Articles on: Live Layers

Uses and Tips for Live Layers

Top uses and tips for working with Live Layers


Live Layers shines on set, in pre-production, on Broadway, at live events, and at table reads — anywhere a team needs to share quick annotation updates. Here are the top use cases and tips for getting the most out of it.


📝 NOTE: Live Layers is available on Scriptation Team and Enterprise licenses.


⚠️ HEADS UP: Live Layers only syncs annotations on Native script pages — the original imported pages of your script. Annotations on added pages (like Facing Pages, copy-pasted pages, or any pages added via the Page Manager) won't sync through Live Layers. This is by design — added pages are personalized per user, so syncing them between teammates would create confusion. Want to share those notes too? Share the file directly instead.


How would I use Live Layers?


Check out our top 5 uses:


  1. On Set — You are the 1st AD. You just received an important change, and you need to alert the rest of the team. You quickly annotate in your script, tap Share, and boom — your group gets a notification and the update;


  1. Pre-Production — You are the Director. You have some updates to location needs. You make the notes in your Locations Layer and tap Share. Everyone within your Layer Group now has the change;


  1. Broadway — You are the Production Stage Manager in Tech. From the Tech Table, you make notes on your Master Cue Sheet. You tap Share, and instantly the rest of the Stage Management team has the updated notes;


  1. Live Events — You are running the Talent Flow team. You have a slew of big changes to Talent entrance locations. You make notes in your Talent Layer and tap Share. Instantly the rest of the Talent team has the updates;


  1. Table Reads — You are the writer at a Table Read. You write some line changes in your Owned layer, which all the Actors are Recipients of. You tap Share, and immediately everyone has the new dialogue.


Tips for working with Live Layers


  1. Any time you receive a new draft, or change the official file name, your Layer Group needs to be re-established;


  1. Live Layers cannot be merged;


  1. If you miss a Live Layers notification (or hit No on the notification window), tap the Refresh icon at the bottom of the Layer menu to get back on track.



  1. Received Layers are view-only. When viewing a Received Layer, the top of the page is marked with a grey box showing the name of the Layer.



✅ TIP: Want to edit a Received Layer? Tap the ... in the top-right corner of the Layers sidebar, and select Duplicate.


  1. It's always up to the user to make sure they join the correct Layer Group. Everyone on your team who has enabled Live Layers can see the names of all public Live Layer Groups and join any of them. Locked Layer Groups need a password to access;


  1. When opening a file for the first time and turning on Live Layers, sometimes you'll see other unrelated group names when tapping Show More. This is because Scriptation processes your script for Live Layers based on Page Count and File Name. To learn more, see Why are there other files in my Live Layers list?;


  1. If you work with the same team often, turn on Auto Live Layers in Settings to automatically join the public Live Layers group for every document you open.


What's Next


What is Auto Live Layers?

How do I transfer my notes?

How to link to audio, video, websites, and pages

Updated on: 16/06/2026

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