Skip to content
Inkwell

Changes and markup

How Plot shows the difference between two versions: by scene and by line, on the page, with the same accept-or-reject reading whether a person or a skill made the change.

1 min readUpdated

When you compare two versions — two save points, a draft line against Main, or a skill's proposal against your draft — Plot shows the changes as markup on the page: removed text struck through, added text underlined, a moved scene shown as moved rather than as a deletion and an insertion.

Two save points compared in History: the changes between them as markup on the page, the bar (1) that steps through them, and the Changes tab (2) with the list. A comparison is for reading — the accept and reject controls belong to a review.
Two save points compared in History: the changes between them as markup on the page, the bar (1) that steps through them, and the Changes tab (2) with the list. A comparison is for reading — the accept and reject controls belong to a review.

Why it reads by scene, not by lineLink to this section

A screenplay is scenes, and a change is "the argument moved to the kitchen", not "line 214 changed". Because the document is structured, Plot compares scene against scene and element against element, so a reordered act shows as a reorder, and a rewritten speech shows as one change with the old and new text together.

Where you see markupLink to this section

  • Compare in the History tab, between any two save points or draft lines.
  • A finished skill, whose proposals are markup you accept or reject.
  • Incorporate, whose preview is the markup of everything that would land.
  • A take, compared side by side with its original.

Reading itLink to this section

⌃⇧N and ⌃⇧P step through changes in order. The outline marks which scenes carry any. In a comparison you are only reading; in a review you are deciding — the buttons appear when there is something to accept.

What next

  • Save points

    What a save point is, how it differs from autosave, and what the History tab lets you do with one: read it, compare it, restore it.

    Concept · 1 min read

  • Review a skill's changes

    Work through a finished pass change by change, keep what earns its place, reopen a review you left, and see what a pass changed in History.

    How-to · 1 min read

  • Incorporate changes from a draft line

    Preview what a draft line would change in the main draft, then bring the whole of it across in one action you can undo with a save point.

    How-to · 1 min read

Related requests

What writers have asked about this — open the request to follow it.

Was this helpful?

Still stuck?

Three ways forward — pick the one that matches what you need.

All articles in this section