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Can I import text from other documents?
Can I import text from other documents?

Why it's tricky to copy and paste work done elsewhere, like a PDF or Word document

Dan Kemp avatar
Written by Dan Kemp
Updated over a week ago

We often get asked about whether you can add text from other documents. The answer is no - and there's a few things to understand about Book Creator books.

1. You cannot import whole documents

The only files you can import into Book Creator are ePub files (ebooks) that were originally made in Book Creator.

This means you cannot import and "convert" PDF files, Word documents, Google Doc files or anything else like that.

2. Book Creator makes fixed layout ebooks

So, you can't import whole files, but can you copy and paste text from other documents? The answer to this is yes. BUT...

You may be tempted to copy and paste whole chunks of text from a PDF file into Book Creator. The problem with this is that Book Creator is designed to make fixed layout books. This means text does not flow from page to page, it's fixed in the position you place it.

So if you tried to copy more text than could fit in a page, it would just disappear off the edge of the page. And even if it did fit when you first copied it, if you tried to resize it you might find it breaks the bounds of the text box. See the example below:

So if you are going to copy and paste text from other documents, just bear in mind you'll have to break the text into smaller chunks and work out how it will fit on the page.

Embedding documents

You can embed a PDF inside your book. When you click on the PDF, it will open inside Book Creator so you can read it whilst staying in the book.
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You can also embed files onto the page in Book Creator. This will give you a clickable icon for your PDF, Word or Google Doc that will open in Book Creator once you've published the book online. That may be a solution for you.

From the + button, go to More > Files and choose, for example, a PDF. This will embed the document onto your page like below. In Read Mode, you can click on this document and it will open up the PDF.

In Book Creator for iPad, the process for embedding documents is slightly different. Please read our article 'Share content to Book Creator for iPad from your cloud drives'.

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