As with the above formats (Full Indented and Enumerated Outlines) you must choose a Section Layout for EACH section type and decide which ones you want to have a synopsis to be included with the title by clicking the Synopsis checkbox. You can choose Section Layouts with a numbering scheme for this option as well.) If you do not see an included synopsis with some titles, again check the Section Layouts you have assigned with this output.
(In ANY of the outline formats you may want to ensure the separators you choose for this format are single line and NOT page breaks between folders or files.)
Paperback (6′′ x 9′′)
— Functionally similar to the previous, this Format is optimized to work with standard paperback sizes in the U.S.
Paperback (5.06′′ x 7.81′′)
— A format designed to produce a typographically pleasing layout that could be taken into a word processor or desktop publishing program for self-publication with little effort.
As with the other book generating formats, it is designed to provide a full spread of layouts to accommodate many different book styles and structural setups.
(By using logical “Heading 1”, “Heading 2” and so forth styles your document will have an outline which some software may use for navigation aids, as well as facilitating the construction of a dynamic table of contents.)
Proof Copy
— A useful preset for internal proofing. It will reformat your script to double spacing so you can easily take notes and prints a disclaimer after each section heading as well as in the header. Thus making it easy to send out “Not for distribution” copies to your proofing team.
Script or Screenplay
— This format is also available to the Scriptwriting formats and will not be discussed here. (Please refer to the Manual for further information.)
Vellum Export (Mac OS only)
Available only to the DOCX file type, this Format is designed to convey your work to the Vellum book creation tool.
Ebook Publishing (ePub 2 Ebook, ePub 3 Ebook, and Kindle Ebook .mobi)
Since most Ebook readers will handle the majority of the typesetting, choosing a format will be more about getting the basic building blocks together, rather than exerting total control over the appearance.
Ebook
A suitable format for Ebook design.
Electronic books generally require basic and flexible designs in order to be displayed on many devices, from cellular phones to tablet computers to dedicated black & white e-ink displays. This is a good starting point for your own formats when creating Ebook formats. If you have a lot of experience in Ebook design, you may find starting from a simpler default to be easier, as this format is built to be used with very little customization, and thus assumes a lot.
Currently you should use ePub 3 to output your books. This is the format required by Amazon. Kindle books do NOT natively read ePub3, but you can download and use the (free) Kindle Previewer 3 from Amazon to convert the ePub 3 file to a format that can be read on Kindle devices and software. If you publish on Amazon, then they will convert your submitted ePub 3 file for you.
Ebook Screenplay
When publishing a screenplay intended for display on an Ebook device or reader software, you’ll want to use this format, which has a stylesheet designed to print the various scripting elements in a format mimicking a screenplay.
Since the average reader won’t have a screen large enough to truly display a standard screenshots, some of these elements will be estimated, or designed to merely suggest what they would look like on a typical printed page.
Other Options depending on your Compile output include:
(Ebook) Outline Document
And specific Compile Formats for Scripts/Screenplays and Markdown/Pandoc documents.
As you Apply Section Types —-Think about the elements of the last book you read.
The cover was probably followed by various bits of front matter: copyright page, title page, introduction, and table of contents. After the front matter, the book probably had chapters. Back matter may include an afterword, notes, and an index. Each element has a specific formatting. The copyright page may have centered text in a small font size, and chapters may have title pages, or specially formatted chapter titles.
We will continue this in Part Two of the steps before compiling. This will be published in the next several weeks.
A Compiling Philosophy
The easiest way to think about compiling your project is that Scrivener give you multiple preset outputs for different ways to export your project. You can export it as a PDF, a simple text file, several different Microsoft Word formats, screenplays and various e-book formats. You can also use multi-markdown as well. These preset compile settings cannot be edited, however they can be duplicated. A duplicated copy of the default Compile Format settings can be edited and adjusted to fit your needs.
This series will review some of the same information in several different ways. By doing this, I hope this complex topic will become easier to understand. If one of my explanations does not make sense, then looking another way may help you understand.
The Compile command is probably the safest place in all of Scrivener to experiment with. It can’t and doesn’t change the underlying project, and you can’t change the Compile Formats that come with Scrivener only duplicate and then edit them.
My strong suggestion is to try one of the default templates for a sample output in any of the different formats you are thinking of outputting to. Look at the results to see if they already meet your needs. If the result is way off of what you want, then try a different one of the default templates.
Step 1 Organize and Decide:
First, check the Section Types and the Include in Compile status of all the documents in the Manuscript/Draft. The easiest way to do this is in the Outliner view and check the Include in Compile and Section Type columns.
Are all the documents in your Manuscript set to Compile?
Are the Different Section Types assigned correctly?
Is your novel divided by Acts or Parts and have these been assigned correctly?
Do your Chapters serve as simple dividing points in your novel or do they include text? Do all the chapters have the same Section Type?
Do your Scenes have Titles or just Text? Have all the Scenes been assigned the same Section Type?
Do you have a Prologue or an Epilogue? Have they been assigned the correct Section Type?
Are you including Front and Back Matter? Have they been assigned the correct Section Type?
Are you decide your novel structure how do check to make sure the correct Section Types are being used"
You can view this in the Outliner to get a big picture view and change incorrect settings in this view. (Section Type and Include in Compile are columns you can display in the Outliner.
You can do Project Searches by Section Type to make sure they have been assigned correctly.
You can check the third panel in the Compile Panel which displays the Compile Status and Section Type of all the files you have chosen to Compile and you can change this information in this panel.
You can check the Inspector’s Metadata tab as well.
Setting up the Outliner to check this should look like the image below.
Now check the third panel to make sure you have chosen the Manuscript to Compile and NOT something else.
#1. This is what you are compiling. Normally you are choosing the Draft/Manuscript folder for your novel. (A). However, you can choose the Current Selection (B) which will be the currently highlighted files in the Binder. Or you could choose (C) which is a Collection. This can be useful if you set up a test Compile collection. (see below)
#2. This is the Filter Icon and using this will further refine what documents are included to be compiled. There are various settings here which will be discussed later in this series.
Don’t leave setting up the compiler to the last minute, close to a deadline.
Pro Tip - Use Collections to create a mini version of your book elements to test the Compile Formats ahead of your deadline to work out the kinks. Include one or two chapters, your Front and Back Matter, any cover art, and an Acts (or Parts) page if have one. Having a small slice of the future book to practice on allows you to fine tune the appearance of the Compile output quickly and make adjustments as you go.
2. Decide your Output Format for the novel/project.
Will it be a Word document, screenplay, PDF, or ebook.
Each of these choices will have different options which must be chosen.
For example, for e-book formatting you should include a cover image, front matter, back matter and at least an Act, 1-2 Chapters, and several scenes with text. This will give you all the main elements you would find with an e-book. Trying a sample Compile will allow you to customize how your book outputs. The key point to remember with e-books is that each reader will view your file differently and may use different fonts as well so don’t worry so much about the perfect font. With e-books, the other element’s appearance, such as Chapters with Scenes with or without titles, is more important.
3. Choose a Compile Format.
You can use a default or custom format. Often the default format can serve as a starting point to begin with and tweak to get the output result you want. Who you are sending the Compile output will effect how you Compile your project.
For more choices and freedom about how you format your output other programs are available as well. Basic formatting for sharing projects for editing and beta reading are all well within Scrivener's capabilities. The basic settings for e-book should function reasonably well also.
These compile formats can be saved for just one project or be used systemwide. Project Formats are specific to one project. My Formats are systemwide. Whenever you are finished saving a format, you have the option to save it either as a Project Format or as a My Format.
You should export these custom Compile Formats and save them in a folder on your computer. Over time, Compile Formats can degenerate and begin to have errors. Keeping a pristine copy to use again and again will be helpful.
Pro Tip- As you are experimenting with a Compile Format, consider naming the versions, in case you decide you actually like an earlier version. By having the versions numbered or lettered, you can go back and select a version that you want rather than remembering what steps/settings you used to create it. When you are done, you can delete the version copies.
All settings not related to a specific Output type (word, pdf, ebook), are hidden when you switch file types. Any settings that would conflict or are not available for your current output type will not be shown in the Compile Format Designer, which is for editing aspects of the current format you are using. So, for example, the CSS pane will vanish when you switch to a PDF output format, but available if you switch formats. But if you change the font size for your Chapter Heading layout in one output, this will then change settings across various outputs. Settings which are universal across all Compile outputs will change if modified for a specific format. In most cases that is considered desirable. You wouldn’t want to have to redo everything if you switched from RTF to ODT for example.
When you are creating a project in Scrivener, you are creating CONTENT. You can give it (while writing) attributes that make it easier to create, such as comfortable fonts for you, spacing, notes, tags, etc. Those are for YOU (only) while you CREATE.
But sharing with others is a whole separate thing, and Scrivener knows it. That's why Compiling tends to be rather complicated.
4. Who/Why are you Compiling your Project for?
Who you are sending it to, may have very specific requirements.
A submission to an editor or publisher using their required formatting rules
Putting the manuscript into the format required for Kindle Direct Publishing
Submitting just a section of your work to a critique group
Submitting the required first chapter to a writing contest using the required formatting
5. Assign a formatting style (Section Layout) to every part (Section Type) of your Novel.6. The final novel/project output appearance is affected by:
The Section Layouts you choose, but also your choices on the Separators (spacing between different documents), Styles of font, text layout, and any Transformations. You will also need to look at Page settings which affect the appearance of the header and footer of each page.
7. Check the Settings in the third pane of the Compile Panel.
The options available here will change based on your chosen Compile output. The cogwheel icon has many setting on what to include or not for your compile output.
If you uncheck items to be compiled that will change their settings in the project as well. Changes in the third compile panel about Compile status and Section Type will be reflected in corresponding changes in your project. Changing these in the Project will change settings in the third panel of the Compile Panel.
Updated 8/30/25.