Each Revision Set is typically distinguished by color or other characteristics (and will be reflected in all revision marks, including ones created when writing in Revision Mode).
To select, modify and create Revision Sets
Choose Production > Revisions and the Revisions dialogue appears:
Revision Mode checkbox
Turns Revision Mode on and off. This switch has the same functionality as the Production > Revision Mode menu item.
The Revision Set Table
Shows all revision sets being used or yet to be used and some of the properties of each set.
Active revision set
When new text is added to a page, it has the characteristics of the active revision set (revision mark, page color and / or text appearance). The active revision set is indicated by checkmark in the first column of the Revisions table.
To make the previous revision set the active set, click Previous Revision Set.
To make the next revision set the active set, click Next Revision Set.
To set another revision set as the active set, double-click anywhere in that set's row.
Show Page Colors
Check this box to display a revision set's color down the sides of the script if there are revisions on that page. Most Final Draft templates already have the correct page color assigned to each revision set.
To change the properties of a revision set see Edit Revision Set below.
Show Text and Mark
Expand the Show Text and Marks dropdown menu to choose what will be displayed:
From Active Revision Set Only
Displays as revised only the revisions made in the active (current) revision set. For example, if Show Active Revision Set is selected and Revision Set 4 is the active revision set, new revisions will be in the Revision Set 4 revision style (colored text or page, margin marks, etc.) and no revisions made in revision sets 1-3 will be displayed as revised.
If the Active Revisions placeholder field is in the Header and the Show Active Revision Set option is chosen, the header of each page will show the current revision set whether the page contains revisions or not.
Collated Script
Displays each page’s revision marks from the highest (most recent) revision set in which edits on that page were made. For example, if all of the revisions on Page 5 were made when Revision Set 1 was the active set, they will be in the revision set style (colored text or page, margin marks, etc.) of Revision Set 1. At the same time, if Page 12 contains revisions only from Revision Set 2, those edits will have the revision set style of Revision Set 2. At the same time, Page 24, edited while Revision Set 3 was active, will show the revision set style of Revision Set 3.
If the Collated Revisions placeholder field is in the Header and the Show Collated Script option is chosen, the header of each revised page will show the highest (most recent) revision set in which edits on that page were made. Per the example above, the header on Page 5 will display “Revision Set 1,” the header on Page 12 will display “Revision Set 2” and the header on Page 24 will display “Revision Set 3.”
From All Revision Sets
Displays every revision set on every revised page. For example, if a page contains revisions from Revision Set 1, Revision Set 2 and Revision Set 3, these revisions will be in the respective revision set style of the revision set in which they were made. If this option is selected, further choices to show or hide revised text will be offered. Note that “hidden” revised text will still be visible but it will not be displayed as revised.
From All Revision Sets After and Including Latest Draft
Displays every revision set on every revised page from the last revision set marked as a Full Draft. For example, if Revision Set 3 is marked as a Full Draft, and a subsequent revision set is set to show text and marks from all revision sets after and including latest draft, this set will show revisions starting with Revision Set 3.
None
When this option is chosen, no revised text is colored or styled and no revision marks are displayed.
To apply the options, click OK.
To add or delete a new revision set
To add new revision set, click the plus sign icon at the bottom left of the table window. A new untitled revision set will be added to the bottom of the list of revision sets. If necessary, this new revision set can be dragged into the correct place on the list of revision sets above. In the example below, "Production White" has been created and will be dragged into position above the Blue set:
Revision sets can be dragged from one place in the list to another, if the order of revision sets needs to be changed before entering revision mode.
If a revision set is deleted, the revision set is cleared from the list and all revisions in the script that were marked with that revision set are no longer marked as revised. Note that the active revision cannot be deleted.
When all changes are complete, click OK.
Mark Location
Adjusts the margin for revision marks, measured from the left edge of the page.
To change the margin setting, click the up or down arrow to adjust the value (as measured from the left edge of the page).
Click OK to apply all changes.
Edit Revision Set
Click the Gear icon at the bottom right of the table window and the Edit Revision Set window is displayed:
Label
In most Final Draft templates, the standard US production revision sets will already be listed and only the date of the revision set needs to be added to the revision set label.
To edit the revision set name, overtype the current name in the Label field or leave the default name in place but (optionally) modify the date or remove the date placeholder text.
Page Color
Set the page color for the revision set. If the Show Page Colors box is checked, the color assigned to a revision set in this window will run down the sides of revised pages. In most Final Draft templates, the standard US production revision sets will already be listed and the matching page color chosen for each set.
Page Color Show On dropdown menu
Options are Revised Pages Only (appropriate for a Collated draft) and Full Draft.
Collated Draft
A collated draft is one in which different revision sets are displayed (pieces of text are marked revised) simultaneously on a page-by-page basis, depending on which revision set was active when changes were made to this page or that. Most scripts start out this way and stay this way until enough rewriting has been done to warrant moving to a full-color draft. A collated draft will usually have pages of many different colors.
Full Draft
When more than 50% of the pages have been revised in a certain draft color (this is the typical criterion), that draft is known thereafter as (for example) the “Blue Draft” or the “Full Blue.” Every page of this draft is now blue and considered a part of the Blue revision set whether it’s been revised or not.
Text Style
To change the style or color of text that has been revised while this revision set is active:
Choose which, if any, style the revised text is to have. The choices are
-
Underline -- the text is underscored by a continuous line. The lines applied to the text are the same color as the text;
- Choices for underlining are found in the Underline Style dropdown menu
- Regular (default)
- Dotted
- Word (only words underlined, not the spaces between them;
- Choices for underlining are found in the Underline Style dropdown menu
- Bold -- the text is rendered bold.
-
Strike out-- the text is struck through its horizontal center with a continuous line.
Color
Click on the color swatch and choose a predefined color from the list
- or -
select Other... and use the standard Mac color picker create a custom color and click OK.
The default revised text color is black.
To change the revision mark
Highlight and overtype the current revision mark.
The asterisk ( * ) is standard for production scripts. Other symbols may be used to denote a distinct set of revisions from a particular person, or that person's initial(s) may be used. No more than two characters are recommended for a revision mark.
For more information on revisions watch the following video:
To learn more about marking your script with revisions and Revision Mode read "How do I mark or clear script revisions?" and "How do I use Revision Mode?"