Pressbooks is online software that enables authors and publishers to design and format any kind of book, including:
Pressbooks is used by independent authors, small and medium-sized publishers, and educational institutions around the world. All book formats are produced using templates that are optimized to look great in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. File exports produced with Pressbooks can be exported and downloaded from Pressbooks and distributed or shared however you like. The advantages of Pressbooks include:
** Unfamiliar with webbooks?
Pressbooks webbooks are website versions of your book that are hosted on Pressbooks and can be distributed for free to the public. Many use Pressbooks webbooks to produce and distribute open educational resources (OER). Unlike PDFs and ebooks, webbooks are a live version of your book that doesn’t need to be exported or downloaded.
Pressbooks produces a web version of every book. You can view yours at any time by clicking the Visit Book link underneath the title of your book in the top menu. However, your Pressbooks webbook is Private until you change the Global Privacy Setting to Public.
Content remixed from Pressbooks User Guide by Pressbooks and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The following steps detail how to create an account in UVA Pressbooks:
Navigate to: https://pressbooks.library.virginia.edu/
Select Sign In from the upper right corner
You will be prompted to Netbadge authenticate.
Portions of your profile will be auto-populated based on your University information. You may edit your profile to include additional information:
Once you have created your account and have received notification that it has been configured, you may begin by creating the 'shell' of your book.
If you already have an account on an EDU or self-hosted Pressbooks network, you can create a book by doing the following:
The Book Info page is where you add and edit important information (metadata) about your book.
You can add and organize your text from the Organize page in the left sidebar menu of your book dashboard. The organize page will allow you to see all of your existing content, its order, and its display status. You'll see the three main components of your book on this page:
Front Matter: Content in this section may include your introduction, foreword, dedication, and more. Read more about Front Matter.
Parts & Chapters: These comprise the main body of your book. Your book can contain one or more Parts. Each part can contain one or more Chapters. Learn more about adding Parts and adding Chapters.
Back Matter: Content in this section may include your epilogue, appendix, information about contributors, and more. Learn more about Back Matter.
For more information on other ways to import your text into Pressbooks, review How to Get Your Book into Pressbooks.
Once you've entered or imported the content that will make up your book, you can select and apply your preferred Theme. Each Pressbooks theme is a unique template which governs the display of your webbook and export formats (including PDF and ebook exports).
Browse available themes by clicking Appearance > Themes from your Book Dashboard:
Once you’ve selected a theme, you can customize several of the design elements for your webbook and export files using Theme Options or Custom CSS.
Once you're happy with the appearance of your book, you can publish it to the web as a webbook or produce exports for distribution or sale. To produce and download export files for your book, click 'Export' from your book Dashboard:
Content remixed from Pressbooks User Guide by Pressbooks and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Library will be offering periodic Pressbooks information sessions and workshops. These sessions will be recorded and shared in on this page.
For UVA-related Pressbooks questions, please contact: pressbookssupport@virginia.edu
We encourage Pressbooks users to utilize the vast array of open resources offered as a means of leaning more about the wide variety of functionalities and intricacies of the tool. The Pressbooks interface is built with user-friendly navigation in mind.
Pressbooks offers monthly training sessions. You may register for an introductory and/or advanced session at: https://pressbooks.com/webinars/
The Pressbooks User Guide has been curated over time and provides clear instructions for use from creating a book through to the publication phase.
Click on the cover the access or view at: https://guide.pressbooks.com/
The Pressbooks community is lively and there is an abundance of resources for those wishing to fully engage.
The following are great starting points:
The Pressbooks Knowledge Base Provides a FAQ section on book creation and more.
The Pressbooks YouTube Channel provides comprehensive guidance on using the Pressbooks. The channel is a great resource for product updates, deep dives into functionalities, and much more.