File Management¶
The basics file operations in Scrite have already been described in the Quick Start and User Interface chapters. In this chapter will look at a few nuances.
Shortcuts¶
The following table lists all shortcuts related to file operations in Scrite.
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl+O |
Open File: Launches Home Screen. You can open a file from Scriptalay, Recent Files list or from the disk |
Ctrl+N |
New File: Launches Home Screen. You can start a new file from a template, or clipboard. |
Ctrl+Shift+O |
Scriptalay: Launches Home Screen and switches to the Scriptalay page if its not already visible. |
Ctrl+S |
Save File: Saves the currently open file. If the file is being saved for the first time, a file dialog is displayed to ask for folder & file name. |
Ctrl+Shift+S |
Save As: Always shows a file dialog box to ask for a new name to save the file |
Ctrl+W |
Close File: Closes the current file and loads a blank document with one empty scene |
NOTE: Replace
CtrlwithCmdon macOS.
Command Center¶
Each of the actions listed above can also be accessed from the Command Center. Additionally, there are a few more options you can lookup in the command center by typing one or more of the following keywords.
| Keyword | Description |
|---|---|
| Protect Document | Allow edits on this document by only a few people, more about this in the Shield section. |
| Import | Import a screenplay from Fountain, Final Draft or Plain Text files. |
| Open Backup Copy | Load a backup of the currently open file. |
| Recover | Recover an unsaved document from the vault. |
| Recent... | Just typing Recent in the command center lists up to 10 recently opened files, and you can quickly select from them. Alternatively, you can also type author name or a couple of words from the title or logline in the command center, and it will shortlist relavent options for you from Scriptalay, Templates and Recent Files |
NOTE: Aside from recent files, you can assign a shortcut of your choice to each of the above commands.
Recent Files¶
Scrite lists up to 10 recent files in the Home Screen. You can hover over any of the recently opened files to see the cover page, logline and authors. Simply click on a file you want and have Scrite open it. It's that simple.
To configure the contents of the recent files list, click on the edit icon.
In the resulting dialog box, you can remove one or more files from the list.
Auto Save¶
Scrite auto‑saves documents every 60 seconds by default. Auto‑save kicks in only
after you save your work to a .scrite file once. Scrite creates a folder
alongside your .scrite file and stores backups periodically.
You can toggle auto‑save, change the interval, and limit the number of backups in Settings → Application → Options.
Loading a Backup¶
Everytime a file is saved either manually, or as a result of auto save, Scrite stores a backup. Up to 15 backups are saved by default for each file, however you can configure that to any other value you like.
Whenver you open a file the toolbar shows an icon for loading a backup copy of that file.
Click it to open a dialog and select a backup to load in a new or the current window.
NOTE: Backups load anonymously—you must save them explicitly with a new file name, and they won’t overwrite the source file.
Vault¶
Did you ever face a situation where you wrote something, but forgot to save it? Worry not - happens to the best of writers! Scrite keeps a copy of your unsaved files in the vault from which you can recover.
The vault can be accessed from the Home Screen or by typing Recover in the Command Center.
Files recovered from the vault are opened anonymously and have to be saved to disk explicitly.
NOTE: Vault only keeps a copy of files that have not been saved even once.
Shield¶
By default Scrite stores screenplays in an interoperable format as described in this page here. This means anybody can unpack the contents of the Scrite document and further process its contents. This ensures easy integration with other tools, and even custom tools written by studios and independent software developers.
If you want to prohibit anybody from opening your Scrite document, and ensure that it opens only on those systems where your email-id is used to activate the Scrite installation, then you can use the Sheild feature to lock your screenplays.
Click on the shield icon on the bottom left corner of the screenplay editor.
This launches a dialog box where you can toggle protection, to lock the screenplay so it can only be opened on devices where Scrite is activated using your email-id.
Optionally, you can add email ids of one or more collaborators who you want to hand-pick and permit opening the file. This means that the file can now be opened on devices with Scrite activated using either your email-id or any one of your collaborator’s email ids.
Note: Adding a collaborator here doesn't mean Scrite will automatically share the screenplay with your collaborators. You will still have to explicitly share the file with them via email or cloud storage services like Google Drive, OneDrive etc. Please also note that collaborators added thus cannot edit the file in real time, since we do not support that just yet.
If anybody else attempts to open the screenplay, they will see this message.
Once locked, the shield icon on the status bar shows up as checked.
At any time, you can turn off Shield protection for your files by going back to the shield dialog box.
Please note that your collaborators will not be able to turn off shield, or add additional collaborators. That right rests only with you.
NOTE: By turning on Shield, contents of your screenplay, notebook and structure tabs will be encrypted. However, photos and attachments in notebook and the title page will not be encrypted. In a future version we hope to encrypt them as well. Please be aware that while our encryption keys are not public, we do not guarantee that the encryption mechanism is hack-proof. It is possible that someone may be able to decrypt the contents of your file, but we imagine that it isn’t too easy to do so.
No Real-Time Collaboration¶
Scrite does not offer real time collaborative editing yet. We hope to build support for that in a future update.