Final Draft is designed to automatically format a script correctly; however, because formatting errors may occur while a script is being edited, Format Assistant can display an alert if a script has:
- Characters with no dialogue
- A dialogue without a character preceding it
- Characters with two consecutive dialogues
- Elements that begin with a blank space
- Empty elements
The Format Assistant may be run at any time. It can also be set to run automatically before printing.
To use the Format Assistant:
Go to Tools > Format Assistant. The Format Assistant will search a script for errors and if it finds an error, it will highlight the paragraph containing the error.
In the example below, the paragraph that begins with "Meet Tangle" has a blank space at the beginning. Format Assistant will identify this error and the proposed correction and present the option to fix or ignore the issue:
Clicking the Fix button will delete these blank spaces and move to the next found rule violation.
- Text in the Rule violation area indicates which formatting rule was broken;
- Text in the Correction area indicates how the error will be corrected.
To correct an error, click Fix. The error is corrected and the search for additional errors continues.
To disregard an error and continue checking for more errors, click Ignore.
To disregard an error and remember to disregard it until the script is closed, click Ignore.
Choose which Format Assistant rules to use by checking or unchecking the check box next to the desired Rule.
When the Format Assistant has found and reported on all the errors it can, it will display this message:
When finished, close Format Assistant by pressing the Escape key on the keyboard or by clicking the red Close button at the upper left corner of the window.
Format Assistant Options
Set whether and how to use the Format Assistant before printing.
From the Tools > Format Assistant dialogue, click Options and the Format Assistant Options dialogue appears:
Scan for formatting errors before printing
Check this option to have Format Assistant check scripts before they are printed.
Always ask me before printing
Check this option to have Final Draft ask whether a script is to be scanned for formatting errors before printing.
Printing and Format Assistant
By default, Final Draft asks if the Format Assistant is to be run before printing. From the File > Print dialogue, click Print and the following appears:
To run the Format Assistant, click Scan Now and the Format Assistant begins scanning.
If the Format Assistant does not find any errors, the script prints. If the Format Assistant does find errors, the Format Assistant window appears, asking if they should be corrected.
To print without running the Format Assistant, click Print Now.
To run the Format Assistant automatically before printing, check the box next to "Do not ask me this again but always scan before printing."
To disable the Format Assistant, check Turn Format Assistant off.
For more information on Format Assistant watch the following video: