Supported Import Formats
Inkwell supports three import formats:| Format | Extension | Import Quality | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fountain | .fountain | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | Perfect fidelity, all metadata preserved |
| Final Draft | .fdx | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | Full format support including revisions |
.pdf | ⭐⭐⭐ Good | Best-effort inference, may need cleanup |
Import Fountain Files
Fountain is a plain-text screenplay format that imports perfectly into Inkwell.1
Open Import
Go to File → Import → Fountain or press
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+O2
Select file
Choose your
.fountain file from the file picker3
Review imported script
Your script opens in Inkwell with all formatting preserved
What imports from Fountain
✅ Fully supported:- All screenplay elements (scenes, action, dialogue, etc.)
- Title page metadata (title, author, contact, etc.)
- Formatting (bold, italic, underline)
- Sections and synopses
- Inline notes
- Scene numbers (if present)
- Revision marks (Fountain doesn’t support revisions natively)
- Version history (starts fresh in Inkwell)
Import Final Draft Files
Final Draft (FDX) files import with full fidelity, including advanced features.1
Open Import
Go to File → Import → Final Draft or use the Import menu
2
Select FDX file
Choose your
.fdx file3
Review imported script
Your script opens with formatting and metadata intact
What imports from Final Draft
✅ Fully supported:- All screenplay elements
- Title page metadata
- Revision marks with colors (Blue, Pink, Yellow, etc.)
- Formatting (bold, italic, underline)
- Scene numbers
- Dual dialogue
- Page breaks (Inkwell recalculates for accuracy)
- Outline elements → Sections (
#syntax) - FDX notes → Inline notes (
[[ ]]syntax)
- Final Draft-specific features (Omit, A-pages)
- Version history (starts fresh in Inkwell)
- Custom fonts or page margins (Inkwell uses industry standard Courier Prime)
Revision marks import with their colors intact. You can continue tracking revisions in the same color sequence.
Import PDF Files
PDF import uses text recognition to recreate your screenplay from a PDF document. Quality depends on how the PDF was created.1
Open Import
Go to File → Import → PDF
2
Select PDF file
Choose your
.pdf file3
Wait for processing
PDF import takes longer than other formats (5-30 seconds depending on script length)
4
Review and clean up
Check the imported script carefully. You may need to fix element detection or formatting.
PDF Import Quality
Best results (⭐⭐⭐⭐):- PDFs exported from screenwriting software
- Text-based PDFs (not scanned images)
- Standard Courier font
- Clean, properly formatted scripts
- PDFs with non-standard fonts
- Hand-formatted scripts
- PDFs with headers/footers/watermarks
- Scanned PDFs (images, not text)
- Multi-column layouts
- Heavily annotated PDFs
What imports from PDF
✅ Usually correct:- Scene headings
- Character names
- Dialogue
- Action/description
- Page breaks (approximate)
- Element type detection (dialogue vs. action)
- Character name consistency (formatting variations)
- Parentheticals and transitions
- Special formatting (bold, italic, underline)
- Revision marks
- Title page metadata (you’ll need to re-enter in Script Info)
- Inline notes
- Sections or synopses
Post-Import Steps
After importing, follow these steps to ensure your script is production-ready:1
Check Script Info
Go to Project Panel → Script Info and fill in:
- Title
- Author
- Contact information
- Draft date
2
Review formatting
Scroll through your script and check:
- Scene headings are properly detected
- Character names are consistent and in ALL CAPS
- Dialogue is correctly formatted
- Transitions and parentheticals are in the right places
3
Add characters (if needed)
Go to Project Panel → Characters tab. Inkwell auto-detects character names, but you may want to:
- Add character bios
- Set character colors for tracking
- Fix any name inconsistencies
4
Save as .ink file
Press
Cmd/Ctrl+S to save. Choose a location and filename.Your script is now in Inkwell’s native format with version history tracking.Common Import Issues
Characters detected as action
Characters detected as action
Cause: Character names weren’t in ALL CAPS or had inconsistent formatting.Fix: Retype the character name in ALL CAPS on its own line. The dialogue below will auto-format correctly.
Action detected as dialogue
Action detected as dialogue
Cause: Action paragraphs were indented or formatted unusually.Fix: Highlight the misidentified text, then press Enter twice to convert it back to action. Ensure it starts at the left margin.
Scene headings not detected
Scene headings not detected
Cause: Scene headings didn’t start with
INT., EXT., or I/E.Fix: Force a scene heading by adding a period (.) at the start of the line. Example: .FLASHBACK - 1985PDF import is very slow
PDF import is very slow
Large PDFs (100+ pages) take 30-60 seconds to import. This is normal—PDF text extraction and element inference is computationally intensive.
Title page didn't import
Title page didn't import
Title pages rarely import from PDFs or Fountain. Re-enter your script info in Project Panel → Script Info after importing.
Revision marks missing after FDX import
Revision marks missing after FDX import
Check that your FDX file actually had revision marks. If it did and they’re not showing, ensure you didn’t have revisions mode disabled. Go to Screenplay → Revision Color to confirm revisions are active.
Best Practices
Before Importing
- Clean up the source: If possible, remove headers, footers, and watermarks from PDFs before importing
- Use the best format: Prefer Fountain or FDX over PDF when available
- Backup the original: Keep a copy of your original file in case you need to re-import
After Importing
- Do a full read-through: Check formatting on every page
- Fix inconsistencies early: Correct character names and element types before writing new content
- Set up Script Info: Fill in title page metadata immediately
- Save regularly: Press
Cmd/Ctrl+Sto create your first save point