Transferring projects between the Mac and Windows?

[tasel]

Hi!

How do I transfer projects from the Window version to the Mac and vice versa?

Thanks in advance!

[AmberV]

By and the large, the same way you would transfer any folder from one computer to another. Flash drives are nice, Dropbox is nice if you have a 'net connexion everywhere, file sharing is nice if both computers are networked. It's kind of up to you. Just make sure you copy the whole "project.scriv" folder, however you do so.

[mcaudill]

I understand how transferring projects between Mac and PC is SUPPOSED to work. The problem is it DOES NOT work that way.

I have tried exporting the files on the Mac (to a flash drive) and importing them on the PC. I have tried just copying the entire Scrivener project onto a flash drive on the Mac, then trying to open that project (from within Scrivener) on the PC. Nothing works.

The problem is, the project shows up on the PC (this is Windows Vista) as ordinary folders. If I try to open the "Project" folder (the one with the ".scriv" extension) from within Scrivener, the open project dialog box just shows me the next level of folders (i.e., Scrivener's internal project structure). I cannot get WIn Scrivener to recognize that the top-level folder is, in fact, the Project file I'm trying to open.

Any thoughts on that? It's frustrating, because I would like to use the PC laptop to work on my Mac's Scrivener projects, then be able to transfer the new work back to the desktop Mac. Ideally, I'd like to simply copy the project to the flash drive, update or change the project there, then take the flashdrive to the other machine, and then copy it back when I'm ready to work on the other system.

At the moment I'm using Beta 1.3 on the PC, and I've upgraded to Scrivener 2 on the Mac. (Love Scriv. 2.0, BTW!) The problem, however, has been persistent since my first Beta download of Scriv for PC and with previous version of Scriv on the Mac.

Help!

[sarazarr]

I came here looking for help with the same problem...file turning into folder, can't ever get to an openable file on the Windows side, etc.

[AmberV]

Everything is transferring just fine. That's just how they look on Windows. Windows has no such thing as a package format like the Mac does, so the .scriv folder just ends up being a folder. That's what it is on your Mac, too, by the way. Change the name of it to something other than '.scriv' and you'll see an identical setup to how it looks on Windows.

To open projects on Windows you need to double-click on the .scrivx file, or select that one from the Open dialogue.

[menospeekee]

I am working on a PC to use naturally speaking, but truly love editing on my iMac (and just about everything else). I am planning on composing in NS then moving into mac for editing and management of the document (dissertation). Does anyone know if this works or have experience with this?

[AmberV]

Could you provide a few more details on what that workflow entails? I'm not familiar with the software in question, however if it lets you create normal text files or RTF files, then you should be fine in either version of Scrivener.

[sarazarr]

Ah - okay, it worked with file created in version 2.0, but not in file created in 1.x, which is what I first tried it with. After opening files created in 1.x with 2, then they talk to the Windows version.

[JackSmithIV]

I have the same problem, with that same thing happen as mcaudill (the *.scriv files simply being folders).

To open projects on Windows you need to double-click on the .scrivx file, or select that one from the Open dialogue.

No such thing appears in the projects I bring over from my Mac.

Ah - okay, it worked with file created in version 2.0, but not in file created in 1.x, which is what I first tried it with. After opening files created in 1.x with 2, then they talk to the Windows version.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of 2.0, and don't want to have to purchase it just so that I can convert my files (I'd like to make a switch to windows entirely). So there's no way to fix this problem directly with files created in 1.x?

[kewms]

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of 2.0, and don't want to have to purchase it just so that I can convert my files (I'd like to make a switch to windows entirely). So there's no way to fix this problem directly with files created in 1.x?

The 1.x (Mac) format is not compatible with the Windows version. You'll need to convert them to 2.0 format somehow. I'd suggest downloading the 2.0 (Mac) trial version -- 30 days should give you plenty of time to get everything moved over.

Katherine

[Jenny_Y8S]

But...

If you convert a 1.x project to use on windows, you won't then be able to edit it in your 1.x Mac version.

The reason for this is the 2.x format is shared by Mac & PC and supports all the new 2.x functions on the mac version (Which are also coming over to the PC version in time). The PC Beta will not read 1.x projects, and cannot save to that format.

So really using 1.x and the Beta of the PC version to edit the same projects isn't going to work.

But the upgrade to 2.x is well worth the money. No doubt about it.