Export, import, and add-ins for Word and Google Docs
Your editor wants a .docx. Your co-writer lives in Google Docs. Asten sends the manuscript out and takes it back, and two small add-ins let those apps show Asten’s marks without your canon leaving your machine.
In short
Asten compiles a manuscript to Markdown, plain text, Fountain, HTML, .docx, EPUB 3, or Final Draft (.fdx), and imports every one of those except EPUB. PDF comes from printing the HTML. Optional Word and Google Docs add-ins pair once with a six-digit code shown in the desk, then list your local projects, show the Scales, and can file a selected passage into Asten; they talk only to the Asten API on 127.0.0.1:4317 and hold a token you can revoke.
Compile
Markdown, plain text, Fountain, HTML, .docx, EPUB 3, and Final Draft (.fdx). Excluded scenes stay out; the EPUB’s table of contents follows your binder.
Import
Bring drafts home from the same formats, EPUB aside. The .docx import is conservative on purpose.
Word task pane
See Asten’s marks next to your Word document and file a selection into a local project.
Docs sidebar
The same, inside Google Docs, through Apps Script.
Example: one scene in several formats
## Chapter 19: Veld
The tide came in grey over the harbor at Veld.
Mira pushed her auburn hair out of her eyes.
*“You’re late,”* Oren said.Which formats does Asten support?
| Format | Compile | Import | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markdown | Yes | Yes | Plain-text backups, static sites, version control |
| Plain text | Yes | Yes | Anything, forever |
| Fountain | Yes | Yes | Screenplays |
| HTML | Yes | Yes | Web, and PDF by printing |
| .docx | Yes | Yes (conservative) | Editors, agents, publishers |
| EPUB 3 | Yes | No | E-readers and reading apps |
| Final Draft (.fdx) | Yes | Yes | Final Draft and other screenwriting tools |
How do the add-ins work?
The add-ins are thin windows onto your own computer. They call the Asten API at 127.0.0.1:4317 (that address only exists on your machine) to list projects, show the Scales, and file a selected passage into a project. The API answers only to clients you have paired: the first time a pane opens, it asks for a six-digit code from the desk’s Guests panel, and you can revoke that pairing at any time. Microsoft and Google already have the document you opened; Asten doesn’t send your canon to them or to Verne.
About word & google docs
Can Asten export to Word?
Does the Asten Google Docs add-on send my book to Verne?
Can Asten export EPUB or PDF?
Keep reading
Try the pre-alpha
Open the workbench in your browser on a sample novel, or download release 0.0.1b for Windows or Linux.