The easiest way to learn how to make an EPUB with images is to begin with one chapter, one picture, and no cover. A minimal book teaches the relationship between the manuscript path and the packaged asset. Starting with an entire illustrated novel makes the first broken destination unnecessarily hard to isolate.
Create a one-chapter project
Put a roughly 1,500-word chapter01.md and images/figure01.png in one project folder. If the manuscript sits at the project root, its destination is images/figure01.png. If the manuscript sits inside chapters, the destination becomes ../images/figure01.png. Relative paths change when the source file moves because they begin at the source file's folder.
Write alternative text such as “Relationship diagram for chapter one,” not merely “image” or the file name. Leave the cover out of this lesson. Mixing cover selection and body-image syntax would create two possible causes for the same blank result.
Insert one supported image reference
Place the cursor where the figure belongs. In Rune Studio, choose Image from the EPUB Markup sidebar or the Format menu and select the asset. This uses the application's supported Markdown-style image notation; it is not a claim of complete compatibility with every Markdown extension.
Open the preview. If the figure is absent, check capitalization, extension, and the number of parent-directory steps. Do not cycle through several substitute files. Repairing one known address teaches more than finding a different image that happens to display.
Export only this source
In the EPUB wizard, enter title, author, and language on Series Information. Choose only chapter01.md on File Selection. Include the chapter in navigation on Chapter Order. Leave the cover unset on Metadata, then review the single source and output name before exporting to the workspace's EPUB folder.
Open the result and answer three questions: is the chapter readable, does the figure appear at the intended point, and is any image reported missing? A structural result cannot grade detailed visual composition, so also view the book in a reader you intend to support.
In a controlled two-version package test, both artifacts passed their local structural checks, retained seven reading-order entries, and changed after one source edit. A separate illustrated run packaged two images with no missing assets. These results support the local source-and-export route, not universal reader rendering.
Add chapter two only after the path is explainable
Expand the project when you can explain the source location, image location, notation, alternative text, and inspection result for chapter one. If the first image is still missing, adding more chapters only multiplies uncertainty. Solve the small failure while every input remains visible.
Cover selection, colophon details, and retailer submission belong to later stages. The outcome of this exercise is a reliable one-image source pattern that can be copied deliberately. Rune Studio's current supported markup and Mac scope provide the product boundary for that trial.
