Understanding Section Types

After importing your manuscript, Lacuna automatically creates sections based on your document’s headings and assigns section types where it can detect them.

Why Section Types Matter

Section types control how your book is formatted and generated. Assigning the correct type ensures proper styling, table of contents inclusion, and page numbering.

Front Matter

Content before your chapters: Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Foreword, Preface, etc.

• Does not appear in table of contents
• Can use Roman numerals in print (configure in Page Layout Rules)

Chapters

Your book’s main content. Chapters automatically receive drop caps, indentation, and heading styles based on your selected style. These can be customized or turned off in Edit Styles.

• Numbered chapters — Include chapter numbers (Chapter 1, Chapter 2)
• Unnumbered chapters — No automatic numbering

Back Matter

Content after your chapters: Appendix, Glossary, About the Author, Bibliography, Also By, Index.

• Follows standard publishing conventions for positioning

Converting Section Types

Right-click any section to change its type and unlock automatic style formatting.

Single Section

Right-click any section in your sidebar:

Multiple Sections

Select multiple sections using Ctrl+click or Shift+click, then right-click:

Selection Shortcuts

Range: Shift+click to select consecutive sections
Individual: Ctrl+click (or Cmd+click on Mac) to select specific sections