THE HEADER

The Header contains text that will appear at the top margin of each page of the script.

Although the header is discussed in detail later in this manual, we will step through creating a simple header for the purposes of this tutorial.  We wish to place, at the top of every page, the current  page number along with the name of our script.

• Select the Open Header command from the Document menu.

The Header window will appear on your screen and become the active window:

The Header window operates in the same way as the main screenplay window we have been using.  

The text in the Header window, by default, is right justified by Final Draft when a new script is created.  Additionally, the page number is automatically added to the header of each new script.  Although this text may be deleted or changed, we will start with the default for the purposes of this tutorial.

The blinking caret is just to the left of the letters "PG#".  Let us enter the name of our script.

• Type "My First Script - ".

As the text is entered, it moves the previously entered text to the left.  This is because the header window is preset to be right-justified for new scripts.

When you have entered the text, your Header window will appear as follows:

Page Numbers and Dates:

Although the default header automatically enters the page number for you, we will introduce three special key combinations at this time which are frequently used in headers and footers.  They are:

Option-D:
Today's Date
Option-P:
The Page Number
Option-S:
The Scene Number

Note : Option-P is represented in the header by the letters "PG#".  When the script is printed (or viewed in Page View), the actual page number for the page in question is substituted by Final Draft.  Option-D will always display and print the current calendar date.  Option-S is represented in the Header window by the letters "SCN#".

• Click the mouse in the close box at the top-left corner of the Header window or choose the Close Header command from the Document menu to close the header window and return to the main screenplay window.

When the Script Window is redrawn, you will notice that the header that you just typed in is not there at the top of the page.  

This is not a mistake.  In most screenplays, page numbering usually beings with page 2, not page 1.  However, for this tutorial, we will explicitly instruct Final Draft to display the header on every page.

• Select the Page Layout command from the Format menu.

The Page Layout Box is displayed:

• Click the mouse in the Header on First Page check box to turn it on.

• Click the mouse in the OK button to return to the Script window.

Final Draft will immediately redraw the Script window, which should look like this:

   
 
If our sample script was longer than one page, we could scroll down (using the scroll bar at the right edge of the Script window) and see a gray line separating page one and two, as well as the top of page two and so on.