21 FINAL DRAFT SECRETS 1. You can save your screenplay as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.
Do you ever need to send your script to some poor soul that doesn't have Final Draft? A friend? A writing partner? It's easy with Final Draft. Just open Final Draft and choose File > Save As PDF. Your script can now be read - though not edited - in the universal PDF format. Adobe Acrobat costs around $200 if you wanted this feature separately. But it's absolutely free with Final Draft.
2. You can convert a script written in Microsoft Word to a Final Draft script.
Do you have a script started in Microsoft Word? Or have you downloaded a screenplay from the internet in text format? Final Draft can open any script written in a word processing program like Microsoft Word. Simply start Final Draft and choose File > Open and find the script saved in a text format. Final Draft will open the file and convert it to a properly formatted script - even if there are formatting mistakes. Final Draft isn't always perfect but it's easy to go through and correct any mistakes.
3. You can open a Final Draft script in Word.
If you need someone to edit or revise your screenplay and that person doesn’t have Final Draft, it can be done. Within Final Draft go File > Save As > RTF. Your script is now formatted as a rich text format file and includes proper-looking screenplay formatting. You can send this script to someone who can make changes to it and then send it back to you. Simply bring your script in RTF format back into Final Draft and you'll have an updated, perfectly-formatted script.
4. Final Draft includes a 356-page User Guide.
Final Draft ships with a 4-page tiny Quick Install Guide. That helps you install the program on your Mac or PC. But what some users never learn is that Final Draft also automatically installs a 356-page Final Draft User Guide inside the Final Draft folder on your computer. (On a PC look inside your Programs folder; on a Mac look inside your Applications folder.)
Hate reading manuals? We also include a 1-hour Inside Final Draft 7 Training CD with qualifying orders. And with every Final Draft purchase, we also send you a PDF 90-page Getting Started with Final Draft guide.  See Screenshot
5. You can write on more than 2 computers.
Final Draft allows you to activate your copy on 2 computers at once. But maybe you need to use Final Draft on a 3rd computer such a laptop or a work computer. No problem. Simply deactivate Final Draft on an idle computer and install and activate it on a 3rd computer. This takes about 5 seconds online; you do not have to uninstall Final Draft on either of your original computers.
Now you have Final Draft installed on 3 computers but it's only active on 2 computers. That's perfectly fine. If you need to go back to an original computer, just deactivate Final Draft on the 3rd computer (again, this takes about 5 seconds online) and re-activate it on your original computer. You can start writing again like you never left. See Screenshot
6. You can use Final Draft on both Mac & PC.
We often get frantic e-mails or phone calls from customers who say, "I forgot tell you. I need this for a Mac." Final Draft is a hybrid program which means it works equally well on a Mac as a PC. Both platforms save your Final Draft file as an .fdr file so you can easily save on a Mac and open your file on a PC. Even if you exclusively write on one program, it's nice to know that an agent or a director with a Mac can easily read your script written with a PC.
7. Final Draft is a great outlining tool.
Many professional screenwriter start by writing an outline of their screenplay. Since a screenplay is usually between 100-120 pages, it's often helpful to know before you start writing where the critical scenes and plot points will be.
Final Draft has an interactive Index Card View that makes it easy to outline your scenes before you start the actual screenplay. For example, you might write on a Summary Card, "Woman interviews for job. She’s woefully unqualified and unprofessional in her dress and appearance. At the same time she's obviously smart and cares about her family. Even though she can't possibly get the job, we still find ourselves cheering for her." This would be an apt summary for the first scene in the film Erin Brockovich.
What's cool about Final Draft's Index Card View is that the Scene Headings (or Sluglines) in each Index Card automatically appear in your script. But the summaries (or notes) describing each scene stay in the background. You only need to refer to them when you want. See Screenshot
8. Stuck? Write yourself a note and keep writing.
Imagine you’re writing that important scene in your 19th-century farmhouse romance where the hero finally rips open the bodice on his love and they melt into passion. You ask yourself, "What is a bodice?". Rather than slow down your writing, you can just insert a little note called a ScriptNote. You can write in this ScriptNote, "Find out when women wore bodices." and then keep writing your scene.
Later you can review your Notes and change your script if necessary. Notes are shown on your script as little symbols. Click on a ScriptNote and a text box expands with your written note inside. If you don’t click on it, then the symbol remains hidden. See Screenshot
9. Your agent, director, or even Tom Hanks (a Final Draft user) can give you notes.
If you've ever sent your script to a reader, agent, or director for feedback, you've encountered "notes." Oftentimes, these are ideas - both good and bad - scribbled in the margins or written all over your script. With Final Draft ScriptNotes, that person can write the notes directly in your Final Draft script exactly where they want to see changes.
You can certainly scroll through your script and click on each note to read the details. Or you can run a ScriptNote Report and see every single Script Note including the page where the script can be found.
10. Final Draft Tagger.
There's a reason why Final Draft is used by so many TV shows and films. Built into Final Draft is an amazing script breakdown feature called Tagger. Every screenplay must be broken down into lists of production elements (props, costumes, animals, makeup, special effects, etc.) that a producer must coordinate when it comes to scheduling and budgeting a film. Previously, someone had to sit down with a screenplay and a handful of colored pencils and go page by page through the script manually marking each element. Then someone else had to manually enter each element into film production software.
With Final Draft Tagger, all these lengthy manual tasks have been fully automated so that script breakdown is much quicker. And best of all, you can export your Final Draft script directly into industry leading scheduling and budgeting software. That's why big time producers and the lowliest production assistants love it. See Screenshot
11. You can also write plays, TV shows, musicals, novels, and even query letters, treatments, and pitches.
Final Draft is best known as screenplay formatting software. But it's also been used in hundreds of televisions shows. Final Draft even has The Dramatists Guild stamp of approval for writing Broadway musicals and stageplays.
Because Final Draft is also a fully-featured word processor you can use it to write novels, treaments, pitches, and even query letters to agents and producers. We even used it to write this article.
12. You can easily review changes between your first draft and your final draft.
Louis Brandeis said, "There is no great writing, only great rewriting." That goes for screenwriting too. Most likely your first draft will become a second draft which will become a third draft and on and on. But sometimes you want to be able to compare drafts to see where you made changes.
You could print out two copies of your script and go through each one line by line. Or you can use Script Compare. The Script Compare feature lets you compare two different versions of your script and identifies where you changed dialogue, moved around scenes, or cut out whole sequences. If you deleted a line, Script Compare shows you. If you added a line, Script Compares shows you. It shows you all the changes you made between drafts. You can then determine if your changes have improved your script or if you need to keep working on it.
13. Use Split Panels to look at your drafts side by side.
Final Draft 7 allows you to split the screen on your monitor vertically so you can show your script on the left side while you make changes or edit to it on the right side. If you want to rewrite a scene, it's very helpful to be able to see it on the left while you improve it on the right. One of my favorite tricks is to pull up the Index Card Summary View on the left - where I just see a summary of each scene - and on the right start writing the full screenplay. That way I always have my outline in plain view while I write each scene. See Screenshot
14. Backup Folder saves your past work so you never have to worry about losing a past script.
Final Draft's AutoSave feature makes it possible to focus on your writing and not worrying about losing your work. But suppose you delete or change a scene, only to wish you had it back a few days later. No problem. You can set up Final Draft to automatically save the last 10, 50, or even 100 copies of your script. If you desperately want to rescue a scene, you can search your Backup folder for the last version of your script that had the scene.
15. Drag and Drop Scenes around the script.
Sometimes you write a scene introducing a plot point only to realize it’s better to include that scene later in the script. No problem. Final Draft gives you two easy options. You can highlight the entire scene with your mouse and drag it to the point in your script where you want the scene to start. Release your mouse and - voila - the scene appears in the right location. Or you can click into Index Cards - Script view and shuffle the scene to the right location. Click back into Screenplay view and your script has been properly arranged.
16. Rename Bookmarks so you can jump around to any part of your script.
Sometimes you need to quit writing but don't want to scroll through 100 plus pages to find the scene or line you were shaping. Final Draft gives you a simple solution. Set a Bookmark. Name it "Scene that is driving me crazy." Then take a walk. Eat a snack. Go to sleep. When you start Final Draft again, jump to the bookmark called "Scene that is driving me crazy." Finish it. Delete the bookmark or rename it, "Scene that I solved." See Screenshot
17. Unsure how to write a screenplay? No worry. Syd Field’s Screenwriting Workshop is free with qualifying purchase from ScreenStyle.
You may know Syd Field from his best-selling books “Screenplay” or “The Screenwriter’s Workbook.” Final Draft partnered with Syd Field to produce a DVD on screenwriting. And only ScreenStyle gives it to you free with your qualifying purchase of Final Draft software.
While Final Draft is a great screenwriting tool, it doesn't have a lot of instructional advice for the first-time screenwriter. But Syd Field does. That’s why we include Syd Field’s Screenwriting Workshop DVD with your order. See Screenshot
18. Don't stress about formatting mistakes. Stress about your story.
While you're writing your script, don't worry so much about formatting your script perfectly. Worry about writing a great story. Too many screenwriters spend more time making sure each word is spaced correctly and not enough time worrying that their dialogue snap, crackles, and pops. Final Draft has a Format Assistant feature that is designed to worry for you. When you're done writing your script, or even just a scene, you can run Format Assistant and Final Draft scans your entire script.
19. With ScreenStyle's Download + Ship feature, you can start writing immediately and still get the whole Final Draft package shipped to you.
When you're ready to write, you don't want to wait several days for delivery. Almost all other Final Draft sellers make you choose between getting the immediate download or waiting for a package in the mail. ScreenStyle doesn't. At ScreenStyle, you can download Final Draft and start writing immediately. We'll still ship you the Final Draft package, CD, and several bonus items. Buy Final Draft now.
You can download Final Draft immediately from our website and we'll still ship you the Final Draft package and CD that you can put on your bookshelf "just in case."
20. Run a Character Report to make sure your characters' dialogue makes sense.
Writing dialogue is tough. You don’t want your character to sound like Tony Soprano in one scene and Prince Charles in the next. You can run a Character Report which will print nothing but the dialogue lines of a particular character. You can then read all dialogue lines to make sure they sound like they come from the same character. See Screenshot
21. You can register your script with the Writer's Guild directly from Final Draft.
Every agency or production company in the world requires you to register your script before you send it to them. This is for their protection and yours. (And if they don’t, watch out.) Previously, you had to print out a full copy of your script and send it to the Writer’s Guild where they stored it underground.
Final Draft has partnered with the WGA-West to make it much easier. Just click File > Register Script from within Final Draft and you’ll go to a special page on the Final Draft website where you can upload your script (in Final Draft format) and it will be registered.
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