Welcome to Screencore

Screencore is a professional screenplay editor built exclusively for macOS. It is designed for working screenwriters who need industry-standard formatting without the bloat of legacy software. Everything runs locally on your Mac. There are no accounts, no cloud syncing, and no subscription fees.

What Makes Screencore Different

• Professional formatting, automatically. Scene headings, action, character, dialogue, parentheticals, and transitions all format themselves to industry specs as you write.
• A purpose-built engine. The text engine is built from scratch using Core Text on macOS. No standard text views. Precise control over layout, cursor behavior, page breaks, and rendering.
• Built for production. Scene numbers, revision colors, page locking, and omitted scenes are all first-class features following WGA-standard workflows.
• Local-network collaboration. Writers Room lets a group of writers work together in real time over direct peer-to-peer connections. No internet required.
• Your files, your formats. Export to PDF, Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain, plain text, and rich text. Import FDX, Fountain, TXT, and RTF.

Getting Started

Creating a New Document

When you launch Screencore, a new blank document opens automatically. The document starts with one empty Action element, ready for you to type. To create another document at any time, press ⌘N or choose File > New.

Opening an Existing File

Press ⌘O or choose File > Open. You can open .screencore, .fdx (Final Draft), .fountain, .txt, and .rtf files. You can also drag a file onto the Screencore dock icon.

Saving Your Work

Press ⌘S to save. The first time you save, a save panel appears. After that, ⌘S saves directly. Use ⇧⌘S for Save As.

The header bar shows your document status: a green dot means saved, a red dot with "Edited" means unsaved changes.

The Interface

The Screencore window is divided into several areas:

• Header bar (top): Document title, page count, save status indicator, and Writers Room button. A chevron button collapses or expands the formatting toolbar.
• Formatting toolbar: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, highlight color picker, text color picker, Undo, Redo, and Element Type panel toggle.
• Sidebar (left edge): Icon buttons for each panel: Script Notes, Markup, Alt Lines, Script Intelligence, Navigator, Find & Replace, Revisions, Title Page, Scene Numbers, Read Mode, and Settings.
• Editor (center): The main writing area. Pages are displayed as white rectangles with text in standard screenplay format.
• Element Type panel (right edge): A floating list of the eight element types and their shortcuts.
• Zoom bar (bottom): Zoom controls and the Color Legend.

Writing Your Screenplay

Element Types

Every line in Screencore is an element with a type that controls its formatting. Eight types are available:

• Scene Heading (⌘1) -- INT./EXT. lines. Auto-capitalized. Appears bold. Only type that receives scene numbers.
• Action (⌘2) -- Descriptive prose. Full page width.
• Character (⌘3) -- Speaking character name. Centered, auto-capitalized.
• Parenthetical (⌘4) -- Direction inside parentheses between character and dialogue.
• Dialogue (⌘5) -- Spoken words. Centered, narrower column.
• Transition (⌘6) -- CUT TO:, FADE OUT, etc. Right-aligned, auto-capitalized.
• Shot (⌘7) -- Camera directions. Never receives a scene number.
• Title (⌘8) -- Full-width centered title line for act markers.

Element Flow

When you press Enter, the next element is automatically set to the logical next type:

• After Scene Heading or Action: Action
• After Character or Parenthetical: Dialogue
• After Dialogue: Action
• After Transition: Scene Heading
• After Shot or Title: Action

Changing Element Types

Three ways to change an element's type:

• Press ⌘ + the number (1-8) for the desired type
• Press Tab to cycle forward, ⇧Tab to cycle backward
• Click the type name in the Element Type panel

If your cursor is mid-text when you press ⌘ + number, Screencore splits the element at the cursor position.

Autocomplete

Screencore suggests completions as you type in certain elements:

• Character blocks: names used earlier in the script, plus extensions like (V.O.), (O.S.), (CONT'D)
• Scene Headings: INT., EXT., locations, and times of day
• Transitions: CUT TO:, FADE TO:, SMASH CUT TO:, etc.

Press Enter or Tab to accept. Press Escape to dismiss.

Page Breaks

Page breaks are automatic and follow industry conventions. Scene headings and character names on the last line of a page move to the next page. Dialogue that breaks across pages gets a (CONT'D) mark.

Read Mode

Press ⌘R to enter Read Mode, which hides all panels and toolbars for distraction-free reading. Press Escape or ⌘R again to return.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Element Types

Formatting

Editing

Panels

File

View

Formatting & Text Styling

Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough

Select text, then use keyboard shortcuts or toolbar buttons. Bold (⌘B), Italic (⌘I), Underline (⌘U), and Strikethrough (toolbar S button). Multiple formats can be applied to the same selection. Toggle the same shortcut again to remove.

Highlight Colors

Click the highlighter icon in the toolbar to open the picker. Nine colors: Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Orange, Lavender, Salmon, Cherry, Cyan. Select text first, then choose a color. Use the Clear button to remove. You can also apply highlights in bulk via Find & Replace.

Text Colors

Click the palette icon in the toolbar. Nine colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple, Pink, Gray. Use the Default button to restore.

Fonts

Five monospaced fonts are available in Settings > Format:

• Courier Prime (default) -- refined Courier, widely used in professional screenwriting
• Courier -- classic WGA-standard font
• Courier New -- Windows standard Courier
• SF Mono -- Apple's system monospaced font
• Menlo -- clean monospaced font included with macOS

Font Sizes

10pt, 11pt, 12pt (industry standard), 13pt, and 14pt. Change in Settings > Format.

Per-Element Formatting

In Settings > Format, set per-element bold, italic, and underline defaults. For example, always-bold scene headings for production. These overrides are saved with your document.

Scene Numbers

Enabling Scene Numbers

Open the Scene Numbers panel from the sidebar. Toggle Show Scene Numbers on. Numbers appear in the margins next to each scene heading.

Display Options

• Left/Right: Show numbers on the left margin, right margin, or both
• Bold: Display numbers in bold
• Indent Left: Add a small indent to left-side numbers
• Starting Number: Set a custom starting number (useful for partial rewrites)

Auto-Numbering

Before locking, you are in "fluid" mode. Click Auto Number to assign sequential numbers to all scene headings at once.

Locking

When your script enters production, lock scene numbers via the Scene Numbers panel. Locked numbers are permanent. New scenes between 12 and 13 get 12A, 12B, etc. This follows WGA Dramatists Guild production standards.

Omitting Scenes

After locking, right-click a scene heading to omit it. The heading becomes "N OMITTED" and child blocks are removed but stored internally.

Nuclear Reset

Removes all omitted scenes, clears all locks, renumbers sequentially from 1, strips revision IDs, and resets everything. Destructive and irreversible.

Revisions

Enabling Revision Mode

Open the Revisions panel from the sidebar and toggle Revision Mode on. While active, any text you add or modify is marked with the current revision color.

The WGA Color Sequence

Revisions follow the standard WGA sequence: Production White, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Goldenrod, Buff, Salmon, Cherry, Tan. After Tan, the sequence continues with Double White, Double Blue, and so on. Screencore supports up to 40 revision sets across four tiers.

Revision Marks

Changed text is permanently marked with the revision color. Display options in the panel:

• Show Text Colors: Renders revised text in its revision color
• Color Asterisks: Colors margin asterisks to match their revision set
• Revision Bars: Vertical bars in the right margin next to revised lines

Manual Marking

Select text and click Mark Revised to manually mark it under the current set, or Clear Revised to remove marks.

Advancing Drafts

Click Advance to move to the next color. A settings sheet lets you name the revision, set the date, and choose margin characters. The current set is archived in the revision history.

Page Locking

Toggle Lock Pages in the Revisions panel to freeze pagination. Locked page breaks are preserved across edits, ensuring revised pages always match their original numbers.

Revision History

The Revisions panel shows a list of all issued rounds with names, colors, and dates -- a full audit trail of your draft history.

The Title Page

Fields

The title page has eight fields:

• Title (required), Credit (required), Author (required)
• Source, Contact, Draft Date, Draft Number, Copyright (all optional)

Click any field to edit. Optional fields can be hidden from the Title Page panel.

Formatting

The title and body text sizes can be set independently (title: 10-36pt, body: 10-18pt). Bold, italic, and underline can be applied to any field.

Revision History on Title Page

If revision mode is active, toggle Show Revisions in the Title Page panel to display issued revision names, colors, and dates.

Import & Export

Exporting to PDF

Press ⇧⌘E or choose File > Export > PDF. Options include:

• Pages: All pages, a page range, or only revised pages
• Title Page: Include or exclude, with optional revision history
• Appearance: Light or Dark mode
• Options: Page numbers, scene numbers, revision asterisks/bars, revision page colors, revision header, watermark (custom text and opacity), page number overrides

Other Export Formats

• Final Draft (.fdx): Preserves blocks, formatting, and scene numbers
• Fountain (.fountain): Open plain-text screenplay format
• Plain Text (.txt) / Rich Text (.rtf): For pasting into other applications

Importing

Use File > Open to import .fdx, .fountain, .txt, or .rtf files. Screencore converts them to its internal format, preserving element types and formatting where possible.

The .screencore Format

A ZIP archive containing XML files. Stores the full screenplay, formatting, notes, alt lines, markup, scene numbers, revisions, title page, and settings. Up to 5 MB files supported for import.

Themes & Appearance

The Eight Themes

Six dark and two light themes. Switch in Settings > Appearance.

• Screencore -- cool dark gray with gold accent (default)
• Overcast -- muted steel blue, calm and professional
• Tundra -- copper on teal, warm and distinctive
• Deep Ocean -- gold on deep navy
• Midnight -- near-black, the darkest theme
• Crystal -- icy teal with cyan accent
• Daylight -- clean white with indigo accent (light)
• Birch -- warm beige with amber accent (light)

Page Colors

Six page colors, independent of the theme: Black, Slate, Navy, White, Sand, Paper. Saved per-document.

Panel & Element Type Sizing

The Element Type panel has three sizes (Small, Medium, Large). Sidebar panels have four width options (240pt, 320pt, 420pt, 540pt). Change both in Settings.

Settings & Preferences

Open Settings with ⌘, or the gear icon at the bottom of the sidebar.

General

Toggle automatic spell checking on or off.

Appearance

Select a theme, set Element Panel size, show or hide page numbers.

Page

Select the page color.

Format

Choose font family and size. Set per-element bold, italic, and underline defaults.

Autocomplete

Toggle autocomplete for character names, extensions, locations, scene intros, times of day, and transitions. Enable or disable the Element Type Dropdown (visual picker on Tab press).

Backups

Toggle timed backups, set the interval (3-60 minutes), and configure the maximum number of backup copies (default: 1,000).

Language

Set the spell checking language. Detected automatically on first launch.

Writers Room

Starting a Session (Host)

• Click Writers Room in the header bar and choose Start Writers Room
• Select the document, enter your display name
• A 6-digit room code is displayed -- share it with participants
• Approve connection requests as they arrive in the lobby

Joining a Session (Guest)

• Click Writers Room > Join Writers Room
• Enter your display name and the 6-digit room code
• Wait for the host to approve your request
• You receive a copy of the host's document when approved

The Pen (Token System)

Exactly one person holds the pen at a time. Only the pen holder can edit. The token starts with the host.

• Request: Click Request Pen in the session HUD
• Pass: Click Give Pen and select a participant
• Auto-return: Pen returns to host after 15 minutes of idle
• Reclaim: Host can reclaim from an idle holder at any time

Submitting Changes

Click Submit in the session HUD to broadcast your edits. The pen passes to the next person in the queue. Auto-submit fires after 3 minutes if you forget.

Guest Contributions

Guests without the pen can still submit session notes, propose alternate lines for dialogue and action elements, and add markup flags.

Ending a Session

The host clicks End Session and confirms. All guests receive a notification. Sessions support up to 8 participants.

Privacy

All connections use Apple MultipeerConnectivity (peer-to-peer over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth). No internet required. Nothing leaves your local network.

Backups & File Management

Automatic Backups on Save

Every ⌘S creates a timestamped backup before overwriting. Up to 1,000 copies are kept by default.

Timed Backups

Screencore can back up automatically at regular intervals (default: 15 minutes). Configure in Settings > Backups.

Restoring from Backup

Go to File > Restore from Backup. A panel shows all backups sorted newest to oldest with dates and sizes. Select one and click Restore to open it as a new document.

Crash Recovery

If Screencore detects it was not closed cleanly, it checks for unsaved data on next launch and attempts automatic recovery. Recovered files open from a dedicated Recovered folder.

Script Notes

Creating a Note

Place your cursor in an element, open the Script Notes panel, click New Note, choose a category, type your note, and save. You can optionally add your name in the author field, or check Document Note to attach the note to the whole script rather than the current block.

Categories

Available tags: Rewrite, Research, Tone, Cut, Idea, VFX, Camera Note, SFX, Continuity, ADR, Stunt, Location, Wardrobe, Music, Props, Lighting, Budget, Pacing, Makeup, General.

Resolving Notes

Click the checkmark on a note to resolve it. Resolved notes are hidden by default but can be shown with a filter toggle.

Bookmarks

Bookmark any note to flag it as high-priority. When creating a note, click the bookmark icon (ribbon shape) next to the category dropdown before sending. To bookmark an existing note, hover over it, click the pencil icon to edit, toggle the bookmark on, and save.

Switch between the Notes and Bookmarks tabs in the filter bar to see all notes or only bookmarked ones. Bookmarked notes can be filtered by category. When a block has a bookmarked note, the gutter icon changes from a speech bubble to a filled ribbon.

Gutter Indicators

A small icon in the right gutter marks elements with notes. Single-click the icon for a floating preview of the note content. Double-click to open the Script Notes panel focused on that block.

Limits: 500 notes per project, 2,000 characters per note, 40 characters per author name.

Annotations

What is an Annotation?

An annotation is a private header-and-text note tied to a single block. The header is a short label (up to 50 characters) and the text is a longer note (up to 500 characters). Every block can have one annotation. Annotations are saved with your project but never appear in PDF, FDX, or Fountain exports.

Adding an Annotation

Place your cursor on the block you want to annotate. Open the Annotations panel from the left sidebar. Pick a header preset or click Custom to type your own. Write your note in the text field and click Send.

Header Presets

Presets adapt to the block type:

• Scene Heading and Action: Subtext
• Character, Dialogue, Parenthetical: Subtext, Want, Need, Lie

The character-focused presets (Want, Need, Lie) come from classic character analysis. You can always choose Custom and write any header.

Annotation Overlay

Enable Show in Editor in the panel to display a floating overlay above the zoom bar showing the current block's annotation. It follows your cursor as you move between blocks. Set the text size (Small, Medium, Large) and optionally enable Panel Background for better readability.

Browsing All Annotations

The bottom half of the Annotations panel lists every annotated block in script order with headers and previews. Use the search field to filter by header text, annotation text, or block content. Click any row to jump to that block.

Clearing an Annotation

Open the Annotations panel with your cursor on the block and click Clear. Clearing is undoable with ⌘Z.

Limits: 50 characters per header, 500 characters per annotation, 20,000 annotations per project.

Alt Lines

Supported Elements

Only Dialogue and Action elements support alt lines.

Creating an Alt

Place your cursor in a Dialogue or Action element, open the Alt Lines panel (⌘A), click Add Alt, and type your alternate version. Optionally add an author name.

Ranking

Assign Gold (1st), Silver (2nd), or Bronze (3rd) ranks to track your favorites.

Swapping

Click Swap to replace the live element text with an alt. The current text moves to the alt list.

Limits: 3 alts per element, 500 elements with alts per project, 5,000 characters per alt.

Markup

Adding Markup

Open the Markup panel (⌘E) with your cursor in an element. Type an annotation or choose from built-in quick notes:

• "Show don't tell." / "Tone is off." / "Rewrite." / "Cut this."
• "Expand this." / "Not working." / "Pacing drags here."
• "Does this land?" / "Is this necessary?"

Custom Quick Notes

Click New Quick Note to create reusable annotations (up to 20 per project, 35 characters each).

Navigating Markup

The bottom of the panel lists all marked elements across the script. Click any entry to jump to it. Gutter icons mark elements with markup in the editor.

Limits: 20,000 markup entries per project, 35 characters per annotation.

Gutter Icons

Gutter icons are small symbols in the margins of the editor that mark blocks with attached content.

Icon Types

Interactions

• Notes and Alt Lines icons: Single-click for a floating preview bubble. Double-click to open the full panel.
• Markup and Beat icons: Click to set your cursor to that block and open the panel.

Toggling Visibility

Each panel has a toggle button in its header bar (between the help icon and close button). Click it to show or hide that panel's gutter icons. Multiple icon types can be visible at the same time.

Find & Replace

Searching

Press ⌘F to open. Type your query -- results are highlighted in the document with a match counter. Use navigation arrows or Enter to step through matches.

Options

• Case Sensitive: Distinguishes uppercase/lowercase
• Whole Word: Matches complete words only

Replacing

Replace swaps the current match. Replace All swaps every match at once.

Bulk Highlight & Color

With a search active, click the highlight or text color icon in the Find panel to apply a color to all matches in one step.

Limit: 5,000 matches per search.

Navigator

Press ⌘/ to open.

Scene List

Shows all scene headings in order. Click any scene to jump to it in the editor.

Page Jump

Type a page number at the top and press Enter to jump to that page. Click Last to go to the final page.

Counts

The top-right area displays total page count and scene count.

Script Intelligence

Press ⌘I to open. Contains two tabs: Outline and Beats.

Outline Tab

A hierarchical view of your screenplay's structure. Useful for spotting structural issues at a bird's-eye level.

Beats Tab

Tag scenes with story beats from popular screenplay frameworks. Assign beats from multiple frameworks to the same scene. Toggle Show Gutter Icons to display beat icons in the editor margin.

Generate Report

Generate a production report PDF with toggleable sections:

• Scene Report (headings, INT/EXT, time of day, page references)
• Character Breakdown (speaking characters and scene appearances)
• Speaking vs. Non-Speaking roles
• Location Report (unique locations)
• Day/Night Split and INT vs. EXT counts
• Dialogue vs. Action Ratio

Color Legend & Zoom

Zoom Controls

Use ⌘+ / ⌘- to zoom in and out. ⌘0 resets to 100%. Controls are also available in the zoom bar at the bottom of the editor.

Color Legend

Label each highlight and text color with a custom name for your personal or production color-coding system. Click Legend at the bottom of the screen to open the editor.

Create multiple named legends for different projects. Click Export Legend PDF to generate a shareable reference sheet.

Accessibility

VoiceOver

Full VoiceOver support. The editor identifies as a text area. VoiceOver reads all text, reports cursor position, announces element type changes, and announces page boundaries.

Custom Rotors

• Scenes rotor: Jumps between scene headings
• Characters rotor: Jumps between character blocks

Keyboard-Only Navigation

All core writing functions are accessible from the keyboard. All panels, buttons, and controls have accessibility labels. Toasts are announced by VoiceOver at high priority.

Tips & Tricks

• Use Tab to discover element types. If Element Type Dropdown is enabled (Settings > Autocomplete), pressing Tab shows a visual picker.
• Jump to the last page. Open Navigator (⌘/) and click Last.
• Color-code research in one step. Use Find & Replace to search for a keyword, then click the highlight button to color every match at once.
• Share color coding. Create a Legend with labels and export it as a PDF for co-writers.
• Alt Lines for decisions. When torn between two lines, create an alt. Both are preserved and swappable anytime.
• Save before locking. Always save before locking scene numbers -- it cannot be undone with ⌘Z.
• Reopen the welcome guide. It's always available from Help > Tutorials.
• Shortcut reference card. Help > Shortcut Keys for the complete reference.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Document shows "Edited" and won't go to "Saved"

Press ⌘S. If a save panel appears, choose a location and click Save.

Screencore opened a "Recovered" document

Screencore detected it was not closed cleanly. The recovered document contains unsaved data. Review it, compare with your saved version, and keep whichever is more recent. You can also check File > Restore from Backup.

Locked scene numbers by accident

Locking clears undo history for that operation. If the document hasn't been saved yet, quit without saving and reopen. Otherwise, use File > Restore from Backup.

Can't dismiss autocomplete popup

Press Escape. It always dismisses any open popup.

Guest joined Writers Room but I can't see their edits

Only the pen holder can edit. Click Request Pen in the session HUD.

PDF font looks different from the editor

Check Settings > Format to confirm the font family. If using Courier Prime, make sure it's installed on your Mac. Other fonts are built into macOS.

Imported FDX file has wrong element types

Some Final Draft types (Cast List, General) don't have direct equivalents and are mapped to the closest type. Manually correct with ⌘1 through ⌘8.

Accidentally deleted a large block of text

Press ⌘Z (up to 30 undo steps). If too many steps have passed, use File > Restore from Backup.

Maximum script length

250 pages and 20,000 blocks. A typical feature-length screenplay is 90-120 pages with 1,000-2,000 blocks.

Split Screen and Stage Manager

Yes. Screencore is a standard macOS document application and works with all macOS window management features.