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How should my script be formatted?

Scriptation is optimized for industry-standard TV, film, and theatrical script formatting. While you can open and annotate any PDF in Scriptation, scripts that follow these specs work best with features like Actor Highlight.

Scriptation was originally built for TV and Film, and is optimized to read standard single-cam and multi-cam script formats.

With some script formats or documents like musical scores, schedules, ROS, and contact sheets, some features like Actor Highlight may not work as reliably.

How Scriptation identifies scenes

Scriptation detects scenes by scanning for standard slug line (scene heading) formatting — INT. or EXT. followed by the location and time of day (e.g. EXT. PLACE - TIME), optionally preceded by a scene number. If a script was created in screenwriting software like Final Draft, the PDF usually contains hidden element tags that Scriptation can use as a fallback for identifying scene headings even if the formatting is slightly off. However, if a script wasn't created in screenwriting software (for example, if it was written in Word or Pages), that fallback doesn't exist, so the visible formatting needs to match industry standard exactly for scenes to be detected correctly.

Common issues that prevent a scene heading from being recognized:

No period after INT or EXT — should be INT. or EXT., not INT or EXT
No period after the scene number (when using scene numbers directly in the heading) — should be 1. not 1
Extra spaces between elements — there should only be single spaces between the scene number, INT./EXT., and the location
No blank line between the scene heading and the action line — there should be a blank line (an extra carriage return) separating the slug line from the first line of action
Scene numbers typed directly into the slug line — in standard formatting, scene numbers sit at the far left and right margins, separate from the heading text. Since this is hard to replicate in a word processor, it's best to remove scene numbers from the heading entirely and let Scriptation's Large Scene Numbers Info Layer generate them automatically
Offset margins — if there are extra spaces or indents before a slug line, Scriptation won't recognize it as a scene heading. The same applies to character names offset from the expected margins — they won't be detected correctly either
Long scene headers with no room for the right-side scene number — in Final Draft, the default right-side margin for the scene number is 7.375", while the right-side margin for scene headers is 7.500". If a scene header (single or multi-line) is long enough that its text runs right up against that margin, Final Draft will omit the scene number on the right side entirely, and Scriptation won't be able to detect that scene. To fix this:

Slightly shorten or reword the scene header text so there's enough room at the end of the line for the scene number to appear, or
In Final Draft, go to Scene Numbers... and adjust the right-side scene number margin from its default 7.375" to something like 7.001"–7.501" so it no longer risks overlapping the scene header text. Test this on a sample draft first to confirm it doesn't affect overall page count, and check with any studio/network mandated formatting specs before changing this.

Punctuation right before a forward slash in a scene header — a closed parenthesis directly followed by a slash with no space (e.g. (DRIVING)/GUS'S APARTMENT) is recognized fine, but a slash followed by a space after the parenthesis (e.g. (DRIVING)/ GUS'S APARTMENT) can prevent the scene from being detected correctly

Getting these details consistent across all scenes ensures Info Layers, Auto Highlight, and the Lining Tools work correctly.

✅ TIP: As a general script formatting best practice, keep scene headers to a single line whenever possible — multi-line scene headers are more likely to run into the right-side scene number issue described above.

📝 NOTE: Scriptation only detects properly formatted scene headers. Sub-scenes written as plain action lines (e.g. "110A" or "110B" without an INT./EXT. slug line) won't be recognized as separate scenes, even if they have scene numbers attached — there's currently no way to override this.

Want to create a script from scratch that's optimized for Scriptation? Here's how.

These guidelines are taken from Final Draft's "Untitled One-Hour TV Drama" template.

Text Margins: Left: 1.5", Right: 1", Top: 1.0", Bottom: 1.0"
Header/Footer Margins: 0.5"
Page Number: Top right of Header, Right Indent: 7.25", Period after the number
Font: Courier
Font Size: 12
Leading (vertical line spacing): Normal

Single-Camera Sample Script

Multi-Camera Sample Script

Theatrical Sample Script

Scriptation offers a custom Final Draft and Microsoft Word template for theatrical productions, designed to work with Actor Highlight.

✅ TIP: To best utilize the Microsoft Word template, enable the Style Pane and Style Guide.

What about Dual Dialogue?

At the moment, Scriptation isn't likely to recognize Dual Dialogue for Actor Highlighting or Playback Mode. We're working to expand the text recognition algorithm — stay tuned for app updates.

What's Next

Why isn't Actor Highlighting or Character Names and working?
How to hyperlink to audio, video, websites, and pages
How do I add custom facing pages (images, PDFs, or blank pages)?

Updated on: 04/08/2026

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