📖 Interior Formatter

What type of manuscript should I upload?

A Word document (.docx). It's the cleanest format to format from — export to DOCX from whatever you wrote in.

How should I prepare my DOCX before formatting?

Keep it simple and structural — use a Heading style for chapter titles, normal paragraphs for body text, and let the formatter handle the design.

Why were my fonts, margins, and spacing removed?

On purpose. The formatter replaces your Word styling with real book typography — that's the whole job. Your text and emphasis are kept.

Why did the formatter insert blank pages?

To make chapters (and front-matter pages) start on the correct side. Blank pages are intentional and standard in printed books.

Why did my final page count change?

Because the formatter re-typesets your book at real book size with professional spacing — the page count reflects the finished book, not your Word count.

Does the new page count update my cover?

Yes — the formatter writes your final page count back to the book so the cover's spine width stays correct. Re-export the cover after formatting.

How does the formatter identify chapters?

By your Heading styles. Each Heading 1 (or a line clearly marked as a chapter) becomes a new chapter that starts a fresh page.

What should I do if chapters are detected incorrectly?

Usually the fix is in your DOCX headings. You can also adjust chapter starts in the formatter's settings.

Which interior style should I choose?

Five coordinated settings — Literary, Modern, Genre, Compact, and Classic. Each is a body face, a size, a leading, and a chapter treatment that work together. Pick by genre and by how long you want the book to be.

Will my accents and special characters print?

Ordinary accented Latin is safe in every typeface here. Rarer marks are not — a Hawaiian ʻokina, Greek, Cyrillic, or a check mark exist in some of the six faces and not others. Check yours in the free proof.

Can I change the font or page-number placement?

Yes. Beyond the preset styles, you can adjust the typeface and where page numbers (folios) sit, along with other settings.

Can I set a second book exactly like the first?

Yes. Save the first book's style to a small file, then load it into the next one. Everything about the look travels; nothing about the manuscript does.

What does “Set it for me” do?

It measures your book, tries the settings that cost you nothing, and applies the best it finds — inside the style you already chose. Here is what it changes, what it leaves alone, and what the numbers beside it mean.

Which settings apply to the print book, and which to the ebook?

Most of the formatter's settings are about the printed page and have no meaning in an ebook, because an ebook is laid out by the reader's own device. A few settings are ebook-only.

How are widows and orphans handled?

The formatter manages them automatically — it avoids leaving a lone line stranded at the top or bottom of a page, the way a professional typesetter would.

Should I leave hyphenation on?

Yes, for a justified print interior — hyphenation is what keeps word spacing even in a narrow book measure. Turn it off and the gaps have nowhere to go.

What are ligatures, and should I leave them on?

Where two letters collide — an f's hook against an i's dot — type designers drew a single joined shape. Books have been set that way for five centuries. Leave it on.

What is Advanced Typeset?

It sets your whole book in every interior style, several ways in each, and shows you the best result each one reached — with a real page of your book beside it. A guide, not a verdict: the numbers measure how the pages fill, and the look is still your choice.

What is Page fill, and what is a river of white?

Page fill is how hard the formatter works to make every page end at the same depth. Filling harder costs slightly wider word spaces, and wide spaces are what open a river. Three settings, and the tool counts the cost on your book.

What makes the typesetting look professional?

Real book typesetting — whole-paragraph line breaking, hanging punctuation at the margin, proper hyphenation, and widow and orphan control — all on by default.

Why is a paragraph set with wide word spaces?

Justified text stretches its word spaces to reach both margins. Usually that stretch is invisible; sometimes a whole paragraph carries it and reads as a gray patch. The formatter finds those, measures them, and tells you how many words would settle each one.

What's inside the print PDF?

Text in pure black-plate ink so small type stays crisp, fonts fully embedded, and your title and author recorded in the file's properties.

How do scene breaks and ornaments work?

Type a simple mark in your manuscript and choose how it prints — a blank line, asterisks, bullets, or a dash. If you have your own ornament artwork, place it in the DOCX and the formatter treats it as a real scene break.

Why do chapters start on right-hand pages?

It's the traditional look for printed books, and it's the default. You can switch to letting chapters start on either page if you prefer.

Does it include front and back matter?

Yes, and there's a lot more of it than the basics. Build the pages in the free Front & Back Matter tool — a catalog of standard pages, plus blank pages for anything not on the list — and the formatter places them in the conventional order.

Is my EPUB accessible?

Yes — every EPUB carries the accessibility metadata stores increasingly require, declaring reading order, structural navigation, and no known hazards. This matters for EU distribution.

Can I add a table of contents?

Your EPUB always has a navigable contents that e-readers use for their menu. The "Contents page in EPUB" option adds a visible contents page on top of that. Print interiors don't get one.

Can it format images, tables, footnotes, or poetry?

Images yes — they carry into both the PDF and the EPUB, with real controls. Complex tables, footnotes, and multi-column layouts are still a poor fit, and verse needs care.

How are pictures in my manuscript handled?

Pictures in your DOCX are carried into both the print PDF and the EPUB. The formatter sorts them into ornaments, inline pictures, and full-page plates, and you can override any single one.

Can it handle nonfiction books?

Yes, for narrative nonfiction and memoir, including books with pictures. Reference books that lean on complex tables and footnotes are still a poorer fit.

The export says I have a color picture — what do I do?

A printer charges for a color interior by the page for the whole book, so one picture with color in it can reprice all 300 pages. Press "Set it in gray for print" on the warning and the charge goes with it — your ebook keeps the picture in color.

What trim sizes are supported?

The common trade-book sizes — 5×8, 5.25×8, 5.5×8.5, and 6×9 inches. Pick the same trim in the interior and the cover.

Does the interior PDF include bleed?

The interior is sized to your exact trim with a proper print box, no bleed for ordinary text pages. That's what KDP and IngramSpark expect.

How are the margins and the gutter decided?

The outside margin comes from your trim size and style; the gutter comes from your page count, because a thick book has to be opened further to be read. One interior file is composed to satisfy both KDP and IngramSpark.

What is in the export report?

A text file that downloads alongside your interior, measuring the book you actually exported — what changed from your file, every setting used, and the things worth a second look.

What is the difference between the PDF and EPUB downloads?

The PDF is your fixed-layout print interior; the EPUB is a reflowable ebook. You get both from the same manuscript.

How do I test the EPUB before publishing?

Open it in a real e-reader — Apple Books, Calibre, Thorium, or Amazon's Kindle Previewer — and page through it before you upload.

What can I actually set for the ebook?

Only the few things a reading device cannot decide for itself — where the book opens, how deep the contents list goes, whether there's a visible Contents page, and the cover image.

Why does my EPUB look different on different devices?

Because an EPUB is meant to reflow. Readers choose their own font, size, and margins — the ebook adapts, and that's correct behavior.