DragonWriter

Import and export

DragonWriter can bring stories in from a .dwriter file and send them out again, either as a .dwriter file or as a finished manuscript in several reading formats.

Importing a .dwriter file

A .dwriter file is DragonWriter's own story-interchange format — a single file holding one story with its full structure, notes, and inline images. To import one, upload it from your library. Files up to 25 MB are accepted.

Whether ordinary members may import is an administrator setting. When imports are turned off, only the administrator can import; everyone else is gently returned to their library.

An import counts toward your limits: the imported story counts against your story quota, and the images it carries count against your image-storage quota. Both are checked before anything is written, so an import that would exceed a limit is refused cleanly and leaves nothing behind. Words brought in from a file never count toward your writing goals.

Exporting a story as .dwriter

From a story you own, you can export it as a .dwriter file. This is the format to use when you want a complete, faithful copy — for keeping a backup, or for moving a story between accounts. The exported file carries the whole story: parts, chapters, scenes, notes, highlights, the cover, and every inline image.

Exporting a manuscript

When a story is ready to read, you can export it as a finished manuscript in any of four formats:

  • EPUB — for e-readers and reading apps.
  • DOCX — for Microsoft Word and compatible word processors.
  • TXT — plain text.
  • Markdown — lightweight formatted text.

Frontmatter is always included. Chapter notes, scene notes, and story notes are left out by default; you can opt to include any of them.

Redacted text is preserved in every format, since the words are never actually lost — only hidden. EPUB and Word show it as a black redaction bar (the text stays in the file underneath), while plain text and Markdown, which can't black anything out, keep the words wrapped as [redacted: …].

Any fonts you chose for the story, its scenes, or particular passages are carried into the EPUB and Word exports — EPUB embeds the font files, and Word names them (so they show if the reader has the font). Plain text and Markdown have no fonts and are unaffected.

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