Hi there. Is there a way to suppress page #s for certain documents within a screenplay?
For example…
page 28: normal screenplay and numbered.
next page: just a title card (so I wouldn’t want this numbered).
page 29: normal screenplay and numbered.
thx!
(Are you printing cards?)
You can suppress headers and footers on “single pages” (sections with only one page) or use a different header/footer setup (without the page number) for the first page of every section.
Thx for help.
It’s not for a title page. I have a bunch of title cards through the script (5 or so). Each would have something like this:
Title Card: 20000 people died this year.
And then we’d go back to the screenplay. I just don’t want these title cards to have page numbers.
Also, I notice in your image that’s it for compiling to a PDF. I’m compiling to Final Draft and the Page Settings when I do that aren’t as robust as the PDF image.
thx again!
It doesn’t matter what you call it. It only matters what it is – a section with a page break, for instance. Or a section with only one page.
If the settings are not there, they probably won’t be anywhere.
“Title cards” is a term of art in the entertainment industry, usually for an image which contains text against a simple background. The term originates from silent movies when the titles were hand-lettered on large cards and photographed for the movie.
OP wants to essentially have multiple title pages throughout the document, but not have them increment the page numbers.
I think if you compile to FDX, Final Draft will number the title card pages.
When I do this, I do the title cards as separate PDFs and then insert them in the finished draft in PDF form.
P.S. – If you’re a Final Draft user, drop them a note and ask for the feature to insert non-numbered pages. I’ll do the same – they often pay more attention if there is more than one request.
I will ask FD to do this again. I had inquired but they said it wasn’t something they were looking at doing.
thx guys!
I’m just curious… Let’s say a clumsy person drops your script, pages flying left and right. Where do the title cards belong now and in which order? Wouldn’t it be super helpful to have them numbered? 
I know how to suppress page numbers, but I don’t think you can interrupt their incrementation. Twice the OP said “no page number”, not “pause their incrementation”.
That applies to the 1st page of a chapter, too. Chapter numbers can help in that case, but I’m not of the school that says chapter numbers are necessary, either.
One of the reasons why script formatting is as finicky as it is, is that you can use the number of pages to estimate the running time. The formatting is there to facilitate producing the movie, not for aesthetics. If your title cards are going to contribute to the running time of the film, they should contribute to the page count as well.
In 2022, screenplays are only printed on paper when they go into production. Until that time, they exist as PDF files which cannot be dropped and scattered. Also, screenwriters live and die by page counts. They will seize upon any generally accepted practice that will reduce the length of their script.
Interesting. From my limited understanding I had assumed such a “title card” would be a combination of… I don’t know, FADE TO BLACK + SUPERIMPOSE and one ore two sentences containing the actual text. Not really a page. But what do I know.
What you describe is most common. The effect of the title card page is to make a big break in the narrative. It’s used mostly in specs, to give the reader more of a sense of the separate parts of the story.
Thanks guys. As some pointed out, to suppress the numbers for certain pages is an effort to keep the script’s page count down (though not artificially as the title cards would just be on screen for a couple of seconds as opposed to the rule of the thumb of “1 page per screen minute”.)
thx again
