Presswork User Manual (EN)

This manual covers every Presswork feature, with a guided path through each area of the app.

1. Overview

Presswork is a professional Markdown editor for publishing and self-publishing. It combines clean writing, editorial tools (style, synopsis, versions) and professional exports (PDF, PDF/X, EPUB, DOCX, HTML, ICML, FDX). It includes Typst for fast PDFs and supports LaTeX + Ghostscript for certified PDF/X.

2. Requirements and installation

Included: Pandoc, Typst (Base PDF), internal engines.
Optional (Pro): LaTeX and Ghostscript for certified PDF/X.

Where to check:

Settings → App → Installations → Open full Export Check: verification and installation guidance.

3. Modes and licenses (Base / Pro)

Base: simplified interface, fast PDF with Typst, fewer options.
Pro: PDF/X, preflight, multi-export, advanced options and full editorial tools.
Switch on the fly with the Base/Pro toggle in the header; the full plan and the License are managed from Settings → App → Workspace view.

4. Main interface

Header: quick access to Document, Tools, Export, View, license, manual.
Editor: Markdown area with toolbar and shortcuts.
Sidebar: Outline, Snapshot, Backlink, Scrivener.
Status bar: words, characters, line/column, goals.

5. Documents menu

New: create a new document.
Save MD / Save as…: save as .md.
Import document: Word (.docx, .doc), ODT, HTML, Markdown, PDF, ICML, Final Draft. Images come in with the text: pictures from a Word document — including Excel tables pasted as an image — and images embedded in a PDF are extracted into a folder next to the imported file. Whatever is vector drawing inside a PDF (many charts are) is not an image and cannot be extracted.
Open project: load a chapter-based project.
Structure Mode: chapter/order management.
Manage Project: create/update editorial projects.
Print: print the current document.
Timeline (History section): the points saved automatically, and restoring them (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + H).
Versions (History section): alternative versions of the book, alongside the final version that goes to print (§29).

Recommended flow:

Create a document or project.
Save often.
Use the Timeline to go back to an earlier point.

6. Tools menu

Goals: daily or per-document word targets.
Statistics: writing trends, pace, difficulty, flow.
User Guide: built-in manual.
Export Check (LaTeX/Ghostscript): not in this menu, but in Settings → App → Installations (“Open full Export Check”).
Command Palette: command search (Ctrl/Cmd + P).
Style Analysis: repetitions, readability, tone, inclusivity.
AI Assistant: summaries, rewrites, consistency.
Vim mode: not in this menu, but in Settings → Editor → Writing modes (or Ctrl + Alt + V).
Collab: real-time collaborative sessions with quick invite via session ID; text, chat and attachments go through the PressWork relay (§20).
- Quick start: open Tools → Collab, set your name, create or paste a session ID (pw-...) and press Connect.
- In a call: use the microphone and camera toggles in the floating panel; voice and video travel over WebRTC, directly or, when the network does not allow it, through a forwarding server (TURN): there's nothing to configure.
Tour: guided walkthrough of special formats.
Digital Signature: sign PDFs with a certificate (Pro).

7. Export menu

Main formats

PDF (Typst, fast)
PDF/X (LaTeX, certified)
Screenplay PDF (Hollywood)
FDX (Final Draft)
DOCX / ODT
EPUB
HTML
ICML (InCopy/InDesign)

Options

PDF style: PDF template selection.
PDF/X: ICC profile, validation, embedded fonts.
Crop marks: under Professional Printing Options (PDF). The KDP interior always comes out without them.
EPUB metadata + Cover.
Preflight: quality and print checklist.
Export history: export log.
Multi Export: several files into one.
Multi-format export: PDF + EPUB + HTML etc.
Export with Assets: includes images/resources.
Convert Folder: batch conversion.

8. View menu

Modes: Write, MD Code, Page view.
Language (9 languages): not in this menu, but in Settings → App → Interface language.
Theme: Settings → App → Theme, 🌙 Dark / ☀️ Light, or from the Command Palette.
Typewriter (centered line): Settings → Editor → Writing modes.
Focus Mode: hides the UI (F11).
Presentation: fullscreen slides.
Accessibility (text size, high contrast, dyslexia-friendly font): not in this menu, but in Settings → Editor → Text & Typography.

9. Editor toolbar

Formatting: bold, italic, underline. The first click applies it and keeps the word selected; the second turns it back to normal (this works for code too).
Headings: H1/H2/H3.
Elements: links, images, inline/block code.
Lists: bulleted/ordered.
Quotes.
Tables.
CriticMarkup: insert, delete, comment.
Templates: layout presets.
Metadata: YAML front matter.
Snapshot: scene snapshots.
Synopsis: per-chapter summaries.

10. Sidebar panels

Outline: section navigation.
Snapshot: snapshot management.
Backlink: links between documents.
Scrivener: chapters and drag&drop.
Scene Navigator: for screenplays.

11. Writing in Markdown

Basic syntax

# Heading / ## Subheading
**bold**, *italic*
- list / 1. numbered list
[link](url)
![alt](image)
> quote
\newpage for a page break
$E=mc^2$ inline, $$ … $$ on a line of its own: formula

Tips

Drag & drop images.
Use Split or Preview to check the layout.
Formulas, even offline: the preview shows them without a connection (PressWork downloads nothing at startup). Whatever is a formula in the preview comes out as a formula in the PDF, the PDF/X, Print, the fast PDF, the ePub and the HTML, and vice versa: a price like "$50" stays text. Only in Print and the fast PDF does \cancel come out as written and \color lose its color, but the PDF is still made.
Emoji: they reach the PDF instead of little boxes, in color in a regular PDF and in black in PDF/X.

12. Templates

Built-in templates: available from the toolbar (Tpl).
Custom templates:
- Import a single file or a folder (Templates menu → "Import file / Import folder").
- Automatic classification into tabs: css→UI Kit, xlsx/xls/ods/csv→Business, others→Documents.
- Custom badge and full tooltip on hover (name + description).
- .md: loadable in the editor.
- .tex/.pdfx/.pdft: usable as PDF export styles.
- .xlsx/.xls/.ods/.csv: usable in data sheet/report workflows.
UI↔PDF auto-pair: CSS themes can auto-match the PDF template (toggle + Unpair).
Shared library: save shared typographic presets.
Full template feature reference: docs/template-functions-overview-en.md.

13. Metadata and front matter

Metadata (top bar) opens 🏷 Manage Metadata; in the Editorial Hub, Edit metadata (title, author…) opens it too: title, author, language, date, ISBN, publisher, genre, tags.
Language, under Title and Author: each of the nine languages is written in its own (Italiano, English (US), English (UK), Español, Français, Deutsch, 中文, Русский, العربية, עברית); with Other… you type a code such as pt-BR or de-CH, and a wrong code isn't saved. The language applies to the ePub and to the PDFs: hyphenation, quotation marks, "Contents" or "Indice". Chinese, Japanese and Korean fall back to Italian in the PDF via LaTeX and in PDF/X, and the window tells you so. With Not set, the ePub takes the app's language and the PDF uses Italian.
The language becomes the document's lang: line: if you had written it by hand, you'll find it in the window. The Publisher and a valid ISBN reach the ePub (the ISBN doesn't go into the PDF), and the Page size becomes the export's Paper, for a .md too.
YAML front matter for consistent exports.
EPUB: cover and metadata strongly recommended.

14. Projects and Structure Mode

Documents → Manage Project.
Create the project folder.
Add chapters (.md).
Reorder with drag&drop.
Export everything with automatic ordering.

15. Exports in detail

15.1 Base PDF (Typst)

Fast, no LaTeX needed.
Ideal for drafts and reviews.

15.2 PDF/X (LaTeX)

Uses a certified template.
Requires LaTeX + Ghostscript.
Supports ICC, validation and preflight.

15.3 Screenplay PDF

Hollywood layout.
Fountain-compatible.

15.4 FDX (Final Draft)

Export for film workflows, with a .breakdown.json report alongside (scenes, characters, tags).
Dual dialogue: add ^ after the second character's name (GUIDO^) — in Final Draft the two speeches appear side by side (native dual dialogue); importing an .fdx brings the ^ back automatically.
Production tags: right-click a selected word → Tag for production, or write [[prop: flashlight]] or #prop: flashlight at the end of the line. In FDX they become native Tagger tags (word highlighted, category in the breakdown); in other formats the markers are removed; tags applied in Final Draft come back on import.
Main keys (Italian or English): prop, costume, vehicle, sound, music, makeup, animal, effects, location, note.
Title and author (front matter, or # Title + "by …" at the top of the document) go to the Final Draft Title Page.

15.5 DOCX/ODT

Conversion via Pandoc.

15.6 EPUB

Metadata + cover recommended; the Metadata Language (§13) is the one the e-reader uses to hyphenate and to read aloud.
Compatible with digital stores.

15.7 HTML

Web output with resources.

15.8 ICML

Mapped styles for InDesign/InCopy.
Headings, lists, quotes and screenplay converted to dedicated styles.
Included template presets + custom .icml import.
Real footnotes (numbered by InDesign), links with destinations, tables with headers and alignments, images as linked frames (Links panel), superscript/subscript and small caps — inside cells, notes and links too.
Faithful re-import: an exported ICML reopened in PressWork preserves the document (round-trip verified in CI, long manuscripts included).

15.9 Excel

Excel export with scene, character and production breakdown.
Template support: writes into existing sheets to keep base styles.
Multi-sheet import into Markdown tables (with type/cell metadata).
Sheet and range selection at import time to avoid unwanted data.
Chart Mapper: optional, generates preview charts from Excel data.

16. Advanced export

Multi Export: merges several documents.
Multi-format export: generates PDF+EPUB+HTML into one folder.
Export with Assets: copies images and resources.
Export history: log and results.

17. KDP (Amazon)

Editorial Hub (button at the top): the tools for Amazon KDP, in five tabs: Export, Covers, Validation, Calculator, AI.
🚀 Export KDP (PDF + ePub) writes the files to upload: Title_interior.pdf (PDF/X if LaTeX is installed, otherwise a regular PDF; always without the cover and without crop marks), Title_ebook.epub and, if you chose it in the Covers tab, Title_cover.pdf. At the end, Open opens the interior.
Covers → Print book cover: the tab gives the measurements of the full cover (the whole cover in mm and in inches, the spine, the bleed), worked out from the Paper chosen in the Export menu (A4, A5, US Letter), with the paper type and the page count from the Calculator. With Choose the full cover… you pick the cover you already have (PDF, JPG or PNG) and PressWork checks its measurements right away: a PDF with crop marks has to be exported again without them, a cover made at trim size is missing the bleed, and below 300 DPI you get a warning. Remove takes it off.
If the measurements don't match, the cover isn't written, and the message says which ones are needed. Without a cover the export still goes ahead, and you upload the cover on KDP. The choice applies to the open book and is not kept after a restart.
Calculator: from the page count and the paper (cream, white, Standard color, Premium color) it gives the spine and the minimum inside margin. Standard color isn't available in A4 and only prints from 72 pages.
KDP templates: three text skeletons (Novel 6x9, Essay 6x9, Self-help 5x8); the one you pick, after a confirmation, replaces the text in the editor.
ePub validator: checklist, Kindle preview and downloadable report.

18. Style analysis

Long sentences, repetitions, passive voice.
Inline suggestions.
Readability metrics.

19. AI Assistant

Summaries, rewriting, consistency, titles. With a selection, Insert into editor doesn't replace it: it proposes, and you decide in the text (§36).
Cloud services ready in the menu: OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Mistral and aggregators such as OpenRouter. Picking one sets address and model: all that's left is pasting the key.
Each service remembers its own key: switching between them no longer means typing it again. Keys live in the operating system keychain, not in an application file.
Local models: «Detect Ollama» lists the ones installed on your computer. No key needed there, and nothing leaves the machine.
Connection test checks the channel you are actually using — the cloud one if you have a key, the local one otherwise — and says which one it verified.

20. Collaboration

Shared sessions with colored remote cursors, inline comments and live sync.
Built-in voice/video calls during the session.
Shareable session ID (pw-...) to quickly invite other users.

How to use it (step-by-step)

Open Tools → Collab and pick a recognizable name.
Create a new session or paste the ID received from a colleague.
Wait for the Online status and check the participants in the collaboration dock.
If you need voice/video, start the call from the Collab panel and use the mute/camera buttons.

How the data travels

Text, chat and attachments go through PressWork's connection server (the relay), which forwards them to the other participants without storing them: there's nothing to configure. If the relay does not respond, PressWork tries to connect the participants directly.
Voice and video travel over WebRTC, directly between participants or, when the network does not allow it, through a forwarding server (TURN).
The connection is protected in transit, but text, chat and attachments are not end-to-end encrypted: the connection server sees them while forwarding them. For this reason collaboration is not suitable for confidential material.
Anyone with the session ID can join: give it only to the people you invite, like a key.

21. Digital signature

Sign PDFs with a PAdES-T certificate.
RFC 3161 timestamp (requires network).

22. Presentation

Turns documents into slides.
Configurable layouts and palettes.

23. Accessibility

Text size 12–18px: Settings → Editor → Text & Typography.
High contrast (menus and windows): in the same section. It changes menus, bars and windows; the text sheet stays as it is.
Dyslexia-friendly font in menus: in the same section. It uses OpenDyslexic or Atkinson Hyperlegible if they are installed on your system (PressWork does not include them), and applies to the menus, not to the text.

24. Main shortcuts

Ctrl/Cmd + S → Save
Ctrl/Cmd + N → New
Ctrl/Cmd + P → Command Palette
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P → Presentation
F11 → Focus Mode
Ctrl/Cmd + B/I/U → Bold/Italic/Underline (press again to remove)
Ctrl + Alt + V → Vim

25. Troubleshooting

PDF/X unavailable: install LaTeX + Ghostscript and restart.
Export failed: read the message, which says what went wrong and where (§35).
Templates not visible: use "Open templates folder" and check the extensions.
Slow export: disable validation while drafting.

26. Useful paths

Custom templates: presswork/templates folder inside the user configuration directory.
PDF/X ICC: presswork/pdfx folder.

Presswork combines simplicity with professional editorial tools: write fast in Base, publish in Pro.

Recent updates (Data Hub / Charts)

Inserting a chart from the Excel Data Hub now shows an immediate image preview in the editor too, not only in the preview panel.
The inline preview has been reduced (about 50%) to be less intrusive while writing.
Two-way toggle: 📝 Show code opens the chart-data block, 🖼️ Back to chart restores the image view.
The chart-data block stays in the Markdown to guarantee compatibility with preview/render/export.
Inserting a table or chart as an image now saves the file into the document assets (docname.assets/images/) and only the Markdown reference enters the editor: it works even with very large sheets.
If the document is not saved yet, the app offers to save it on the spot (as with image drag&drop); declining inserts the table as Markdown text and keeps the chart in the sheet.
The text/image prompt also understands answers like "png", "jpg", "image", "photo"; an unrecognized answer repeats the question.
The data grid follows the active light/dark theme.
Save as Template: dialog redesigned in the app's style and translated. Requires data in the grid and a model in the editor with {{ColumnName}} placeholders; "Generate Markdown" repeats the model for each row.
Excel export (breakdown): reads the editor text (INT./EXT. scenes or # chapters); if no scenes are found it now warns instead of generating an empty file.
Simplified Tables menu: removed the duplicate entry "Import as template" (identical to "Open Tables sheet").
Import/Export panel: new Batch tab (next to Base format / Pro print / Screenplay / Publishing) with the batch actions: Convert Folder, Multi Export, Multi-format, With Assets. Advanced options only show what applies to the chosen format.
🧪 Verify ICML: in the export panel (ICML format) it checks the generated document — hierarchy, front matter, escaping, empty paragraphs — without writing anything to disk; details appear in an in-app window. The same check also runs on every ICML export.
Safer FDX export: generic Markdown (lists, tables, notes) always becomes Action — never Character/Dialogue by accident; real screenplays are still interpreted (scenes, characters, dialogue, transitions). \newpage becomes a real page break (in ICML too, via a remappable "Page Break" style).
Print via PDF: the Print button generates a temporary PDF (Typst, same typography as the exports) and opens it in the system viewer — print from the native dialog with a faithful preview.
Settings reorganized: Installations section (one-click LaTeX, Ghostscript status), compact language view, Dark/Light theme chips. The AI panel's quick prompts are collapsible.

27. In-depth feature analysis (gaps filled)

This section covers advanced features that often go unused because they are not very visible in the menus.

27.1 AI: configuration, diagnostics and response quality

Configurable cloud/local endpoints (OpenAI-compatible, Ollama, LM Studio) via PRESSWORK_AI_ENDPOINT, PRESSWORK_AI_MODEL, PRESSWORK_AI_API_KEY variables.
AI connection diagnostics with an exportable JSON report (useful for tech support/IT teams).
Response style control (concise/balanced/detailed), technical prompt preview and last-prompt retry.
Endpoint/model pin per project: keeps editorial consistency across documents.

27.2 Statistics: calculation method (operational)

Average productivity: computed on the daily history (7 days / 30 days).
Writing speed: total words divided by the session window (words/hour and words/min).
TTR (Type-Token Ratio): unique words / total words.
MSTTR: average TTR over 50-word windows (reduces bias on long texts).
Realtime flow state: average keystroke interval + recent deletion ratio.
Completion forecast: optimistic/pessimistic estimate using 7d vs 30d averages.

27.3 Advanced exports missing from the quick guide

Final Draft (.fdx): maps headings to real Scene Headings, supports notes/page breaks/scene numbering and generates a .breakdown.json sidecar.
ICML: advanced typographic mapping (headings/lists/quotes/screenplay) + presets + custom .icml import.
EPUB/ICML wizard: blocks the export until minimal metadata (title/author/ISBN) and cover are set.
PDF signing: PKCS#7 detached + RFC 3161 timestamp.

27.4 Bundle mode (.pwk)

Main action: Export with destination choice.
Automatic output targets to reduce manual path errors.
Header toggle to temporarily show the classic quick exports.

27.5 Collaboration in real-world contexts

Shareable pw-... session ID, colored remote cursors, inline comments, live sync.
Voice/video call built into the same editorial session.
Text, chat and attachments go through the PressWork relay (you can't set a relay of your own), which forwards them without storing them; they are not end-to-end encrypted, so it is not the right tool for confidential material (§20).

27.6 Template system (professional use)

File/folder import with automatic classification (Business / Documents / UI Kit).
Support for binary and spreadsheet templates for report workflows.
UI↔PDF auto-pair to link editor theme and export style, with an Unpair option.

27.7 Recommended operational checklist

Set Base/Pro mode based on the deliverable.
Verify prerequisites in Export Check (Settings → App → Installations; LaTeX/Ghostscript only if PDF/X is needed).
Run Preflight before delivery.
For EPUB/ICML complete the metadata + cover wizard.
For signed documents enable PKCS#7 signing + timestamp.
In teams, store the Collab Session ID in your internal instructions.

28. Connect an assistant (MCP)

Since 4.2, PressWork acts as an MCP bridge: chat AI assistants (Claude Desktop, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI…) read your .pwk projects right on your computer — chapters, notes, statistics — with no copy-paste. It never writes in the text: the bridge has eight readers and, only on documents where you allow it, two tools that leave proposals for you to decide (§36). No tool changes the text. If the assistant you connect has its own tools for reaching files on your computer, those don't go through PressWork.

One-click setup: Settings → AI → Connect an assistant (MCP) → "Set it up for me" (Claude Desktop / Codex CLI / Gemini CLI). The open project's folder gets connected, with every .pwk inside it.
Fully quit the assistant before configuring (Claude Desktop rewrites its own config on exit), then reopen it. The app backs up the config before writing anyway.
Folders add up: configure from projects in different folders and the assistant sees them all. Works even with PressWork closed.
On Claude: regular chats live in the cloud and can't reach your machine — pick the "On your computer" activity or tick the presswork connector.
Other MCP clients (Cursor, OpenCode…): manual config snippet to copy. With Export the Skill you generate the skill that teaches Claude to make the most of your projects (add it once, it sticks forever).
Privacy, stated honestly: whatever the assistant reads is sent to its cloud service to produce the answer — like a copy-paste, only automatic. Don't connect projects you wouldn't send in a chat.
Requires the Complete working view.

29. Versions and chapter variants

Two different tools answering the same question — "what if instead…" — at two different scales.

A version is another book. In every version, each chapter can have its own variants.

29.1 Versions

A version is an alternative of the whole document: change the ending, drop a character, try another structure. The final version, the one that goes to print, stays intact.
Panel: Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+B or from the menu. Open a version and you go inside it: from that moment you write there.
You always see where you are: a pill with the version name appears at the bottom of the window. No pill = you are on the final version.
Make final turns the version into the text that goes to print; the previous text is not lost, it stays as a Timeline checkpoint you can restore. Compare shows the differences with the final version line by line. Copy to a new document… detaches the version into an independent .pwk.
All versions live inside the same .pwk: no extra files, no Git.
The Synopsis cards show where the roads fork: each chapter card carries a mark in the version colour where that chapter differs, struck through where it does not exist. One click opens Versions. Cards identical in every version stay clean: silence means «nothing has diverged here». Inside a version the comparison includes the final version, which is exactly what you need to compare against while exploring another road.
Chapters that live only elsewhere are not dropped: at the bottom of the Synopsis, when needed, you get the list of chapters that exist only in another version. It matters most for renamed ones, since chapters are identified by their title.

29.2 Chapter variants

A variant is a second draft of a single chapter: on paper it was crossing out a passage and rewriting it beside. Only one stays alive in the text, and that is the one that goes into the files.
Create: Synopsis → hover the chapter card → ⑂ in the top right. The current text becomes the first draft; you name the new one.
Switch: click the ⑂ pill on the card and pick. The active one is marked "in the text". Only that chapter changes.
Delete: the bin in the menu. The active variant cannot be deleted: switch to another one first.
Where you see it: the status bar, next to the word count — ⑂ variant: name. If the chapter your cursor is in has none, it says so anyway, dimmed.
Every version has its own variants: the ones created inside a version do not show on the final version, and that is by design.

29.3 If something doesn't add up

Renamed a chapter, variants gone: they are not lost. At the bottom of the Synopsis there is a "Variants without a chapter" band holding everything that currently has no home; the "assign to…" menu puts them back. PressWork tries to follow renamed titles on its own, but when it isn't sure it prefers showing you the material over guessing.
Undo applies here too: switching variant is a text edit like any other (Ctrl/Cmd+Z).
On disk: versions/branches/<id>/ and versions/variants/ inside the .pwk. Plain .md files: even without PressWork the work is readable.

30. The Table view, deadlines and the rest of 4.4

30.1 The Table view and the deadline

Inside the Synopsis, the Table view shows chapters as a table: for each one the word target, the words written and the Delta — the difference between the two. Drag rows to reorder; the new order applies to the real document.
The footer keeps the overall accounts: document goal, how much is assigned to chapters, how much is left to assign. For print, the last row estimates pages and says how many are missing to the next multiple of 16 (the printer's signature).
In the 🎯 Goals window (top bar) you can add a deadline: the Table footer will say how many days remain and how many words per day it takes — counting words written, not targets. It is optional and disappears with the daily goal; once the goal is reached, the pace goes quiet.

30.2 The update dialog

When a new version is out, a few seconds after startup a window tells you which version is available and which one you have. "What's new" opens the changelog in your language; "Update now" downloads and restarts; "Later" simply closes — the offer returns on the next startup.

30.3 The assistant's two languages

The assistant talks to you in the app's language and writes in the manuscript's language: app in English and novel in French = explanations in English, prose in French. Ask explicitly for a translation when you want the text to change language.

31. Importing a Markdown folder (Notion, Obsidian, notes)

File & Project → Import a Markdown folder: pick a folder of .md files — a Notion export (Export → Markdown & CSV with subpages, then unzip), an Obsidian vault (it already is a folder), or a folder of notes. PressWork shows the real tree and asks where the book starts: top-level entries under the chosen point become chapters, deeper ones sections. A new .pwk is created next to the folder; the original is never touched.
Notion and Obsidian are recognised automatically: hexadecimal codes removed from titles, small databases → tables and large ones → Notes, database rows excluded, callouts → quotes; [[wikilinks]] and embeds resolved by name, front matter removed. Images are copied into the document; links between pages of the book become cross-references, links to the outside become text.
The final report says what came in and what did not — pages, chapters, images copied and not found, links rewritten and turned into text, tables, files left out, code blocks closed. Zero entries are shown too.

32. Save as, export as, open from the system (4.5)

Save as… (File & Project, next to Save): on a .md it saves a copy under the chosen name and you continue on the copy; on a .pwk it duplicates the whole document — text, metadata, images, notes, history, versions — and opens the copy, without the outputs in exports/. The section title always says which file is open (“Document · novel.pwk”); Save as .pwk document only appears on a .md.
Export as… (Export panel, next to Generate): always opens the system dialog for name and folder, even where the normal export writes without asking. The File name field sits under Format and the chosen name is remembered per document, independent of the metadata title.
Open with: on Mac and Windows PressWork appears under "Open with" for .md files without becoming their default app: after installing, a .md still opens with the program you used before. Double-clicking a .md associated with PressWork opens that file, even with the app already open. On Mac (from 4.6) a .pwk is a document: double-clicking opens PressWork; to look inside use Show Package Contents (right-click), and exported files open from the output pill or from Share. On Windows and Linux a .pwk is still a folder: open it from Recent files, by dragging it into the window, or from Open document.

33. Dictating instead of typing

Dictating instead of typing: PressWork uses the system dictation, which types into the editor like into any text field, with spoken punctuation (“comma”, “period”). macOS: press fn twice; without fn, System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → Shortcut, for example “Press Control twice”. Windows: Win+H. Linux has no system dictation.

34. Where you are and what is saved (4.6, 4.7)

The document name is always in view: bottom left in the status bar (hover it to read the full path), and in the window title where the system shows it. On a version, 🌿 and its name appear next to it, and reopening a document you left on a version takes you back to that version.
A .md with unsaved changes shows its name in italics with a "•" in front. If you close PressWork in that state, the app asks whether to close without saving. If you close anyway, the changes are kept aside: when you reopen, PressWork reopens the last .md and offers to restore them, then you just save. A .pwk saves itself and never asks, as long as saving works.
If a save fails (the .pwk renamed or moved from outside, a full disk, permissions, a USB stick pulled out), the state stays in view: the name gets the "•", and the indicator at the bottom and the pill at the top say ⚠️ Not saved until a save succeeds. Before you close the app, switch to another version, use "Make final" or open another document, the "The document is not saving" window appears, with the reason.
The window's choices: "Try saving again" (after plugging the stick back in or freeing up disk space), "Save a copy…" (the text somewhere else), "Quit without saving" when closing or "Continue without saving" in the other cases, and "Cancel" to stay. If leaving then fails, you stay on the document, and next time it asks again. A document that saves asks nothing more.
If content.md is edited with another program, a banner offers to reload it.

35. Exporting and asking for help (4.6, 4.7)

Export remembers the last folder used for each document, on this computer. If you change the title, the file with the old name in exports/ is replaced by the one with the new name, so you don't send the wrong one.
After the export, the "Saved to: …" message has two buttons: Open opens the file, Show in folder shows it already selected. They are there after a PDF/X or with a warning too, and the message stays as long as you keep the mouse over it; after the KDP export, "Open" opens the interior.
If an export fails, the message says what went wrong and where, in the app's language: the unknown LaTeX command and near which sentence, the missing LaTeX package and how to install it, the Typst error with its line, a broken YAML front matter. If images are missing, it says how many, the first one and the folder where it looked for them.
Word and ODT come out with the PDF's page size and margins; ePub has a table of contents and the PressWork stylesheet, even when exporting a single document.
Large photos, such as full-resolution phone pictures, are shown in the editor and preview from a reduced copy, made the first time in about a second: the app doesn't freeze, and exports always use the original photo.
For support: Info window → "Copy information for support". It copies version, system and installed export engines, with no text or file names: paste it into your message.

36. Revisions and proposals, decided in the text (4.7)

Every revision mark has its own buttons. Next to an addition, a deletion or a substitution there are ✓ (accept) and ✗ (reject); a highlight or a comment has ✓ (done: removes the mark and keeps the text). You decide right where the mark is, one at a time; Undo (Ctrl/Cmd+Z) goes back.
Assistants can propose, never write. An assistant connected through the MCP bridge (§28) — Claude, Codex, Gemini — can leave proposals only on documents where you allow it: click the document name at the bottom → "Assistants can propose changes". While it is on, ✎ AI proposals on shows next to the name: one click turns it off. New documents start with it off.
Proposals wait outside the text. When they arrive, ✎ Proposals from Claude: 3 appears: one click brings them into the text as marks, with who proposed them and why (@Claude: …), to be decided with ✓ and ✗. Undo removes them all at once. They never come in by themselves: the text doesn't move while you write.
The AI inside PressWork proposes too. With a selection, Insert into editor in the AI panel puts its text in as a proposal, with ✓ and ✗ (across several lines, each line is decided on its own), and until you accept it, what goes to print is the previous text. Without a selection it adds at the cursor, as before. With a selection, the AI answers with the new text and nothing else.
All at once. Next to a proposal's ✓ ✗ there is ▾, with "Accept all proposals from AI (15)" and "Reject all proposals from AI (15)": they apply to whoever made that proposal, and other authors' proposals and your own revisions stay where they are. Undo brings them all back.
If you have changed that sentence in the meantime, the proposal touches nothing: the pill counts it as "no longer applicable" and it is discarded.
What you haven't decided doesn't go to print. A pending proposal stays out of the preview and of every export, as if rejected, and the Export menu says how many there are. Your own revisions stay accepted as always.
Notes and synopses too. An assistant can propose a new note (note, research, character) or a chapter synopsis. With the pill they reach their place: the note in the Notes panel labelled «✎ @Claude», the synopsis on the chapter card, in a box. You keep or discard them there; nothing overwrites what you have already written.
Proposals apply to the final version, not to the other versions.