I need to suppress page breaks. My publisher has asked that the only page breaks in the manuscript mark chapters, not pages. How do I stop the compiler from putting them in where it thinks they should go?
Hi.
What do you mean by “mark chapters” ?
Are you really talking about page breaks or rather page numbering, perhaps? I don’t understand otherwise. It is like you are saying you have a page break at each page.
(A page break, as per the common nomenclature, is an invisible marker that forces the following text to appear on a new page ahead of time, regardless of the current page not being full.)
. . . . . . .
(Page numbering is easy to remove. – Everything, actually. As long as it is clear what you want.)
In my manuscript, the compiler puts a page break at the end of every page. This sounds right and in some cases is. However, because my publisher needs to reflow my manuscript into whatever format he wants, he wants one long section per chapter and page breaks only at chapter boundaries. I have no idea how to make it do this. Each of my chapters consists of several 1000 to 1500-word scenes.
Double-click the Compile Format you’re using in the left column of the Compile Overview window to open the Compile Format Designer. Copy and rename your Format if necessary.
Open the Separators pane and select the Layout for the scenes. Remove the New Page setting, and replace it with an Empty line or Custom Separator like ***.
Hope this helps.
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Is your publisher maybe asking for a Word file instead of a PDF without knowing how to say that, and is instead describing one of the practical differences between the two? Try switching to Word (DOCX) in the Compile For dropdown, at the top of the compile window, if it isn’t already.
If it is already, I have no idea what they are talking about. Scrivener certainly does not, nor would it even theoretically be capable of, inserting a page break control character at the end of every page. It has no clue where one page ends and the next begins.
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I am already using the Docx format and still have the issue. Is there a way to stop Scrivener from inserting them in the first place?
Can you please screenshot one for us to see ?
Scrivener shouldn’t be, and in fact isn’t capable of, forcing a page break at any location other than between documents in the Binder.
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Unless there’s a page break in the document itself, either inserted or imported / pasted at some point.
Still wouldn’t be at each page though.
(I’m thinking more of something like the header, perhaps. Or something like that. Or even something that ain’t from Scrivener. That’s why I ask for a screenshot. … A page-break just makes no sense to me.)
Or maybe the publisher wants a file per chapter. (?)
Or there are *** where gaps should be. (?)
@JoannaP If you can see it, in your own screen/computer, not just your publisher, please take a screenshot and show us.
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Maybe. We could rule out the Compiler using (Editor) Page View, which honors page breaks within the text body.
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OK, I compile to the DOCX format and then load it into Word for some final editing. Maybe I am accusing the wrong program. If it is the word doing it, how then do I stop it from doing that?
The way to force a Page Break in Word is Ctrl+Enter.
Only do it in Word to separate your Chapters, so a new Chapter starts on a fresh page. Otherwise keep writing/typing to your heart’s content and Word will not force a page break after every page.
I have a question related to your use of Scrivener: Do you estimate what you see on screen as a page and then start a new document? This could potentially force a page break, depending on your Separator settings in Compile Format Designer.
Well, in Word when the page fills up with text, it will paginate to the next page. If you are seeing page breaks before the full-page, then there is something in the document which says “next page here” – which would be a Page Break inserted by user or the page is “full” with no more room to print on that page.
I would check two things:
- In Word Settings, under View tab, turn on “Show Non Printing Characters” then in your document look for a “Page Break”
- Check format of the paragraphs – all of them or just the suspect ones. If set to “Keep with Next”, especially if all of them, Word tries to follow that instruction but can run out of room if there is too much collected to a page.
This is a likely candidate, because if there is insufficient room on one page, Word would force the content to the next page, leaving a gap on the prior page that looks like a page break (well, it essentially is an automatic page break).
If the editor knows his chops, the whole manuscript can be fixed in Word by highlighting everything, then under Home > Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks, leave everything unticked. That’s the default Scrivener’s No Style would render after compiled to Word anyway. And it wouldn’t disturb actual manual Page Breaks for chapters.
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