What is book formatting software?

Book formatting software lays out a manuscript as a finished book interior: trim size, margins, fonts, chapter openings, running heads and page numbers for print, and a reflowable EPUB for ebook stores. Familiar takes your Word manuscript and produces both from the same design.

Can I format a book for KDP and IngramSpark?

Yes. Every trim size in the picker is marked with the printers that offer it, the gutter grows with your page count the way KDP asks, and a print preflight checks page count, margins, gutter, embedded fonts and PDF/X before you download. The print PDF is PDF/X-1a, with bleed if you need it. You upload the files to KDP or IngramSpark yourself.

What file do I start from?

A Word document (.docx). Familiar finds your chapters, scene breaks and front matter in it. When you revise, upload the new version and each format shows that a newer manuscript is available, so you choose when each edition moves to it.

Which files can I export?

A print-ready PDF, an EPUB 3 ebook, a proof PDF with line and page numbers for proofreaders, and a galley DOCX you can edit in Word and upload back as a new manuscript version. Amazon accepts EPUB for Kindle ebooks, so there is no separate Kindle file to make.

Are the ebooks accessible?

Every EPUB carries accessibility metadata describing how it can be read, and you can add your own accessibility summary. Familiar only states conformance to EPUB Accessibility 1.1 (WCAG 2.1 AA) in the file when the book passes its accessibility checklist, for example when every image has a description.

Can I use my own fonts?

Choose from 31 bundled fonts, or upload your own OpenType (.otf) or TrueType (.ttf) files. Uploaded fonts are available to everyone in your workspace and in every template you save.

Can I make a large print or mass market edition?

Yes. Large Print and Mass Market are two of the 20 templates, with matching trim sizes. Each edition is its own format built from the same manuscript, and you can copy one format's design to start another.

How much does book formatting cost?

Formatting is free during the open beta. Editorial tools such as manuscript evaluation are paid separately, with credits at $5 each.

For publishers and authors

Book formatting softwareA print book and an ebook from one manuscript

Upload a Word manuscript, pick one of 20 templates and make it yours. Familiar sets the print PDF, the EPUB, a proof for your proofreader and an editable galley from the same design.

Start free Request a demo

Free during the open beta
KDP and IngramSpark trim sizes
Every page shown here is a real export

The Moth Orchard · Trade paperback

Fantasy template

Chapter titlesCinzel

BodyCardo, 11 pt

Scene breaksRule with Diamond

Trim6 × 9 in

Export · manuscript v5

Print PDFEPUB 3Proof PDFGalley DOCX

For publishers

Your house design, applied the same way to every edition and every book on the list, and nothing goes to the printer built from last month’s manuscript.

Editions

Every edition from the same manuscript.

The trade paperback, large print, mass market and ebook are separate formats of one book, each pinned to a manuscript version. When a revised manuscript arrives, every format shows it, and you move each edition over when it is ready.

Each format pinned to a manuscript version
A warning on any format behind the latest version
Large print and mass market templates and trims

The Moth Orchard · formats

Trade paperbackFantasy · 6 × 9 inv5

EbookEPUB 3v5

Large printLarge Print · 6 × 9 inv4 · v5 available

Mass marketMass Market · 4.25 × 6.87 inv5

Manuscript version

Use v5

Large print builds from v4

v5 arrived Tuesday. Switch when the edition is ready for it.

House templates

Design once, use it across the list.

Save a design as a house template and anyone in your workspace can start a book from it. Set one as the default, hide the built-in templates you never use, and copy a finished format to a new hardback or ebook edition instead of rebuilding it.

Templates shared across your workspace
A default template for new books
Copy a format to another edition, or its settings to another book

Your templates

Ninefold HouseBased on Trade Paperback · 5 × 8 inDefault

Ninefold Large PrintBased on Large Print · 6 × 9 in

Plus the 20 built-in templates

Copy format

FromTrade paperback

Copy asHardback

Exports

Every file the printer, the stores and the proofreader need.

Download a PDF/X-1a print interior, an EPUB 3 with accessibility metadata, a proof with numbered lines so corrections come back as “page 2, line 9”, and a galley DOCX your editor can mark up in Word and send back as the next version.

Print preflight against common KDP and IngramSpark rejections
Gutter sized to your page count
Optional bleed and crop marks

Downloads

Print PDFPDF/X-1a · 6 × 9 in · bleed optional

EPUB 3With accessibility metadata

Proof PDFLine and page numbers

Galley DOCXEdit in Word, upload as a new version

Print preflight

Passed

Page countGutterMarginsFonts embeddedPDF/X

For authors

An interior that looks like it belongs on the shelf beside the books in your genre, without hiring a designer or learning layout software.

Templates

Start from one of 20 templates.

Fantasy, Romance, Thriller, Literary Fiction, Memoir, Large Print and more, each a complete design: fonts, chapter openings, running heads and scene breaks. Change anything and the live preview shows the page as it will print.

Fiction, non-fiction and accessible templates
A live preview of the print book and the ebook
35 trim sizes, or set your own

Templates · 20

FantasyRomanceThrillerLiterary Fiction+ 16 more

Your design

Chapter titlesCinzel

BodyCardo

Trim6 × 9 in

Fonts, chapters and scene breaks

The details readers notice.

Choose the heading and body fonts, how chapter numbers read, drop caps or a small-caps first line, and the ornament between scenes. This spread shows the end of one chapter and the start of the next, as exported.

31 fonts, or upload your own
16 scene-break ornaments, or your own image
Drop caps, lead-ins and chapter images

Chapter style

Chapter numberSpelled out

Title fontCinzel

Scene breakRule with Diamond

Chapters start onRight-hand page

Front and back matter

Front and back matter that fills itself in.

Add a title page, copyright page, dedication, contents, about the author, also by and more. Write the copyright page once with variables like {{title}} and {{printIsbn}}, and each edition prints its own details.

Title, copyright, contents, dedication and more
Variables for ISBNs, series, credits and publisher
Lines with nothing to fill in are left out

Filled in from the book’s details at export

One page, 20 templates

The opening of The Moth Orchard exported in every built-in template. These are the formatting engine’s own pages, not mockups.

Classic
Modern
Literary Fiction
Minimal
Bold
Elegant
Academic
Contemporary
Serif Clean
Typewriter
Large Print
Mass Market
Accessible (Dyslexic)
Accessible (Legible)
Romance
Thriller
Fantasy
Memoir
Self-Help & Business
Trade Paperback

From manuscript to finished files

Upload your manuscript
Add a Word document. Familiar finds the chapters, scene breaks and front matter.
Pick a template
Start from one of 20 templates or your own house design, and choose a trim size.
Make it yours
Adjust fonts, chapter openings and matter pages while the live preview updates.
Export
Download the print PDF, EPUB, proof and galley, and export again whenever the manuscript changes.

Book formatting software FAQ

Works with the rest of Familiar

Formatting sits between the editing and the launch.

Format your next book with Familiar

Bring a Word manuscript and export a print PDF and an EPUB from the same design. Free during the open beta.