A little help.
Back to
your story.

In the desktop editor, press Return at the end of dialogue to start the next character cue. Type the character’s name, then press Return to write their dialogue. Press Return on an empty character cue to return to Action.

The speech-bubble button in the formatting toolbar turns Conversation Flow on or off. You can also find it in the View menu. It changes the element type; you choose who speaks next.

Choose Screenplay → Add Scene or the plus button above the scene list. Type a new heading, or choose a remembered heading. The new-scene controls let you create a scene rather than only select an existing one.

You can also format a paragraph as Scene and type your heading on the page. Scene-heading suggestions and keyboard shortcuts help with recurring locations and times of day.

In the desktop editor, select the second character speech and choose Screenplay → Dual Dialogue with Previous Speech. Use Return to Sequential Dialogue to separate them again, or Switch Dialogue Column to move between the paired speeches.

Dual dialogue is supported in the desktop editor and PDF export. The current iPhone editor cannot edit dual-dialogue documents and will leave the original file unchanged.

A named screenplay is saved to the location you choose. Click the save-status area at the bottom of the desktop workspace to see save details and your draft’s locations.

Script Lantern also keeps local recovery copies. For a separate backup, choose a folder in Draft → Workspace & Backups. Check the save status if a drive or folder becomes unavailable.

Choose Draft → Local Recovery Library. Preview a recovery first, then open it as a separate working copy. The saved recovery source stays unchanged.

The Revisions desk also holds checkpoints saved inside your screenplay. Restoring a checkpoint saves your current writing as a checkpoint first. Keep any external backups you want to retain; deleting one file does not remove its other copies.

In the desktop app, choose Draft → Bring in Existing Library. Close the older app first, then choose its Script Lantern application-support folder or a backup of that folder. Review the import summary before continuing.

Library import makes independent copies. Open one from the Recovery Library to start a separate working draft. Your source library and current draft stay unchanged. Named files and backup folders need a fresh selection in the new app.

Export an editable .lantern copy and transfer it with Files or AirDrop. Open that copy on the other device. Keep one working version at a time so two independently edited copies do not drift apart.

Automatic synchronization and live collaboration are not included. A storage provider you choose may sync its folder using its own settings, but Script Lantern does not merge simultaneous edits. Dual-dialogue scripts still need the desktop editor.

Open Export PDF in the desktop app. Choose whether to include a title page, print page numbers, number the first screenplay page, and which number to start from. The title page stays unnumbered and does not advance the screenplay’s numbering.

The export panel shows screenplay pages and title pages separately. The writing canvas is continuous; the PDF preview shows the final pagination. Title-page design, watermarks and saved export presets are also available there.

Before import, Script Lantern shows a report describing supported text and element types, mapped paragraphs, and features it could not carry over. Original fonts, pagination and some production metadata do not transfer. Review the imported script before sharing it.

Your original FDX is left unchanged. The report travels inside the imported .lantern document and can be reopened from its import-report controls. Supported interchange is not a promise of identical rendering in every screenwriting app.

Send the app version, your device and system version, the steps you took, and any error message. A cropped screenshot can help explain a layout problem.

You do not need to send your screenplay. Share only what is needed to explain the issue. Read how support correspondence is handled.