Scrivener () is a word-processing program and

outliner An outliner (or outline processor) is a specialized type of text editor (word processor) used to create and edit Outline (list), outlines, which are text files which have a tree structure or a tree view, for organization. Textual information is co ...

designed for writers. Scrivener provides a management system for documents, notes and

metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...

. This allows the user to organize notes, concepts, research, and whole documents for easy access and reference (documents including rich text, images,

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, and

web pages A web page (or webpage) is a World Wide Web, Web document that is accessed in a web browser. A website typically consists of many web pages hyperlink, linked together under a common domain name. The term "web page" is therefore a metaphor of pap ...

). Scrivener offers templates for

screenplays A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

, and

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

. After writing a text, the user may export it for final formatting to a standard

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current word ...

screenwriting software Screenwriting software are word processor programs specialized to the task of writing screenplays, i.e. screenwriting. Overview Features While add-ins and macros for word processors, such as Script Wizard for Microsoft Word, can be used to ...

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

software, or

TeX Tex, TeX, TEX, may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Tex Earnhardt (1930–2020), U.S. businessman * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer ...

Features

Features include a corkboard, the ability to rearrange files by dragging-and-dropping virtual

index card An index card (or record card in British English and system cards in Australian English) consists of card stock (heavy paper) cut to a standard size, used for recording and storing small amounts of discrete data. A collection of such cards ei ...

s on the corkboard, an

, a split screen mode that enables users to edit several documents at once, a full-screen mode, the ability to export text into multiple document formats (including popular

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

formats like

EPUB EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the ".epub" file extension. The term is short for ''electronic publication'' and is sometimes stylized as ''ePUB''. EPUB is supported by many e-readers, and compatible software is available for most smart ...

and Mobipocket for Kindle, and markup languages such as

Fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

, and MultiMarkdown), the ability to assign multiple keywords (and other metadata) to parts of a text and to sort the parts by keyword (such as characters, locations, themes, narrative lines, etc.),

hyperlink In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference providing direct access to Data (computing), data by a user (computing), user's point and click, clicking or touchscreen, tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to ...

s between parts of a text, and "snapshots" (the ability to save a copy of a particular document prior to any drastic changes). Scrivener allows photos, URLs, and multiple other file formats, to be dragged into its interface as well. Because of its breadth of interfaces and features, it has positioned itself not only as a word processor, but as a project management tool for writers, and includes many user-interface features that resemble

Xcode Xcode is a suite of developer tools for building apps on Apple devices. It includes an integrated development environment (IDE) of the same name for macOS, used to develop software for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. It w ...

, Apple's

integrated development environment An integrated development environment (IDE) is a Application software, software application that provides comprehensive facilities for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source-code editor, build automation tools, an ...

(IDE). One computer programmer has called Scrivener "an IDE for writing".

Platforms

Keith Blount created, and continues to maintain, the program as a tool to help him write the "big novel", allowing him to keep track of ideas and research. It is built mostly on libraries and features of Mac

OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

from version 10.4 onward. In 2011, a

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

version of the software was released, written and maintained by Lee Powell.

iOS

Scrivener for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

was launched July 20, 2016. Current version is 1.2.4 and requires iOS 12+.

Linux

There is no official release for

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

; there is a public beta version which has been abandoned, but still is available to use.

Macintosh

The latest version of Scrivener for Mac is version 3.4.0, and requires macOS High Sierra or newer. Scrivener can be obtained from the

Mac App Store The Mac App Store (also known as the App Store) is a digital distribution platform for macOS apps, often referred to as Mac apps, created and maintained by Apple. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010, at Apple's "Back to the Mac" eve ...

, but since the Mac App Store application is only usable on OS X 10.6.6 and later, users of earlier versions of OS X must buy it directly from the developer's website instead of the Mac App Store. The company also makes Scrivener 2.5 available for earlier version of Mac OS X, but claims it is the final version of the software that was built to run on both

PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...

and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

systems running Mac OS X 10.4 through 10.8. This version is available on the direct sale page in the sidebar titled "Mac OS X 10.4–8 and PowerPC". In addition to the Scrivener version 2 releases, the direct download page provides access to the obsolete version 1.54, but licenses are no longer available for purchase. The 1.54 release is compatible with Mac OS X versions 10.4 through 10.6.

Windows

The latest stable version of Scrivener for Windows is 3.1.5.1. This upgrade " quires Windows 8+ with .NET Framework 4.6.2+, and a minimum display resolution of 1024x768px" according to Literature & Latte's website. Those who bought Scrivener 1 on or later than 20th November 2017 qualify for a free upgrade. Those who bought Scrivener 1 before that date qualify for a 49% discount.

References

External links

* {{Word processors 2007 software Word processors MacOS word processors Personal information managers Outliners Screenwriting software