Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • Cameras
  • More
    • Home
    • News
    • Best
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • iPhone 15 Pro Max hands on
  • iPhone 15 hands on
  • iPhone 15 Pro hands on
  • Apple Watch 9
  • Wordle hints
  • Best VPN

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Tablets
  2. eReaders

How to create eBooks on a Mac

How-to
By Lucy Hattersly
published 3 June 2015

Quickly create professional-looking eBooks on Mac

Introduction

Introduction

Pages is a fantastic program used to create visually appealing documents, but you might not realize how versatile it is. It can also be used to create digital books for the iBooks app, and sold on the iBooks Store.

This conversion from Pages to iBooks is done via the ePub file format, which is used for digital books on Apple's iBooks app on both OS X and iOS. With Pages for OS X you can export a text document straight into ePub, and import it directly into iBooks for OS X.

For those looking to self-publish, in Pages you can add Retina display-quality images, chapters, headings, custom artwork, even video clips. Pages turns it into an ePub you can share, or even sell on Apple's iBooks Store.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
Step 1

Step 1

The text document

Open your soon-to-be book's text file in Pages; in this example, we're using The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven by Alexander Wheelock Thayer from Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org), downloaded as a text file, to turn from plain text into a media-rich, digital book.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
Step 2

Step 2

Use the Format window

It's possible to turn a text document straight into a digital ePub file using the guide in Step 8. But digital books are far more friendly if you format the text first. Choose View > Inspector > Format. Click the Paragraph Styles area to view the text styles available.

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Step 3

Step 3

Change the title

Find the book's title (or write it in full). Highlight the text and choose Title from the Paragraph Styles menu (Format bar). Styling up the title is important because Pages uses it to list the book in various areas, such as Contents. Only use this Title style once.

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
Step 4

Step 4

Add chapter headings

You use Styles to identify chapters. These are then used to create the contents. Find the first chapter title and change its style to Heading. For a sub-title, change its style to Heading 2. You can also use Heading 3 and so on, but it can make the contents look cluttered.

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Step 5

Step 5

Cover image

Create a cover image by going to the start of the text and choose Insert > Page Break. Now drag an image file to the first page. Click the image, drag it so it snaps into position, then use the drag handle (bottom right) to resize it. You want it to fill up the entire page.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
Step 6

Step 6

Create the chapter list

At the start of your text (after the image) choose Insert > Table Of Contents > Document. A Generating Table Of Contents box appears. You'll see a box displaying the title and headings marked with the Styles. This appears when you click Contents in iBooks.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
Step 7

Step 7

Adding video

For the full digital feel, you can even add video clips to ePub documents. Drag a video file from the Finder into the Pages document. The video clip is converted to a iOS-compatible format when you export the file from Pages for OS X.

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Step 8

Step 8

Export the book

To create the book, Choose File > Export To > ePub. Fill out the Title and Author fields, and select a genre for the Primary category. Click Advanced Options; select Use the First Page as the Book Cover Image and click Next. Save when prompted, then click Export.

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Step 9

Step 9

Open in iBooks

Open iBooks and choose File > Add to Library. Select the ePub file and click Add. It appears like any other book in the iBooks app – click to open it. Your first page will be the cover and the Contents icon displays the contents you added using Styles. Enjoy your book!

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
Lucy Hattersly
Social Links Navigation
TOPICS
Apple
More about ereaders
PocketBook InkPad Color 2 screen when powered down

PocketBook InkPad Color 2 review: an old color screen on an improved ereader

Woman holding e-reader device and reading e-book by the pool

How to buy books on Kindle

Latest
Marketing shot for EA Sports FC 24

Mason Greenwood will be included in EA Sports FC 24 to reflect “the real world of football”, EA says

See more latest ►
Most Popular
Fortnite - how to deploy a Pizza Party at one of Thorne's Strongholds

By Jake GreenSeptember 13, 2023

How to watch The Morning Show season 3 online: stream the Jennifer Aniston drama series where you are

By Aatif SulleymanSeptember 13, 2023

How to watch Welcome to Wrexham season 2 online: stream Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's soccer series

By Aatif SulleymanSeptember 12, 2023

Modern Warfare 3 Open Combat Missions (OCMs) explained

By Jake GreenSeptember 12, 2023

Fortnite Todoroki's Ice Wall location and how to use it

By Jake GreenSeptember 12, 2023

Medvedev vs Djokovic live stream: how to watch US Open 2023 men's final online for free right now

By Andy MurraySeptember 10, 2023

Great North Run live stream 2023: how to watch Mo Farah's last race online from anywhere

By Aatif SulleymanSeptember 10, 2023

How to watch The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon online from anywhere

By Tom WardleySeptember 10, 2023

How to watch UFC 293 live stream — Adesanya vs Strickland, start time, odds, full card

By Kevin LynchSeptember 09, 2023

Gauff vs Sabalenka live stream: how to watch US Open 2023 women's final for free online and on TV right now

By Andy MurraySeptember 09, 2023

Starfield - how to assign Crew to Outposts

By Jake GreenSeptember 08, 2023

  1. iPhone 14 Pro
    1
    The iPhone 15 just made the iPhone 14 Pro an even better choice
  2. 2
    Want to store 44TB in a shoebox-sized NAS PC for less than $400? I’ve got an unbelievable deal worth checking out
  3. 3
    7 new movies and TV shows on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus and more this weekend (September 15)
  4. 4
    5 things the iPhone 15 Pro Action button can do
  5. 5
    Even I'm impressed with Verizon's iPhone 15 Pro deal - here's how to get it for free
  1. A smartphone screen showing the Google Chrome Incognito Mode homepage
    1
    Google’s new Incognito Mode trick: Chrome will now hide what you've been watching
  2. 2
    The iPhone 15 just made the iPhone 14 Pro an even better choice
  3. 3
    Netflix announces One Piece season 2, and that's bad news for Shadow and Bone season 3
  4. 4
    Sorry Netflix, Apple TV Plus is now the best streaming service for original TV shows, viewers say
  5. 5
    Bose showed me the QuietComfort Headphones Ultra and the ANC blew me away

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.