# Screenplay mode

> Screenplay mode turns a document into a properly formatted script — Courier, correct margins, scene headings, action, character, dialogue and parenthetical elements, with Tab and Enter moving between them the way script software does. Pagination is line-accurate, so the pages you see are the pages that print, and you can import and export Final Draft and Fountain files.

_Source: https://clusters.soleilpictures.com/docs/documents/screenplay · Updated 2026-08-08_

A [document](/docs/documents) in screenplay mode behaves like script software:
Courier, industry margins, and the element model everyone writing a script
expects.

## Elements

Scene heading, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, transition.

`Tab` and `Enter` move between them the way they do in script software — `Enter`
after a character name goes to dialogue, `Tab` from action goes to character.
You should not have to think about formatting while writing.

Scene headings, character names and transitions autocomplete from what you have
already used, so the third INT. DINER - NIGHT matches the first exactly.

## Pagination

Pagination is computed with real line metrics rather than approximated. **The
pages on screen are the pages in the PDF.**

This matters more than it sounds. A page is roughly a minute of screen time, and
that estimate is worthless if the page count changes when you export.

## Title page

An editable 8.5×11 title page, laid out the way a title page is laid out —
title, byline, contact — rendered on the page rather than in a settings dialog.

## Scene navigator

A rail listing every scene heading with its scene number. Click to jump.

On a feature-length script this is the primary means of navigation.

## Import and export

| Format | In | Out |
|---|---|---|
| Final Draft `.fdx` | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fountain `.fountain` | ✓ | ✓ |
| PDF | | ✓ |

Bring in a script from Final Draft, work on it here, take it back out. Nothing
is trapped in the format.

PDF export is real vector output in Courier — selectable, searchable text at the
correct metrics, not a screenshot of the editor.

## Alongside the board

The reason to write a script here rather than in dedicated software is what
surrounds it: the [references](/docs/canvas/images), the
[storyboard grid](/docs/canvas/grids), the
[shot list](/docs/clusters/list-view) and the
[schedule](/docs/canvas/schedule) are all on the same board, and the document
can be [docked beside the canvas](/docs/documents) while you work.

Scene headings can be [tagged](/docs/organize/tags) and locations
[mentioned](/docs/organize/links-and-mentions), which connects a scene in the
script to the reference wall for that location.

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Working out the shots as well? See the
[shot list maker](/tools/shot-list-maker) guide.