Import and export
Bring a script in from Fountain, Final Draft, PDF or plain text, and download a screenplay as Fountain, Final Draft or PDF.
Morphic reads and writes the common screenplay formats, so a script moves between Morphic and other screenplay apps with its formatting intact. New to these formats? See Key terms.
| Format | File | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Fountain | .fountain, .spmd | Plain text any editor can open |
| Final Draft | .fdx | Exchanging scripts with film and TV productions |
| Reading, printing and sending a draft |
Import a script
- Open a file. You land on the Canvas
- Click '+' in the toolbar at the top left, then 'Upload screenplay'
- Pick a .fountain, .spmd, .fdx, .pdf or .txt file. It opens full screen once imported
- Dropping a .fountain, .spmd or .fdx file on the Canvas also imports it. A dropped PDF or .txt becomes a note or an asset, so use 'Upload screenplay' for those
- One import runs at a time
- Size limit: 8 MB on the Free plan, 100 MB on every other plan
- PDFs: up to 300 pages, no password, and real text (a scan of page images has none). Page numbers, CONTINUED lines and revision marks are removed; margin scene numbers are kept
What is kept and what is not
| Kept | Left out or changed |
|---|---|
| The title page | Notes, sections, synopses, page breaks and hidden text are left out; a message says how many |
| Every line type, including shots | Centred text becomes action |
| Scene numbers | Side-by-side dialogue becomes two speeches in a row |
| Bold, italic and underline |
Export a screenplay
- Open the screenplay
- Click the download button in the toolbar, or '...' at the top right. On the Canvas, right-click the card
- Choose Fountain, Final Draft or PDF
- The file is named after the screenplay
- A title page is included only if the script was imported with one; the editor can't create one
- PDF: US Letter, 12 point Courier, scene numbers in both margins, (MORE) and (CONT'D) at page breaks
- Fountain has no shot type, so shots are saved as action
Troubleshooting
Script will not import
| Message includes | Fix |
|---|---|
| "isn't a Fountain, Final Draft or PDF screenplay" | Save the script as PDF or Fountain (for example from Word), then upload it |
| "is too large to import as a screenplay" | The file is over your plan's size limit |
| "has more than 300 pages" | Split the PDF, or export Fountain or Final Draft from the app it came from |
| "is password-protected" | Remove the password and upload again |
| "No screenplay content found" | The file has no readable text, usually a scanned PDF |
Characters show as '?' in the PDF
The PDF font can't print some characters, such as some accents, symbols and non-Latin scripts. Morphic lists them. Download as Fountain or Final Draft to keep them.
Title page does not fit in the PDF
"The title page doesn't fit on one PDF page" means it is too long. Download as Fountain or Final Draft to keep all of it.
That's how you import and export screenplays on Morphic. Bring in the draft you have, and send it out in the format your production uses.
If you have any trouble or have any questions, feel free to reach out. We're happy to help. Write to us at support@morphic.com.