Scrivener Tips at Writer Unboxed
Hey, I'm over at WriterUnboxed.com today with a bunch of handy Scrivener tips for you. Stop by to learn more or ask me a question!
Hey, I'm over at WriterUnboxed.com today with a bunch of handy Scrivener tips for you. Stop by to learn more or ask me a question!
To celebrate Tech Tuesday—yes, it’s a thing (that I made up)—all of my Scrivener classes are 20% off through December 3rd with coupon code CT2018!
Want to love Scrivener but just can’t figure it out? Already love it but wish you were more comfortable with it? Or maybe compiling is your Achilles’ heel.
I have a class for you!
Scrivener 3 Fundamentals (Mac)
Scrivener 3 Compile Mastery (Mac)
Jump Into Scrivener 3 for Mac (FREE transition course for Scrivener 2 users)
Scrivener 1 for Windows: The Basics and Beyond
Scrivener 2 for Mac: The Basics and Beyond
Let me take you through Scrivener step by step. Every course lets you work at your own pace, and includes:
Don’t have time right now? No worries. Register today and start learning when the holiday craziness is over (or whenever you’re ready). Classes never expire.
No need to rush, except to take advantage of this deal. Coupon CT2018 expires Monday, December 3rd.*
Enjoy the season,
P.S. Feel free to share this with a friend. Or a loving family member, you know, as a hint. 😉
*Coupon expires December 3, 2018 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. Don’t miss out!
Scrivener 3 for Mac is here! To celebrate, I’ve created a free mini-course to help you transition from Scrivener 2 that covers what’s moved (with a downloadable table of menu commands), what’s changed, and what’s new.
In addition, I’ll be rolling out new Scrivener 3 for Mac courses over the next few weeks. I’m going to be taking a slightly different approach this time around, while offering the same style of teaching that you’ve told me you love. I hope you’ll check them out. To make sure you get notified when new classes are live, you can join my newsletter, follow this blog, or check ScrivenerClasses.com from time to time.
Windows users: There’s still good news. The Scrivener 3 for Windows public beta released today as well, and the full software is due next year. When the time comes, I’ll have classes for you too. 😉
With Print-on-Demand (POD) services like CreateSpace, Lulu, LightningSource and others, you can make your book available to your readers with no upfront cost to you. Even better, with Scrivener you don’t even have to use Word to do it. You can just set up everything in Compile and create a POD-ready file. If you’re not interested in POD, the following steps still apply to creating a PDF for other purposes.
By necessity, this lesson requires some familiarity with the parts of Compile, though I do try to explain as much as possible. It's geared for those who have experience with Compile, but can't quite figure out how to get their PDF to be upload ready.
You’ll need to do some reading to determine the formatting requirements for the POD service you’re using. All of them publish guidelines on their websites. For this lesson, we’ll follow the guidelines for printing a 5.25”x8” book for CreateSpace.
NOTE: This example assumes a project with chapter folders and one or more scene documents within each chapter. You'll have to adjust your settings accordingly if you have your project set up differently.
(Sorry, the full capability is Mac only until 3.0 comes out, but I get this question so frequently I figured I should finally write it up. 🙂 )
For your PDF, your title page and other front matter may be formatted differently than for an e-book. You may also want them in a different location. For example, I put my acknowledgments and copyright at the back of an e-book, but the front of a print book. It’s up to you. It’s probably easiest to have two versions of the front matter items with each in its appropriate spot, which you can include/exclude in the Contents tab as desired. For the purposes of this article, I have my front matter in the Draft/Manuscript folder.
TIP: For documents with non-standard text and layouts (title page, dedication, copyright, embedded titles of front or back matter items that aren’t marked As-Is in the Contents pane), you might want to preserve the formatting before you compile. To do so, select the text that needs to be preserved in the Editor (before you open Compile), then go to Format—>Formatting—>Preserve Formatting.
If you need to force a blank page to get your first chapter to start on a right-hand page, you can insert a text document with only the following at the top of the page: <$BLANK_PAGE>. Without that tag, Scrivener will remove the blank page during the compile process.
Ensure that all desired files are selected for inclusion, have forced page breaks if needed (for exceptions to your Separators rules like front and back matter items), and are set to As-Is if needed (for exceptions to the rules set in Formatting).
This tab lets you choose which type of layout to produce when working with PDF files.
The separators tab is where you set the rules for what Scrivener “prints” as it transitions from one file to the next. Select the Separators tab and make the following selections.
This is where we can set the formatting for each type of file at each level within the hierarchy. We can adjust the settings for chapter auto-numbers, titles, and text.
Title Adjustments: Use the Title Adjustments pane if you need to suppress title prefixes (chapter auto-numbering) or suffixes for any specific document (this only applies to those not marked “As-Is”). Just click the gear button to choose the documents to suppress. This is most useful when you have a prologue or epilogue and don't want it to be marked “Chapter One.”
Layout: I suggest you leave the Layout pane as it is. It’s good to have a * * * inserted when a scene break falls on a page break to avoid confusion.
Transformations: You shouldn’t need to make any changes to the Transformations pane unless you need to remove highlighting, text color, or hyperlinks.
PDF Settings: Leave as is. The Generate PDF Outline doesn’t really apply to POD. It just allows a PDF viewer to have an outline of the document.
Footnotes & Comments: All should be as needed unless you’re using footnotes. We mainly just want to ensure comments and annotations are removed (so readers can't see our notes to ourselves).
This is where you set up the correct paper size, header space, and margins for you document. Read the publisher guidelines carefully to determine what you need.
How you set up the headers and footers is up to you. I’m walking you through what I did for Blind Fury and Blind Ambition. I based these settings on a major publisher’s book with a layout that I liked.
Whew! We’re ready now. You can add/change any of the items in the Meta-Data tab, but it’s not necessary. Also, we’re not using the Quick Font Override in this instance because we’re using different fonts for the headers and the book text.
Here’s where we get to check it for issues. Locate your PDF file and open it in Preview (this should be the default unless you have different Adobe PDF viewer or creator, which is fine). Here's what mine looks like in Two Page view.
NOTE: Depending on how you view it, the margins and headers may appear incorrect, but remember that we’ve set it up so that the bound side of the page has an extra .5” margin, so everything will look a bit off center. Also, when you upload the file to create your book, the first page (title page) will be on the right, but in preview it may appear on the left (mine usually displays on its own page).
Another thing to notice is that Preview has set the page size to match the 5.25×8 settings. If you print this on letter-size paper, there will be a lot more white space around it. This preview is how the book pages would look before binding.
TIP: I’d also recommend you print out the first chapter or so to make sure everything looks correct in print. In your printer settings, make sure the Scale is set at 100%, not “Scale to Fit: Fill Entire Paper.”
If everything looks good, you’re ready to upload!
Good luck creating your PDF! Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.
It takes a lot of mint green tea and dark chocolate to fuel these posts. If you found something helpful, please consider a small donation to my pantry (via PayPal, cc accepted). Thank you!
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Both Scrivener for Mac and Scrivener for Windows received updates recently (to 2.7 and 1.9, respectively). You’ll notice some small changes in the interface—e.g. the Inspector buttons are now at the top of the Inspector for better visibility—and a few new options, but the biggest modifications seem to be under the hood.
New File Structure
In order to make them compatible with future mobile applications, the Scrivener project format has been updated. When you open a current project, you’ll be asked to convert it to the new format. A backup copy will be created in the same folder in case you have any issues. Updated projects—and those created with the new versions—will not open on older versions of Scrivener. They are still compatible between Mac and Windows as long as both computers have the latest software update.
New SCRIVX name (Windows)
Along with the new file structure, the project.scrivx file that resides within your project folder (<filename>.scriv) will now share the same name as the project folder, rather than the generic word “project.” For more on how the file system works for PCs, check out my post on Scrivener Basics.
New Tutorial
Both versions have an updated tutorial. I recommend the tutorial as a great way to get an overview of what Scrivener has to offer. Don’t feel like you have to remember everything you learn, just know that it’s there.
Have you updated yet? What’s cool? Any complaints?
For a detailed list of changes, visit to the Change List page for Mac or Windows. For more Scrivener help, check out Scrivener For Dummies, or my online courses.
As promised, registration is now open for the fall round of Scrivener online courses. Sign up today!
– Scrivener I: The Basics and Beyond, September 14-30, 2015
– Scrivener II: Intermediate and Advanced Concepts, October 19-November 4, 2015
– Scrivener Master Course: Compile, Dec 7-16, 2015
For more information and registration, check out the Scrivener Courses page.
(If you're waiting for a Compile class, don't worry. The next one starts December 8th.)
2. We're getting a new classroom environment, one that I hope will provide some of the benefits of the previous platform, but without the technical problems.
The new classroom is set up like a web forum. Not as pretty, but it allows for organizing Q&A by topic, and makes the content searchable. A big plus for those who can't remember where they saw a post.
To learn more–and/or to register–keep reading! Or, for more detailed information on all of my upcoming courses, visit the course page on my website.
Scrivener I: The Basics and Beyond
Date: September 8-24, 2014
Price: $25
This class will teach you how to customize your Scrivener projects for the way you write. You’ll also learn simple but powerful tools for organizing, visualizing, revising, and sharing your work.
This workshop is for anyone with a beginning to intermediate level of experience with Scrivener.
Prerequisites: Download/install Scrivener on your computer (the free trial is fine).
Topics include:
– Creating a New Project/Scrivener Overview
– Working with documents and folders: moving, renaming, splitting and merging, grouping
– Adding synopses and viewing them in the Corkboard
– Using and customizing the label and status fields and color coding your documents
– Working with document and project notes
– Creating references to research material, notes, and pictures
– Using split screen and full screen composition modes- Creating backups and getting help
– Understanding the basics of compiling (exporting) your work to other formats
Format: The course is conducted in a virtual classroom, which allows me to post daily lessons in DOC and PDF for students to download, and provides a forum for asking/answering questions. The course also includes a weekly video screencast where I answer student questions through an on-screen demonstration.
Prerequisites: Scrivener I, or a good understanding of the topics covered in Scrivener I (see course description above), and Scrivener installed on your computer.
Topics include:
– Using advanced search and replace functions
– Creating saved searches and collections
– Tracking progress and viewing project statistics, including word frequency
– Using annotations, comments and footnotes
– Working with the Corkboard & Outliner (advanced concepts)
– Using snapshots to save older versions of your work
– Creating custom project templates
– Compiling (exporting) your work to other formats, printing synopses, index cards, and outlines
Format: The course is conducted in a virtual classroom, which allows me to post daily lessons in DOC and PDF for students to download, and provides a forum for asking/answering questions. The course also includes a weekly video screencast where I answer student questions through an on-screen demonstration.