Formatting Text

Inkweld provides formatting options to structure and style your creative writing. Most formatting is in the editor toolbar, and selecting text also brings up a small floating menu with the basics.

Character Formatting

Basic Styles

Apply these styles using the toolbar buttons:

Style	Toolbar Button	Keyboard Shortcut
Bold	Bold button	Ctrl/Cmd + B
Italic	Italic button	Ctrl/Cmd + I
Underline	Underline button	Ctrl/Cmd + U
Strikethrough	Strikethrough button	Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + X

When to Use Each

• Bold: Key terms, warnings, important information
• Italic: Internal thoughts, foreign words, titles of works, emphasis
• Underline: Rarely used in fiction; consider alternatives
• Strikethrough: Showing edits, crossed-out items in notes

Combining Styles

You can combine multiple styles:

• Bold and italic for strong emphasis
• Apply styles in any order

Headings

Structure your documents with headings using the paragraph style dropdown in the toolbar.

Available Heading Levels

Level	Usage
Heading 1	Document/chapter title
Heading 2	Major sections
Heading 3	Subsections
Heading 4-6	Additional hierarchy if needed
Paragraph	Normal body text

Best Practices

• Use Heading 1 once per document (the title)
• Use Heading 2 for major divisions (scenes, sections)
• Use Heading 3 for sub-divisions if needed
• Don't skip levels (e.g., H1 → H3)

Scene Breaks vs. Headings

For fiction, consider:

• Headings: When you want visible section titles
• Horizontal rules: For scene breaks without titles

Text Alignment

Align text using the alignment buttons in the toolbar:

• Left align (default)
• Center — for titles, poetry, or centered content
• Right align — for signatures, dates, or right-aligned elements
• Justify — for formal documents

Lists

Bullet Lists

Use for unordered items:

• Character traits
• Location features
• Plot points to address

Create with the bullet list button in the toolbar.

Numbered Lists

Use for ordered sequences:

1. First event
2. Second event
3. Third event

Create with the numbered list button in the toolbar.

Nested Lists

Indent list items to create hierarchy:

• Main point
  • Supporting detail
  • Another detail

Use the keyboard shortcuts:

• Tab or Ctrl/Cmd + ] to indent
• Ctrl/Cmd + [ to outdent

Block Quotes

Use block quotes for:

• Quotations from other sources
• Epigraphs at chapter starts
• Letters or documents within your story
• Emphasis on key passages

"The only way out is through." — Robert Frost

Create with the quote button in the toolbar.

Horizontal Rules

Insert a horizontal rule for:

• Scene breaks
• Thematic breaks
• Section dividers

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Create with the Horizontal rule button in the toolbar, or with Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + H. There is no Markdown typing shortcut for it.

Tables

Tables are useful for reference material that sits alongside your prose — magic system rules, character stat blocks, timelines of regnal years, translation glossaries.

Inserting a Table

1. Place the cursor where you want the table
2. Click the Table button in the toolbar
3. Choose Insert table

A new table starts as three columns by three rows. The first row is a header row, styled differently from the body and preserved when you export.

Editing a Table

Click into any cell and type. Cells hold ordinary paragraphs, so all the character formatting above works inside them. The other table menu items are greyed out until the cursor is inside a table.

Action	How
Move to the next cell	Tab
Move to the previous cell	Shift + Tab
Add a row	Table menu → Insert row above or Insert row below
Add a column	Table menu → Insert column left or Insert column right
Delete a row or column	Table menu → Delete row or Delete column
Merge selected cells	Table menu → Merge cells
Split a merged cell	Table menu → Split cell
Turn the header row on/off	Table menu → Toggle header row
Turn the header column on/off	Table menu → Toggle header column
Resize a column	Drag the divider between two columns
Remove the whole table	Table menu → Delete table

Select several cells by clicking one and dragging across the others — merge and alignment actions apply to the whole selection.

tip

Tab in the last cell does not create a new row. Use Insert row below from the table menu when you need more space.

Tables and Export

Tables export to Markdown, HTML, EPUB, and PDF. Merged cells are handled differently by each format:

Format	Merged cells
PDF	Cells merged across columns are kept
EPUB	Merges across columns and rows are kept
Markdown	Markdown tables cannot merge cells, so the text stays in the first cell and the columns it spanned are left empty
HTML	The merge is not written out, so a merged cell takes up a single column

If a table relies on merged cells, check the exported result in the format you plan to publish.

warning

Markdown always treats a table's first row as the header, even if you turned the header row off in the editor — that is a limitation of the Markdown table format. EPUB, PDF and HTML follow your header row and column settings.

Links

Inserting Links

1. Click the Insert link button in the toolbar (or press Ctrl/Cmd + K, or use the link button in the floating menu)
2. A dialog opens. If you had text selected, enter just the URL. If nothing was selected, enter the Link text and the URL
3. Click Insert

To change a link, put the cursor in it and open the dialog again; it becomes Edit Link, with an Open in new tab option and a Remove link button.

Internal Element Links

Use @mentions to link to project elements:

1. Type @ in the editor
2. Search for a character, location, or document
3. Select from the dropdown

See Element References for details.

Inline Code

For technical terms or code-like text, select the text and press Ctrl/Cmd + E (or Ctrl/Cmd + ` , using the backtick key). This applies monospace formatting to the selection.

Clearing Formatting

To remove inline formatting from text:

1. Select the formatted text
2. Click the Clear formatting button in the toolbar (or press Ctrl/Cmd + \)

This removes character-level formatting such as bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, code and links. It does not change the paragraph itself, so headings, lists, block quotes and alignment stay as they are. With nothing selected, the toolbar button clears the formatting that would apply to the next characters you type; the keyboard shortcut only works on a selection. It also removes comment highlights and AI Review highlights from the selected text.

Paragraphs and Spacing

Paragraph Breaks

• Press Enter for a new paragraph
• Paragraphs have automatic spacing

Line Breaks

• Press Shift + Enter for a line break without paragraph spacing
• Useful for poetry or addresses

Undo and Redo

Made a mistake? Use the undo/redo buttons or keyboard shortcuts:

• Undo: Ctrl/Cmd + Z
• Redo: Ctrl + Y (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Shift + Z (macOS)