Exporting a Book

Exporting a book saves the whole thing as a single .penpoint file: every character, location, item, chapter, note, picture, and setting, plus your manuscript. You export one to move a book to another computer, send it to someone else who writes in Penpoint, or keep a copy somewhere safe.

Note: This is not a manuscript export. A .penpoint file is only readable by Penpoint. To save your prose as Word, PDF, or Markdown, use the manuscript and worldbuilding exports instead.

Export your book to a .penpoint file

A .penpoint file is a complete copy of your book that you can move to another computer or send to someone else running Penpoint. They open it with Import a Book.

This is not a manuscript export. To save your writing as Word, PDF, or Markdown, open the book and use its export tools in Settings.

Figure 1 - Exporting a book to a .penpoint file

How to Export a Book

Note: Export Book and Export Backup are the same thing under two names: the library calls it one, the Saved indicator and Settings call it the other. Both produce an identical .penpoint file.

From the Book Library, right-click any book (or Ctrl+click on Mac), or click the three-dot menu (⋮ icon shown) in the corner of its card, and choose Export Book. Penpoint explains what the file is, then asks where to save it. When it's done, it shows you the exact location, with a button to open that folder.

You can also export the book you're currently writing in, without going back to the library: click the small Saved text (with a checkmark) near the top of your writing screen and choose Export Backup, or find the same option in Settings > Storage & Backups.

Tip: Exported files are safe to keep in a cloud folder like Dropbox or OneDrive. Your live book files are not: keep those on your own computer and move copies around by exporting instead.

What's in the File

Everything: your manuscript, all your worldbuilding, your pictures, and this book's own view and layout preferences, in one file.
A whole series, if it is one: exporting a series saves every Book inside it, along with the characters, locations, items, tags, and notes they share.
Your book is only ever copied: nothing in it is changed or removed, and it stays right where it is in your library. Penpoint opens the book in the background to package it, then closes it again on its own: your screen doesn't change, and you don't need to close the book yourself first. If you have automatic backups on close, you may see a fresh entry in its backup history afterward.

Penpoint suggests a filename based on your book's title, but you can call it anything you like as long as it still ends in .penpoint.

Opening the File Again

To bring the file back into Penpoint, on this computer or any other, double-click it or use Import Book… from the Your Books screen. See Importing a Book for the full walkthrough, including what happens when you import a book you already have.

Tip: An exported .penpoint file is exactly the same format as a backup, so it works as a milestone copy: export before a big rewrite and you can always come back to it. See Backup & Restore.

If You Wanted a Readable Document

Exporting Manuscripts: Turn your written chapters into one document: Word, EPUB (the e-book format used by Apple Books and most e-readers), PDF, Markdown (plain text with simple formatting marks), Rich Text, or Plain Text.
Exporting Worldbuilding Data: Save your characters, places, items, notes, chapter outlines, and arcs as documents.

Those two save readable files anyone can open. Export Book saves the book itself, which only Penpoint can open. Use the same three-dot menu () on the book's card for the book itself, and the tools inside the book for the documents.