Free book formatter

Quick answerA book formatter turns a finished manuscript into a typeset interior: chapters and opening pages organized, scene breaks and italics preserved, and every page set with proper headers and page numbers. Coverfairy's formatter previews the real pagination in your browser, so the page count — and therefore the KDP spine width — comes from actual typesetting, not a words-per-page estimate.

How does the import understand a manuscript?

Heading styles are the strongest signal: a Word document using Heading 1 for chapter titles imports with its exact structure. Without styles, chapter starts are inferred from patterns like ‘Chapter Twelve’, page breaks, and spacing — and the import report says plainly when inference ran so every detected chapter can be verified. Scene breaks are read from marks like ***, italics and bold survive as real styling, and dedication, copyright, contents, and about-the-author pages are placed in the correct part of the book.

Why does a live page count matter?

A print cover cannot be finished without the interior's final page count: spine width is calculated from it, and a pagination change after the cover is built invalidates the wrap. Because this formatter really typesets — line by line, with widow and orphan control — the page count it shows for a trim and theme is the count the exported book will have, which is exactly what the spine calculation needs.

What should be in the file before importing?

Compile Scrivener projects to .docx first. Keep chapter titles on their own lines (ideally as heading styles), mark scene breaks with a centered symbol line, and finish structural editing before formatting — the manuscript remains the source of truth, and re-importing a revised file keeps the chosen theme and trim.