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Prepare a manuscript for Scribe

Plan: Free can create and maintain works, Publish Versions, and delivery profiles, and can review the delivery preview and readiness. Plus and Pro can add a delivery confirmation to the history.

Scroll owns planning, drafting, version organization, and delivery preparation. Scribe owns Appearance, pagination, PDF, EPUB, and other publication output. This workflow does not upload a manuscript; it identifies the intended work and manuscript version inside the same local Project folder.

What this workflow does​

Scroll uses a work, manuscript version, Publish Version, and delivery profile to describe the source. Scribe reads this information to locate the manuscript. You still need to review what Scribe recognizes before typesetting.

This is not a PDF or EPUB export from Scroll, and it does not create an Appearance, page size, or export configuration in Scribe.

Before you begin​

Confirm that:

  • Scroll is signed in and displays the current plan; Plus or Pro is required only to add a new delivery confirmation;
  • every manuscript file is saved and the complete Project is backed up;
  • chapter prose is Markdown inside a clearly named manuscript version; and
  • Scroll and Scribe are both on currently supported versions.

For reliable recognition in Scribe, create new prose with Writing Templates > Text Manuscript. For existing Markdown:

  1. Open the delivery preview and check whether the file appears under Included or Skipped.
  2. If a prose file is not recognized as manuscript content, create a new Text Manuscript in the registered source folder and copy the prose into it.
  3. In the inspector, verify its title and Category, save it, and reopen the preview.
  4. Confirm that the new document appears under Included before archiving or reorganizing the original.

Do not assume that a Markdown extension alone makes a document eligible. Use the delivery preview as the final check.

1. Add the work and manuscript version​

  1. Open Works.
  2. Under Project Workspace, review the Project name, primary language, and authors.
  3. Under Works, select Add work or choose an existing work, then set a stable Work slug.
  4. Select Add version and choose a source folder containing only the documents required for that manuscript version.

Keep the work slug stable after it has been associated with a source path. If a Project contains several works, maintain a separate work and manuscript-version history for each.

2. Add a Publish Version​

  1. Open Publish Versions.
  2. Select Add publish version and choose the work.
  3. Choose the Source version and verify the displayed Source folder.
  4. Enter a clear label, such as First edition or Editorial review.

A Publish Version identifies the prose that moves to the next stage. It is not a PDF, EPUB, or print specification.

3. Add a Scribe delivery profile​

  1. Open Delivery Center.
  2. Select Add delivery profile.
  3. Choose the Publish Version.
  4. Set Target app to Scribe.
  5. Add the status and Notes, then select Save.

Review the work, Publish Version, Source version, and Source documents under Delivery readiness. Readiness checks the local registration in Scroll; it does not mean that Scribe has received or typeset the manuscript.

4. Preview and record the delivery confirmation​

  1. Open Story.
  2. Open Delivery workflow, then select Prepare for Scribe.
  3. Choose the Delivery profile, Publish Version, and Source version.
  4. Review files under Included and Skipped. Correct the Category, source folder, or exclusions, then reopen the preview.
  5. When the list is correct, Plus or Pro users can select Write delivery manifest. In the current English interface, this button adds a delivery confirmation to the Project history. Free users can complete the preview and save all other registrations; the button prompts for an upgrade.

The confirmation does not copy, upload, or transfer prose and is not required to create a work, Publish Version, or delivery profile. Before preparing the same manuscript again, review Included and Skipped instead of treating an older confirmation as the current file state.

5. Verify the source in Scribe​

Open the same Project folder in a supported version of Scribe and check:

  • the recognized work and Publish Version;
  • the Source folder Scribe reads;
  • chapter count, order, and manuscript version; and
  • Scribe's own Project and Appearance settings.
Verify the manuscript in Scribe

A delivery confirmation records what you approved in Scroll. It does not prove that Scribe has recognized the source. Before typesetting, compare the source folder, document count, chapter order, and manuscript version in Scribe.

If Scribe is new to you, start with the Scribe user manual. See Scribe plans and features for its current plan boundaries.

Data and plan boundaries​

  • Scroll stores the manuscript source selection and delivery history; Scribe keeps its own Project and typesetting settings.
  • Works, Publish Versions, delivery profiles, source selection, preview, and readiness are included with Free. Adding a delivery confirmation requires Plus. Existing history remains after a downgrade.
  • Preparing Scribe-compatible bibliography information, citations, Ruby, and math requires Scroll Pro; see Bibliographies, Ruby, and math.
  • The Scroll plan controls preparation features in Scroll. Scribe output depends on the current Scribe plan and version.

For more about the four Works tabs, see Works workspace.