How to 'import' a PDF file into Screenwriter

Screenwriter cannot import a PDF file.  Very few programs can other than Adobe products, though if you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat Pro (not the reader), you can use Adobe Acrobat to open the document and then export the document as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file, then use File>Import menu command in Screenwriter and import the .RTF file. 

LINK: Converting PDF files to Screenwriter documents using Acrobat Pro

Assuming you do NOT have full version of Adobe Acrobat, the other way to bring the text of a PDF into a Screenwriter document is to open the pdf file by double-clicking on it, which will activate a Windows program that can open PDF files.  Then:

• Select all of the text in the document.
• Copy the text (Edit>Copy).
• Open Screenwriter 6.
• Create a new, blank document if one does not already exist.
• Use Edit>Paste to paste the text into the document.
• If this is a script, choose "Use Most Aggressive interpretation of source text" option.  If this is a novel, use the Import Text as Action option.
• Press OK.

At this point, you must go through the document and check the formatting. 

Go through the document and reassign the element styles. You may do this by using the drop-down list in the top toolbar, or by using the keyboard shortcut keys.

MACINTOSH SHORTCUT KEYS

The keyboard shortcuts for Mac Screenwriter are:

• CMD+1 -- Scene Heading
• CMD+2 -- Action
• CMD+3 -- Dialogue
• CMD+4 -- Parenthetical
• CMD+5 -- Character Name
• CMD+6 -- Shot
• CMD+7 -- Transition
• CMD+9 -- Note

The other useful shortcut is CMD+DOWN ARROW, which moves you to the next element.

WINDOWS SHORTCUT KEYS

To change element styles in Windows Screenwriter 6:

1. Press F4 -- this brings up an element style menu
2. Type the letter underlined for the element you wans, e.g. 'i" (as in Indigo) to change the style to Action -- or use the arrow key to highlight Action and hit Enter, or use the mouse to click on Action.  This changes the paragraph to an action element.
   • H -- Scene Heading
   • I -- Action
   • D -- Dialogue
   • P -- Parenthetical
   • C -- Character Name
   • R -- Transition
   • T -- Act
3. Press CTRL+DOWN ARROW to move to the next element/paragraph
4. Repeat steps 1 thru 3 as needed

The other useful shortcut is CTRL+DOWN ARROW, which moves you to the next element.

NOTE:  PDF files store text in strange ways, especially around page breaks, that is not visible when displayed as a PDF.  However, when you copy and paste the text into a word processor, those anomalies show up as text moved to other places within the new document.

RELATED ARTICLE:

• Reformatting an Imported script into Screenwriter 6