How to Import Content from MS Word

PressBooks does include a feature that allows authors to import content from MS Word into PressBooks, however it is not a precise import and chances are there will have to be work done in PressBooks to fix formatting issues, especially if the Word document was heavily formatted.

If an author edits a book in MS Word, she or he may want to copy and paste the final text into PressBooks but doing so won’t bring in images. Plus, each chapter/part must be created before it is copied/pasted which is time consuming. Therefore, we recommend using the import feature ahead of the cut and paste method.

The author can import the whole book or a ‘chapter’ (content between h1 headings). This is ideal when only certain portions of a book are revised/adapted.

To use the MS Word importer

Prepare your .docx file: Chapter headings in your docx **MUST** be tagged as **Heading1** (otherwise chapters won’t get recognized)
In PressBooks, go to: Left Menu/Utilities —> Import.
Select: File Type: .docx
Choose your file from your computer
Upload
Select which content/sections you want to import
Decide whether the content/sections are: front-matter, chapters, or back-matter
Import
Arrange your chapters in the right order
Test some exports, clean up markup, and off you go!

Notes:

everything other than basic styling is stripped out by design… so fancy fonts and such won’t get imported. Italics, bold, etc should.
all chapters are imported as DRAFTs. A quick way to get this listed as published is: mark all the chapters Private, then revert to Public. This will make the “published”.
all chapters assign a Chapter Author by default (usually, your username). You’ll have to edit each chapter and delete the Chapter Author the Chapter Metadata section.