# Locked pages, A-pages, and revision colors > How locked pagination, WGA revision colors, A-pages, save points, and export formats keep a production screenplay in sync. The Inkwell Team · Jul 1, 2026 · Updated Aug 19, 2026 Production, WGA, Workflow Production workflows are where disconnected files become expensive. A coordinator needs to know exactly which draft was issued, which revision color is current, and what everyone means when they call for page 42. Camera, wardrobe, locations, cast, and the assistant directors all build plans around the same references. If a rewrite silently renumbers the script, one creative change turns into an operational problem. That is why a production screenplay needs a stable baseline, visible revision history, and exports that do not sever the decisions behind them. Plot keeps those pieces attached to the structured screenplay and its save-point history. ## What locking a screenplay actually means Locking is about pagination, not passwords or creative finality. Before production, adding a paragraph on page 12 can push every later page forward. That is useful while a draft is fluid. Once departments are scheduling scenes and preparing pages, it is destructive: every downstream reference changes even though most of the screenplay did not. The production baseline freezes the page and scene references the room has already distributed. Later material fits around that baseline: - Existing pages retain their established numbers. - Inserted material becomes an A-page, such as 42A or 42B, instead of turning the old page 43 into page 44. - Removed material leaves an omitted-scene marker where continuity matters, rather than making the missing number look accidental. - Revision marks and color sets identify what changed in the current issue. [Final Draft's explanation of locked pages](https://kb.finaldraft.com/hc/en-us/articles/15575262637204-What-are-locked-pages) describes the same need: changes should not alter every following page number. Its [locking-tools guide](https://kb.finaldraft.com/hc/en-us/articles/27817054455828-How-do-I-lock-or-unlock-script-pages-and-use-the-locking-tools) shows why A-pages can themselves be locked through successive issues. In Plot, the production baseline, A-pages, omitted scenes, breakdown data, revision rounds, and frozen A-page labels in exported production PDFs live on the same structured draft. The connected production workflow does not become a separate document model at handoff. ## From White pages through the color sequence The locked production draft begins as White. Each issued revision then advances through the WGA and industry color sequence shown below, and when that sequence is exhausted it repeats with an ordinal prefix, as the caption below records. Plot derives this order from the same revision ledger used by the product rather than maintaining separate hand-written lists across the site — including on this page; the [revision colors glossary entry](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/revision-colours) explains the terms in more detail. _The production sequence, in order: White, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Goldenrod, Buff, Salmon, Cherry, Tan. After Tan the sequence repeats: Second Blue, Second Pink, and so on._ Color is not decoration. It is a compact answer to two questions: 1. Which generation of pages is this? 2. Which pages changed in that generation? Imagine the White draft is locked after a table read. A director's pass changes three scenes and goes out as Blue. Producer notes add half a page after page 42, creating 42A in the locked-pagination model, and the new issue becomes Pink. A location change then removes scene 57 and updates a breakdown report for Yellow. The useful history is not a folder containing `FINAL_BLUE_v4.pdf` and `FINAL_PINK_REAL.pdf`. It is a sequence of named moments tied to the screenplay state that produced each delivery. [Final Draft's revision-mode documentation](https://kb.finaldraft.com/hc/en-us/articles/27813588722708-How-do-I-use-Revision-Mode) describes the familiar marks, page colors, and active revision sets production teams expect. Plot uses those shared conventions while keeping each round connected to save points and structured screenplay data. ## Why save points matter after lock A save point gives a production issue a durable name: `White lock`, `Blue — director pass`, `Pink — producer notes`. It also gives the room a baseline for reviewing semantic changes at the scene and dialogue level. The writer can answer “what changed?” without comparing two rendered PDFs character by character. That history is useful beyond convenience. The [WGA Screen Credits Manual](https://www.wga.org/contracts/credits/manuals/screen-credits-manual) tells writers to keep dated and properly labeled copies of literary material and written suggestions submitted to the company. Save points, collaboration activity, notes, and matching export files can help substantiate who contributed what and when. Keep them with the actual literary material and delivery correspondence: the strongest record is the written work plus the context showing when and how it was delivered. The [WGA Screenwriters Handbook](https://www.wga.org/members/employment-resources/screenwriters-handbook) is the better starting point for rights and responsibilities once a feature moves into production. Plot's job is to make the underlying records navigable, not to turn a product event into a Guild filing. ## PDF, FDX, and Fountain serve different handoffs Plot supports all three paths without pretending they are interchangeable: - **PDF** is the reading and distribution copy. Plot exports a WGA-compliant screenplay format with the familiar element placement, margins, spacing, title page, and pagination. The [Academy's screenplay formatting guide](https://www.oscars.org/nicholl/screenwriting-resources) is a useful public reference for the professional page shape and the distinction between a submission script and a shooting script. - **FDX** is the structured Final Draft interchange. Plot imports and exports FDX, so a draft can move both ways when a coordinator, studio, or another production tool requires it. - **Fountain** is the portable plain-text source. It remains readable outside a proprietary application and preserves the screenplay as text-first structure. The format should match the recipient's job. A reader may want a clean PDF without production apparatus; a coordinator may want FDX; an archive may need the issued PDF and Fountain source. Attaching each to a named save point makes the handoff repeatable. ## Preflight the exact file that leaves the building Production state and submission state are not always the same. A blind read may require an anonymous title page and no production apparatus; an office may require scene numbers and revision information. Plot's preflight checks printable structure, title-page details, blank elements, and production-only apparatus before export. The title-page controls separate saved document details from the visible delivery. You can keep author and contact information in the draft while omitting it from an anonymous copy. PDF file-property controls cover the less obvious metadata that can identify a writer even when the visible page is clean. That avoids destructive edits made solely to create one delivery variant. For format questions, see [WGA-compliant screenplay formatting](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/wga-formatting). “WGA-compliant” here describes page-format conformance; it does not imply that the Guild certifies a PDF or software product. ## A practical production handoff checklist Before issuing a revision: 1. Confirm the active production baseline and revision color. 2. Name a save point for the issue before generating files. 3. Review the semantic changes against the previous issued save point. 4. Confirm scene numbers, omitted scenes, breakdown data, and any inserted A-pages. 5. Run submission preflight and choose the correct title-page, metadata, and production-apparatus settings. 6. Export the recipient's required format: WGA-compliant PDF, two-way FDX, Fountain, or a combination. 7. Keep the exact delivered file with the save point and delivery correspondence. The result is one path from White lock through colored revisions and production handoff. The PDF or FDX that leaves the building is still an artifact, but it no longer has to become the only surviving explanation of how the screenplay got there. --- Canonical page: