Auto-Highlight only reads the text of Native script pages — so to use it on a Sides file, you need to lock the pages in the Page Manager so Scriptation treats them as Native.

Native vs. Inserted pages

To understand Sides, it helps to know how Scriptation interprets pages:

• Native — Official script pages, in their imported order;
• Added — User-created pages, such as Sides, Facing Pages, and Copied/Pasted pages.

After using the Sides tool, the PDF is by default comprised entirely of Added pages. This is designed to allow maximum flexibility with note-taking and reordering into shooting order — but it means Auto-Highlight won't see the text. Lock mode fixes that.

Locking and unlocking Sides

To enable Auto-Highlight on Sides, lock the Sides file via the Page Manager. To rearrange a locked Sides file later, unlock it first.

For the step-by-step walkthrough of both, see How do I lock or unlock a Sides file?.

Creating sides for a specific character's scenes

To pull together all of a character's scenes into a single document (useful for actors working through a large script), you can combine Character Highlighting with the Sides tool:

1. Turn on Character Highlighting to automatically highlight all of your character's dialogue throughout the script.
2. Open the Page Manager and tap the Sides icon.
3. Select all pages that include your character's highlighted scenes.
4. Tap Make Sides to export a new PDF containing only those selected pages.
5. Your new Sides file opens in a new tab, which you can also use in Read/Rehearse mode. When you enter Read Mode, you'll be prompted to Lock the Sides — choose Yes to lock them so features like Auto-Highlight and Lining continue to work correctly.

This process is manual, but it lets you collect all of a character's material into one PDF, leaving the rest of the script out.

What's Next

How do I lock or unlock a Sides file?
How do I create sides from multiple episodes' scripts?
How do I add or move pages?

Updated on: 04/08/2026