Hello Everyone! I hope somebody out there can help me. When I write my screenplays in Final Draft 8, the bottom margins look just right. When I convert to PDF, however, the bottom margins look like they're about a quarter inch wide when viewed online. They print out okay, but I've been dinged by a few readers who are obviously viewing my work on their computers. Any idea why this is happening and how to fix it? Any assistance is highly appreciated! Best, Birgit
Screenwriting : Help with Final Draft 8 by Birgit Syran Myaard
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So your problem is that your bottom margin appears to tall, meaning there's too much bottom margin when you save to PDF? The only thing that occurs to me is the use of "Format Assist." It's a helpful FD8 tool, but it will change things to its liking, not yours. Avoid it. Try saving to PDF without Assist and compare the results. You can always contact FD. They're pretty good with support.
Hi Andrew, Thanks for commenting. I guess, however, I wasn't clear in my post. In the Final Draft view the margin is just right, but it becomes really narrow at the bottom when I save to PDF, which is the format readers see. I may just have to contact FD support... Thanks again for commenting! Best, Birgit
Can you reset margins to default? Either that or call FD support.
FD online support is super helpful! I'm sure they can help.
Hi David and Monique, Thanks for your responses. The margins are set at the default 1.00" and the header/footer margins at the default 0.50" (I've never changed them). I'm wondering now, however, if this might have to do with the fact that I'm living over here in Europe and my printer is set for A4 instead of American 8.5"x11" paper. Not sure how the PDF conversion would be affected by my printer settings, but I suppose it could. I'll see if anyone else has any insight and, if not, I'll get in touch with the people at FD. Thanks again for responding to my cry for help! Best, Birgit
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The A4 paper setting is the problem. If you're getting that margin comment from US producers/readers, try changing the paper size to 8.5"x11" before saving to pdf. That should fix it.
Hi Richard, Thank you for your response. I will do that before I save to pdf the next time! I appreciate your help! Best, Birgit
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Hello again, Richard and Everyone, Changing my printer settings back to Letter size instead of A4 did the trick. Now the pdf conversion looks correct! Bummer that I'll have to remember to change the settings, but nice to know what was causing the problem. Thanks again, Everyone! Best, Birgit