Move your book from Scrivener

1Step 1: Compile your manuscript to a Word (.docx) file in Scrivener

InkSpine does not open .scriv bundles directly yet, so the cleanest way to move a book across is to compile your Scrivener manuscript to a single .docx file first. That gives InkSpine's importer clean chapter headings, scene breaks, italics, block quotes, and footnotes without having to guess which binder folders are draft chapters and which are scratch notes.

1. Open your project in Scrivener and select the Draft (or Manuscript) folder in the binder.
2. Choose File → Compile….
3. At the top of the Compile window, set Compile for to Microsoft Word (.docx).
4. In the left-hand Formats list, pick Manuscript (Times) or a similar format, and make sure each chapter's title is written as a Word heading style (Heading 1 or Heading 2) so InkSpine can split the book into chapters.
5. Click Compile and save the .docx file to your Desktop or Documents folder.

2Step 2: Open the Import wizard in InkSpine

Once your .docx file is saved, start the four-step importer (Choose › Options › Preview › Import):

1. On the Welcome screen, click Import. If you already have a project open, go to the Dashboard and click Import book… beside Books in this series.
2. On the Choose step, click Choose file… and select the .docx file you compiled from Scrivener, or drag the file straight onto the dialog.

3Step 3: Check your chapter and part heading levels

On the Options step, InkSpine scans the heading styles in your compiled document and proposes where chapters and parts begin.

1. Confirm the Book title (pre-filled from your filename).
2. Check Chapters start at. The dropdown lists every heading level found in the file alongside the chapter count it produces (for example, At Heading 1 — 24 chapters). Pick the level Scrivener used for your chapter titles.
3. If your Scrivener binder used top-level folders for Part I, Part II, or acts, set Parts to that shallower heading level (such as Heading 1 when chapters are Heading 2). Otherwise leave Parts set to None.
4. Choose Save to (the parent folder on your drive where InkSpine will create your new project folder) and pick What are you writing? (Fiction, Memoir & life writing, or Non-fiction & research).

4Step 4: Review the chapter list and import

Click Preview to read the chapter list before anything is written to disk.

1. Scan the numbered chapter list and per-chapter word counts. Click any chapter title to rename it inline, drag a row by its left-hand grip (⋮⋮) to change the order, or click × on a row to leave out a scratch scene or notes document that slipped into the compile.
2. Check the Before you import box at the top of the preview:
   • Any text that appeared before your first chapter heading—such as a title page, epigraph, or dedication—is preserved automatically as a Front Matter page rather than dropped or merged into Chapter 1.
   • Word footnotes come through as Markdown footnotes ([^1]) at the point of reference, and endnotes become footnotes.
   • Anything plain Markdown does not carry (such as underlined text, tables, or embedded images) is named in the notice so nothing disappears without your knowledge.
3. Click the import button to create the project. InkSpine writes each chapter as a numbered .md file inside your new project folder and opens your project.

5Step 5: Bring across character sheets and research notes

Your draft is only half of a Scrivener binder; the rest is usually character sheets, location notes, and research folders outside the Draft folder. You can bring those into InkSpine's Worldbuilding pages without copying and pasting one note at a time:

1. In Scrivener, select your character or research folders in the binder and choose File → Export → Files…. Export them as .docx, .rtf, .md, or .txt files.
2. In InkSpine, open Worldbuilding in the left rail (⌘5 on macOS, Ctrl+5 on Windows and Linux; called Knowledge in Memoir and Non-fiction modes).
3. Click Import… in the Worldbuilding header, or drag the exported files from Finder or Explorer straight onto the Worldbuilding screen.
4. Pick the entry kind (Character, Location, Lore, or Faction) for each file and confirm. Each file becomes an entry using its first heading or filename as the name and the document body as its long-form notes, and every mention of those names in your chapters is highlighted automatically.

InkSpine Free includes 10 active Worldbuilding entries per project shared across the four kinds; InkSpine Core removes the limit so you can import an entire series bible at once. For more on how the two apps compare day to day, see InkSpine vs Scrivener or the Scrivener section of the FAQ.

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