12.5 ASCII export

ASCII export produces a simple and very readable version of an Org mode file.

C-c C-e a

Export as ASCII file. For an org file myfile.org, the ASCII file will be myfile.txt. The file will be overwritten without warning. If there is an active region, only the region will be exported. If the selected region is a single tree¹, the tree head will become the document title. If the tree head entry has or inherits an EXPORT_FILE_NAME property, that name will be used for the export.

C-c C-e v a

Export only the visible part of the document.

In the exported version, the first 3 outline levels will become headlines, defining a general document structure. Additional levels will be exported as itemized lists. If you want that transition to occur at a different level, specify it with a prefix argument. For example,

     C-1 C-c C-e a

creates only top level headlines and does the rest as items. When headlines are converted to items, the indentation of the text following the headline is changed to fit nicely under the item. This is done with the assumption that the first body line indicates the base indentation of the body text. Any indentation larger than this is adjusted to preserve the layout relative to the first line. Should there be lines with less indentation than the first, these are left alone.