Preparing Images for Export in Deckle

The same image behaves differently depending on which format you export to. EPUB actively compresses and resizes it for you, while PDF and Word embed it exactly as uploaded. Knowing which is which avoids two common surprises: a bloated file, or an image that quietly doesn't show up at all.

What You'll Need

• Your source images, ideally already at a reasonable size for their intended use. A full-page cover doesn't need to be several times larger than your target trim size, and an inline illustration needs far less resolution than that.

Step-by-Step

1. Know that EPUB handles file size for you automatically. Deckle downsamples and recompresses images for EPUB exports, tuned to your target device (Kindle, Kobo, Apple, or a generic reader). You don't need to pre-resize for this format specifically.
2. Pre-resize your source images before exporting to PDF or DOCX. Neither format gets any automatic compression or downsampling from Deckle. A 20MB source photo produces a proportionally larger PDF or DOCX file, regardless of how small it displays on the page. If you're publishing print-ready PDFs or sharing DOCX files by email, resize oversized originals yourself first.
3. Use Full Page Bleed deliberately, and only where it matters for the format you're targeting. It gives a true full-page image with a page break in PDF and EPUB, but if a DOCX export matters for this project too, remember it degrades to a plain inline image there, with no page break.
4. Set captions before you're done, not after, if a DOCX export matters to you. A caption you edit after inserting the image only carries into PDF and EPUB. DOCX only ever picks up whatever caption text existed at the moment of insertion.
5. Add chapter ornaments and cover images knowing they're PDF/EPUB-only. If a manuscript needs to look complete in Word too, don't rely on a title-page or Part cover image to carry the visual identity. It simply won't be there in that export.
6. Clean up your image library before a final export pass, using Remove Unused Images, so you're not carrying forward test images or since-replaced versions that could confuse a later editing pass. Just be sure about what's actually unused first, since this step is permanent.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming Deckle compresses images the same way for every format. Only EPUB does. A large source image that looks fine as a small EPUB file can still produce a surprisingly large PDF or DOCX.
• Editing a caption after insertion and expecting it in a Word export. It won't be there. DOCX only reflects the caption typed in at insertion time.
• Relying on a cover/title-page image for a manuscript you also need in DOCX. It won't appear at all in that export; plan the DOCX version's presentation without depending on it.
• Using Remove Unused Images without being sure what's actually still needed, since it permanently deletes, with no Trash step to catch a mistake.