What are the proper margins for screenplays?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • What are the proper margins for screenplays?

    i was told to have 1" top and bottom, 1.5 inches on the left, and 1 inch on the right. But my CELTX software has screenplay default margins of 0.6 top, 0.5 bottom and 0.2 left and right. This seems ridiculous, but it looks right on the page and in the print preview.

  • #2
    Re: What are the proper margins for screenplays?

    You are speaking, actually, of the page margins, not the margins of the individual elements like Dialogue, Parenthetical, etc.

    It is not easy to answer your question, because the matter is complicated by some issues that you have not mentioned or taken into consideration.

    A top margin of 1" really refers to the distance from the top edge of the paper to the script paragraph below it. Your header (with the page number) will be at some position that is less than 1" from the top edge of the paper. The 0.6" that you refer to may, in fact, be the margin if the header is considered.

    Try printing out a few pages in Celtx after you use the TYPESET feature to create a PDF. I suspect that the margins will be fine. Don't worry if the header is at 0.6 or so, and don't worry if a (MORE) at the bottom of a page is a little less than 1" from the bottom edge.

    Celtx is designed to produce a script that is in line with industry standards (which are not totally rigid, anyway).

    "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: What are the proper margins for screenplays?

      Originally posted by sumokurt1 View Post
      i was told to have 1" top and bottom, 1.5 inches on the left, and 1 inch on the right. But my CELTX software has screenplay default margins of 0.6 top, 0.5 bottom and 0.2 left and right. This seems ridiculous, but it looks right on the page and in the print preview.
      I'm fairly certain that the page margins feature in CELTX doesn't actually work. Go to the CELTX wiki--I seem to remember reading something about the page margins feature being from a previous version of the software.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: What are the proper margins for screenplays?

        Hey, guys, please do not submit the same post to different forums. I posted the answer below in another forum earlier today, then discovered that, yes, I had already answered this question.

        Gee, I know I wrote a long reply to this yesterday. I guess I hit PREVIEW but never hit SUBMIT!

        The header, which contains the page number, is part of the issue. The 1" margin does not apply to the header. The 0.6" at top is probably where your header will go. Then you will have a blank line (automatically), and your top margin for the text proper will then be about 1".

        I am not sure why the right margin would be 0.2", but the 0.0" margin at the left probably means that the left margin is already at 1.5" and you are not resetting it in regard to that default. If the script looks all right when you use TYPESET, don't worry about what the margin settings are.

        And don't get really worked up over the top and bottom margins. The bottom margin varies tremendously, depending on how you have options set for screenwriting software in regard to where a break may occur.

        Celtx is designed to produce a script that meets so-called "industry standards." Be sure to use TYPESET to produce the PDF, so that the proper formatting can be done.

        "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: What are the proper margins for screenplays?

          Yeah, don't go by Celtx's defaults. No offense, but it's not nearly as developped as some other programs.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: What are the proper margins for screenplays?

            Okay, let me come in here and report some stuff. There is nothing wrong with the defaults.

            1. Celtx is now at version 2.7. Be sure to download this most recent version.

            2. I ran a test just now to see how things worked. Use TYPESET/PDF when you get ready to print something. Follow this order:

            * Edit your script.

            * Click on the TYPESET/PDF tab at the bottom of the Edit screen.

            * The program will format the script. Then you will see some other options:

            Save PDF ...... Format Options

            Click Format Options to indicate whether you want one or two blank lines between scenes, and whether you want to use (CONTINUED) at the bottom of a page when a scene continues to the next page. If you make changes in the Format Options, the Typeset feature automatically reformats to reflect your wishes.

            Now use Save PDF to save a PDF.

            It all worked fine. The top margin came out at exactly 1". The header, with the page number, was at 0.4". The left margin was 1.5". The bottom margin was about 1".

            Important: Use the Save PDF feature when you want to make a PDF. Do not try to print to a PDF driver like primoPDF or Adobe Acrobat.

            "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: What are the proper margins for screenplays?

              Originally posted by QueenOfCups View Post
              Yeah, don't go by Celtx's defaults. No offense, but it's not nearly as developped as some other programs.
              Agreed, Comic. Make sure you have the up to date version.

              Comment

              Working...
              X