I’m trying to create a TOC for an ebook. In the Compile menu I don’t see a Layout option to make everything work. I have Contents, Separators, Formatting, etc. but no Layout option after trying different formats. How do I get the Layout option?
Someone else can probably do a better job on this than I… and quite possibly correct me… but I’ll give it shot…
In Scrivener, “Layout” generally appears to refer to screen window layout, not WYSIWYG page layout. In the menu, see Window > Layouts > Layout Manager. In the Scrivener Manual (available via Help > Scrivener Manual, also available as searchable PDF download at literatureandlatte.com/support.php under Documentation), see 9.6 Layouts Panel.
Scrivener is a semi-WYSIWYG app, focused on things other than exacting layout of pages of arbitrary layout and complexity.
I could be wrong, but my sense is that in Scrivener, accomplishing what you are after is accomplished through a combination of the Compile options that you mentioned, combined with reviewing the compiled output (preview or any of a number of formats including epub, mobi, PDF, doc, etc.). See 23 Compiling the Draft, and the manual in general, regarding this.
Hope I got that generally correct and that it is of some help.
I mean the Layout option in Compile that shows different options for creating a Table of Contents. However, from your post reply I’m also learned about the other Layout as well!
All the examples I’m seeing online and in the tutorial videos have the Layout menu when Compiling but my compile feature doesn’t have that at all.
Three possibilities: You have to expand the simplified Compile window to see a lot of the sections of the compile window. There’s a blue arrow to the right of the Format As: compile preset list button. If you click that it will either make the window larger or smaller; make it larger.
The second possibility is that you have selected a Compile For: option (at the bottom of the compile window) that doesn’t support the ToC option you’re seeing.
Finally, it could be your just seeing that someone created a ToC document by hand, using Scrivener Links to each of the chapter folders or files. This isn’t necessary for ebooks, as the format creates a ToC by identifying the separate chapters that you created in the binder.
Yes, I’m on the larger options of compile.
I just went through all of the “Compile For:” options (Print, Preview, PDF, etc.) and none of them bring up the Layout option to the left of the larger compile options panel.
As I understand to create a TOC for an ebook or any output you need the Layout option. I’m creating an Ebook.
In addition to what Robert said… I wonder if this is perhaps something only currently available in the Mac version of Scrivener.
In the downloadable copy of the Scrivener for Mac manual, I find the following…
24.8 Print Settings
Available to both the “Print” and “PDF” output formats, this pane gives you the choice between laying out your document using the publishing or proofing engine. These names have been chosen to reflect common usage, but are not meant to be precise. You may find the “proofing” engine to be perfectly adequate for producing a final version, or “publishing” better for proofing. The choice made here will impact the availability of options in the Layout (??), Footnotes/Comments (??) compile panes, and the First Page section layout settings in the Formatting (??) pane.
I could not find a similar discussion in the Scrivener for Windows manual. I went through most of the possible combinations in the File > Compile > Content window, but was not able to find any that resulted in the Layout item appearing in the right column.
L&L has stated a goal of bringing the Windows version into parity with the Mac version by the end of the year. Perhaps we’ll see it then…
Let me emphasize that you should get a ToC automatically generated from the breaks between each chapter when compiling for ebooks. Try generating one and then loading it into some ebook reading software; it should have a ToC button or the like that will list all of your chapters.
Edit: I just opened the compile window on my Mac, and the Layout pane doesn’t have anything to do with ToC. Options include “Do not add page padding to the first document”, “use hyphenation”, and definable separators for scene breaks that happen to fall at the end of a page (not applicable to ebooks).
Thanks, I assume that must be the reason. The layout option in compile doesn’t exist in the windows version. Then how do I create Table of Contents for ebooks or any output? I just create a Table of Contents page at the beginning and it shows up in the output properly?
On this page, if you go down to the photo just above where it says “Click the “Layout” pane.” then you’ll see the layout pane with the options for the TOC.
jeremyleejames.com/writers/scriv … ith-style/
Once again I assume this is for Mac Only. On Windows do you just create a page that’s a TOC and then compile it?
Okay, obviously I’m no expert here; I failed to select an ebook output before viewing the layout pane, which does have some options for toc. But I think they’re just that: options aka optional modifications to the automatic generation of a ToC. For ebooks, I think you just compile your book to an ebook output and there’ll be a ToC available in your e-reader’s menu or on-screen icons.
Edit: everything I’ve read on the forums regarding tables of contents leads me to believe that the options you’re seeing on the Mac version are there to allow for greater control of the ToC generation for ebooks.
That’s correct, you should be getting a ToC when you compile, no matter what. It is based on the use of section breaks (in the Separators pane, or manually with the “Page Break Before” checkbox in the Inspector), and uses the names of the items generating the breaks to populate the list. You don’t have to do anything beyond that to get a functional ToC, it’s all automated.
Thanks! I was looking at the Kindle Previewer not well enough.
One more thing. The Layout panel has the option to use a page so you can gain greater control over the TOC. You can create your own TOC. How do I do that if its all automated? Or do I have control over the look of it from the compile options?
Right, once we get that implemented you would be able to design your own HTML ToC in the editor, overriding the automatically generated one, using Scrivener Links to wire it all up. Then you can format it however you want, and more easily control what is or is not included in that. This however doesn’t impact the built-in ToC that is more commonly used these days, in “Go To” style reader menus. For that you’ll still need to do some post-compile adjustment (easiest via ePub, then a tool like Sigil, and finally converting that to Mobi with Kindle Previewer). So, really, if you want thorough control over the ToC you have to get your hands dirty with e-book design even on the Mac.
Thanks!