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Working with Text

Editing and Formatting Text

Changing Text Appearance and Size

You can change text appearance and size using the Format > Font menu, the Fonts window, or the Inspector.

The Format > Font menu offers basic formatting commands like Bold, Italic, and Underline that control the font’s weight and style, as well as commands to make text bigger or smaller. Most commands in this menu have shortcut key equivalents and can be invoked from the keyboard.

The Fonts window offers more precise control over font family, typeface, and size selection. In addition, it offers controls for changing text color and adding underlining, strikethrough, and shadow.

To open the Fonts window, choose Format > Font > Show Fonts.

The typeface you select determines the font’s weight and style. For instance, selecting the Oblique typeface in the Helvetica family provides italicized Helvetica. Similarly, selecting the Bold Oblique typeface provides a Helvetica font that is both bold and italic.

The Inspector’s Format pane offers control over font family, typeface, size, and color selection.

To open the Format pane in the Inspector, choose View > Inspector > Format.

Note: In some parts of the user interface, text appearance and size are determined by the program and are controlled by the Appearance tab of the Preferences window. Examples include the summary field in story sheets, text in the Outline view, and text in index cards.

Changing Text Alignment and Spacing

You can change the text alignment and spacing by using the Format > Text menu, or by using the Inspector.

The Format > Text menu offers the frequently used alignment commands Align Left, Center, Align Right, and Justify, as well as commands for copying Ruler settings. Like the Format > Font menu, most commands have shortcuts and can be invoked from the keyboard.

To change text alignment using the Format menu:

  1. Click your cursor in the text that you want to format.
  2. From the main menu, choose Format > Text.
  3. Choose Align Left, Center, Justify, or Align Right.

To change text alignment using the Inspector:

  1. Open the Inspector.
  2. Select the Format pane.
  3. Select the Spacing section of the Format pane.
  4. Click the Align Left, Center, Align Right, or Justify segment of the Alignment button, as appropriate.

Editing Tab Stops

You can edit tab stops using the Ruler or the Inspector. To edit tab stops using the Ruler:

  1. Choose View > Show Rulers. The rulers appear, showing the indentation and tab stop settings for the current selection.
  2. To change existing tab stop locations, drag them to the desired position.
  3. To add additional tab stops, click the location where you want the tab stop to appear.

To edit tab stops using the Inspector:

  1. Open the Inspector.
  2. Select the Format pane.
  3. Select the Tabs section of the Format pane.

To change existing tab stops, double-click the desired stop, and enter a new value.

To add additional tab stops, click the Add button (+), double-click the new stop, and enter the desired value.

You can choose the type of the tab stop (left, center, right, or decimal) by selecting the corresponding value in the Alignment column.

You can also set a default tab interval. Tabs characters after the last tab specified in “Tab Stops” are placed at this default distance from the previous stop.

A value of zero causes tabs after the last tab specified in “Tab Stops” to move to the next line.

Note: By default, Storyist uses the first-line indent formatting property to indent paragraphs automatically and uses the Tab key to change styles. If you would like to use the Tab key to indent paragraphs manually:

  1. Edit the appropriate body text style and set the first-line indent field to zero.
  2. Add the appropriate tab stop to your styles, as described above.
  3. Open the Preferences window.
  4. Select the Text Editing pane.
  5. Deselect the “Enable Tab key shortcuts” checkbox.

Setting Page Margins

The Margins section of the Format pane of the Inspector allows you to set page margins and specify that page margins be mirrored (used when laying out facing pages of a book to be printed).

To set page margins:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Margins section in the Format pane.
  2. Make the desired top, bottom, left, and right margin changes. You can choose View > Show Page Guides to see where the margins are located.

Note: You can enter margin values in inches, centimeters, points, or picas, using the abbreviations “in,” “cm,” “pt,” or “pc.”

When you specify Mirror Pages, Storyist lays out the pages so that the first (odd) page is on the right, as it is in a bound book. To specify mirrored pages:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Margins section in the Format pane.
  2. Select the Mirror Pages checkbox.

Editing Headers and Footers

Editing a header or footer is as simple as placing the cursor in the header or footer area and typing your text.

To edit the text of a header or footer:

  1. Click in the header or footer you want to edit. You can choose View > Show Page Guides to see where the header and footer areas are located.
  2. Type your desired text.

All standard formatting features—including styles—are available in headers and footers.

To insert page numbers in your headers or footers:

  1. Place the insertion point at the location where you want to insert a page number.
  2. Choose Edit > Insert > Page Number

Note: If you type a number in the header instead of inserting an auto-incrementing page number field , that number will appear in the header or footer on all pages.

You can change the location of the headers and footers from the Headers & Footers section of the Format pane of the Inspector.

To specify that adjacent pages have different headers or footers:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Format pane.
  2. Locate the Headers & Footers section.
  3. Select the “Left and right headers are different” checkbox or the “Left and right footers are different” checkbox, as appropriate.

To adjust header or footer spacing:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Format pane.
  2. Locate the Headers & Footers section.
  3. Make the desired header and footer spacing changes. You can use the Show Page Guides command in the View menu to see where the margins are located.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Once you become comfortable with the menu commands, you might want to use keyboard shortcuts for some commands instead. To see the full list of keyboard shortcuts, choose Help > Storyist Help, and click the Keyboard Shortcuts link.

Creating and Applying Styles

A style is a named collection of character and text formatting settings. Each Storyist template provides a group of styles, called a style sheet, which can be used to format your document quickly and consistently.

Note: Storyist provides support for paragraph styles; that is, styles that apply to an entire paragraph.

Changing the Style of Selected Text

There are several ways to change the text style. First, select the text you want to change. Then, do one of the following:

  1. Open the Format pane of the Inspector and select the style you want to apply from the list of styles.
  2. From the main menu, choose Format > Style > Apply Style and choose the style you want to apply.
  3. Control-click or right-click the selected text, choose Style > Apply Style from the pop-up menu, and select the style you want to apply.

Creating a Style

There are two ways to create a new style. To use the first method:

  1. Select some text containing the style you want to base your new style on.
  2. Open the Inspector and select the Format pane.
  3. Click the Action (ellipses) button of the selected style. A menu appears.
  4. Choose Create New Style From Selection. A dialog box appears.
  5. Type the name for the new style and optionally click “Apply this new style on creation” to apply the style to the selected text.
  6. Click OK.

To use the second method:

  1. Select the text containing the style you want to base your new style on.
  2. From the main menu, choose Format > Style > Create New Style From Selection and follow steps 5 and 6 above.

Deleting a Style

There are two ways to delete a style. To use the first method:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Format pane.
  2. Click the Action (ellipses) button of the style you want to delete. A menu appears.
  3. Choose Delete Style.
  4. If the style you have chosen is used in the document, a dialog appears, asking you to choose a replacement style to apply to the affected text.

To use the second method for deleting a style:

  1. From the main menu, choose Format > Style > Delete Style > \<style name>. If the style you have chosen is used in the document, a dialog appears, asking you to choose a replacement style to apply to the affected text.

Renaming a Style

To rename a style:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Format pane.
  2. Click the Action (ellipses) button of the style you want to rename. A pull-down menu appears.
  3. Choose Edit Style. A dialog box appears.
  4. Type the new name in the Style Name field.
  5. Click OK.

Modifying Styles

To modify a style:

  1. Open the Inspector and select the Format pane.
  2. Click the Action (ellipses) button of the style you want to edit. A menu appears.
  3. Choose Edit Style.

A dialog appears, allowing you to edit the following properties: Style, Font, Spacing, Tabs, and Pagination.

Style Properties

Style Name—The name of the style.

Based on—The parent style of the style. Styles inherit the formatting properties of their parents.

Next Style—The style applied to a paragraph that is created when you press the Return key at the end of a paragraph.

Outline Level—The outline or heading level for the style. This value controls the outline level in the project view and in the outline view.

Tab Style—The style that is applied when you press the Tab key at the start of an empty paragraph.

Font Properties

Family—The name of a collection of related fonts. Examples of family names include Courier, Times New Roman, and Arial.

Typeface—The name of a specific font, which, together with the family name, specifies a font. Example typefaces include Regular, Bold, and Oblique.

Size—The point size of the font.

Color—The text or foreground color of the font.

Underline—The underlining setting for the font. Available values are None, Single, and Double.

Transform—The text transform for the text with this style. Available values are:

  • None—Text displays as it is typed.
  • All Caps—Text displays using capital letters. For example, “Chapter 1” is displayed as “CHAPTER 1.”
  • All Lowercase—Text displays using lowercase letters. For example, “Chapter 1” is displayed as “chapter 1.”
  • Capitalized Words—Text displays words with initial capitalization. For example, “book the first” is displayed as “Book The First.”

Spacing Properties

The spacing properties define the alignment, indentation, and space between paragraphs.

Text Alignment—Controls whether paragraph text is displayed left-aligned, centered, right-aligned, or justified.

Left Indent—Sets the text indentation of all lines of a paragraph except the first line.

Right Indent—Sets the text indentation from the right margin. Note that positive values indicate offsets from the left margin, while negative values indicate offsets from the right margin.

First Line Indent—Sets the text indentation of the first line of a paragraph from the left margin.

Before Paragraph—Sets the space before the paragraph.

After Paragraph—Sets the space after the paragraph.

Line Spacing—Controls the amount of space between lines in a paragraph. Available values are:

  • Single—Lines are single-spaced.
  • 1.5 Lines—Lines are spaced by one and a half times the single-spaced values.
  • Double—Lines are double-spaced; that is, the spacing is twice the value of the single-spaced text.
  • At Least—Lines are spaced by at least the amount indicated in the field that follows the pop-up menu. If the height of one or more characters in a line exceeds this minimum value, the space between the lines increases to accommodate the tallest character.
  • Exactly—Lines are spaced by exactly the amount indicated in the field that follows the pop-up menu. If the height of one or more characters in a line exceeds this minimum value, the following line may overwrite portions of the character.
  • Multiple—Lines are spaced by a multiple of the amount indicated in the field that follows the pop-up menu. For example, setting the pop-up menu to this value and entering 2.5 in the following field causes the lines to be spaced by two and a half times the amount of single-spaced text.

Note: The spacing values display in the default measurement units for your Mac. You can change the default measurement units from the System Preferences window.

Tab Properties

Default—Sets the default tab interval. Tabs after the last tab specified in “Tab Stops” are placed this distance from the previous tab.

Note—A value of zero causes tabs after the last tab specified in “Tab Stops” to move to the next line.

Stops—Defines the position and type of tab stops. Tab types are:

  • Left—Specifies a left-aligned tab stop.
  • Center—Specifies a center-aligned tab stop.
  • Right—Specifies a right-aligned tab stop.
  • Decimal—Specifies a tab stop aligned on a decimal point.

Pagination Properties

The pagination properties define how text is laid out on the page.

Paginate As—Specifies the “pagination mode” of the style. Values other than Normal are used only in screenplay formatting and override the other pagination options.

Paragraph starts on a new page—A page break occurs before paragraphs having this style.

Keep with next paragraph—A paragraph displays on the same page as the paragraph that follows it. This option is useful for headings.

Avoid widow and orphan lines—Paragraphs with a single line at the top of a page (a widow) or the bottom of a page (an orphan) move to the next page.

Importing Styles from Another Document

Storyist can import styles from other Storyist documents or from RTF files that include styles.

To import styles from another document:

  1. Choose Format > Style > Import Styles. An Open dialog appears.
  2. Select the file containing the styles you want to import and click Open. A list of styles available in the selected file appears.
  3. Select the styles you want to import.
  4. If you want to overwrite styles in your project with styles of the same name in the import file, check “Replace duplicate styles.” If you don’t check this option, styles with the same name are imported with a unique name.

Note that while many RTF files contain styles, some (those created by TextEdit, for example) do not.

You can link from your Storyist project to locations on the web so you can have quick access to external information. You can also create links within your project to connect internal elements.

To create an internal link:

  1. Place the insertion point at the location in the text where you want to insert a link.
  2. From the main menu, choose Edit > Insert > Link. A dialog box appears.
  3. From the Link To pull-down menu at the top of the box, choose Story Element. The Title box appears.
  4. Select the element you want to link to.
  5. If you want Storyist to update the link text when the element title changes, select “Keep display value in sync with title” checkbox. If you want to provide link text different from the element title, deselect the option and enter your link text in the Display field.
  6. Click Insert. The selected text turns blue with an underline, indicating that the link has been created.

To create an external link (to a Web page):

  1. Place the insertion point at the location in the text where you want to insert a link.
  2. Choose Insert > Link from the Edit menu. The Link To pop-up menu appears.
  3. Choose Web Page.
  4. Enter the Web page URL and the link text you want to display.
  5. Click the Insert button.

You can also create a link from the keyboard using a simplified Wiki link syntax:

  1. Place the insertion point at the location in your text where you want the link to appear.
  2. Type two open brackets (“[[“). Type the title or name of the story element you want to link to (or the URL of the Web page).
  3. If you want the link text to be something other than the title or URL, type a “|” character followed by the link text.
  4. Type two close brackets (“]]”). The brackets and title are replaced with your link.

To edit a link using the menu:

  1. Select the text of the link you want to edit.
  2. Choose Insert > Link from the Edit menu. A dialog appears.
  3. Edit the link information as described in “Creating an Internal Link” or “Creating an External Link,” as appropriate.
  4. Click Insert. The new link text appears on your screen.

To edit a link using the context menu:

  1. Control-click the link you want to edit. A context menu appears.
  2. Choose Edit Link. A dialog box appears.
  3. Enter the new link information.
  4. Click Insert. The edited link appears in the text.

To edit the title of a link using the keyboard:

  1. Insert your cursor either directly before or directly after the link you want to edit.
  2. Use the arrow keys to move into the title of the link. Notice that a blue focus ring appears around the link and that the underline is gone.
  3. Type the new link title.

To remove a link (without deleting the underlying text):

  1. Control-click the link you want to remove.
  2. From the Shortcut menu, choose Remove Link.

Adding Elements to the Outline

You can add new elements (chapters, sections, or scenes) to your text at any time. These new additions automatically generate new index cards in the storyboard and new entries in the outline.

To add an outline element to the text:

  1. Place the insertion point at the point where you want to insert a new element.
  2. Press the Return key.
  3. Apply the style that corresponds to the element you want to add (for example, Chapter Title or Scene Heading).

See the section titled “Creating and Applying Styles” for more information on styles.

Adding and Displaying Comments

As you are writing, you might want to make notes (comments) for later revision.

To add a comment to a text location:

  1. Place the cursor before or after the text you want to comment on.
  2. Choose Edit > Insert > Comment.
  3. A comment window (a small window resembling a sticky note) appears. Type your comment into the window.

To close the comment window, press the Escape (esc) key or click in an area outside the comment window.

A comment icon appears to indicate that a comment is attached to the current location.

To edit the comment, click the comment icon. The comment window appears, allowing you to modify the comment text.

Bookmarking Frequently Viewed Text Locations

If you frequently access the same location in your file (for example, a scene that needs revising), you can bookmark it so that you can get back to it quickly in the future.

To create a bookmark:

  1. Place the cursor in the text at the location you want to create a bookmark.
  2. Choose Edit > Insert > Bookmark.
  3. A newly created bookmark appears in the Project view. Type a label to identify the bookmark.

To return to a bookmarked location:

  1. Expand the Bookmark folder in the Project view.
  2. Click the bookmark item representing the desired location.

The bookmarked location is displayed in the Main view.