Articles on: Auto-Highlighting

What is Auto-Highlighting?

Scriptation can automatically highlight character names and dialogue so you can track each character throughout the script. Whether you're prepping a scene, learning lines, or sharing a color-coded breakdown with collaborators, Auto-Highlight handles it in seconds.

Getting Started

From the Top Toolbar, tap Highlight to open the Auto-Highlight sidebar.

✅ TIP: If the Highlight icon isn't showing in the Top Toolbar, touch or click the plus sign on the right side to show additional icons. To pin it permanently, see How do I add more icons and customize the Top Toolbar?

The Auto-Highlight sidebar opens with every character in the script listed. Tap the color dot on the left of a character's row to choose a color — their highlighting toggles on immediately, and you'll see it applied on the script page. To hide a character's highlighting, toggle it off.

Turning Highlighting On or Off for All Characters

To assign colors to every character at once and display them on the script page, tap the three-dot menu (⋯) at the top-right of the sidebar and choose All On. To remove every character's highlighting, choose All Off.

✅ TIP: All On matches colors from the Color Presets list to characters in order — first preset to first character, second preset to second character, and so on. The character list is sorted by total dialogue (most dialogue at the top). See How do I change the Auto-Highlight color presets? to set up your preferred preset order.

Customizing Auto-Highlight Further

📝 NOTE: The free version highlights Name and Dialogue. The options below are part of Scriptation Industry Pro.

Choose what gets highlighted — switch between Name and Dialogue (the default), Name Only, or Dialogue Only, and highlight Scene Headings and Action Lines. See How do I choose what Auto-Highlight highlights?;
Change the Color Presets palette — set up your preferred 16-color palette that gets matched to characters when you tap All On. See How do I change the Auto-Highlight color presets?;
Use a custom color for a specific character — open the color picker (grid, wheel, or RGB/HSB sliders) to pick any color you'd like. See How do I use custom colors with Auto-Highlight?;
Save a character's color so it persists across scripts — great for recurring characters on TV shows. See How do I save colors for characters with Auto-Highlight?.

What's Next

Why isn't Auto-Highlight recognizing my character names?
How do I use Auto-Highlight in sides?
What is Playback Mode?

Updated on: 15/10/2026

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