I was wondering if there is a way to format in Scrivener so that you can have every page displayed in two columns of text instead of just one large ongoing one? The type of project I am starting is generally done in large-format hardback which is printed with the two columns of text on most pages. I know I can technically do that with a table and making the lines invisible but to have to format that individually for every single page and around all of the other inserts I’ll be including would be an absolute nightmare. I’m hoping there is a way to set the two column text display as a default for the project I am working on.
1 Like
In the Scrivener editor, no. In the output document, yes.
Hmmmm… that doesn’t sound promising for me. What if on the same page in the output document I need a table that occupies the whole width of the page but it only fills half of the page and below that I still need those two columns of text? Adding in images to either column of text? etc.
Then you’re using the wrong tool.
Scrivener, by design, focuses on the development, writing, and editing stages, leaving that sort of complex page layout to other software.
(OTOH, if you don’t need a WYSIWYG tool, Scrivener does work well as the front end to a LaTeX workflow, and of course LaTeX is a world class typesetting engine.)
1 Like
In the output document, use Section Breaks to change the column layout.
To be clear, Scrivener itself cannot do this. But you can use Scrivener to place Section Breaks that a tool like Word will use to begin/end two-column sections.
1 Like
Is there a YouTube video showing how?
you could make a table with two columns and then make the cell border width 0pt
The OP already acknowledged how much of a layout nightmare it would be to balance tens of thousands of words across hundreds of pages into table cells. Even if an environment where you can see the page and make sure the table is the right height, that would be a slow and difficult process. The main issue is that tables, unlike columns, do not automatically flow text from one cell to the next when they overflow.
Perhaps this would be fine for one or two paragraphs here and there, operating more as an actual table of sorts. But I wouldn’t myself take that idea much further than that.
At any rate, it’s a five minute job (tops) to get a compiled RTF file into column layout in LibreOffice or Word. It’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t want to spend time on every time you compile, but if things are getting down to the point of desktop publishing layout, you’ll most likely be past the point of compiling repeatedly, too.
2 Likes