This isn’t a problem, really, but it’s a bit strange. As I finish each chapter of my first draft, I select it, using the “select all” command, and then copy it and paste it into Microsoft word so that I can send it to my readers. All this works just fine - but, ordinarily, in other programs, you can then deselect the selected text by clicking again in the file you’ve selected. I can’t seem to deselect text in Scrivener. As I say, this isn’t really a problem - only a minor nuisance, if anything - but I would like to know what to do about it.
And yes, I do mean that I can quit the program, open it the next day, and still find the text I’d selected greyed out. It’s all there, and all perfectly readable, and it will get deselected when I select another chapter for copying into Word. But it seems that, once you’ve selected text, some text or other has to stay selected. I’'d like to know how to deselect text without selecting . If that makes sense?
If It doesn’t, I will try to be clearer. I dont think this happened in earlier versions of Scriv, btw.
(How I cause this problem for myself: I finish a chapter, which is a file within a project file - corresponding to a single index card in the corkboard. I click within this file as if I were going to keep typing, and then go up to edit and choose “select all”. The text gets blued out, as it should. I can then choose “copy” from the edit menu, so I do. I then open Word, open and name a new file, and paste the chapter into it. Then I save and close Word, return to Scrivener, try to click within the chapter I just copied in order to deselect the text - and nothing happens. Not really a problem, as I said, but it’s a bit weird.)
Funny, but I always thought of this as a feature. And a useful one, too: it reminds me of the last place I’ve selected and copied, even days later. Remembrance of things past, and all that.
I don’t see any way to turn it off in Preferences, though you might experiment with Fonts & Colors: Editor Background. Or get used to the persistence factor. Maybe someone else can be more helpful.
Have you tried just clicking once, anywhere, in the document? It’s a habit of mine. Cmd-A Cmd-C click. I don’t like having lots of text selected either—mainly because one errant keystroke can wipe out a bunch of data and I might not realise it until later.
Just clicking in the document most certainly should deselect all of the text - otherwise you’d never be able to deselect it! So I’m not quite sure what is going wrong… One thing to bare in mind is that if another window has the focus then you will need to click twice, as the first click in any OS X Cocoa window that isn’t currently active activates the window but doesn’t perform any action; after that, any clicks in the window should do whatever you want. Could it just be that the window isn’t activated after leaving Word?
All the best,
Keith
Sometimes I also find that de-select doesn’t happen the 1st time I return to the copied text and click on it once. But usually it works. And this glitch happens, thankfully rarely, in other programs too. I think the Mouse or your finger on the trackpad is just not ‘clicking’ strongly enough or something…
When it fails, does the text “wobble” a bit? There is a feature which lets you select some text, and then click and drag it to another spot. If you click a certain way (you have to hold the mouse down a second and then accidentally move it), the selection will kind of “wobble” and then appear to do nothing. This is what a cancelled drag looks like, and might be what you are experiencing. When the entire document is selected, there is nowhere to “move” the text to, so it always cancels.
The wobble Amber describes may not be very noticeable if you are not looking for it. I no I miss it even though I do the “messed up click” a bit.
I find this situation (canceled drag move) most prevalent when I am working on the track pad instead of a real mouse. I think it has to do with being in a rush and “slurring” my click. Might have a bit to do with region of origin though. Something about a southern drawl.
No, Amber, I didn’t notice the text wobble. I eventually managed to deselect it tonight, but had to double click - a single click didn’t work at all - and had to double click more quickly than I had been doing. I think also typing something in the selected chapter may have helped. Still a bit baffled!
This never happened, that I can remember, with previous versions of Scrivener, and it doesn’t happen with other programs.
Just to reiterate, are you absolutely sure the Scrivener window into which you are clicking has the focus (is the foremost window) when try to click? As I already explained, if not, it will require two clicks, which is normal.