The Logos library contains a comprehensive array of books on almost any biblical subject--but did you know that you can extend it by adding public domain works or even documents you have written? Using Logos's Personal Books tool, you can ensure that your Logos library contains every book you need.
Note
Note: Personal Books are only supported in the Logos desktop environment - not mobile or web.
Note
Note: This feature is available to all users.
Tip
Did you know? You can find many user-created personal books on the Logos Wiki. You can also find some open-source books, such as those in the Perseus Classics Collection, in the Logos store.
Skip ahead to:
Compose Your Source Document(s)
Build Your Personal Book in Logos
Let's say you just finished a sermon series in the book of Ruth and you'd like to save your sermon outlines as a personal book in your Logos library for future reference. First, you'll need to ensure that your documents are saved and formatted correctly. Logos requires all personal book to be imported in a .docx file format.
Important
IMPORTANT: The .docx source files need to be preserved in order to make any future revisions, following the same two-step process. If you delete the source files, you will not be able to edit your personal book within Logos.
-
Create/open the document(s) that you will use to build your Logos book. If you are not using Microsoft Word, make sure that the platform you are using supports .docx files. For this example, let's use Google Docs. You can see that .docx is available as a download option.
Need to convert a .pdf to the .docx format? Click here for step-by-step instructions.
-
To avoid errors in the next step, take a moment to pay particular attention to section and page breaks. Set your view option to Outline (or your platform's equivalent) and scan your document for anything that looks like this:
The
on the section break shows that an empty heading has been included with the break. This will cause errors in the compilation process. To avoid this, navigate to the
- For more tips on formatting your personal book, such as adding clickable Scripture references, see the video at the top of this article.
- Save the document(s) to your hard drive as a Word Document (.docx).
Now that your documents are in the proper format, you're ready to build your personal book in Logos.
-
In Logos, click Tools > Utilities > Personal Books (or click here to open the tool).
-
Click Add book.
-
Fill in Library Information (metadata) in the edit dialog that opens.
- Enter a Title (required).
- Click Monograph to change the book type.
- Click English to change the language.
- Click Add field to add optional metadata. To delete an added field, hover over a heading, such as Series Title, and click the X which appears on the right.
- Click Change below the book cover to add a cover image (optional). Find your image in .jpg or .png format and click Open.
- Type a brief description of your book in the Description box (optional).
-
Click Add file.
Find and select your .docx file(s), and click Open. If you have multiple files, repeat until each file is listed in this section. Reorder files by dragging and dropping. To delete a file, right-click it and choose Delete.
-
Click Build book.
Note
Note: The Edit dialog will close and a progress bar will appear showing the steps in the process: Starting to build book, Converting, Compiling, and Discovering. To stop this process, click Stop.
If there were no errors during compilation you will see the message "Build succeeded with 0 errors, 0 warnings" and the personal book will open.
If there were errors, click View log file for more information. See the section below for troubleshooting.
- Click Finished.
- Click Finished even if there were errors in the compilation process.
- If you need to fix errors in the document, reopen Word and edit the document as necessary. (To troubleshoot error messages different from the one pictured at the beginning of this article, visit the Logos forums and Logos wiki.)
-
Once you are ready to recompile your book, hover over it and select Edit.
Note
Note: Follow this process if you edit the Word document at any point and want your version in Logos to reflect the most recent changes.
- If the location of the source document has not changed since the book was first compiled, click Build book to recompile the book.
- If the source document has been moved, the existing body file must be deleted and added again from the new location prior to recompiling.
-
The log file (pictured below) provides additional information.
You can also click the Chat icon in the lower right corner of this article and click "Chat with Support" to troubleshoot with a Faithlife team member.
There are two different ways to access your new personal book:
-
In the Personal Books tool, all your personal books are listed alphabetically. Hover over the book and click Open to open your desired book.
-
In the Library, you can search for your personal book by name.
To edit a personal book, open the personal books tool (click Tools > Utilities > Personal Books). Hover over any book title and click Edit.
- Edit the book's Library Information as needed directly in the Edit tab.
-
If needed, update the book's content in the source document.
- If the location of the source document has not changed since the book was first compiled, revise the document and save it.
- If the source document has been moved to a different location on the hard drive, the existing body file must be deleted and added again from the new location prior to recompiling.
- Click Build book to rebuild the book with your updates.
After rebuilding your book, you can click Upload to upload the updated book to the Library.
Important
Important
- The upload button will appear inactive if your complied book is too large (over 20mb) or if Logos is offline.
- Uploaded books cannot be removed from the library, but they can be hidden from the library. They will always be listed in the Personal Books tool regardless.
To remove a book that hasn't been uploaded, open the Personal Book tool and right-click the book (make sure you are not in Edit mode). Then choose Delete from the Context Menu.
To close a book that is in Edit mode, click the X in the top right corner of the panel.