Storyist User’s Guide

  1. Welcome to Storyist
    1. Product Overview
    2. Installing Storyist
  2. Understanding the User Interface
    1. Project View
    2. Toolbar
    3. Template Chooser
    4. Workspaces Window
    5. Inspector Window
    6. Backups Window
    7. Fonts Window
    8. Colors Window
    9. Preferences Window
    10. Keyboard Shortcuts and Shortcut Menus
  3. Getting Started
    1. Creating a New Project from a Template
    2. Opening an Existing Project
    3. Importing a File
    4. Getting Around
  4. Working with Text
    1. Editing and Formatting Text
    2. Creating and Applying Styles
    3. Working with Links
    4. Adding Elements to the Outline
    5. Inserting and Resizing Images
    6. Adding and Displaying Comments
    7. Bookmarking Frequently Viewed Text Locations
  5. Working with Story Sheets
    1. About Story Sheets
    2. Customizing Story Sheet Fields
    3. Adding Images to Story Sheets
  6. Working with Outlines
    1. Adding Outline Elements
    2. Moving Outline Elements
    3. Editing Outline Level Properties
  7. Working with Storyboards
    1. Adding Items to a Corkboard
    2. Specifying the Layout of Corkboard Items
    3. Adding Items to a Collage
    4. Adding Section and Scene Sheets to a Collage
    5. Resizing Storyboard Items
    6. Changing the Representation of Storyboard Items
    7. Color Coding Index Cards
  8. Working with the Project View
    1. Adding Items to the Project
    2. Adding Outline Elements to Project Items
    3. Grouping Project Items
    4. Deleting Project Items
    5. Editing Project Item Preferences
    6. Searching the Project
  9. Working with Workspaces
    1. Splitting Views
    2. Changing the Orientation of Split Views
    3. Opening a New Project Window
    4. Creating a New Workspace
    5. Managing Workspaces
  10. Tracking Word Count and Writing Time Goals
    1. Setting Project Goals
    2. Setting Session Goals
  11. Saving and Backing Up Your Work
    1. Configuring Storyist to Save Your Work Automatically
    2. Configuring Storyist to Back Up Your Work Automatically
    3. Manually Backing Up Your Work
    4. Reverting to a Backup
  12. Exporting and Sharing Your Work
    1. Exporting Project Items
    2. Exporting Project Items as Text and Image Files
    3. Exporting Project Items as a Single eBook
    4. Creating and Using Export Presets
    5. Sharing Project Items Over a Local Network
  13. Glossary

Working with Workspaces

When you're writing, you probably want to arrange your windows and views to focus on the manuscript or screenplay. When you're outlining, you likely want to use the Outline view. When you're revising, you may want to see the manuscript and screenplay along with your notes.

It can be cumbersome to size your views and configure the display preferences to suit your needs, so Storyist provides the ability to create workspace snapshots to quickly recall your settings.

Splitting Views

You can split a view horizontally or vertically. Storyist even lets you nest split views, so you can create quite complex view arrangements.

To split a view, position the cursor in the view you want to split, and then choose one of the following:

  • View > Split > Split Active View Horizontally. The active view is split so that the views are stacked one on top of the other.
  • View > Split > Split Active View Vertically. The active view is split so that the views are arranged side by side.

To close the active split view, choose View > Split > Close Active Split View.

To close all split views but the currently active view, choose View > Split > Close Others.

Changing the Orientation of Split Views

If you want to change the orientation of a split view (that is, you want to change from a vertical split to a horizontal split or vice versa), choose Window > Workspaces > Rotate Workspace.

Note: This command changes the orientation of the outer split views. Nested split views are not affected.

Opening a New Project Window

Sometimes it is useful to have multiple project windows open. Not only can you see multiple project documents at one time, you can take advantage of OS services like Exposé and Spaces to streamline your workflow.

To open a new project window:

  1. Select an item in the Project view.
  2. Click the project action (gear) button.
  3. Choose Open in New Window from the action menu.

Creating a New Workspace

When you have your windows and views arranged to your liking, you can take a snapshot for later recall.

Workspace snapshots contain:

  • A list of open windows.
  • The split view sizes and arrangement.
  • Display setting for each view.

To create a new workspace, do one of the following:

  • Choose Window > Workspaces > New Workspace. The Workspaces window appears with a new workspace (titled "New Workspace") enabled for renaming.
  • Choose Window > Workspaces > Manage Workspaces.
  • Click the Add (+) button. A new workspace appears.

Managing Workspaces

The Workspaces window lets you create, update, switch between, and delete workspaces.

To view the Workspaces window, choose Window > Workspaces > Manage Workspaces.

To add a workspace for the current project configuration, click the Add button.

From time to time, you may want to update the image or settings for a workspace you use frequently.

To update an existing workspace:

  1. Select the workspace.
  2. Click the Workspaces action (gear) button.
  3. Choose Update Workspace from the menu.
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