Final Draft's Reformat tool converts text that is not formatted properly into correct script format, such as when a Dialogue paragraph is erroneously formatted as an Action paragraph. If a script written using another word processor is imported, the built-in formatting logic will apply; however, some elements may still need to be reformatted.
To reformat text in your script choose Tools > Reformat:
The paragraph containing the cursor is selected and the floating Reformat window appears:
The paragraph containing the cursor is selected and its current element type is indicated in bold (Selected: ).
- Choose a new element for the paragraph;
- or -
- Press the number key for the new element for the paragraph;
The paragraph is reformatted and the next paragraph in the script is automatically selected.
- Continue reformatting each paragraph as needed;
- Click Next to skip a paragraph without any reformatting;
- Click Previous to select the previous paragraph;
- Click Delete to delete the current paragraph;
There is no confirmation dialogue and the deletion cannot be undone.
- When done, click Close or press the Escape key on the keyboard to dismiss the Reformat tool.
In this example, the character name "UNCLE" is incorrectly rendered as Action:
The Reformat tool has selected the text and is waiting for the user to choose the correct element. Press the number 3 on your keyboard or click Character from the Reformat window and the text will be re-rendered as a Character paragraph. The next paragraph will immediately be selected, ready for the next reformatting choice. If the next paragraph is correctly formatted, click Next.
Reformatting Correctly
Most of the time there is no need to reformat text. As the user types, Final Draft formats and paginates text according to industry standards.
However, there may be times when, for example, dialogue is erroneously formatted as action and needs to be rendered as such. This can occur when a script written in another word processor is imported into Final Draft. Final Draft's built-in formatting logic should turn most, if not all, of the text into a correctly formatted script. However, the quality of the import depends on how and how well the script was formatted in the first program.
There are a number of ways text may be reformatted.
Reformatting a Single Paragraph
There are multiple ways to convert a paragraph from one type to another.
In the following example, UNCLE is supposed to be a Character paragraph but it is misformatted as an Action paragraph:
Place the cursor in the paragraph you want to reformat. There is no need to highlight the entire paragraph;
- From the Elements dropdown menu in the toolbar at the top of the screen...
...choose the desired paragraph type (Character, in this example):
- or -
- From the Format > Change Elements To [Submenu], choose Character
- or -
- Right-click or Control + click and from the context menu, choose Change Element To and choose Character;
- or -
- Press Command + Option + [#] to reformat the current paragraph. The "#" in this command is the element number and will be displayed at the bottom of the screen while the Command key is pressed. In this example, to render this paragraph as Action, press Command + Option + 3.
This Character paragraph will be correctly formatted:
Reformatting Many Paragraphs
- Choose Tools > Reformat. The Reformat dialogue appears:
The paragraph containing the cursor is selected and its current paragraph type indicated.
- Choose a new element for the paragraph
- or -
- Press the number key or Control + number key for the new element for the paragraph;
The paragraph is reformatted and the next paragraph in the script is automatically selected.
- Continue reformatting each paragraph as needed;
- Click the right-pointing arrow to skip a paragraph without any reformatting;
- Click left-pointing arrow to select the previous paragraph;
- Click Delete to delete the current paragraph;
There is no confirmation dialogue and the deletion cannot be undone.
- When done, click Close or press the Escape key on the keyboard.
For more information on reformatting watch the following video: