Help & Training

How to format your manuscript and use every page in Trimora

This page covers two things: the Word formatting Trimora actually reads when you import a manuscript, and what every page and setting in the app does. It's organized as numbered sections, in the order you'll actually use them.

1. Formatting your manuscript in Word

Trimora reads your manuscript's paragraph styles -- not font size, not indentation, not how something merely looks in Word. Three styles matter; everything else (plain body paragraphs, bold, italic) carries through automatically with no special setup.

Word style	What Trimora does with it
Heading 1	Marks the start of a new chapter. Everything between one Heading 1 and the next becomes that chapter's content. The heading's own text becomes the chapter title.
Heading 2	Only when it's the very first thing right after a Heading 1, it becomes that chapter's subtitle (e.g. Heading 1 "Chapter One", Heading 2 "The Inheritance Clause"). A Heading 2 anywhere else in a chapter is just a regular subheading in the body text.
Title	Signals "this is not a chapter." Use it for your own title page, series info, or any heading-like text you write before Chapter 1 that shouldn't be treated as a chapter heading.

Front matter you write yourself

Anything you type before your first Heading 1 -- a title page, a series note, anything -- is captured as your own front matter and shown as its own page, ahead of whatever Trimora generates on the Front Matter page. If you use Word's Insert > Page Break in that section, each page break becomes a separate page on import. (A page break you leave inside a chapter's own body is ignored -- chapters paginate automatically based on how much text actually fits.)

If your manuscript has no Heading 1 at all, the whole thing imports as one chapter titled "Whole manuscript (no chapter headings found)" so nothing is lost -- you can then either add real Heading 1 styles in Word and re-import, or split it manually afterward on the Manuscript page.

Images

Images pasted directly into your manuscript text come through as inline images, in place, automatically -- no extra steps. This is separate from the dedicated "chapter opener illustration" feature (see Section 4), which is for a single full-page image that introduces a chapter.

File requirements

• Only .docx files are accepted (not .doc, .pdf, or Google Docs links -- export to .docx first if needed).
• Maximum file size: 90MB. A heavily illustrated manuscript (picture books, art-heavy books) can hit this faster than a text-only one -- if you're near the limit, compressing embedded images in Word first helps.

2. Dashboard -- creating and managing books

The Dashboard lists every book on your account. Click New book to create one -- this also creates its three editions (Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover) with sensible starting defaults (6"×9" trim for the print editions), and takes you straight to Import.

Each row shows the book's title, its paperback page count (once you've previewed or exported it at least once), and when it was last updated. Clicking a book takes you to its Manuscript page if it already has chapters, or to Import if it doesn't yet.

Accounts are limited to 5 books at a time. If you're at the limit, delete a book to free up a slot before creating another. Deleting a book is permanent -- it removes every chapter, all front/back matter, and every edition's settings, with no undo.

3. Import -- uploading your manuscript

Upload your .docx file here. See Section 1 for exactly how Word styles map to chapters.

Re-importing: uploading a new file into a book that already has chapters replaces them -- but any chapter whose title exactly matches a chapter from before keeps its illustration and "include in table of contents" setting. A renamed chapter is treated as new and starts blank on those two things, so it's worth keeping chapter titles stable across revisions if you've already set illustrations.

4. Manuscript -- chapters, illustrations, and editing

This page lists every chapter in reading order. Changes here apply to all three editions at once -- chapter content, illustrations, and table-of-contents inclusion aren't set per edition.

• Reordering: use the up/down arrows on each chapter row. There's no drag-and-drop.
• Title & table of contents: edit a chapter's title directly, and check "In table of contents" to include it in Front Matter's auto-generated TOC (if you've turned that on -- see Section 5). Clearing the title entirely and saving does nothing -- it won't error, it just won't save a blank title, so don't be surprised if an empty title field doesn't take.
• Edit HTML: expand "Edit HTML" on any chapter to edit its raw content directly. There's no formatting toolbar here and no validation -- whatever you type is stored exactly as typed, so use this for small fixes, not for writing from scratch.
• Chapter opener illustration: expand this section to upload a single image (any common image format, up to 8MB) that introduces the chapter. In print editions, it renders as its own full page facing the chapter's opening page. On Kindle, it's shown inline at the start of the chapter instead, since EPUB has no concept of facing pages. Uploading a new image replaces the old one; there's no gallery.

5. Front Matter -- title page, copyright, book type, full bleed

Everything here is shared across all three editions.

• Title page: title, subtitle, author, optional series line, publisher/imprint line, and an optional publisher logo.
• Book type: choose Fiction/Novel, Non-Fiction, or Poetry, then click "Apply preset" to fill in genre-appropriate copyright boilerplate, table-of-contents default, drop cap, and trim size (paperback/hardcover) in one step. Everything a preset fills in stays completely editable afterward -- applying a preset is a one-time starting point, not a lock.
• Copyright: year, holder, and any extra legal text you want below the auto-generated copyright/ISBN/imprint lines. A long copyright page automatically shrinks slightly to stay on one physical page rather than spilling onto a second.
• Dedication and Epigraph (with attribution) -- both optional, both off by default.
• Table of contents: off by default. Turn this on only if your manuscript doesn't already have its own -- otherwise you'll get two. When on, it lists every chapter marked "In table of contents" on the Manuscript page.
• Full bleed: one setting for the whole book (shared by paperback and hardcover; irrelevant to Kindle). Turn this on to let chapter-opener illustrations print all the way to the trimmed edge with no white border, instead of sitting inset within the normal margins.

6. Back Matter -- About the Author and Also By

Also shared across all three editions.

• About the Author: on by default for a new book. A rich-text bio box plus an optional author photo (up to 8MB).
• Also By: off by default. A simple list of your other titles.

Like the copyright page, a long bio or list automatically shrinks slightly in print editions to stay on one page -- this only becomes visible in Preview or Export, not on this form itself, so if your bio looks smaller than expected in the finished book, that's why.

7. Editions -- Kindle, paperback, and hardcover settings

Each of the three edition cards saves independently -- there's no single "save all" button.

• Every edition: product name, imprint, body font size, line height, and drop cap (applies to Kindle too, not just print -- it's the one print-looking setting on this page that genuinely affects the EPUB as well).
• Print only (paperback/hardcover): ISBN, trim size (pick a preset -- 5×8, 5.25×8, 5.5×8.5, 6×9, 8×10, 8.5×8.5 square, or 8.5×11 -- or type a custom width/height), gutter, and outer/top/bottom margins.
• Header/footer (print only): independent "Show header" and "Show footer" checkboxes. Unchecking one doesn't erase its text fields -- they just grey out and stop being used, so re-checking brings your text right back. Leave the text fields blank to use the automatic default (even pages show the author name, odd pages show the book title for headers; footers default to whichever chapter the page falls in).
• Page numbers (print only): a separate toggle, independent of whether the footer itself is shown.

8. Preview -- checking your book before you export

Switch between Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover with the tabs at the top. The print preview is not a simulation -- it embeds the exact PDF that export would produce, so headers, footers, and page numbers you see here are exactly what you'll get. It's shown as a two-page spread you can page through.

The first time you open an edition for a heavily illustrated book, it can take a minute or more to generate -- a progress bar shows real chapter-by-chapter progress. After that first generation, it's cached and loads quickly until something changes.

If your account doesn't have export access, print previews show a translucent "PREVIEW -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION" watermark for proofing purposes. It's removed automatically the moment you have paid access -- no separate action needed.

9. Export -- downloading your finished files

Three files, one per edition: an EPUB for Kindle, and a PDF each for paperback and hardcover -- each one already carrying that edition's own ISBN, trim, and formatting. Exporting requires an active subscription or lifetime access; without it, you'll see a prompt to subscribe instead of download buttons.

10. Pricing, subscriptions, and the money-back guarantee

Trimora is a subscription: $14.99/month or $99/year. If you already have lifetime access (an older one-time purchase, or access granted directly), you won't see subscribe buttons at all -- there's nothing to buy.

Canceling (via "Manage your subscription," which opens Stripe's own billing portal) is self-service: no money back, but your access continues through whatever period you've already paid for.

Requesting a refund (a separate button on your Dashboard, only shown while your guarantee window is open) is different: it refunds your payment and ends your access immediately. The window is 15 days if your very first subscription was monthly, or 30 days if it was yearly -- based on whichever plan you originally signed up with, not whatever plan you're on now, and it's a one-time offer per account.

Didn't find what you needed here? This page is maintained directly by Trimora's team and can be updated at any time.