Alhora review
A chapter opener can look good on screen and still feel crowded in a small paperback. Alhora lets you look through a formatted book before paying for the complete export. I’d use that preview to check the inside margin and chapter openings at the size I plan to print.
Try the trim size with your own text
Import the manuscript from Word, Google Docs or Scrivener. In Style Studio, choose a starting style and check it against your own pages. I’d look at a quiet page and a dense one before choosing between two styles. Alhora checks the gutter against the page count and flags bleed issues. That matters if a change of size adds pages or if an illustration needs to run to the edge.
Open the sample outside Alhora
The free plan lets you preview the whole book. Its sample EPUB and print PDF contain the front and back matter and the first eight pages, with a mark in the margin. Use a reader or PDF viewer to check how those files open. Exporting the complete book requires a paid plan. For the print edition, I’d still check the printer’s specifications before sending the full file.
Anabel’s take
I’d open the sample at the first chapter and see how much room the text has around it. That’s the page I’ll keep looking at while I work on the rest of the book. If the margins or headings feel off there, I want to fix the style while it’s still easy to change.