Import, Export, Share

iA Writer is a plain-text editor but, with a plethora of ways to export your text, it helps you produce beautiful and professional documents.

Import From Ulysses

Ulysses stores its files in a proprietary database format, so these files must first be exported to plain text.

1. In Ulysses’ left-hand panel, add a new external folder (e.g., “Ulysses Export” on the Desktop)
2. Select a storage you have added in the left-side panel; click the first sheet and then issue ⌘A to select all the sheets
3. Drag the sheets to the external folder you previously created in step 1
4. Each sheet will be converted into a plain text file in that folder
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all storages you have added

When finished the export you can manipulate these files however you wish.
Add the whole folder to iA Writer’s Library via Preferences → Library → “+” or drag the folder into iA Writer’s iCloud container so the files will be synced with iOS.

Export Formats

Exported HTML and Microsoft Word documents use default styles, so they’re easy to import into other apps. Exported PDF documents use the same settings as File → Print (see below for more information). iA Writer for Mac lets you export a document to HTML, Microsoft Word (.docx), and PDF formats. These are useful for importing into other applications, and sharing with people unfamiliar with iA Writer’s Markdown formatting. Export to HTML, Microsoft Word (.docx), or PDF:

1. In iA Writer, choose File → Export… or click the Export button in Preview’s Toolbar.
2. Select which document type to export to: Web Page, Microsoft Word, or PDF
3. Click Export

PDF Export Options

PDF documents exported via File → Export… use the same options as File → Print…. To change these or print formatting syntax, use the following methods to export PDFs:

To export to formatted PDF with different options

1. In iA Writer, choose iA Writer → Preferences… → Templates
2. Select options to export with, including Print: Title page, Headers, Footers

Office .docx

iA Writer for Mac can convert the following formatting when importing from or exporting to Microsoft Word .docx files:

Import a Microsoft® Office 2007 document

iA Writer for Mac lets you import Microsoft Word .docx documents, and will convert basic formatting to the equivalent Writer flavored Markdown formatting.

Import via iA Writer’s File menu:

1. In iA Writer, choose File → Open….
2. Select the Microsoft Word .docx document you would like to import.

Please note that these files will be saved as .txt unless explicitly exported to another format (see above on how to export).

Import via iA Writer’s Dock icon:

Drag and drop the Microsoft Word .docx document you’d like to import onto the iA Writer icon in the Dock. Plain text files can also be opened this way. Please convert .doc to .docx format using Microsoft® Office 2007 or later before importing.

Sharing Text

iA Writer for Mac allows you to share drafts of your text to Medium and WordPress. To do so:

1. Add your Medium or WordPress account in Preferences → General
2. Share a draft of the current document with File → Share → New Draft on Medium/WordPress

Sharing Elsewhere

OS X provides a system service to share any text selection via email, Twitter, Facebook and Messages too. The easiest way to use this is to select the text you want to share (or ⌘A to select the entire document), then right-click and choose Share. You can also set up a keyboard shortcut to email selected text. Go to System Preferences → Keyboard

Under Keyboard Shortcuts → Messaging, make sure New Email with Selection is checked, and optionally give it a keyboard shortcut. Make sure to use a shortcut that’s not already in use, such as ⌃⌥⌘A.

After closing system preferences:

1. Select the text you want to email (or select all with ⌘A)
2. Select iA Writer → Services → New Email with Selection in the Menu bar, or use the shortcut you added when configuring

If you add/change the keyboard shortcut, you need to trigger the command manually first for Mac OS to update its shortcut tables. Finally, if you want to email formatted text, one way is to open the Preview window (⌘R), Select All, then copy and paste this into your email. Alternatively consider using Brett Terpstra’s Markdown Service Tools to do this.

Printing Text

Can I print a document with page numbers?

Yes. Open Preferences → Templates. Under the Print section you have the options to include a title page, headers, and footers. Check Footers to have page numbers printed at the bottom of your document. This setting is also applied when saving a PDF.

Print a formatted version

To print a formatted version of your document use the macOS standard commands: File → Print, or ⌘P

Print a plain text version

We also offer the ability to print a plain text version of your file. This will include all Markdown punctuation in the printed result. To print this: File → Print Plain Text…, or ⌥⌘P