Manual 2.0
RoughDraft is a freeware word processor. Although suitable for general
use, it has features specifically designed for writers of novels, short stories,
articles, plays and screenplays. It's designed to be as practical as possible,
offering all the features you need, but without being complicated or awkward
to use.
Some of RoughDraft's highlights are:
- Comprehensive text and paragraph formatting options.
- Importing of files in Word 6.0, Word 97 and HTML formats.
- Side panel - making common operations quicker and more convenient.
- Up to 100 files open at the same time.
- Spellchecking (in British or American English) of the whole text or of individual
words, plus a custom dictionary so you can add your own words.
- Dictionary and thesaurus facility (provided by Anthony Lewis' WordWeb
program, which has to be installed separately - it's not required to run RoughDraft,
but strongly recommended).
- Automatic insertion of user-defined words - for character names or commonly
used words.
- Four extra clipboards for inserting longer phrases or paragraphs.
- Special modes for screenplay writers and playwrights which make formatting
easy.
- Instant backup to a floppy disk - a very convenient way to make sure you
don't lose your work.
- Saves files in the popular Rich Text Format (RTF), meaning they can be opened
in just about any other word processor.
- Can create HTML files of your work for publishing on the web.
- Can automatically generate cover pages for manuscript submissions with word
and page counts.
- Font styles for quicker formatting.
- Shortcut keys for just about everything.
- Comprehensive help system.
- It's free!
RoughDraft is not designed to compete with major commercial word processors.
If you need features such as tables, graphics, indexes, cross-references or
footnotes, you'll have to look elsewhere. If you want a no-nonsense writing
tool, RoughDraft might be just what you need.
I hope you enjoy using this program and that it helps you get your work to
print (or the web) with a minimum of fuss. And if you do get something published
with it, let me know!
Richard Salsbury
richard@rsalsbury.co.uk