Advanced Content Authoring and Reporting - How to export a Pressbook as a Thin Common Cartridge for use in Canvas

Pressbooks can be used to author and host basic course content with interactivity as well as more advanced content authoring and reporting (ACAR) features (such as H5P activities, Hypothes.is annotations and reporting).

These ACAR features are only recommended for technically advanced instructors or instructors with additional support. If you are interested in these more advanced features, please request a consultation from Learn@UW-Madison. 

This document describes how an instructor can export Pressbooks in a format (Thin Common Cartridge) for import into Canvas.

You can export a non-interactive version of your Pressbook in PDF format. However, if you're using Pressbooks with plugins like H5P and would like to embed your pressbook in a Canvas course, you'll have to first export it as a Thin Common Cartridge (TCC) file.

Prepare Pressbook chapters for Canvas

Before you export your Pressbook, consider how you want the content to appear in Canvas. Each Pressbooks chapter will import as a Canvas course module by default, and modules will not connect to the Canvas gradebook. You can create Canvas assignments and discussions by prefacing the name of a chapter with Discussion: or Assignment: .

Export Pressbook as a Common Cartridge file

  1. Click Organize → Organize to display a list of your Pressbook's chapters:
    Screenshot of Organize menu with the first item 'Organize' called out in an orange box. This is the link which will take Pressbooks users to the organize page for their Pressbook.

  2. Check the box under Export for all of the content you wish to bring into your Canvas course:
    Screenshot of the organize page. The Main Body part of the pressbooks is displayed and two chapters are listed. The columns are Authors, Show in Web, Show in Exports, and Show Title. A checbox in Show in Exports is called out in an orange rectangle because these checkboxes need to be checked if the Pressbooks author would like to include that chapter within the common cartridge export.

  3. Select Export → Export Common Cartridge:
    The Export menu's contents are displayed. This menu is accessed by mousing over the 'Export' item in the left navigation ribbon in Pressbooks. The second item in the menu (from the top) "Export Common Cartridge" is called out in an orange rectangle. Users need to click this item to navigate to the page where they can export and download a common cartridge export of their pressbook.

  4. Click the Download Cartridge button and save the file locally:
    A screenshot of the Downlaod Cartridge button is displayed. Users need to click this button to download a common cartridge export of their pressbook.

    1. By default, the plugin will produce a Thin CC with LTI links, which will include all chapters in the book (including front and back matter) which have been selected for export.
    2. A reminder: The export can also create 'discussion' and 'assignment' activities from chapters in your book. To do this, the title of the chapter should be prefaced with 'Discussion:' or 'Assignment:', respectively.

Once you are done exporting the Thin Common Cartridge file, you will import it into your Canvas course by following the directions in Advanced Content Authoring and Reporting - Importing a Pressbooks Thin Common Cartridge file into your Canvas course .

See Also:



Keywords:content, authoring, pilot, pressbooks, export, common, cartridge   Doc ID:84558
Owner:Learn@UW Madison .Group:Learn@UW-Madison
Created:2018-08-07 14:25 CDTUpdated:2021-08-17 10:24 CDT
Sites:DoIT Help Desk, Learn@UW-Madison
Feedback:  0   0