Turn a Fountain screenplay into index cards

What is Fountain?

Fountain is a plain-text markup for screenplays, created by John August and Stu Maschwitz. A scene heading is just a line starting with INT. or EXT., a line starting with # is a section (an act or sequence), and a line starting with = is a synopsis — a note about the scene that isn’t part of the script. Because it’s plain text, it moves between apps such as Highland, Slugline, Fade In and WriterDuet.

Importing a screenplay

What becomes a card is decided by the file:

• A script with scene headings becomes one card per scene. The slugline heads the card, and any = synopsis lines under it become the card’s text. Action, dialogue and transitions stay in your script — they’re not outline.
• An outline with no scene headings becomes one card per run of = synopsis lines — exactly what Scrībō’s own Fountain export writes, so a board can go out and come back.
• # sections become acts. The shallowest level in the file becomes Scrībō’s bands, so # ACT ONE is a band and a ## Sequence inside it stays part of that act.

Every import lands in a new project named from the title page, so nothing on an existing board is overwritten. You can pick a .fountain file, paste the text, or drop the file anywhere on the board. Scene numbers and Scrībō’s own card numbers are stripped on the way in, since the board numbers cards itself.

Fountain import is part of Scrībō Pro ($4.99 a month). It takes files up to 2 MB and up to 500 scenes — more than any feature script.

Exporting your board to Fountain

Export is free for everyone. Scrībō writes a Fountain outline: a title page with your project’s name, each act as a # section, and each card as = synopsis lines, optionally numbered. Open it in Highland, Slugline or Fade In and your acts and beats appear in the app’s outline, ready to write the scenes under.

The same board also exports to plain text, CSV and JSON.

Why go from script to cards?

Rewrites. Once a draft exists, its structure is hard to see from inside the pages. Carding the script puts every scene on one screen: you can see a slow second act, colour-code the subplots, try moving the midpoint, and plan the next draft before changing a word. If you haven’t used cards before, start with how to outline a screenplay with index cards.