Copy and Paste Guidelines

When you’re creating your book in Atticus, you can either start from scratch and write directly into the program, or you can import a previously written docx file.

If at any point you find yourself with a desire to copy and paste content, including minor edits, into Atticus, please read these guidelines very carefully first!

Important Warning

We strongly discourage copying and pasting content directly from other programs into Atticus. When you do so, you’re not just transferring the visible text—you’re also importing hidden formatting and coding embedded within it.

This is especially problematic when pasting from AI-generated content or programs with complex or unique formatting systems.

The Risks of Pasting External Content

Hidden formatting and coding can cause a variety of issues, including:

• Export Problems: Preventing your book from exporting correctly.
• Formatting Errors: Introducing inconsistencies or glitches in your book’s layout.
• Content Corruption: Crashing Atticus or permanently losing your content.

While we’ve added protections to reduce these risks, there’s no way to account for every possible variation of external coding. This is especially true with AI-generated content, which can introduce a wide variety of unexpected hidden coding and formatting. As a result, pasting external content can still lead to unpredictable behavior within Atticus.

Limitations in Troubleshooting

External formatting lies outside Atticus’s programming parameters, making troubleshooting significantly more challenging. Each instance of foreign coding behaves differently, and we cannot guarantee solutions for all cases.

We cannot promise the successful restoration of work affected by pasting incompatible formatting into the editor.

Best Practices

To protect your work, we recommend importing a properly prepared .docx file instead of pasting content. This method allows Atticus to retain essential formatting, such as bold and italics, while removing unnecessary or problematic coding.

For detailed instructions on how to prepare your document for upload, visit: How to Prepare Your Word Document for Upload
By following these guidelines, you can ensure a smoother experience and safeguard your hard work.

Pasting Without Formatting or Paste as Plain Text

If you absolutely must paste something into Atticus, we recommend pasting without formatting.

This should prevent foreign coding from coming with your content, but you will have to go back and reapply any special formatting you may want, such as URLs, italicized or bolded text, etc.

To paste without formatting:

• Windows: CTRL SHIFT V
• Mac: CMD SHIFT V

You can also right click in the body section of Atticus and choose the option to Paste as plain text.

Already Pasted Content into Atticus

If you’ve already pasted into Atticus and want to minimize the potential complications, you have a few options.

If you know where you have copy/pasted content into Atticus, please do the following:

• Highlight anything that was pasted from outside Atticus
• Cut it by pressing CTRL or CMD X
• Paste it back in place without formatting:
  • Press CTRL or CMD + SHIFT + V or
  • right click and choosing “Paste as plain text”

This should clear up any issues but, again, you will have to go back and reapply any special formatting you may want, such as URLs, italicized or bolded text, etc.

If you’ve copy/pasted your entire book, or a great portion of it, this may be quite a bit quicker and easier:

• With your book open in Atticus, click on the title of your book at the top of the left navigation panel to open up book details panel
• Scroll to the bottom and export to .docx
• Import that file as a new book in Atticus
• Before doing anything, try to export to PDF

If it exports, you’ll just have to move the front and back matter back into place and reapply your theme and formatting selections. Since you already know what you want your book to look like, this should only take a few minutes.