.RTF export issues with other software like Final Draft

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macwrite
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.RTF export issues with other software like Final Draft

Post by macwrite »

I'm a screenwriter currently forced to use Final Draft which I actually find counter-productive. To make things easier for myself I write in NWE and now just upgraded to NWP. I save as an RTF file but when I import the file into Final Draft 7.x.x the formatting is gone. However, if I import the NWP RTF into NeoOffice Write it looks okay, and then I save as RTF from NeoOffice Write and import THAT into Final Draft the formatting is fine. Is there some way NeoOffice or OpenOffice saves RTF files differently than NWE or NWP? It's not a gigantic extra step to use NeoOffice but the thing I love about NWE and NWP is their simplicity - the program gets out of the way and lets me write! Final Draft is quite the opposite and that's why it's my last step. Any ideas?
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martin
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Post by martin »

I just gave Final Draft 7.1.3 a try and most formatting seems intact (font changes, style formatting, etc). Final Draft does seem to have issues with our rulers, but it didn't handle those rulers as saved by Word either.

What formatting are you having trouble with exactly?
macwrite
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NWP and Final Draft 7.1.3 formatting errors

Post by macwrite »

I've setup two styles, one for ACTION and one for DIALOGUE. Both of them use the ruler/margins adjustments and tabs. Other than that everything else is normal. I just saved an RTF from NWP and opened it in FD7.1.3.

For starters INT. and EXT. are gone, replaced by a bullet. Character names are not centered but on the left margin with their dialogue right next to them and not below. Many words at the beginning of action lines and dialogue are just gone. The only things NOT wrong are the page margins, 1" on top, bottom and right, 1.5" on left.

I did notice when I import an NWP RTF into FD7.1.3 it "translates" or imports or whatever rather quickly. When I import an RTF from NeoOffice Writer it takes longer and I can see the ruler and margins and tabs changing quickly on the top of the window. I haven't tried Word since I don't own it.
TommyW
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Post by TommyW »

Read this with interest.

FD is a necessary evil in my business and I'd love to get NWPro up as a decent replacement but I'd absolutely need clear translation between the two. I still need to be able to load what I create in NWPro up into FD and run the various reports etc that it provides and save in that format for other people to take on.

I'd also need to be able to take other peoples scripts, put out an RTF and load it up into NWPro.
spinningdoc
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text

Post by spinningdoc »

Have you tried using txt files for transferring to FD? In my experience it handles them better than rtfs.
macwrite
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Joined: 2007-09-20 18:16:48

Export as TXT works! Mostly...

Post by macwrite »

spinningdoc,

Thanks much, that never occured to me. I thought the benefit of RTF over TXT was the formatting so I never tried TXT. Right now I just did a quick Save As TXT and imported it into Final Draft 7.1.3 and it looks good except for 1 minor thing - apostrophes. Some show up correctly, quite a few show up as weird characters like tildes and stuff. However, as a quickie first look the formatting appears to be correct, the rulers appear to be correct and the tabs appear to be correct. I still don't like Final Draft, but now at least when I import NWP saved TXT files the headaches will be a lot smaller.

Thanks again.
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martin
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Post by martin »

I'm sorry to say that I think you'll have to contact the makers of Final Draft and ask them to improve their RTF import/export. I can't even get Final Draft to properly import rulers from RTF files the application itself has saved.
Right now I just did a quick Save As TXT and imported it into Final Draft 7.1.3 and it looks good except for 1 minor thing - apostrophes. Some show up correctly, quite a few show up as weird characters like tildes and stuff.
Final Draft does not appear to handle importing most extended characters like curly quotes. You can select all your text inside NWP and use the menu Edit > Convert > Smart Quotes to Plain Quotes to get better results. This again is a problem with Final Draft that I suggest you contact them about.
macwrite
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Final Draft improting RTF

Post by macwrite »

I just received an email survey last week from Final Draft stating they were working on Final Draft 8 and were looking for suggestions. I mentioned the RTF thing. I'd venture a guess they are fickle about import/export features to discourage competition, whether it be Movie Magic Screenwriter or even a word processor like Nisus Writer. No biggee. Using TXT instead of RTF to transfer documents gets me 90% of what I need. And since writing is re-writing anyway I'd be checking/polishing for a long time afterwards so I'd hopefully catch the few stray apostrophe errors.

But thanks to everyone, Nisus and public, for helping me with my issue. I do appreciate it.
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