Hi there! I need my manuscript to use tabs instead of indents. I know, I know. Auto-indents are recommended. But I do not have a choice, as this is what the publisher requires, and I am on a deadline. I can’t fathom pressing the tab key for every single paragraph. I know how to adjust the auto-indent and how to set tab stops at the size I want them, but I can’t figure out how to ADD a tab (not an indent) to every single paragraph by default. Any suggestions?
Use Project Find and Replace:
Find Opt-Return, Replace Opt-Return Opt-Tab.
Using Opt lets you enter Return and Tab in the find dialog.
Mark
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After you’ve done that, be sure to double check your Compile settings to make sure you’re using a Section Layout that does not indent. Scrivener will happily stack an indent on top of a tab if it thinks that’s what you want.
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Yeah, auto-indents are the way to go, but sometimes publishers can be pretty specific. Anyway, I think I can help you out. Have you tried selecting all your text, going to the “Format” menu, and then setting up a tab stop with the “Insert tab character” checkbox selected? That should add a tab to every paragraph. If you want to make it the default, you can also update your paragraph style to include the tab.
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Thank you!! I am able to find/replace for all the text that I have written, which is super helpful. As I type new text, I can’t seem to have it automatically add a tab to each new paragraph. @louis999 I don’t see the “insert tab character” checkbox in format:paragraph:tabs or format:style. In my “body text” style, I don’t see any option for adding a tab at the beginning of each paragraph, either. Any tips on locating that? If not, I will just find/replace just before I compile. Thanks!
In Microsoft Word, you can achieve this by going to the “Paragraph” dialog box, selecting “First line” from the “Special” drop-down menu under “Indentation,” and setting the desired measurement. In Google Docs, go to “Format” > “Align & indent” > “Indentation options,” and choose “First line” with your preferred measurement. For LibreOffice Writer, navigate to “Format” > “Paragraph,” then the “Indents & Spacing” tab, and select “First line” in the “Special” drop-down menu
There is no setting built into Scrivener to get it to automatically add a Tab at the begining of every paragraph, but you could create a shortcut to do it.
Clearly, you could create it in Apple → Settings → Keyboard to work only in Scrivener, but I’d personally use a third party tool… Keyboard Maestro, Better Touch Tool, TextExpander… if you have any of those.
For me, it would be Espanso which I’d set to replace something like \return with return-tab (don’t want to use those keys here!); Espanso doesn’t require you to type a space to force the replacement, which is why I like it.
Just a suggestion.
Mark
Been trying it out: I found in Espanso replacing ;r with \n\t (RegEx for “return+tab”) works well. \ is problematic, but a fairly memorable but unlikely to occur naturally key combination like ;r is good.
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