I’ve been getting a lot of questions about using images in Scrivener lately, especially from those interested in producing e-books. There are several ways to handle images in Scrivener, and I’ll provide a run down of the basics here.
First of all, the Windows version isn’t caught up yet on using image tags, so to insert an image into a project in Scrivener for Windows, you can either copy it from somewhere and paste it in, or import it to the Binder (outside the Manuscript/Draft folder) and drag it into the desired document.
This works in Mac as well.
Images in Scrivener are added inline, so they’re treated like a character as far as word-wrapping goes. Which means that text does not wrap around the image. To resize an image, right-click and choose Edit Image (Windows) or Scale Image (Mac).
Mac users also have access to the image placeholder tag. There are several handy ways to use the placeholder tag.
Inserting an Image into the Text
If you have quite a few images you want to use within your manuscript, there’s no need to insert them into the text directly. Instead, you can import them into the project and use the IMG tag to refer to the desired image.
1. Import the desired image into your project.
An easy way to import is to right-click (or control+click) the folder where you want to store the image and choose Add—>Existing Files. Then choose the desired image file.
NOTE: Images cannot be stored within the Manuscript/Draft folder.
2. Select the desired document, and click within the editor in the exact location where you’d like to insert the image.
3. Type <$img:ImageName> (where ImageName is the name of the image as it appears in the Binder).
NOTE: To determine the size of the image, you can enter either its height or width and the image will adjust the other measurement accordingly. You can also enter both dimensions, if desired. Do so in the following manner:
<$img:ImageName;w=100> to assign a width of 100 pixels
<$img:ImageName;h=80> to assign a height of 80 pixels
<$img:ImageName;w=100;h=80> to assign both measurements
4. I suggest adding a blank line above and below the image for spacing.
The image will appear in the text with the same indents and format as the text. To give it different formatting, such as centering or full left alignment, adjust the format, select the image, then go to Format—>Formatting—>Preserve Formatting. The image will have a blue tint and a dashed line around it. This will prevent the standard compile settings from being applied to the image.
Using an Image at the Start of Each Chapter
You can set up Compile to insert an image either before or after the title of each chapter. Below are the steps for inserting it below the chapter auto-number.
1. Import the image as outlined in Step 1 of the previous section.
2. Open the Compile window (File—>Compile), and make sure that the All Options button is selected at the top.
3. Select the Formatting tab on the left.
4. Select the folder Level 1+ row at the top of the table (this assumes a standard set up of chapter folders and text documents for scenes).
5. If you plan to use chapter auto-numbering instead of folder titles, be sure to deselect the Title checkbox.
Find more on this in the post on Compiling.
6. Click the Section Layout button at the top of the small Editor pane.
7. The Prefix text box is where the auto-numbering placeholder goes, as shown in the example. In the Suffix text box, type: <$img:ImageName>. (If you want more space after the image, you may insert one or more Return characters).
If desired, add a height or width dimension, as mentioned in Step 3 of the previous section.
8. Click OK. Then, when all other settings are as desired, click Compile.
To have the image appear before the title or auto-number, put the image tag in the Prefix text box, and the auto-number tag (if using) into the Suffix text box.
Using an Image as a Scene Separator
If you’d like an image to appear between each scene, you can add an image tag as a Custom separator in the Compile window.
1. Import the image as outlined in Step 1 of the Inserting an Image into the Text section above.
2. Open the Compile window (File—>Compile), and make sure that the All Options button is selected at the top.
3. Select the Separators tab on the left.
4. In the Text Separator drop-down menu, choose Custom.
5. In the Text Separator text box, type: <$img:ImageName>. Unless your image is already small, I suggest adding a height or width adjustment as outlined in Step 3 of the Inserting an Image into the Text section above.
6. When all other settings are as desired, click Compile.
Using an Image as an End-of-Text Marker
Want to mark the end of your manuscript with a special image? The process is similar to those outlined above. NOTE: This only works with Print, PDF, and text-type output, not e-books.
1. Import the image as outlined in Step 1 of the Inserting an Image into the Text section above.
2. Open the Compile window (File—>Compile), and make sure that the All Options button is selected at the top.
3. Select the Layout tab at the left.
4. Select Mark End of Text With checkbox.
5. In the Mark End of Text With text box, type <$img:ImageName>.
6. When all other settings are as desired, click Compile.
I’ve been asked about inserting images into headers and footers, but headers and footers in Scrivener do not support the IMG tag at this time.
NOTE: If you have a lot of images to include and don’t want to bloat your project, you can also use the image tag to reference files that are not imported to your project. You just need to know the file path. For example, the following IMG tag points to a file on my hard drive and resizes it to 100 pixels in height. If you center it and preserve the formatting, the picture will be centered. Just make sure not to move the original image without modifying the in the IMG tag.
<$img:/Users/Evergreen/Pictures/BernSuisse1980.jpg; h=100>
For a good primer on how to copy a file’s path on a Mac, check out: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57578129-263/how-to-copy-a-file-path-in-os-x/.
Got more Scrivener questions? Check out my Scrivener Tips page, or my book Scrivener For Dummies.
Good luck!
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