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Designs & adjusting them

A design sets the whole look of a book the way publishers set theirs: the typefaces, how chapters open, the running heads and page numbers, the ornament between scenes. Choose one and the printed book and the ebook both follow it. Adjust the design changes a few things without leaving it.

Choose a design​

  1. Open the project's Export page, on Print book or Ebook.
  2. Choose the Design.
  3. Press Preview to see it on every page.
DesignThe page
ClassicThe trade-fiction page: Garamond, a drop cap and small capitals at each chapter, the author and title in the running heads. A book that hasn't chosen is set in Classic.
ModernA contemporary page: Source Serif, a plain numeral over each chapter title, spaced capitals in the running heads.
LiteraryAn airy page: Lora with generous leading, deep chapter openings, the title in small capitals, a fleuron between scenes.
PoetryFor a collection of poems: each poem keeps its lines and indentation, with room around it.

Your own styles are listed under the designs too (Custom styles).

Adjust the design​

Adjust the design, below the design on the Export page, opens these choices. Each starts at As the design, which keeps the design's own choice; the folded row says how many you've changed.

ChoiceWhat it changes
TypefaceThe text face: EB Garamond, Lora, Source Serif, Playfair Display, Inter or Source Sans.
Text sizeFrom 9.5 to 13 pt (printed book).
Chapter openingsDrop cap, 2 lines; First words in small capitals; or Plain.
Between scenesThe ornament at a scene break: ⁂, * * *, ❧, or A blank line.
Chapters start onA right-hand page, as bound books do, or The next page, with no blank pages (printed book).
Running headsThe author and title at the top of the pages, or none (printed book).
ContentsHow deep the contents list goes, or none.
Dedication & epigraphWhether those pages show their title and appear in the contents, and where they sit on their page: near the top, a third of the way down, or centred.

Adjustments belong to the project, and As the design puts any of them back.

Every format follows it​

The design isn't only for the PDF. The ebook, the Word file and the web page open chapters the same way: the chapter number and title together, the same drop cap or small capitals, the same ornament, the same typefaces. Only the manuscript for an agent stays plain, because a manuscript is meant to be.

See also​