I’m a new user, just went through the tutorial. I’ve created a new project that I’d like to use to revise my drafted manuscript, but I can’t seem to import that manuscript into Scrivener.
I’ve converted my manuscript from a .docx to both an .rtf and .txt, but neither will import. This isn’t rocket science, and I can’t think of how I’m screwing this up. I highlight “Draft,” then Cntl-Alt-I to get the import screen. I select the .rtf or .txt file, click “Open.” The file-selection screen goes away, but nothing else happens. No text appears in the Draft folder. Very frustrating.
Suggestions? I just downloaded Scrivener two days ago.
This didn’t work for me at first. My problem was in my file names.
I had file names like <Chaper 1 Scene 1.1 The Maid Screamed.rtf>.
I adjusted the file names and removed the extra dot leaving _______.rtf.
The files loaded after that.
I would suggest reviewing your file names and even removing the spaces. Maybe even, shorten the names to seven or eight letters before the .rtf.
This worked for me.
Scrivener saves its files internally by using a number for the file name. Your document file name is associated to this number via a links file. So long descriptive file names are passe in a sense, as documents are not filed under that name.
Once the document files are in Scrivener, you can use whatever name you choose for the document name. Scrivener does the translating automatically when saving.
The beta version is a work in progress. But, I’m liking it more every time I use it.
Scrivener for Windows is working well for me, mostly quirkiness in the text editor.
I am new to Scrivener so I am no expert. These are things that I learned in the last week.
I hope this helps.
I have done more writing with the beta release than I have in months.
I am using Window 7. I also have a Vista laptop, and an XP netbook.
The text imported – I’d saved it as an rtf. with a simplified filename, as suggested – but the text “480” marks every instance in which I hit “return,” which means a ton of 480s litter the text.
Also, indentation is inconsistent. Some lines that I’m sure were indented in the rtf. file are not in the scriv. viewer.
I’ll search the board for “480” and “weird indentation” and see what pops.
Yup, found plenty of information about the numbers in front of new paragraphs in the Bug Hunt forum. Turns out that Scrivener does that when the source file isn’t single-spaced.
So I single-spaced my rtf. and tried again. Still got inconsistent indenting at the start of each new paragraph, but that’s a little easier to fix (fewer buttons to hit). Still, in a 55,000 word document, a pain in the ass. Also, I’ll be disappointed if I can’t work on my book as a double-spaced document. Too many words on the screen makes my eyes wander.
I may not be using Scrivener until this gets sorted…
The -480 thing indicates a new paragraph.
Under edit menu.
Use Find and Replace to get rid of it.
Find “-480”, leave replace blank.
Hit replace all.
The text editor is still a work in progress so there is some quirkiness in it. The font changes to a base font and size. The first line indents revert to left justified. Double line spacing is not there yet but will at some time.
These problems are being worked on by Lee and the Scrivener team.
Remember, this is a beta release which means there still issues being resolved. The team is working hard.
It is working well for me. I love it, even with the quirks.
There is a thread about this on the “bug hunt” Board.
Your filename has a dot (or period) in the middle “.” which confuses Scrivener’s import method (apparantly this applies to PFD files too!).
Scrivener strips everything left of the first dot it encounters to be the filename.
That algorithm is incorrect. Convert “first” to “last” is all that’s needed for the developers to fix.
That leaves the negative numbers. We’ve had success with petulant rtf files by using a simple cut and paste method described in Bug Hunt. Hope this helps. ScribblerOne