Pressbooks

Images & Files

Adding Media

You can add media to your book two ways: while editing a chapter, or directly into the Media Library.

Adding Media from the Editor

While in the editor, you will see an "Add Media" button above the main editing area. Selecting this button will launch a pop-up media window. Here you can access the materials in your Media Library, or upload new files.

When you insert media, it will appear where your cursor was in the editor when you selected "Add Media."

Adding Media to the Library

In the left-hand toolbar there is a "Media" option.  Under this option is "Library" and "Add New."

"Add New" will take you directly to a page to upload files. This is the best option if you are uploading multiple files at once.

"Library" will show you all the media currently uploaded for your project. At the top of the page there is an "Add New" button. You can also see additional information about your files, such as when they were uploaded and by whom, and search the library. You can hover over a file to see options for editing, deleting, or replacing the file.

Editing Media

While in the media library, you will see an option to edit the file when you hover over the file name. This will take you to the editing page where you can change details about the file:

• Change file name.
• Add alt text for accessibility.
• Add captions and descriptions.
• Include attribution information.

If it is an image file, you will also see an "Edit Image" button under the image itself. This will allow you to make small changes such as changing the scale, cropping, rotating, or flipping the image.

You can edit an image or file within the editor. Simply select the image, and you should see a toolbar appear above it with alignment options and a pencil icon. The pencil icon will launch a pop up version of the file details.

Tips and Tricks

• Include alt text and captions for any images. This allows readers using accessibility software - such as screen readers - to understand the content in your book. It also allows e-readers to properly interpret your images.
• If you include attribution information with your files, Pressbooks can automatically create attributions for you at the end of the chapter.  Attributions are required for almost all CC licensed content you include in your book.
• If you want to make your book available for print (such as a PDF), pay attention to the size of your images. Large images may result in the image being pushed to another page due to size. Centered images approximately 500 pixels wide and 600 pixels tall work well for both online and print formats.

Additional Resources