Formatting
Bold, italic, underline, fonts, and text styling.
Text Styling
You can apply text styles to selected text using keyboard shortcuts or the toolbar:
| Style | Shortcut | Toolbar | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold | ⌘B | B button | Emphasize important text in action lines |
| Italic | ⌘I | I button | Sounds, foreign words, titles of works |
| Underline | ⌘U | U button | Emphasis (used sparingly in screenwriting) |
To apply a style:
- Select the text you want to format.
- Press the keyboard shortcut, or click the style button in the toolbar.
- To remove a style, select the text and press the same shortcut again (toggle).
Screenplay convention: Most professional screenplays use minimal formatting. Bold and underline are used sparingly. Italic is common for sounds (e.g., BANG!) and foreign language.
Fonts
Screenplays traditionally use a Courier font at 12pt size. OpenDraft supports several industry-standard fonts:
- Courier Prime (default) — A modern, highly readable Courier variant designed for screenwriters.
- Courier New — The classic monospaced font.
- Courier Final Draft — The font used by Final Draft software.
Changing the Font
You can change fonts at two levels:
- Page-level default: Use the font dropdown in the toolbar to change the default font for the entire screenplay.
- Character-level: Select specific text and change its font independently from the rest.
Font Size
The standard screenplay font size is 12pt. You can adjust font size from 8pt to 72pt using the size dropdown in the toolbar. Keep in mind that changing from 12pt will affect page count accuracy (1 page = ~1 minute is based on 12pt Courier).
Format Panel
For more detailed formatting control, open the Format Panel by right-clicking in the editor and selecting Format Panel. This dialog provides a live preview of formatting changes and lets you adjust:
- Element-specific font and size
- Text alignment
- Margins and spacing
Formatting Templates
A formatting template defines the formatting rules for every screenplay element type — fonts, sizes, margins, indentation, alignment, text styles, and more. Templates let you enforce consistent formatting across your screenplay or customize it to your needs.
Open the template manager via Format > Formatting Template.
Industry Standard Template
OpenDraft ships with a built-in Industry Standard template that follows Final Draft's formatting conventions. This is the default template for all new screenplays. It is read-only — you cannot edit it directly, but you can duplicate it to create an editable copy.
The Industry Standard template defines:
- Scene Heading — Bold, UPPERCASE, 12pt top margin
- Character — UPPERCASE, indented to 3.5"
- Dialogue — Indented 2.5" left, 6.0" right
- Parenthetical — Indented 3.0" left, 5.5" right
- Transition — UPPERCASE, right-aligned, indented to 5.5"
- And standard rules for Action, Shot, Lyrics, Act breaks, and more.
Creating a Custom Template
- Open Format > Formatting Template.
- Click + Create Template.
- Enter a name and description for your template.
- Choose a mode: Enforce or Override (see below).
- Configure formatting for each element type in the editor.
- Click Save.
New templates start as a copy of the Industry Standard, so you only need to change what's different.
Configurable Attributes
For each element type, you can configure:
| Category | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Font | Font family (serif, sans-serif, monospace, display, handwriting) and font size (8–48pt) |
| Text Style | Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough (toggles) |
| Text Transform | None, UPPERCASE, or lowercase |
| Alignment | Left, center, right, or justify |
| Colors | Text color and background color |
| Layout | Top margin, left indent, and right indent (in inches) |
| Element Flow | Which element type to switch to on Enter or Tab |
| Placeholder | Custom placeholder text shown when the element is empty |
The template editor shows a live preview of each element's formatting as you adjust settings.
Enforce vs. Override Mode
Every template operates in one of two modes:
| Mode | Behavior | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Enforce | Formatting is locked. Users cannot change element-level styling. The template's rules are applied as non-negotiable defaults. | Production scripts, studio-mandated formats, team consistency |
| Override | Formatting sets defaults. Users can override any attribute on a per-instance basis using the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts. | Development drafts, flexible personal workflows |
Allow Format Override (Enforce Mode)
In Enforce mode, each element type has an Allow Format Override checkbox:
- Checked (default) — Users can apply inline formatting (bold, italic, etc.) that overrides the template defaults for specific text selections. The template still controls the base styling.
- Unchecked — All formatting is locked for this element type. Users cannot apply any inline marks. Every instance of this element uses exactly the template's formatting with no exceptions.
Example: In a production script, you might enforce formatting on Dialogue and Character elements (no overrides allowed), but allow overrides on Action lines so writers can still bold or italicize specific words for emphasis.
Including and Excluding Elements
Each element type in the template editor has an enable/disable checkbox:
- Enabled (checked) — The element type is available in the editor. Writers can insert it using the Element menu or keyboard shortcuts.
- Disabled (unchecked) — The element type is removed from the Element menu and cannot be inserted. Existing instances in the document will need to be converted.
This is useful when your project doesn't need certain element types. For example, a feature film script might disable Show/Episode and Cast List elements, while a TV script might keep them enabled.
What Happens to Existing Content
If you apply a template that disables an element type already present in your document, OpenDraft shows a conflict resolution dialog:
- The dialog lists each disabled element type and how many instances exist in your document.
- For each disabled type, choose a replacement element type from the dropdown (only enabled types are shown).
- Click Resolve & Apply to convert all instances and apply the template.
Default replacements: OpenDraft suggests sensible defaults — e.g., Lyrics convert to Dialogue, Shot converts to Action, Act breaks convert to Scene Headings. You can change these before applying.
Conflict Resolution
When applying a template to a document that already has content, OpenDraft checks for two types of conflicts:
- Disabled element types — Elements in the document that the template disables (see above).
- Formatting conflicts (Enforce mode only) — Elements with inline formatting that conflicts with the template's locked rules. For example, if the template enforces bold on Scene Headings and a heading has additional italic markup, that's a conflict.
The conflict dialog gives you three options:
- Cancel — Don't apply the template. Your document stays unchanged.
- Apply Without Resolving — Apply the template but keep conflicting formatting and element types as-is.
- Resolve & Apply — Convert disabled elements and strip conflicting inline marks, then apply the template.
Custom Elements
In addition to the 13 built-in element types, you can create custom elements within a template:
- In the template editor, click + Add Custom Element.
- Give it a label (e.g., “V.O. Insert” or “Flashback”).
- Configure its formatting attributes like any other element.
Custom elements appear in the Element menu alongside built-in types and can be assigned their own keyboard shortcut flow via the Next on Enter and Next on Tab settings.
Managing Templates
In the template manager (Format > Formatting Template), each template supports these actions:
- Apply — Set this template as the active template for the current document.
- Edit — Open the template editor to modify settings (user templates only).
- Duplicate — Create an editable copy. This is how you customize the read-only Industry Standard template.
- Delete — Remove the template from your library (user templates only).
Templates are applied per document. Different screenplays in the same project can use different templates.
Zoom
Adjust the editor zoom level using the zoom control in the toolbar. The range is 50% to 200%. This affects only the on-screen display, not print output.