Manuscript Editor
The manuscript editor is where your actual writing happens. It’s a full rich-text editor designed for long-form prose, with everything from basic formatting to footnotes, scene breaks, and math.
Basic formatting
Section titled “Basic formatting”Select text and use the floating toolbar that appears, the fixed toolbar at the top, or keyboard shortcuts:
- Bold, italic, underline,
strikethrough, superscript, subscript - Font family, font size, text color, and background highlight color
- Alignment: left, center, right, justify
- Indent, line height, and letter spacing
Block types
Section titled “Block types”Beyond plain paragraphs, the editor supports:
- Headings (H1–H4) — these also define your chapter/scene structure for export
- Blockquotes, with optional color tinting
- Lists — bulleted, numbered, and to-do/checklists
- Tables with per-cell formatting
- Code blocks with syntax highlighting
- Horizontal rules with configurable width and height
- Dinkus — scene break markers (
* * *, or a custom image of your choice) - Callouts — highlighted boxes with an icon and color
- Full-page images — images placed on their own page within the manuscript
- Footnotes with rich content
- Math equations — both block and inline
Inserting blocks with slash commands
Section titled “Inserting blocks with slash commands”Type / anywhere to open the insert menu, then start typing to filter — /table, /callout, /dinkus, and so on. Press Enter to insert.
Markdown shortcuts
Section titled “Markdown shortcuts”If you’re used to Markdown, keep typing the way you already do:
| Type… | To get… |
|---|---|
# + space |
Heading 1 (## for H2, etc.) |
> + space |
Blockquote |
- or * + space |
Bulleted list |
1. + space |
Numbered list |
**text** |
Bold |
*text* |
Italic |
Working with blocks
Section titled “Working with blocks”- Drag handle — hover over a block’s left edge to grab it and reorder blocks by dragging.
- Block selection — select multiple blocks at once for bulk operations.
- Re-apply style — the drag-handle menu lets you reset a block to your project’s block style.
Images
Section titled “Images”Insert images directly into your manuscript. Once placed you can:
- Resize with the drag handles
- Align left, center, or right
- Set text wrap mode
Find and replace
Section titled “Find and replace”Press Cmd+F (Ctrl+F on Windows/Linux) to open find & replace within the current manuscript.
Other tools
Section titled “Other tools”- Table of contents — a sidebar listing the headings of the open manuscript; click to jump.
- Emoji picker — type
:followed by a name (e.g.:smile). - Clear formatting — strip all manual formatting from the selection.
- Paste cleanup — content pasted from the web or other apps is automatically sanitized so it doesn’t break your formatting.
Word counts
Section titled “Word counts”Live word and character counts are always visible in the toolbar. The count for a chapter includes all its nested scenes. Counts include your prose (paragraphs, headings, quotes, lists, tables) and exclude footnotes, images, and code blocks. These counts feed your writing goals.
Your work is saved automatically
Section titled “Your work is saved automatically”There is no Save button — changes are saved continuously as you type. On top of that, Scriptorium takes an automatic daily snapshot of each manuscript you edit, so you can always roll back.