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Introduction
A guide on how to process your Manuskript project(book) into a proper E-Book. Here, I'll teach you everything about processing the project using Calibre. Follow along and let's go.
What you Need
First, the requirements for this are: Manuskript app, you can download it here. Even though, if you are reading this, you may already be using it. Finished Manuskript project, if you are reading this, you may have it finished already. Calibre E-Book Manager. Calibre is a free app to manage, process files into ebook form and convert files between devices. Download at Calibre Website. Pandoc Format Converter. Manuskript requires this to convert your project to formats beyond its scope of work. Download at its official website.
Understanding Manuskript and Pandoc Exports
First, let's understand what formats Manuskript can export to: Manuskript exports to Text(TXT), HTML, Markdown(simple webpages) and OPML(mostly used to fetch news). Now, for Pandoc: It extends Manuskript's capabilities to export to Markdown, LaTeX(TeX format), HTML, EPUB(best format), Open Document (OpenOffice and Libre Office), DocX(Word 2010 and above), reST(never heard of this) and OPML(fetch news). Pandoc has MANY more formats it can export to, but you need to use its own command-line utility for that.
Exporting From Manuskript
Before exporting, please check your Manuskript texts to see if there aren't ANY markdown tags(like *[italics in Markdown]). This should be done in the editor window. Re-read your text files to see if you spot any markdown tags.
With that done, press F6 to open the Compile(Export) menu. In this, we will do another cleanup.
In Export To, select EPUB(ePub).
Right below the EXPORT TO dropdown, click the CONTENT menu, which will open the Content mini-window. In this, marked folders will show up as headers(titles) in your exported document. Be sure to mark all Text File levels(1, 2 and 3). Mark the folder levels you want.
Next one is Splits, but you leave as is, as we will do Split through Calibre.
Next one is Transformations. This is one of the key functions in this guide. Apply the transformations below(MD means MarkDown):
Replace \n(new line in MD) With <p>(paragraph in HTML);
Replace ##(chapter marker in MD) with <h2>(heading 2 in HTML).
Next one is Pandoc, but, leave this one as is. If I see anything better in this, I'll update this guide.
Final one is Preview, which there is no use for us, as Pandoc doesn't provide a file preview.
The final step in this is to click EXPORT and save your EPUB file in a good folder.
TIP: Create a EXPORT folder in the folder where your MSK file is.
TIP 2: Or, you can export your EPUB file in the same folder as the MSK file.
With the export done, check the folder to see if the file exported successfully.
Messing With Calibre
Next, close Manuskript and launch Calibre.
Import your EPUB file by clicking ADD BOOK. Then, go to Preferences, Common Options, Look and Feel, Styling tab.
In the text box, input the styling text below:
body { margin: 0; }
p {margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding: 0pt; text-indent: 15pt; text-align: justify;}
h1 { text-align: center; }
h2 {text-align: center; font-weight: 600; font-size: x-large; padding-bottom: 20pt; page-break-before: always;}
h3 { text-align: center; padding-bottom: 20pt; font-weight: 600; font-size: xx-large }
h4 { text-align: center; }
h5 { text-align: center; }
h6 { text-align: center; }
img {text-align: center;}
This styling text above will set your book to the best look. Go to Structure Detection, click the Chapter Mark dropdown and select Page Break. This will insert a page break(start a new page) at every chapter. Click Apply and Close.
Restart Calibre and right click your book, then click Convert Books.
In the conversion Window, go all the way to Search and Replace.
In Search Regular Expression, input </h2>. In Replacement Text, input </h2><p>.
This replacement will create a paragraph for the first block just after the title.
Then, click OK. Calibre will open up a job in its job manager(lower right corner of the screen). The conversion may take a few seconds(HTML to EPUB) or minutes(to PDF). The time also depends on how long your book is.
Once the conversion is complete, select the book and Press the V key on your keyboard to view the book. V key is the standard VIEW BOOK key in Calibre.
After conversion, Calibre will rename the old EPUB as ORIGINAL_EPUB and the new file as EPUB. Pushing V will open the EPUB file(it's the default, unless there is no EPUB format).
ATTENTION: If you are converting a HTML document from yWriter or other editors, leave Chapter Mark as Rule(inserts a line at the end of a chapter).
This Calibre Chapter Mark configuration is only for Manuskript books.
Making it Permanent
If you don’t want to keep changing the Chapter Mark and Search and Replace settings in Calibre do these steps:
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Click Preferences, then click Common Options.
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Click Structure Detection.
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Click Chapter Mark and select Page Break.
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Click Search and Replace. In Search Regular Expression, put
</h2>. In Replacement Text, put</h2><p>. -
Then click Apply and restart Calibre.