Using the Compiler

[Marilynx]

Well, I done did it for the fifth year in a row. Completed NaNoWriMo. Scrivener claimed I had 85,179 words. Word said I had 85,123 words. And the validator thing-a-ma-bob at the NaNoWriMo website said I finished up at 85,560. I believe this is the longest one to date. I averaged around 3100 words per day. Now if I could just manage to roll out 15,000 words a week on the main story line.... AND get them back from the co-author!

Anyway. Using the compiler.

I did File => Compile =>

and tried a number of the formals. Proof was NOT what I wanted. Nor was Times 12 Pt With Bold Folder Titles. I tried a custom, and it was definitely not what I wanted since I couldn't find any way to set the Custom to the settings I wanted.

Clearly, I do not understand Compile, and am missing something.

Everything I output is dreadful, and will require massive amounts of reformatting to be useable.

This makes Compile virtually useless to me, since the idea of having this all set upis to be able to generate a fairly clean copy which only needs a few tweaks to be right. Not something I have to spend a day or more fiddling with.

I thought I would try generating a e-book, as I find it easier to spot mistakes when it's not on the familiar computer screen.

Well, Compile with a selection of mobi output tells me that to output this, I need to install KindleGen, a free tool from Amazon, and that to do so, I should follow the directions in the extended Compile dialogue.

Uh, what dialogue? Where? OK, finally found it, just that the video was confusing because it opened directly to a detailed menu. On my machine, I had a small box, and it wasn't until I thought to click the small arrow next to the "Custom" that I found the extended dialogue. (Yes, it's in the manual, but I was trying to follow the video.)

I've gone and watched three Compile Videos, and I can see how incredibly useful Compile can be.

But I've watched the videos, and I've read the manual section on Compile and I can't figure out how to get it to do what I want.

I've been doing page layout since Wordstar 3.3 on an Osborne 1. I'm really frustrated at not being able to figure out how to do this.

I set up a "Front Matter" Folder.
I have a Title Page.
I do not have a cover. (NOT an artist!)
I want my folder Titles to be flush left and bolded, with a blank line between them and the text.
I want each folder to have a page break before it.
I want a page size of 5.5" x 8.5 inches, with .7" margins all around.
I want paragraph first lines indented by .4"
I want all text except the folder Titles justified.

And I can't set it up.

[robertdguthrie]

Since no one else caught this, I'll take a shot at it. Note that not everything you might want is available to accomplish via the compiler; you should be able to get most of the way there, and hopefully, the remainder of the work will be easy to accomplish in a word processor.

I'm assuming here that you want to compile to either a PDF or a word processing output like RTF or Word. Choose one of those as the "Compile For:" option to reveal all relevant compiler panes.

1 I set up a "Front Matter" Folder.
2 I have a Title Page.
3 I do not have a cover. (NOT an artist!)
4 I want my folder Titles to be flush left and bolded, with a blank line between them and the text.
5 I want each folder to have a page break before it.
6 I want a page size of 5.5" x 8.5 inches, with .7" margins all around.
7 I want paragraph first lines indented by .4"
8 I want all text except the folder Titles justified.

(Note: having read through and tested out my answers, I realized that you need to start in an odd place to make #7 work. Go to Tools->Options->Editor. In the lower right area of that window, there's a "Ruler Units" drop down list. Make sure it's set to "Inches". Then edit the "Ruler Snap Every" to some fraction of .4 that will be useful to any other setup you might use. I tried ".050 inches", and that worked out well for me.)
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First, I'd suggest starting with the compile preset "Paperback Novel" or similar. This is your starting point, but don't choose it again unless you want to wipe out the changes you're about to make to those compile settings.

1. Go to the Contents pane of the compile window. Near the bottom, there's a checkbox labeled "Add front matter". Check it and then choose the front matter folder you have prepared.

2. The title page should be in your Front matter folder, and the "as-is" checkmark should be set for that document, so that centered text, font settings, and other stuff remain untouched by the compiler. If you have to close the compile window to do that now, click the "Save & Close" button on the compile window, or you'll have to do #1 over again.

3. If you don't need a cover, then no problem. If you do, then you need to make one, or hire/beg someone to make one for you. There might be some stock photo images available for cheap with the appropriate rights if you want to add the text over that.

4. In the Formatting pane of compile, select the row with the folder there should only be one, with the label "level 1+" next to it. Make sure the Title checkbox is checked. In the example below where the word "title" is shown, select it, then use the text styling tools to align it left and bold.
Click the Section Layout button and add a carriage return to the title suffix area to add the line between title and text.

Edit: For the blank line after the title, but before the main text, you could instead use the Separators pane. Select the "Single Return" value from the drop-down list in the "Folder and Text Separator" section.

5. Assuming you have scene documents organized in chapter folders, then the compile settings should already be set to put a page break before each chapter folder. This is controlled in the Separators pane of compile. "Page break" should be selected for the "Text and folder separator" to put one between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next.

6. Go to the Page Settings pane of compile. All the settings there for you to customize. Start with the "Paper Size" drop-down and select "Custom".

7. Assuming that you've set up your Tools->Options->Editor settings as described before this list of answers, just do the following. If not, then click the compile window's "Save & Close" button and then go update those settings now.

In the Compile window's Formatting pane, select the "Level 2+" document row. Then click the "Lorem Ipsum" text and adjust the paragraph indent slider on the ruler; it should show a tooltip as you adjust it, telling you how many inches it is indented to.

8. Still in the Formatting pane, on the Level 2+ text, click the button that shows 5 parallel lines, representing paragraphs that are right & left justified. There are 4 such buttons for left, centered, left & right, and right justification.


Once you've compiled with these settings, this compile setting will be saved to your project. Once you're done tweaking the settings, open the compile window again and click the "Save Preset…" button to create your own "Format as" compile preset for use with other projects.
Hope that helps!

[Marilynx]

Robert,

Thank you. I will copy this off and see if I can follow your directions.

I'm sure that once one understand what each piece of the layout for compiler DOES, it is relatively simple.

But it sure is confusing when you DON'T know what you're doing!

[Marilynx]

This what I see.

CompileIssue01.JPG (77.68 KiB) Viewed 2368 times

6. Go to the Page Settings pane of compile. All the settings there for you to customize. Start with the "Paper Size" drop-down and select "Custom".

Robert,

Your directions made sense up to the one above. I don't see a page set-up. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place?

[Marilynx]

Anyone who can tell me where the "Page Settings" is?

[SarsenLintel]

Page Settings shows up right at the bottom of the list.

Capture.PNG (7.41 KiB) Viewed 2314 times

But whether it shows up depends on which format you're compiling to. For instance, it doesn't show up when compiling to .epub or .mobi

[robertdguthrie]

To add to SarsenLintel's point, you also can't dictate page margins on e-readers, as far as I'm aware, especially not in absolute terms like inches. Imagine 1" margins all around on one of the smaller iPhones...

If you choose another output type (like Word or Rich Text), then you should be able to see the Page Settings panel. Scrivener hides irrelevant settings based on the output destination.

[Marilynx]

To add to SarsenLintel's point, you also can't dictate page margins on e-readers, as far as I'm aware, especially not in absolute terms like inches. Imagine 1" margins all around on one of the smaller iPhones...

If you choose another output type (like Word or Rich Text), then you should be able to see the Page Settings panel. Scrivener hides irrelevant settings based on the output destination.

Thanks to both of you. I've got a much better output at this point.

Except that I have evidently STILL done something wrong, as there is "Chapter One" and then no more chapter headings. There are page breaks between the files, just as I wanted, but no header.

[robertdguthrie]

There are two ways that the "Paperback Novel" preset (your starting point) handles "CHAPTER ___" headings. First, it's with "Level 1" folders. If you have a folder for every chapter break, and files in those folders representing scenes in the chapter, then you should be seeing each chapter automatically numbered.

The other way it handles this is if you write one chapter per file, and all those files are "level 1" files.

Understanding what "level 1" versus "level 2" means, and what constitutes a file icon in both the binder and the Formatting pane of compile is important to understanding how to get the output you want.

Do you understand these "levels"? Do you understand how a file or folder indented under another file or folder changes the "level"? If not, then that's where we need to clarify. If you do understand, then a screenshot of your binder, showing the first few chapters would be helpful to figuring this out.

[Marilynx]

There are two ways that the "Paperback Novel" preset (your starting point) handles "CHAPTER ___" headings. First, it's with "Level 1" folders. If you have a folder for every chapter break, and files in those folders representing scenes in the chapter, then you should be seeing each chapter automatically numbered.

The other way it handles this is if you write one chapter per file, and all those files are "level 1" files.

Understanding what "level 1" versus "level 2" means, and what constitutes a file icon in both the binder and the Formatting pane of compile is important to understanding how to get the output you want.

Do you understand these "levels"? Do you understand how a file or folder indented under another file or folder changes the "level"? If not, then that's where we need to clarify. If you do understand, then a screenshot of your binder, showing the first few chapters would be helpful to figuring this out.

I am beginning to understand, but I am not sure I do.

I have realized that I am going to have to rename my projects before I do the final compilation because the header which Scrivener is putting into the file is the project name, not the actual name of the work.

(We are working on a series, and to keep the folder structure correct in Word, the folders for each novel have been named things like 01Slipping, 02Roads, 03Strands, 04Shades, 05Shadows. I have similarly created Scrivener projects with those same names, plus "Scriv" so I know what folder I'm looking at.)

I attach a snip of the binder for the current project.

ScrivenerBinder_2014-12-12.JPG (36.42 KiB) Viewed 2241 times

[robertdguthrie]

The snapshot you gave is very helpful, but first I need to know what some of these folders/files are to your book...

Is "Fae Journey" a container for your whole book, a part title, or a chapter title? Is it some other divider that has nothing to do with the structure of your book?

Are Canada..., Merlin's... and so-forth chapters, or are they scenes within a chapter?

FYI, what you have here is a level 1 folder (Fae Journey), and a series of level 2 files. They're level two because they're indented a level "above" the level one folder (if you tilt your head to the right).

Think of "levels" the way you they are in traditional outlines, where the roman numerals are at level 1, the captial letters indented under them are at level 2, and so-forth.


Edit: BTW, the title of your project can be changed by going to the Project->Meta Data Settings menu. No need to create a new project just for compiling a different name from the project name.

[Marilynx]

The snapshot you gave is very helpful, but first I need to know what some of these folders/files are to your book...

Is "Fae Journey" a container for your whole book, a part title, or a chapter title? Is it some other divider that has nothing to do with the structure of your book?

Fae Journey is the title of the novel -- this was my NaNoWriMo project this year. It's about 85K. I did 3100 words a day, roughly.

Are Canada..., Merlin's... and so-forth chapters, or are they scenes within a chapter?

No, these are sections -- Chapters, I suppose. Some of the longer ones have sections which I didn't bother to break out. Basically, each one is a change of viewpoint character and change of location.

FYI, what you have here is a level 1 folder (Fae Journey), and a series of level 2 files. They're level two because they're indented a level "above" the level one folder (if you tilt your head to the right).

Think of "levels" the way you they are in traditional outlines, where the roman numerals are at level 1, the captial letters indented under them are at level 2, and so-forth.

Well, I'm doomed if I have to think of outlining, because I don't. I always used to just write, and then go back and create the outline after I'd finished the project.

Edit: BTW, the title of your project can be changed by going to the Project->Meta Data Settings menu. No need to create a new project just for compiling a different name from the project name.

That I found and corrected.

[robertdguthrie]

Is "Fae Journey" a container for your whole book, a part title, or a chapter title? Is it some other divider that has nothing to do with the structure of your book?

Fae Journey is the title of the novel

Are Canada..., Merlin's... and so-forth chapters, or are they scenes within a chapter?

No, these are sections -- Chapters, I suppose.

Well, you're going to have to decide if they're chapters, because we're working on putting "Chapter X" at the beginning of each of them. Of course, you can change what it says in front of the numbers, or just have it present the bare number. But that's getting ahead of things.

FYI, what you have here is a level 1 folder (Fae Journey), and a series of level 2 files. They're level two because they're indented a level "above" the level one folder (if you tilt your head to the right).

Think of "levels" the way you they are in traditional outlines, where the roman numerals are at level 1, the captial letters indented under them are at level 2, and so-forth.

Well, I'm doomed if I have to think of outlining, because I don't. I always used to just write, and then go back and create the outline after I'd finished the project.

No problem. Not suggesting you have to fill out an outline, only that the idea of outline indents can help contextualize what "levels" mean.

So, assuming your "Chapters, I suppose" are going to be "chapters, for sure," here's what to do.

In the Contents section of the compile window, there's a kind of button (a drop-down list) that reads "Manuscript". Click it, and from the list that appears, select Fae Journey. This will make the documents inside it act as if they are "level 1" folders. Sorry, this makes the whole "levels" thing confusing, but this will work. Now click compile, and you should get numbered chapters for each of the documents under the Fae folder.

By the way, if you would like to keep other books in the same Manuscript folder, you can. Just select the book you want to compile in the contents pane as described above.

[Marilynx]

So, assuming your "Chapters, I suppose" are going to be "chapters, for sure," here's what to do.

In the Contents section of the compile window, there's a kind of button (a drop-down list) that reads "Manuscript". Click it, and from the list that appears, select Fae Journey. This will make the documents inside it act as if they are "level 1" folders. Sorry, this makes the whole "levels" thing confusing, but this will work. Now click compile, and you should get numbered chapters for each of the documents under the Fae folder.

By the way, if you would like to keep other books in the same Manuscript folder, you can. Just select the book you want to compile in the contents pane as described above.

No, don't need more than one book in the same Manuscript file.

Once again, I'm not finding what you are describing. I attach a clip of what I saw when I clicked on Compile and then Contents.

Sorry to be so slow about this.

ScrivenerCompile_2014-12-14.JPG (72.39 KiB) Viewed 2162 times

[robertdguthrie]

Sorry, I didn't check your screenshots from earlier, and assumed you were using a Novel template, which renames "Draft" to "Manuscript." Follow my instructions in the previous post, but wherever you see the word "Manuscript" mentally substitute "Draft" for the name of the folder in question.