BookSpace
Getting Started

Getting Started with BookSpace

This guide covers the basic workflow: create a project, organize your manuscript, edit pages, preview the book, and export an EPUB or DOCX file.

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Install BookSpace from Mac or Windows. On mobile, use this page to review the workflow first.

Start BookSpace

The home screen lets you create a new project, open a sample project, or continue from a saved file. If this is your first time, start with Quick Start to get familiar with the workspace.

Start New Project

Start with an empty book. Use this when you want to paste in a manuscript or import a file.

Sample Quick Start

Open a sample project and review the basic editing flow.

Open Open File

Select a saved .bksp project from your computer.

Recent Continue Work

Reopen the most recently saved project. If a saved file is available, its file name is shown with the action.

Help Help

Review the basic workflow and keyboard shortcuts from the home screen.

Workspace

BookSpace is organized around three areas: structure on the left, editing in the center, and page or book settings on the right.

Document tree View front matter, body pages, back matter, and page order. Drag pages to reorder them.
Editor Edit the title and body of the selected page. Switch to preview to check the book layout.
Tool panel Set page properties, design options, book information, export options, and version history.
Side toolbar Switch right-side tools, import files, and export the project. When a page is available, footnotes/endnotes and find-and-replace are available. Version history appears after the project has been saved.

Create your first book

  1. Open New Project or Quick Start.
  2. Add a blank page from the document tree.
  3. Enter the title and body in the editor.
  4. Add more pages and drag them into the right order.
  5. Set page types such as body, prologue, copyright, or afterword.
  6. Enter the book information needed for distribution.
  7. Adjust fonts, alignment, spacing, and background in the design panel.
  8. Check the preview, then export as EPUB 3.

Save and open projects

BookSpace saves projects as .bksp files. Auto-save helps, but it is still best to press Cmd/Ctrl + S after major edits.

  • New Project: create a new book.
  • Open File: open an existing .bksp file.
  • Recent Projects: reopen files you worked on recently.
  • Save: save the current project.

Structure and edit

A BookSpace page becomes one document inside the EPUB. Keep chapters, prologues, copyright pages, and afterwords as separate pages when they serve different roles.

Manage structure

  • Add a page to create a new document.
  • Rename pages by double-clicking in the document tree or editing the title field above the editor.
  • Change page type to assign front matter, body, or back matter roles. The page moves to the matching section.
  • Drag and drop pages to reorder them, or place chapters under a part to build hierarchy.
  • Before using delete on a page, check that any important text has been saved.

Edit body text

  • Select text to use quick tools such as bold, italic, strikethrough, alignment, superscript/subscript, and links.
  • Type / to add headings, dividers, images, lists, quotes, and note boxes.
  • Add images from the slash menu, by dragging files into the editor, or by pasting from the clipboard.
  • Add alt text for meaningful images, and adjust image width or captions when needed. Supported formats are JPEG, PNG, WebP, and GIF.
  • Add footnotes and endnotes from the side toolbar while the center area is in edit mode.
  • Use find and replace for the current page or whole project, and review matches before running replace all.

Design and metadata

Use the design panel to set fonts by document type, title/subtitle/body sizes, title alignment, background color, line height, letter spacing, paragraph spacing, and maximum image width. The Layout button near the top of the editor also gives quick access to common spacing and image-width settings.

Cover and logo Add front cover, back cover, and publisher logo images. Choose images by clicking or dragging them in. Portrait images work best for covers.
Book information Title, author, and language are close to required. You can also enter subtitle, publisher, ISBN/ISSN/UUID/ASIN/DOI identifiers, links, and book description.
Design settings Use the save button at the bottom of the panel after editing book information. Reader apps may still handle fonts, margins, and line breaks differently, so test the exported file before distribution.

Import and export

You can import EPUB, DOCX, and Markdown files. After import, review the document tree and body text. Complex source files may import with some style or image placement differences.

Import DOCX

Bring in a Word manuscript and organize it into BookSpace pages.

Import EPUB

Open an existing EPUB file and continue editing its structure and body text.

Export EPUB 3

The recommended export format for most new ebook distribution workflows.

Export DOCX

Use this when you need a document file for review or sharing.

Export the final book as DOCX, EPUB 2, or EPUB 3 depending on where it will be used. For ebook distribution, EPUB 3 is usually the right choice. Before EPUB export, review title, subtitle, publisher, links, ISBN, description, and language. EPUB export can include fonts to preserve the intended design more closely, but embedded fonts increase file size.

Version restore

Save before and after major edits. If a bulk replace goes wrong or the manuscript gets messy, use Version History in the right panel to return to an earlier state.

  • Review auto-save and manual-save history.
  • Refresh the save points when needed.
  • Press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + V to open version history.
  • Restore to the current file to replace the project with the selected older version.
  • Restore to a new file to keep your current work and save the older version separately.

Recommended habits

  • Split large manuscripts into parts and chapters.
  • Keep copyright pages, prefaces, body chapters, and afterwords as separate pages when they have different roles.
  • Enter title and author information early.
  • Add alt text to meaningful images whenever possible.
  • Before export, review headings, images, dividers, and list placement in the body.
  • Run a manual save with Cmd/Ctrl + S immediately before export.

Suggested first-time sequence

  1. Open Quick Start to learn the sample book structure.
  2. Select a page in the document tree and rename it.
  3. Type / in the body to add a heading, image, or quote.
  4. Change fonts and background color in the design panel.
  5. Create a new project, then import or paste your real manuscript.
  6. Enter book information and export as EPUB 3 or DOCX.

Troubleshooting

I cannot save or open a project

The file may have moved, or BookSpace may not have permission to access the folder. Save to another folder, or use Open File to select the current .bksp file directly.

A recent file will not open

The file may no longer exist at the path saved in the recent file list. If you moved the file, use Open File and select it from the new location.

An image will not insert

The image may be blocked by file type, file size, or resolution limits. Save it again as JPEG or PNG, or reduce very large images before inserting them.

The preview and final reader look different

EPUB readers can handle fonts, margins, and line breaks differently. Use BookSpace preview while editing, then test the exported file in the reader you plan to use.

Book information is not applied

After editing book information, check that you pressed the save button at the bottom of the panel. Saving may be rejected if title, author, or language is empty. For custom languages, use language-tag formats such as ko, en, ja, or zh-Hans.

I ran replace all by mistake

If the project was saved, use Version History in the right panel to restore an earlier saved version. Before restoring, consider saving the current state as a separate file.