Print Outliner list

Scrivener Wish List
1

I’d like to be able to print the outliner list - the scene names and descriptions (Title, Synopsis, Type, Label - or even just title & synopsis).
Then I could work on it somewhere when I’m not at my computer.
It would be even better if it could also print the notes, but that might not be possible.
The way it is now, there’s no way to do this - export creates a file of the entire project, but never shows the outline at all.

2

Here is a link to the FAQ entry for that. Those instructions generally address just titles and maybe synopsis, but they point you to the right spot where you can actually print out just about anything independently of the full text, include notes. Note that you can print directly out of the compiler, you do not have to save the results as a file.

3

Hi,

Thanks for the tip…

It works, but I got a 40-page document, not really what I was looking for, too big to print out, still too awkward & cumbersome to use the way I wanted. I would have to create an excel file or something that looks like one (table in Word?) with all the content, and that would take far more time than it’s worth.

I really wish I could just get a nice, few pages arranged in columns just the way it looks on the screen (or similar), though. That’s what would be really great.

4

There are no plans for that, sorry. 2.0 will make printing outlines easier, but it still won’t print as on screen. Scrivener isn’t intended as a spreadsheet app, and the way the outliner is set up really doesn’t work so well when printed on paper.
Best,
Keith

5

Something still doesn’t sound right. If all you are printing out is the title of each document, you shouldn’t be getting forty pages unless you have a truly massive outline, and then in that case there is never going to be a way to shrink it down to a few pages, no matter what application you use, unless you use MicroFiche or something.

6

Do you happen to have “page break before” selected in the compile settings for any of the documents/folders? That could increase your page count to a huge amount.

7

I don’t think you really want to export your outline to another program and work on it there, because the problem you then have is you will want to import it back in.

Two workarounds I use:

  1. Screengrab the outlne in sections (remove Binder, Inspector) - this gives you options for Title, Synopsis, Label, Status, Word Count - if you print in colour it will match Scriv, so helps reinforce the links in your head. Scribble away on printouts, edit back in Scriv.

  2. Much more laborious -
    2.1 Select Compile draft - 2.1.1 untick Text checkboxes, 2.1.2 check Synopses, Notes, Metadata, Title, 2.1.3 on next tab make the Scene separator a character you never use at all, 2.1.4 on the final tab do not indent titles.
    2.2 Compile draft and save out as RTF or DOC
    2.3 Open Word (this is how I know to do it, there will be more elegant solutions out there)
    2.3.1 Replace Paragraph marks with commas (I am not sure if you can have paragraph marks in synopsis or notes - the dataset will behave oddly if you do / are)
    2.3.2 Replace your special character (2.1.3) with a Paragraph mark
    2.3.3 Select all text and > Convert to Table.
    2.4 If you want you can clean up the table a little by replacing the label names with blanks, and removing empty columns
    2.5 Save
    2.6 Open in Excel

But to be honest, the simpler, messier solution achieves what you actually want, with no skill whatsoever.

8

Ha ha!
monkquixote - you must be a genius! :bulb:
Or I must have ADHD. :smiley:
My head is spinning after just reading half of those instructions, how on earth did you figure this out???

He’s a bloody genius! :wink:

Thanks to all for tips.
No, I don’t have a massive outline. It’s only 100 items.
No, I don’t have “page break” set.
I just wish I could take a screen shot of it but I can’t do that either.
If I export it without page breaks and notes, and change the print size to 10-pt, it’s now workable. :slight_smile: