Getting started

Install, make a project, write the first section. About a minute.

Install

Download the build for your machine from the home page and open it. On a Mac, drag Bakspace into Applications. On Windows, run the installer. On Linux, make the AppImage executable and run it.

The first fourteen days are a free trial with everything switched on. After that, a licence key from the purchase unlocks it for good. Enter it under Bakspace > Enter licence key.

Make a project

The Welcome screen has two buttons: New project and Open folder. A new project asks for a title and where to keep it, then opens with a manuscript, a research folder and a first empty document.

A project is a folder on your disk ending in .bakspace. You can move it, rename it, put it in Dropbox or iCloud Drive, or zip it up. More in Where your words live.

Write

The binder on the left holds the whole project: the manuscript, and the research beside it. Select a document and the page opens in the middle. Type. There is no save button: every change is written to disk as you go.

• New document is Cmd N, new folder Cmd Shift N. Drag anything in the binder to move it.
• Select a folder to see its documents as a list, as continuous text, or as cards on a corkboard. Drag the cards to reorder the sections.
• The inspector on the right holds the synopsis, a label, a status and keywords for the selected document.
• Focus mode (Cmd Shift .) hides everything but the page. Typewriter scrolling keeps the line you are typing in the middle of the window.
• Cmd K opens search across every document and every command.

The whole list is under Keyboard shortcuts.

Finish

When there is a manuscript, File > Export compiles it into one Word, EPUB or PDF file. See Export.