manuSCRIPT

A retro terminal-styled desktop application for combining chapter text files into professional manuscript formats (PDF, EPUB, ZIP).

Features

📝 File Management

• Multi-file selection - Select multiple chapter files at once (.txt, .md, .rtf)
• Drag-and-drop support - Simply drag chapter files into the app
• Automatic chapter detection - Extracts chapter numbers, dates, and titles from filenames
• Smart sorting - Automatically orders chapters by chapter number
• File validation - Warns about missing chapter numbers or duplicates

📚 Output Formats

• PDF Generation - Professional PDF with customizable fonts, margins, and spacing
• EPUB Generation - E-reader compatible EPUB with table of contents
• ZIP Archive - Backup of all source text files
• Multiple outputs - Generate all formats simultaneously

⚙️ Customization

• Font Selection - Choose from Georgia (Serif), Arial (Sans), or Courier New (Mono)
• Page Settings - A4 or A5 page sizes
• Margins - Adjustable top, bottom, left, and right margins (mm)
• Line Spacing - Single, 1.5, or double spacing
• Paragraph Spacing - Customizable spacing between paragraphs
• Chapter Headers - Adjustable font size, bold, and italic options
• Date Display - Optionally show dates extracted from chapter filenames
• Title Filtering - Remove custom separators from chapter titles

📊 Manuscript Statistics

• Word Count - Total word count displayed on PDF cover page
• Page Estimate - Estimated page count (Standard Paperback Pages @ 325 words/page)
• Chapter Range - Display chapter range (e.g., "Chapters 1-45")
• Generation Summary - Shows formats created, file sizes, and chapter count

💾 Smart Defaults

• Persistent Settings - All preferences saved between sessions
• Remember Inputs - Manuscript title and author auto-saved
• Custom Output Location - Choose where to save generated files (default: Desktop)
• Auto-versioning - Automatically creates versioned folders (e.g., Title_v2) to avoid overwriting

🛡️ Error Handling

• File Read Errors - Gracefully handles unreadable files and continues processing
• Disk Space Check - Validates sufficient space before generation
• Long Filename Support - Truncates display while preserving full paths
• Special Character Handling - Sanitizes filenames for safe directory creation
• Warning Display - Shows which files failed with detailed error messages

🎨 Retro Terminal UI

• CRT-inspired design - Green-on-black terminal aesthetic with glow effects
• Progress tracking - Real-time progress bar during generation
• Visual feedback - Input validation with shake animations and red highlights
• Accessible interface - Clear error messages and status updates

Installation

macOS

1. Download manuSCRIPT-1.0.0-arm64.dmg
2. Open the DMG file
3. Drag manuSCRIPT to your Applications folder
4. Launch from Applications
5. First launch: Right-click → "Open" → Click "Open" to bypass security warning (app is not code-signed)

From Source

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/manuscript-app.git
cd manuscript-app

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development
npm start

# Build for macOS
npm run build:mac

# Build for Windows
npm run build:win

Usage

Basic Workflow

1. Select Files - Click "SELECT FILES" or drag-and-drop chapter files
2. Review - Check chapter order and titles in the file list
3. Configure - Enter title and author, choose output formats
4. Customize (Optional) - Click "⚙ SETTINGS" to adjust fonts, margins, spacing
5. Generate - Click "GENERATE" to create your manuscript
6. Open Folder - Click the output path link to view generated files

File Naming Convention

For automatic chapter detection, name your files like:

• 1_chapter_title.txt → Chapter 1: "chapter title"
• 01_1972_title.txt → Chapter 1 (1972): "title"
• Chapter 2 - AD 1982 - Title.txt → Chapter 2 (AD 1982): "Title"
• 3 - BCE 30000 - Title.md → Chapter 3 (BCE 30000): "Title"

Output Structure

Desktop/
└── Your_Manuscript_Title/
    ├── Your_Manuscript_Title.pdf
    ├── Your_Manuscript_Title.epub
    └── Your_Manuscript_Title_source.zip

Settings Reference

Page Settings

• Page Size: A4 (595×842pt) or A5 (420×595pt)
• Margins: Top, Bottom, Left, Right (in millimeters)

Typography

• Line Spacing: Single (1.0), 1.5, or Double (2.0)
• Paragraph Spacing: Space between paragraphs (in points)
• Chapter Font Size: Size of chapter headers (default: 18pt)

Title Filtering

Add comma-separated strings to ignore in chapter titles:

• Default: -d-, --, -- HERE --, --c--
• Example: Removes separators like "Chapter 1 -- HERE -- Title" → "Chapter 1 Title"

Technical Details

Built With

• Electron - Cross-platform desktop framework
• PDFKit - PDF generation
• epub-gen - EPUB creation
• Archiver - ZIP compression

Requirements

• macOS 10.12+ (for built app)
• Node.js 16+ (for development)

File Support

• .txt - Plain text files
• .md - Markdown files
• .rtf - Rich text format files

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please open an issue on GitHub.