Viewing and Previewing the Output

After your project is compiled and saved, you can view it in a program compatible with the output type you selected.

But what if you want to see the results of your settings before you export? You may want to double-check your output, especially if you’re going to print. No need to waste all that paper, or keep creating and overwriting files on your hard drive.

Scrivener has a kind of try-before-you-buy option that lets you take a look before you commit. It works only for settings compatible with the Print output type, but that still covers most of the format, layout, and page settings, as well as footnotes, separators, and text conversions.

Follow these steps to preview your work after you specify the compilations options (as described in Chapter 12):

1. Select the Print output type from the Compile For drop-down list in the Compile window.

Windows users, select the PDF output type.

2. Click Compile.

The Print window opens on the Mac.

Windows users see the Save As PDF window. Follow these steps in the Save as PDF window:

a. Choose a location to save your file from the list on the left, and then type the desired name in the File Name text box.

b. Click Save.

A window pops up to notify you when the file is done compiling.

c. Click OK.

3. If you’re using a Mac, click the PDF button, and then select Open PDF in Preview from the drop-down list that appears.

Windows users, open the file in Adobe Reader X or another PDF reader program of your choice.

The Preview program opens to display your output.

If you’re a Windows user, you can compile to the Preview output type for a quick view of your compilation without saving to a file, but the Preview option doesn’t display elements such as headers and footers, page breaks, or margins.