Turn a Manuscript Into a Print-Style Interior PDF

A manuscript in a word processor is not a book. A book interior has a trim size, a wider margin on the binding side, chapters that open on a right-hand page, running heads, page numbers that sit in the outer corner and a copyright page in the right place. Self-publishing platforms want a PDF with all of that, and the usual route is expensive software or a template you wrestle with for an evening.

The short version: add your chapters to Book Interior Maker, choose the trim size and platform, set the type and margins, build the interior, flip through the spread preview, read the margin check, and download the PDF. It makes a text interior, which covers most novels, memoirs and non-fiction.

What it makes, and what it does not

The tool typesets your text itself, in your browser, so the manuscript is not uploaded. It lays out headings, paragraphs, bold and italic, lists, block quotes and scene breaks. It adds a title page, a copyright page, page numbers and running heads, and starts every chapter on a right-hand page if you want. It widens the inside margin as the page count grows.

It is deliberately a text interior. It does not place pictures, tables or footnotes, and it does not hyphenate words. The chapter list says so under your chapters: "Bold and italic are kept; images and tables are not." If your book relies on illustrations, tables or footnotes, this is not the tool for it. It also does not make a cover, and it does not promise any platform will accept the file. Its own tip is to run the platform's checker before publishing.

Step 1: bring in your chapters

There are two ways to add text. Drop files: .docx, .md or .txt, where one file is one chapter. A Markdown file with several lines starting "# " becomes several chapters, one per heading, and a file with no such heading is one chapter named after the file. A leading heading in a Word document becomes the chapter title. Or paste text into the box, give it a title if you like, and press Add pasted text as a chapter. Markdown headings, lists and bold work in pasted text.

Each chapter appears in a list with its word count, and you can rename it, move it up or down, or remove it. A line below the list gives the totals, such as the number of chapters and words. Check the order, because the chapters are set in exactly that order.

Two rules help the import. In Markdown, a line starting with # is a chapter, and lines starting with ## to #### are headings inside a chapter. A line of three dashes or asterisks becomes a scene break. In Word files, use the heading styles for headings and let the first heading be the chapter title, so the tool does not repeat it.

Step 2: title and copyright

Enter the book title, an optional subtitle, the author and an optional ISBN. The title page is centred on a right-hand page with the title large, the subtitle in italics and the author lower down. The copyright page text follows your title, author and ISBN until you edit it yourself, and a Reset to template link brings the default back. The tool notes that the template is a starting point and not legal advice, so edit it to fit your book. You can switch the title page and the copyright page off.

Step 3: size, platform and type

Choose a publishing platform and a trim size. The trim list narrows to the sizes the platform allows. The default is 6 by 9 inches on KDP, and the other sizes include 5 by 8, 5.25 by 8 and 5.5 by 8.5. A 4.25 by 7 pocket size is offered only for platforms that list it, because it is not one of KDP's sizes. An ebook-only platform is not offered, because a print interior does not apply to it.

The defaults are sensible for a novel: the embedded Literata serif font at 11 points, with line spacing of 1.35, justified text, a first-line indent on paragraphs, page numbers in the outer corner and running heads with the title on the left and the chapter on the right. Other fonts are Times and Helvetica, which are standard PDF fonts and are not embedded in the file. Font size can be 7 to 18 points, and line spacing 1.0 to 2.5. Paragraphs can have a first-line indent or a space between them. You can add "Chapter N" above each title.

Smaller type and tighter spacing make fewer pages, which lowers your print cost, but a book that is hard to read is not a bargain. Eleven point with 1.35 spacing is a comfortable starting point.

The margin rules, and why inside margins grow

Margins are in inches: top, bottom, outside and inside, which is the gutter next to the binding. The defaults are 0.75 at the top and bottom, 0.5 outside and 0.75 inside. The tool enforces floors of 0.5 inch at the top and bottom, for the running head and page number, 0.25 outside and 0.375 inside.

On KDP, the inside margin has to grow with the page count, because a thick book curves into the spine and hides more of the page. The tool follows KDP's table: 0.375 inch up to 150 pages, 0.5 up to 300, 0.625 up to 500, 0.75 up to 700, and 0.875 beyond. If your inside margin is below what the page count needs, the tool raises it and tells you in the result. Because the default inside margin is 0.75, a typical novel is already fine up to 700 pages. If you set the inside margin to 0.5 for a 400-page book, it is raised to 0.625. Other platforms use flat rules, such as 0.5 inch on every side, or 0.5 outside and 0.75 inside for Barnes and Noble Press, and smaller values are raised to those.

A worked page count

Here are real runs of the layout engine. A test manuscript of 10 chapters of 2,000 words each, 20,000 words in all, typeset in Times at 11 points with the default margins and spacing, came to 81 pages at 6 by 9 inches. The title page is page 1, the copyright page is page 2, and the first chapter opens on page 3, a right-hand page. Each later chapter opened 8 pages after the one before. The same text at 5 by 8 inches came to 102 pages. A longer test of 20 chapters of 3,000 words, 60,000 words in all, came to 202 pages at 6 by 9.

That gives a working rule for 6 by 9 with these settings: about 250 words a page, so 40 pages for every 10,000 words, plus a few pages of front matter and the blank pages that make each chapter open on the right. Treat the figures as a guide. The default Literata font is a little wider than Times, so your count will usually be somewhat higher, and your own spacing and paragraphs will move it. The tool tells you the real number as soon as you build. To estimate before you build, see our guide to estimating book pages from a word count, and Word Counter gives a quick total for your manuscript.

An odd page count triggers a note: the page count is odd, printers usually add or require a final blank page, so check with your platform.

Step 4: build, preview and check

Press Build interior. A progress message shows while the text is set, and then a spread viewer appears. It draws the real pages of the built file, two at a time like an open book, with a page-turn animation, and the first page sits alone on the right as it would in a printed book. Flip through it. Look at the chapter openers, a page with a list or a quote, and the last page of a chapter.

Under the preview, the result shows the number of pages, the pages where each chapter starts, and the margins that were actually used. Below that comes a check for your platform. For KDP it grades the trim size, the page count, the inside margin for that page count and the ISBN. The ISBN row shows a warning if you left it empty and explains that KDP assigns a free one for Amazon-only sales, but IngramSpark and most other retailers need your own. For other platforms the check covers trim size, margins and page count. The panel states plainly that these are estimates built from the rules in the tool and do not promise acceptance.

Any warnings, for example about characters the chosen font cannot draw, appear in a box below the check. The embedded Literata font handles other scripts by drawing them as pictures, while Times and Helvetica replace unsupported characters with a question mark, so choose Literata for a book with accented letters beyond the usual set.

Step 5: download

Download interior PDF saves the file, named after your title, such as my-novel-interior.pdf. The download is what uses a trial use. Building and previewing do not. If the file is too large for the platform's upload limit, Compress PDF reduces it, but compare the result with the original and do not shrink a file that is already within the limit. If you also want to assemble front matter, a cover and chapters in one workflow, Book Writing Toolbox is the broader set of tools, and our low-content book interior guide covers journals and planners.

Steps

1. Open Book Interior Maker and add your chapters from .docx, .md or .txt files, or paste them.
2. Check the chapter order and titles, and the word counts.
3. Enter the title, author and, if you have one, the ISBN. Edit the copyright text.
4. Choose the platform and trim size, then the font, size and line spacing.
5. Set the margins, and leave the inside margin at 0.75 inch unless you know you need more.
6. Press Build interior, flip through the spread preview, and read the margin check and warnings.
7. Download the PDF and run the platform's own previewer before you publish.

The tool is a Premium Application with 2 trial uses a day, then a $3 day pass or the $9.99 monthly plan.

Common mistakes

Leaving a heading in the Word file that repeats the chapter title. Using the same inside margin for a 600-page book as for a 100-page one. Choosing a trim size the platform does not list. Not checking the odd page count. Expecting pictures or tables to appear. Skipping the preview and finding a stray heading at the bottom of a page on the printed proof. And treating the built-in check as a guarantee instead of running the platform's previewer.

Summary

A print interior is a set of small, exact decisions, and the tool makes them for you while letting you change the ones that matter. Book Interior Maker sets your chapters in a chosen trim size, grows the inside margin with the page count, opens chapters on right-hand pages, shows a real two-page preview and checks the result against your platform's rules. More tools for authors are in the file tools category.

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What would you like the interior maker to handle next? Tell us on the contact page.