- Free Book Formatting
- Formatting My Book For Kdp
- Wd My Book Formatting
- Formatting A Book For Publication
This article originally appeared on BookBaby.com
Here are instructions on how to format your book using Microsoft Word on a Mac. Interior templates are also available on bookbaby.com/templates, where you can download a template for your book’s specific measurements.
List of all WD firmware and software available for download. For a 6″x9″ book, start by changing the paper size and the margins to match the dimensions of a US Trade, 6″ x 9″ book (these instructions are applicable to whatever book trim size you choose). Start by double-clicking on the ruler at the top of your document and bring up the document formatting window. Can anyone help me plz:) I need to format My book live 2T. I need to use it for iphoto and it has the wrong format. When I use the disk utility in mac, i am not abel to see the drive, cus it`s NSA. In this step-by-step guide, we show you how to format a paperback manuscript in Pages (Version 7.3) for Mac. Pages for iCloud may have reduced features. For more information about the differences, visit Pages Support. See our separate guides for formatting a paperback in Microsoft Word for Mac and Microsoft Word for Windows. Launch Disk Utility. Either head to Applications Utilities, or tap Command + Space and start typing.
US Trade
For a 6″x9″ book, start by changing the paper size and the margins to match the dimensions of a US Trade, 6″ x 9″ book (these instructions are applicable to whatever book trim size you choose).
Start by double-clicking on the ruler at the top of your document and bring up the document formatting window. Click on the “Margins” tab, then the “Page Setup” button. Click on “Paper Size,” then “Manage Custom Sizes.”
Make a new dimension by clicking on the “plus” button, and name it “US Trade.”
The paper size is actually going to be 6.25″ x 9.25″ to accommodate for the image bleed that Microsoft Word does not take into consideration. Image bleed allows images or colors to go to the edge of a page. When you print a book using commercial presses, it is essential to include this extra space beyond the trim line. (For more information, watch our “Image Bleed” tutorial.)
Once it’s set to 6.25″ x 9.25″, adjust the margins. For the top and bottom, set it to 0.44 inches and click “OK.” For the left and right, set it to one inch. You can increase gutter in the middle if you’d like to have a larger space running down where your book is bound.
Make your header and footer 0.5″ or 0.44” to match the top and bottom print margins.
Check “mirror margins” to set your book up like a printed book spread.
Chapters
Next, click the “Layout” tab.
If you would like your chapters to all start on a right-hand page,set each chapter as a new section break, and set those new sections to start on anodd page.
For headers and footers, select the “different odd and even” option if you want to have an author name on one side and the title of the book or chapter name on the other side. Select “different first page” if you don’t want to have your headers at the beginning of each chapter.
Now click “OK” to apply the changes to the whole document.
The page size is now set to U.S. Trade 6″ x 9″ as opposed to the 8.5″ by 11″ you probably started out with.
Basic formatting
Let’s continue with some basic formatting. Turn on “show all non-printing characters” to help you identify what type of breaks you are using.
Assuming you have the text of your book and your chapters defined, you will want to include a title page and a copyright page for the year of publication.
Do not hit the enter button several times to create a new page. Instead, go to “Insert > Break > PageBreak” to define a break in the page.
Now, you can design a title page. Type in your book title and increase the font size. Bring it down to about the middle of your first page.
This will print as our right-side title page when you first open your printed book. (For more information on how a printed book is laid out, please watch our “Book Pagination” tutorial.)
Now, add your copyright information to be on the backside of that title page. That will be on page two, so insert another page break.
Include the publication year and anything else you would like to list. Copyright information is typically down at the bottom of the page.
Next, insert a “Section break” (we recommend the “next odd page”), then highlight the chapter text. Click on the formatting style in the formatting palette or at the top of your document and select “Heading.” Now this will be defined as a “Chapter Heading.”
Go ahead and find where you designated chapter 2 and repeat the same instructions as before: insert a “section break odd page” and mark the chapter text as a “Heading.”
Table of Contents and more
After your Copyright page, insert a “section break.” Then, go to the “Insert” dropdown, select “Table of Contents,” pick a style, and insert it. Now you’ll see a “Table of Contents” list with page numbers.
Next, to set your footers, double-click in the area below your text. You’ll see they’re defined as odd and even page footers. Go to “Insert Page Numbers.” Choose to have them all align to the “Outside” or “Centered.” If you have them all aligned to the same side, half of them are will face the gutter and inside of your book. If you have them on the “Inside,” they are ALL going to be on your gutter side.
Free Book Formatting
You can choose whether or not to “Show numbers on the first page” by clicking or unclicking the appropriate box.
![Book Book](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134199601/136337596.jpg)
Next, double-click above your text to insert a header. If you chose earlier to set it up as different odd and even headers, you can put the “Author Name” on one side and the title of the book on the other.
Go to your “Basic Paragraph” style. After you change your page size from “US Letter” down to US Trade, you might find that your text is too large. Instead of 12 point font, we recommend size 10 or 11. You also might want to decrease or increase the space between your lines. You can set it “single” if you want it to be tight or “double” if you like a lot of space in-between. We recommend 1.5 for a happy medium.
Next is your text alignment: left-align, center-align, right-align, and justified. A lot of books are designed with justified text, but select what fits best for your book.
Steven Spatz: Breaking down barriers
Steven Spatz, BookBaby President, is typically known for his calm and reasoned demeanor around the office. But that didn’t stop him from wielding a sledgehammer to literally and metaphorically break down barriers for independent authors. Literally, in that we’re expanding our BookBaby office to house our growing team and operation. Metaphorically… well, because BookBaby helps break down the barriers for writers to become self-published authors. But you already knew that.
See more how-to videos at theBookBaby YouTube channel.
If you have any other questions, be sure to send us an email [email protected] we’ll get back to you!
This post was excerpted and adapted fromHow to Format Your Book Using Microsoft Word on a Mac.
About BookBaby
Based in the Philadelphia-area,BookBabyis a team of authors, poets, bloggers, and artists — so they know the thrills and challenges of bringing a book into this world.
Since 2011,BookBabyhas helped thousands realize their publishing goals by offering the largest eBook distribution network, including Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and many other popular retailers in over 170 countries around the globe.
Learn more atwww.BookBaby.com.
Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.
Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk.
Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.
How to erase your disk
- Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
If you're not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. - Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar in Disk Utility. The sidebar now shows your disks (devices) and any containers and volumes within them. The disk your Mac started up from is at the top of the list. In this example, Apple SSD is the startup disk:
- Select the disk that you want to erase. Don't see your disk?
- Click Erase, then complete these items:
- Name: Type the name that you want the disk to have after you erase it.
- Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
- Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
- Click Erase to begin erasing your disk and every container and volume within it. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
- When done, quit Disk Utility.
- If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk.
Formatting My Book For Kdp
How to erase a volume on your disk
- Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
If you're not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. - In the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the volume that you want to erase. The volume your Mac started up from is named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name. Don't see your volume?
- Click Erase, then complete these items:
- Name: Type the name that you want the volume to have after you erase it.
- Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
- If you see an Erase Volume Group button, the volume you selected is part of a volume group. In that case, you should erase the volume group. Otherwise, click Erase to erase just the selected volume. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
- When done, quit Disk Utility.
- If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the volume you erased, reinstall macOS on that volume.
Reasons to erase
Wd My Book Formatting
You can erase at any time, including in circumstances such as these:
- You want to permanently erase all content from your Mac and restore it to factory settings. This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac.
- You're changing the format of a disk, such as from a PC format (FAT, ExFAT, or NTFS) to a Mac format (APFS or Mac OS Extended).
- You received a message that your disk isn't readable by this computer.
- You're trying to resolve a disk issue that Disk Utility can't repair.
- The macOS installer doesn't see your disk or can't install on it. For example, the installer might say that your disk isn't formatted correctly, isn't using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system, or can't be used to start up your computer.
- The macOS installer says that you may not install to this volume because it is part of an Apple RAID.
About APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra or later can erase using either the newer APFS (Apple File System) format or the older Mac OS Extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you.
How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the Format menu. If it can't, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS. If you want to change the format, answer these questions:
- Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac?
If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended. - Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk?
If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS—without erasing your files. - Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer?
Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for any disk that you plan to use as a Time Machine backup disk or as a bootable installer. - Will you be using the disk with another Mac?
If the other Mac isn't using macOS High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Earlier versions of macOS don't work with APFS-formatted volumes.
How to identify the format currently in use
If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:
- Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
- Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
- Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.
If your disk or volume doesn't appear, or the erase fails
- Shut down your Mac, then unplug all nonessential devices from your Mac.
- If you're erasing an external drive, make sure that it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is good. Then turn the drive off and back on.
- If your disk or volume still doesn't appear in Disk Utility, or Disk Utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or Mac might need service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.
Learn more
Formatting A Book For Publication
- If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, you can use a different startup disk instead.
- If Disk Utility shows a Security Options button in the Erase window, you can click that button to choose between a faster (but less secure) erase and a slower (but more secure) erase. Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead. These secure-erase options aren't offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.