Image Placeholder Tags

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If you have a lot of images in your manuscript (in the text itself, not just saved in the Binder), you may have wished for the ability to use image tags. Well, wish granted!

An image tag is a placeholder for an actual image that you insert into a text document. Why would you want to use it?

  • To keep down your project file size.
  • The ability to adjust all image sizes quickly via Project Replace within the manuscript, or Replacements in the Compile window.
  • So you don't have to import all of the images into your project.
  • To add scene break or chapter header icons.
  • To ensure you always have the most up-to-date version of an image.

Adding an Image Tag

<$img:ImageName>

For the ImageName, use exactly what it's called in the Binder, including the extension (e.g., .jpg) if it's there.

<$img:PrettyTree.jpg>

For images located on a drive accessible by your computer, you'll need to use the complete path of the file. To find and copy the file path:

  1. Locate the image in File Explorer.
  2. Hold down the Shift key and then right-click the image file.
  3. Choose Copy as Path. (This is also available under the Home tab on the File Explorer ribbon.)

<$img:C:\Users\gmher\Dropbox\Pictures\PrettyTree.jpg>

Adjusting the Image Size

If your original image isn't the size you want it in your book, you can tell Scrivener to adjust it by adding a width and height parameter in points. I usually recommend using either height or width and letting the other dimension adjust automatically so you don't get a skewed result, but you can include both. Examples:

<$img:PrettyTree.jpg;w=300;h=150>

<$img:PrettyTree.jpg;w=325>

There's also an option for ebooks that determines what width of the e-reader screen the image fills. This is done in percentages. If you include a height/weight and ebook parameter, the image will be rendered via the height/width in most formats, and via percentage when compiling to an ebook file type, like EPUB.

<$img:PrettyTree.jpg;w=300;ebook=50%>

Notes on Image Tags

  • Images in Scrivener are insert “inline,” which means they are treated like text. Basically, that means there's no word wrapping. If you want to set your image off from the surrounding text, put it on its own line.
  • If you want to center the image, center the text of the image tag.
  • If you rename or move an image, you'll have to fix the image tag to match.