# Import a Final Draft file

> Bring an .fdx or Fountain file into Plot with scene headings, characters, and dialogue intact, and read the import report before you write.

[Try it in Plot](https://app.inkwell.software/projects)

Plot reads Final Draft (`.fdx`) and Fountain (`.fountain`, `.txt`) files directly. Scene headings, action, character cues, dialogue, parentheticals, and transitions arrive as the same screenplay elements you would type by hand, so the script is editable the moment it opens.

Starting with a Word treatment or idea document instead? [Import the .docx as editable prose](https://www.inkwell.software/help/document-evolution/import-a-word-document), then develop its scenes in Plot.

![The Import / Export menu in the toolbar. Import takes a Fountain or Final Draft file (1); the export formats sit below it, PDF (2) and Final Draft (3) among them.](https://www.inkwell.software/help/import-export-menu.light.webp)

_The Import / Export menu in the toolbar. Import takes a Fountain or Final Draft file (1); the export formats sit below it, PDF (2) and Final Draft (3) among them._

1. **Open the Import menu**

   From an open project, choose **Import / Export** in the toolbar, then **Fountain or Final Draft** under Import. To bring a file into a brand-new project instead, choose **Import** beside **New project** on the projects page.

2. **Pick the file**

   Choose your `.fdx` or Fountain file. A feature-length script is well within the size limit.

3. **Confirm the replacement**

   Importing into an existing project replaces that project's current text. Plot asks before it does. If the project already has writing you want to keep, make a save point first — [Make a save point](https://www.inkwell.software/help/getting-started/make-a-save-point) — so you can restore it.

4. **Read the import report**

   If any line could not be mapped to a screenplay element, it arrives as action and the report lists it, so you can fix the few that need it rather than proofreading the whole script. [Import warnings](https://www.inkwell.software/help/troubleshooting/import-warnings) explains each kind of note.

_The import report — every line that arrived as action, with a jump to each._

> **Note: What does not carry over**
>
> Locked pages, revision generations, and Final Draft's production state stay in Final Draft — the text and its structure move; the office's page-locking history does not. The element-by-element account is on the [format interoperability page](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/interop).

## What next

- [Import a Word document into Plot](https://www.inkwell.software/help/document-evolution/import-a-word-document): Bring a .docx treatment, outline, or idea document into a new Plot project, review the formatting changes, and begin with editable prose.
- [The import report shows warnings](https://www.inkwell.software/help/troubleshooting/import-warnings): What each line in an FDX or Fountain import report means, why the line arrived as action, and the quickest fix for each case.
- [Export PDF, FDX, and Fountain](https://www.inkwell.software/help/writing/export-pdf-fdx-fountain): Produce an industry-formatted PDF, a Final Draft file for the office, or a plain Fountain file, from the draft line and save point you choose.
- [Make a save point](https://www.inkwell.software/help/getting-started/make-a-save-point): Name the moment your draft is in so you can compare against it later or bring it back, in one shortcut from the page.
- [Read the full walkthrough](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/guides/import-fdx)

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Canonical page: <https://www.inkwell.software/help/getting-started/import-a-final-draft-file>