Frequently Asked Questions

OpenDraft is a free, open-source screenwriting application. It provides professional screenplay formatting, real-time collaboration, version control, beat boards, character management, production tagging, and multi-format export — all without a subscription or cloud lock-in.

Yes. OpenDraft is MIT-licensed and 100% free. There are no subscriptions, no feature gates, no hidden costs. You can download it, use it forever, and even modify the source code.

OpenDraft runs on:

• macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel) — .dmg and Mac App Store
• Windows — .exe installer and .msi
• Linux — .deb, .rpm, and .AppImage
• Android — .apk sideload
• iOS / iPadOS — App Store
• Browser — Self-hosted or try the online demo

All your data stays on your computer. OpenDraft stores projects as files on your local disk — no cloud servers, no accounts, no data collection. You can back up your projects by simply copying the project folders.

Yes. The desktop app works entirely offline. You only need internet for real-time collaboration features and to check for updates.

Yes. OpenDraft uses industry-standard Courier formatting with proper margins, element indents, and page breaks that match Final Draft. Your exported PDFs will look professional and be accepted by studios, competitions, and agencies.

Go to Format > Title Page... to open the Title Page editor. Fill in structured fields (title, written by, contact, draft, copyright, WGA registration) and see a live preview of how it will look. Click Apply to add it to your screenplay. The title page renders as page 1 and is included in PDF, Final Draft, and Fountain exports.

OpenDraft supports all standard screenplay elements:

• Scene Heading (slugline)
• Action
• Character
• Dialogue
• Parenthetical
• Transition
• Shot
• Dual Dialogue
• New Act / End of Act (TV format)
• Lyrics, General, Show/Episode, Cast List

Switch elements with keyboard shortcuts Cmd+1 through Cmd+8.

Yes. The estimated runtime is always shown in the status bar at the bottom of the editor (e.g., “Est. 1h 47m”). OpenDraft uses an intelligent algorithm that weights dialogue, action, and other elements differently for a more accurate estimate than the simple “one page = one minute” rule.

The Scene Navigator also shows per-scene timing with color-coded badges: green for normal length, yellow for long, red for very long.

Yes. The built-in Industry Standard template is read-only, but you can duplicate it (or any other template) and customize the copy. Each screenplay remembers which template it's using, and your custom templates are available across all your projects.

Steps:

1. Open Format > Formatting Template… from the menu bar. The button label includes the currently-applied template name in parentheses (e.g. “Formatting Template (Film Screenplay)…”).
2. In the template manager, select the template you want to start from and click Duplicate, or click + Create Template to start from a copy of Industry Standard.
3. Give the template a name and description.
4. Choose a mode: Enforce (locks formatting for everyone using the template) or Override (templates act as defaults; users can still override per-element).
5. For each screenplay element — Scene Heading, Action, Character, Dialogue, etc. — adjust font, size, margins, indents, alignment, text style, and the Tab/Enter flow. The editor shows a live preview as you change values.
6. Optionally add custom element types via + Add Custom Element (for example, a Stage Direction element in a stage play template).
7. Click Save. Click Apply to use the new template in the current script.

See the user manual’s Creating a Custom Template section for the full reference.

OpenDraft automatically detects every speaking character in your screenplay. Click a character name to expand their profile, which includes: description, role, gender, age, backstory, character arc, speech pattern, vocabulary, verbal tics, sample dialogue, and images.

You can also use Build from Script to auto-extract character descriptions from your action lines.

Yes. You can define relationships between any two characters — allies, rivals, family, romantic, mentor, antagonist, employer, or friends — with a description and dynamic (stable, evolving, tense, etc.). Click Relationship Map to see an interactive visual graph of all character connections.

OpenDraft includes several story planning tools:

• Beat Board — Visual column-based story planning with draggable cards
• Index Cards — Scene-based cards with synopses that can be rearranged
• Scene Navigator — Browse scenes, pages, and locations with length indicators
• Script Notes — Anchored annotations with color coding

The Script Statistics panel (Tools > Script Statistics) provides:

• Overview cards — Total pages, scenes, characters, and word count
• Dialogue distribution — Bar chart and table showing dialogue per character
• Gender analysis — Dialogue split by character gender
• Scene breakdown — INT/EXT counts, day/night distribution, scene lengths, top locations
• Pacing chart — Dialogue vs action density across the screenplay
• Character presence map — Who appears in which scenes
• Timing report — Per-scene runtime estimates with cumulative total

All statistics update live as you write — no manual refresh needed.

Yes. The Script Statistics panel includes a gender analysis chart showing the dialogue split by character gender. To get accurate results, fill in the gender field in each character's profile. Characters without a gender assigned appear under “Unassigned”.

Yes. You can import and export Final Draft (.fdx) files. OpenDraft preserves screenplay elements, formatting, character profiles, highlighting, production tags, beat board data, and page layout during conversion. The title page, including author and contact details, is also transferred.

• Final Draft (.fdx) — Import and export
• Fountain (.fountain) — Import and export (with title page metadata)
• PDF — Export with industry-standard formatting and title page
• OpenDraft (.odraft) — Native format for lossless round-tripping

If your current app can export to Final Draft (.fdx) or Fountain format, you can import directly into OpenDraft. Most screenwriting apps support at least one of these formats. Go to File > Import and select your file.

Yes. OpenDraft includes real-time collaboration where multiple writers can edit the same screenplay simultaneously. One person starts a collaboration session and shares an invite link. Changes sync instantly between all connected writers.

OpenDraft uses built-in Git-based version control. Use File > Check In to save a named version with a message (e.g., “Finished Act 2 rewrite”). You can view all versions in File > Version History, compare any two versions, and restore a previous version at any time. Restoring creates a new version, so you never lose work.

Each project stores: title, genre, logline, synopsis, author, director, producer, production company, contact, copyright, draft, language, format (feature, TV, short, etc.), status, target length, and notes.

There is also a Registration & Legal section for WGA registration number/date, copyright registration, agent/manager contacts, and a submission tracking log.

Yes. In Project Properties > Registration & Legal, there is a Submission Log where you can track each submission with date, company/person, submission type, status, and notes. Click + Add Submission to add entries.

Yes. OpenDraft includes a full production tagging system compatible with Final Draft. Select text in your screenplay and tag it with categories like Cast, Extras, Stunts, Vehicles, Props, Costumes, VFX, and more. Tags are entity-based, meaning you create a reusable item once and track it across every scene it appears in.

Yes. Enable Revision Mode from Tools > Production > Revision Mode. Edits are visually marked with a configurable revision color. You can also use Track Changes to compare your current script against any checked-in version, with additions highlighted in green and deletions shown in red strikethrough.

This is macOS Gatekeeper blocking an app from an unidentified developer. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the OpenDraft message. You only need to do this once.

Visit the GitHub Issues page to report bugs or request features. You can also use the Report Issue page on this website. Include steps to reproduce the problem and your operating system version.

Yes! OpenDraft is open source under the MIT license. Fork the repository, make your changes, and submit a pull request. Check the GitHub repository for contribution guidelines. You can also join the community discussions.