While the library available in Logos is extensive, you can also add documents you have written or public domain works into your Logos library. Creating a personal book in Logos is a two-step process. First, compose the document and save it as a .docx file. Second, build the resource from your file(s) using the Personal Books tool in Logos.
Note: Personal Books are only supported in the Logos desktop environment - not mobile or web.
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.
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Compose the Source Document(s)
Build the Personal Book in Logos
Compose the Source Document(s)
IMPORTANT: The .docx source files need to be preserved in order to make any future revisions, following the same two-step process.
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Create the Word document(s) that you will use to build your Logos resource. Click here to learn how to import your pdf documents into Logos.
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The Personal Book Builder requires particular attention to section and page breaks in order to compile your book properly. Before finalizing your document and saving it as a .docx file, set your view option in Word to Outline.
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Search the section and page breaks in 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
The log file (pictured below) provides additional information that can be difficult to decode, so taking the time to ensure the document is properly formatted before compiling will save time and energy in the next step of the process.
- Save the document(s) to your hard drive as a Word Document (.docx).
Build the Personal Book in Logos
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In Logos, click Tools > Utilities > Personal Books.
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Click Add book. An edit dialog will open to enter the Library Information (or metadata) for the book and to add the file(s) that will make up the body of the book.
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Enter a name for the book in the Title box.
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Fill in Library Information. All personal books must have a title. Click Monograph to change the Type associated with the book. Click English to change the Language. Click Add field to add optional metadata.
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Enter the appropriate information for each field. To delete an added field, hover over a heading, such as Series Title, and click the X which appears on the right.
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Click Change below the book cover to add a cover image (optional). Find your image in .jpg or .png format and click Open.
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Click in the Description box and type a brief description of the book (optional).
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Click Add file.
Find and select your .docx file(s), and click Open. Each file will be listed in this section. Reorder files by dragging and dropping. To delete a file, right-click it and choose Delete.
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Click Build book.
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.
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Click Finished.
When the build has finished successfully, you can upload your book to Logos servers. This makes it accessible on all of your desktop devices without having to rebuild it.
IMPORTANT: Once your book has been uploaded, it can't be edited or removed from the library. It can be hidden from the library, but it will always be listed in the Personal Books panel.
Example
If you have just finished a preaching series, and you would like to compile all your sermons from that series into a book that is fully integrated with the rest of your Logos resources, you simply need to follow the steps described above.
Fill in the relevant metadata fields, click Add file. . ., and select all the sermon documents you want to compile. Once the documents appear below step 2, you can drag the files in the order you want them to appear. Click Build book and let Logos compile your new book. If there were errors, follow the steps above to address them. If there weren’t, click Finished to add the book to your Logos Library.
Notes on the Process
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Click Finished even if there were errors in the compilation process.
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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.)
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Once you are ready to recompile your book, hover over it and select Edit.
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.
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If the location of the source document has not changed since the book was first compiled, click Build book to recompile the book.
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If the source document has been moved, the existing body file must be deleted and added again from the new location prior to recompiling.
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Books are listed alphabetically in the Personal Books panel. To filter the list, press Cmd+F (macOS) or Ctrl+F (Windows) to search for your title.
Delete a Personal Book
IMPORTANT: As mentioned above, once your book has been uploaded, it cannot be removed from the library entirely, nor can it be edited. It can be hidden from the library, but it will always be listed in the Personal Books panel.
To remove a book that hasn't been uploaded, open the Personal Book tool and right-click the book in non-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.
Edit a Personal Book
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 metadata as needed.
- Update the book's content.
- Click Build book to rebuild the book with your updates.