Scrivener 3.1 is going to be incredible!
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2018 8:41 am
I've been using the Scrivener 3.0.9 beta for the past few days and I've been blown away by how many additions and improvements have been added to a free update. I'm amazed and humbled by Keith's dedication to making truly first-class software.
The changelog is extensive, so I thought I'd dig through and single out some favourite changes:
The changelog is extensive, so I thought I'd dig through and single out some favourite changes:
- Widow and orphan control. This is a huge one (as evidenced by how many related entries in the changelog).
- Compiling scripts to PDF keeps elements with their appropriate siblings. This really has made a huge difference for me. Previously, although you could write a script in Scrivener, you really needed an additional app to actually get it out to someone. (And despite what some may think, FDX is not a way to exchange screenplays!) Compiling to Fountain then to PDF was okay, but it meant that any rich text additions would be stripped out, and one of Scrivener's biggest strengths in my view is that it is a native RTF editor. And more often now screenplays are making use of rich text (e.g. Nightcrawler, Deeper, Arrival, etc.). Being able to write a script in Scrivener, and compile it as WYSIWYG really is a game-changer.
- Compiling scripts to PDF avoids breaking sentences across pages. This is awesome. There's nothing worse than someone doing a reading of a script and pausing mid-sentence to turn the page.
- (MORE) & (CONT’D) for dialogue split across pages. Again, very important in the paper-based world of performance. You don't want an actor learning half a line because they were missing the previous page!
- Widow and orphan control in page view! When I first heard widow and orphan control was coming in 3.1 I expected it to be only calculated at compile time — having this in page view struck me as "nice to have but inessential". In script mode especially it's fantastic to see where your page breaks are likely to occur.
- Ability to output script dual dialogue to PDF. I've only recently realised the benefits of dual dialogue (thanks to reading Kenneth Lonergan screenplays), so the ability to output dual dialogue is very welcome.
- Ability to change a document’s created date. This took me a while to figure out as the created date field does not look clickable — you need to right-click the created date and select Change Date from the dropdown menu.
- Option for images in Corkboard to use regular index card proportions. I saw this request in the forum and was a little disheartened when it seemed to be shot down, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see the option. Now my corkboards with images and index cards look much nicer.
- Ability to centre the Quick Search bar. It's a curious thing about macOS's toolbar customisation that you can "balance" a toolbar so that something appears in the centre, but few apps actually have the options to centre toolbar elements.
- A new cleaner/sleeker look for the Composition Mode footer.
- Focus to line / sentence / paragraph in Composition Mode. Another cool little addition — some apps make this one of their main selling points, but with Scrivener it's just thrown in as a bonus!