Book creation and customization

How do I create a book?

There are three methods to create a book. Make sure you’re logged in before you begin.

Create a book from one of our featured templates
Create a book from scratch
Copy and customize an existing public book

Go to Create in the top navigation.
Select Create a book.
You’ll be directed to our template page, where you can choose one of our featured templates or create a book from scratch.

From your library

Click your avatar or profile photo in the top navigation.
Select My library.
From the My books tab (selected by default), click New book.
Choose how you’d like to create your book. You can use a template or create a book from scratch.

Copy and customize an existing book

If you find a public book you’d like to use as a starting point, you can make your own copy and customize it.

Click Copy & Customize on any public book card or preview page.
A copy of the book will be added to your library.
In the modal that appears, choose Edit copy to customize it right away, or I’ll customize later to edit it later from your library.
If you choose I’ll customize later, you can find the book by going to My library → My books and clicking Edit on the book card.

Edit your book

Once you’re in the book editor, you can customize your book in the following ways:

Add a title

Give your book a descriptive title.

Add a description

Add a description to help you and others quickly understand what the book is about.

Add tags

Tags can help you and others find the book later.

Choose your visibility

Open the Visibility dropdown and choose one of the following:

Public — Your book is visible to the Recustom community. Public books are sent to Recustom’s content moderator for approval before they appear in the public library. If there is a delay in publishing your book, feel free to contact us to request an expedited review.
Note: To share your book using the site’s Share feature (i.e., sharing the direct link), the book must be set to Public. Content moderator approval is not required for your book to be accessible via a private link.
Private — Your book is visible only to you.
Note: To share your book using the site’s Share feature (i.e., sharing the direct link), the book must be set to Public.
Draft — Your book is saved as a work in progress and is visible only to you.

Add sections

Clips are arranged into sections. Think of sections like chapters in your book.

To add a new section, click Add section in the left-hand navigation bar. The navigation bar shows an outline of your book, and you can click any section to jump directly to it.

Add clips

Each clip can optionally include one image, one video, or one piece of audio.

You can create clips from scratch directly in the book editor using Add new clip button, or add an existing clip using Add saved clip button. These buttons can be found in the book editor underneath the last clip in each section. You can add saved clips from your favorites, your own clip library, or the public library.

Please see this article for more instructions on the different methods of adding clips to a book.

Reorder content

Reorder sections and clips by clicking and holding the grid icon next to the section or clip name, then dragging it to the desired location.

Delete content

Delete sections and clips by opening the More menu for the section or clip and selecting Delete.

Duplicate a section or clip

Save time by duplicating existing content. Select Duplicate clip from a clip’s More menu, or Duplicate section from a section’s More menu.

Save a clip to your library

To save a clip for future use, select Add to my library from the clip’s More menu. This saves a copy of the clip to your library so you can easily reference or reuse it in another book.

Add collaborators

You can invite other users to collaborate on your book. Please see our [Collaboration feature help article] for more information.

Preview your book

To preview your book without leaving the editor, click Preview at the top-right corner of the page.

Download your book

To download your book without leaving the editor, click Download from the More menu at the top-right corner of the page.

Once your book has finished preparing for download (rendering), choose PDF and click Download now.

If you have trouble downloading your book, please see our [download troubleshooting article].

Make a copy of your book

If you want to use your book as a starting point for another book, select Make a copy from the More menu at the top-right corner of the page.

Delete your book

To delete your book, select Delete from the More menu at the top-right corner of the page.

Your book is automatically saved

There’s no need to manually save your work. Recustom uses Autosave, so your changes are saved automatically as you edit and when you exit the editor.

When you’re finished, click Exit to leave the book editor. Your book will be saved to your account and can be accessed anytime from My library → My books.

Why can’t I edit certain books?

You can only directly edit books you created or copies of books that you’ve added to your library.

If a book was created by someone else, you can’t change their original book. However, you can often click Copy & Customize on the book card or preview page to make your own copy and adapt it for your needs.