I use the binder for all sorts of writing-related bits: setting, plot, theme, research, characters. There are times when I wish to print the many documents within these binder folders.
Note that none of these are within the Manuscript. It’s all the supporting material, worldbuilding.
I’ve done a search here and all I’ve found (without searching through all 971 hits!) is someone who said they didn’t think it was possible. That is so discouraging I thought I’d ask the question explicitly and hope for an authoritative response from the tech support folks.
Let’s keep it simple: there’s a folder called Research. It’s outside the Manuscript. There are five documents in there. I’d like to print all five at once, without having to copy/paste or having to print them individually.
You can move Research inside the Manuscript and Compile it any way you want, placing the actual book in another folder subordinate to the Manuscript. When it’s time to compile the book or some/all of the research, select the documents you need and tell Scrivener to compile the selection. Or create a Collection for each, perhaps based on a search based on Status or Label. Or, in Scrivener 3, use the Compile Group feature.
That’s what I was afraid of. I think I’m going to make a new template, with a master folder called Project, or something equally clever. Manuscript would then become a sub-folder, along with Research and others. Or does Compile look only at something called Manuscript? Put another way, does Compile look for a key folder word, or is it looking at the top of a hierarchy?
Just did a test. Made a new, blank project and got a Draft folder, to which Compile is unalterably tied. And a Research folder that cannot be moved under Draft. Pooh on that. I renamed Draft, then made my various project folders–Plot, Theme, Characters, Setting, Research (my own, ignoring the other), and of course Manuscript. I can then Compile as needed without fuss. Why that’s not the default is beyond the scope of this question.
Anyway, thanks. I probably could have figured this out long ago, but when I’m opening Scrivener it’s normally to write, not to do tech exploration!
A brand new Scrivener project has three folders: Draft, Research, and Trash. These can be renamed, but cannot be deleted, will always be at the top of the Binder hierarchy, and will always retain their special properties.
(Actually I once helped someone who managed to make the Draft folder a subfolder. But I’m not sure how they did it and the results were bad. So don’t try it.)
The Compile command looks exclusively at the Draft folder. So the solution to your problem is what you did: to move the desired documents into a subfolder of Draft.
Why are things organized this way? Because the Research folder can contain any type of file, including files that Scrivener doesn’t know how to open. Bringing such files into the Draft folder, then attempting to Compile them, would cause errors.
Clear and concise. I’ve already made a template for future projects. Too late for existing ones, as I’m too far along. Oh, wah wah, I’ve been writing too much.
Anyway, thanks all for the explanations and suggestions.
Just remember that in Scrivener, project templates simply represent a starting point for various settings during the creation of the new project. They are in no way tied to that project once it has been created, and there is no link between a template and a project. So as DrMajorBob says, if you have a preferred way to arrange your projects, you can easily take a few minutes to reapply those settings to your existing projects and have them the way you like going forward.