I’m a long time Scrivener user, but new to this iteration of the forum. I couldn’t readily find an answer to this one, so: is there an easy option in the compile/export processes that would print each paragraph to a new page (i.e. insert page breaks after each paragraph). I’m looking to review and reorganise a complex text and want to print each para on its own page, so I can move them around on a large table. (I know, that’s what the cork board is for, but for me sometimes analogue beats the screen).
You could do what you asked by duping & modding your compile format, so as to put your compile format in charge of the format of your body paragraphs. The paragraph formatting specs there include the ability to specify a Suffix. Set the suffix with a page break placeholder. [EDIT: This option is incorrect.]
Would it help you to go ahead and split up your document into one doc per paragraph in your Scrivener project, since you’re going to rearrange them in Scrivener at some point, I assume? If so, I think you can tell Scrivener to split up a document automatically by line break (I’d have to get back to my Mac to verify this and figure out how), or you could just use the shortcut for the Split menu item, and just jump to the end of each paragraph and hit that keyboard shortcut a bunch of times.
Then you could assign whatever document type they are to a document layout in the compile setup that inserts a page break before each of these documents.
Thanks all for so many ways to get this done. I hadn’t realised that you can print the index card. I’ve opted in the end for what @gr and @Rdale suggest – working with the compile format and making sure that each paragraph is its own Scriv document. I’ve never had cause to mess around with the compiling options (here be dragons!) but it looks powerful and flexible. I’ve now managed a paragraph per page print output.
Glad you got it sorted! In case you didn’t notice the menu option, it’s even easier to merge documents than it is to split them. Once you’ve got them rearranged to your liking in Scrivener, you can, if you want, select them all in the binder and use one menu command to merge them all back to 1 doc.
Stupid question, but how would you actually do that? It’s probably super simple, but the only place I could find to set this up is within the Styles panel (other Prefix / Suffix settings seem to deal with Sections in general), like so, which wouldn’t affect “unstyled” body text:
Go under Section Layouts and pick a relevant Section Format. There you can set the format of body text paragraphs. There is a tab there for Suffix. That was what I had in mind. Am I confused?
Never mind, I would be happier if you were right. Is this worth filing a feature wish? Could come in super handy and the technology is there (see here).
You can do in general what @gr suggested by creating a paragraph style in the compile format and then applying that to the body text in the section layout (possible with the text override option ticked). It won’t affect text that already has a style applied in the project, but unstyled text (in section types using this layout) would then get the compile style applied, and you could use that to add a prefix or suffix to each paragraph.
It wouldn’t quite work for the purpose suggested, though, as you can’t use a page break character there; it would just compile to PDF/Print as a carriage return.
Thanks, that actually works. The missing link for me was that I have to assign this new Compiler style to the body text of the Section(s). Fascinating.
My solution would simply be compile to RTF (DOCX if you insist) open it in my word processor (NWP in my case, but any would no doubt do) and replace all paragraph breaks (RegEx \n) with form feed (i.e. section/page break, RegEx \f) and print from there. Sadly, I couldn’t get that RegEx replacement to work in Scrivener Compile, so if anyone can point the way to doing that it would be interesting.
I should have elaborated and said that this in fact was the case for my document: each paragraph lived in its own document. When I used the ‘default’ compile format, paragraphs appeared continuously on the page; but even switching to another compile format that Scriv shipped with (‘Modern’) each paragraph was supplied with its page break.
Sorry to have sparked off such a discussion (but glad too – it’s interesting, and I’m learning a lot about a programme I’ve used for years, but never in this way. Thanks for your contributions).
Don’t worry, we love this stuff. That’s why those threads tend to go on after the original problem appears to be solved already. I just learned something new.
Interesting thread, I learned a lot of cool tricks.
I was going to suggest compiling to pdf or docx, printing it out, and then using scissors to cut each paragraph onto it’s own page–but then I got bashful because that solution didn’t involve enough clever use of tech.
Or I’m too stupid. That’s what it does for me:
Could come in super handy and the technology is there (
