From a manuscript, Torcul makes a print-ready interior, an EPUB that passes EPUBCheck and, if you want one, a cover sized to that interior. You see how the file was read, and can correct it, before anything is laid out. The files are checked against the published requirements before you get them.
1 · The manuscript
A DOCX or Markdown file, or the settings file of a book made here before, which brings back its corrections and choices. A PDF is not accepted: it is already laid out, and the PDF checker can check it.
2 · What we read from it
Many manuscripts use bold, centered and capitalized lines instead of heading styles, so the structure is worked out from how the text looks, and that can be wrong. Every heading is shown with the reason it was read as one. You can move a line up or down a level, or make it body text, before anything is laid out.
3 · The book
You choose a trim size, one of three interior designs, and the front matter: half title, copyright page, dedication, epigraph. A field left empty leaves its page out. Nothing is made up: without a copyright holder there is no copyright page.
Eight trim sizes are offered: the ones a single column of running text is printed at, from 5 × 8 to 7 × 10. KDP's other eight — US Letter, A4, landscape, square and the large formats — are for workbooks, cookbooks and picture books, set in columns or grids, and are left out. The margin calculator covers all sixteen.
4 · The cover
The cover is optional. Spine width is page count multiplied by sheet thickness, so the cover is built from the finished interior, once the design is settled. Its front is drawn beside the fields while you choose it.
Without a picture, the cover is set in type. With your own front picture, the back cover and the spine can take a color from it. A picture with no title on it gets the title and the author on a band of that color. Either way, the back can carry an author photo and back-cover text. A full cover from a designer is used as it is.
5 · The files, and what was checked
You get the interior, the ebook and the settings file that rebuilds them, plus the cover and the paper proof if you chose them, each with its measurements. Print and ebook are made separately from the same source, so each is set for its own medium.
KDP's minimum inside margin depends on the page count, and the margin changes the page count, so the book is laid out again until the two agree. Near the edge of a band, the wider margin is used; it is valid on both sides. The finished PDF is then checked for layout faults, and the EPUB is validated with EPUBCheck.
What it does not do
It does not judge typography. Before you upload, print the paper proof and compare it with a printed book you like.
It is deliberately narrow: three interior designs, no ornament library, no writing environment. For a place to write, or a wide choice of themes, Atticus is the better choice.
Questions
Do I need a Mac?
No. Torcul runs in a browser, on any computer. Vellum has only ever run on macOS.
What does it cost?
$29 for one book, paid once; every book costs the same. There is no subscription.
Building the book, viewing every page and the settings file are free, so nothing is lost if you do not buy right away. What formatting a book costs compares this with a freelance formatter, Vellum and Atticus.
Will it pass KDP?
Your files are checked against KDP's published requirements as of the date on the page: trim size, margins and gutter for your page count, bleed, embedded fonts, and EPUBCheck for the ebook. What cannot be checked, such as the effective resolution of a placed image, is reported as unchecked.
Acceptance is not guaranteed; Amazon makes the decision.
What happens to my manuscript?
We delete it, and everything made from it, six hours after upload. Nothing is archived, so nothing can be sent again later. Keep the settings file you download: it holds your corrections and choices and rebuilds the same book in one step.
What if Torcul closes?
The print PDF and the EPUB are standard files with their fonts embedded. You can keep selling your books whether or not Torcul exists.
Building new books would stop. Every licence holder is emailed at least 90 days before, and until then every licensed book can be rebuilt as often as you like.
Is this a program I own?
No. Vellum and Atticus are applications you install and keep; Torcul is a service you use in the browser.