User Interface¶

Scrite's interface is primarily a tab-view. It consists of three tabs

Screenplay Tab (Alt+1)
Structure Tab (Alt+2)
Notebook Tab (Alt+3)

Each tab offers a perspective and mode of interaction with your screenplay. Irrespective of which tab you choose to work with, they all help you work on a single screenplay in the document that is currently open.

You can switch between these tabs by clicking on the tab buttons to the top right of the window, or by using the keyboard shortcuts as listed above.

Screenplay Tab¶

The screenplay tab offers a scene-after-scene view of your screenplay, as you might have already seen in the chapters before.

Each scene is a distinct block of text. Infact, if you toggle the Scene Blocks option ON ...

... the Screenplay Editor shows each scene as a distinct block.

Scrite's document model stores each scene as a distinct object, and within each scene it stores each paragraph as a distinct object with a unique ID. This allows for rapid manipulation of the document by various internal modules, and by extensions and plugins we plan to feature in future updates.

Each scene has a scene heading, followed by scene content. The UI also shows scene number and a page number bubble at approximately the place within the scene where the page break is likely to land.

As mentioned earlier, Scrite is structure-first and scene-centric. Even so, it updates the page count and current page as you type.

It does this by building an internal, paginated document from all scenes in your screenplay. This work happens in a background thread to keep the UI smooth and responsive.

Note that this internal pagination is approximate. It does not apply certain page layout rules—e.g., a dialogue block that spans pages should be split with MORE and CONT'D markers. The generated PDF does apply these rules, so the page markers you see in the editor may not match the final PDF boundaries.

Treat the editor’s page markers as a guide to scene length, not as exact pagination.

NOTE: Scrite does not position itself as a page centric editor, and as such does not offer page layouting on par with other screenwriting apps.

Structure Tab¶

When Scrite began, this was the only tab. It remains central to how we think about screenplays. At its core, the tab has three parts:

The structure canvas lets you shape your story by placing index cards on a wide, open canvas.
You can pull scenes from the canvas to the timeline and sequence them into a narrative.
You can edit the sequenced scenes in the screenplay editor area.

This tab is inspired by popular video editing apps: the canvas is for gathering and shaping material, the timeline is for sequencing, and the screenplay editor is for detailed writing. This way you can simultaneously view the big picture on the canvas, the details in the editor, and the sequence and pacing on the timeline. Together, they give you a comprehensive view of your screenplay.

Notebook Tab¶

Some writers like to start writing scenes right away. Others prefer to plot the story on a canvas or whiteboard—in which case the Structure tab, described earlier, is ideal.

Many writers begin by capturing notes and research: story ideas, character details, relationships, and a breakdown of acts, key scenes, or story beats.

Others write the screenplay first—at least a first draft—and add notes to scenes and characters later.

In both cases, the Notebook provides a comprehensive set of tools for capturing notes about scenes, characters, and the story.

By default, the Notebook has its own tab. You can also stack it inside the Structure tab to reference notes while writing.

Toggle the “Stack Structure & Notebook” option in Settings to view both in a single tab and automatically pull up scene or character notes as you type.

Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Most menu items, toolbars, and buttons in Scrite have keyboard shortcuts. Hover over any control to see its shortcut.

You can also open the Shortcuts dialog by using Ctrl+E on Windows & Linux, Cmd+E on macOS to view all shortcuts and customize them.

Example: You can launch the Settings dialog by using Ctrl+, on Windows and Linux, and Cmd+, on macOS.

Some actions don’t have built-in shortcuts, but you can assign them. For example, you can set Ctrl+Alt+T for the Statistics Report. If a shortcut you assign clashes with another, then Scrite show you a message and lets you configure another shortcut.

From then on, that shortcut opens the Statistics Report dialog—configure options and press Enter to generate.

By clicking on the Revert icon next to the shortcut, you can revert to default.

It’s that simple. Explore existing shortcuts and customize them as you like.

NOTE: Shortcuts for switching between languages can only be configured in the Language Settings dialog box.

Command Center¶

Scrite has hundreds of actions, and it’s hard to remember every shortcut. The Command Center helps: press Ctrl+/ or Cmd+/ to open it.

Type a few letters of the command you need; the Command Center filters and shows matching actions.

Use the arrow keys to select an action and press Enter. That’s it.

Optionally, you can click on the Assign link next to command for which there is no shortcut, and assign a custom shortcut.

The command center also lists templates, scripts from Scriptalay and your recently open files as well. You can look for them by typing file name, or author, title, subtitle, or any word in the logline.

NOTE: Command center only lists actions that are available in the current context. So its possible that you won't find one or more commands in here, even though they are listed in the shortcuts dialog box.

Jump to Scene¶

Working in a large screenplay? Press Ctrl+G, type a scene/act/episode, and press Enter to jump.

With keyboard focus on the scene content area in any scene within the screenplay editor, use Alt+Up/Alt+Down to jump to the previous/next scene. Use Ctrl+Alt+Up/Ctrl+Alt+Down to jump to the first/last scene.

Additionally, while typing scene content, you can also:

Action	Shortcut
Toggle Synopsis	`Ctrl+Alt+S`
Toggle Character & Scene Tags	`Ctrl+Alt+C`
Edit Scene Heading	`Ctrl+0`
Edit Scene Number	`Ctrl+Alt+0`

You don’t have to memorize these, open the Shortcuts Dialog (Ctrl+E/Cmd+E) to discover.