Screenwriting : Using Celtx by Nicci Hartland

It's not as good as Final draft or Movie Magic but it's good enough if you can't afford the others right now. The finished project basically looks the same you just have more tools and gadgets to help during the writing process with the other 2.

LOL Worth downloading.....Yeah since you have to get on an exercise bicycle to download it. LOL! Ouch.. the pain, my stomach from the laughter....Yes, I use it.

Celtx and Trelby are both excellent. I use Celtx and it's perfectly capable at setting out a script.

I've been using Celtx since I started writing. I tried a couple other products along the way, but I have always gone back to Celtx. Easy interface, good formatting, and I like the extras. Best possible price, too.

Free is always good but sometimes free can be just a waste of time.

I never say no to a free beer . . .

It is all I use... It is free, but this free is worth more than its price... :)

I use it. Does everything you need done and there is a freeware version. Use it until someone wants to buy something you've written and wants it in another software.

Definitely worth it. Got a script circulating in LA right now and I used it. So, until you can purchase FD, take advantage of it while it's FREE.

I like Celtx and Fade In because of their mobile apps for Android. Both work well one is free the other is $50. Mobile apps are $5 for both.

Use what ever you can. As long as you are writing and your format is correct that's all that matters to be honest. When your able to buy something, Final Draft is worth the money it cost.

I use it and it's fast, easy and intuitive. Definitely worth a download!

It's the only one I have ever used. It does get the job done! It was suggested to me by an Academy of Art screen writing instructor. I like it and use it for all my writing projects.

I use Celtx for all my writing and I love it. I have the lifetime subscription and it was a great decision. It's a great to format and back up your work at the same time. It's definitely worth the download.

I'm in the process of writing my first short film with Celtx. It's a great program, maybe not the best one obviously, but it's free and free is good.

Great for Learning about formatting and writing those first scripts and its free!! But I'd defiantly recommend final draft

I've used both and they each have pros and cons. FD is film industry standard, so that speaks for itself. However, Celtx has some features that are brilliant, esp internet interactive, graphics etc (for linking images, video, music to the script notes) that FD/8 doesn't have. I've been considering buying FD so I contacted them and asked about their CS dept about the internet feature, which I stated that Celtx has, to which they responded it should be forthcoming in the next FD version, 9 that'll be, whenever it comes out. You can also use FD's free demo, but you can only save 15 pages at a time. My SP is in parts, until I get the proper programme. I think I'll wait until it gets the internet interactive upgrade, cause if I buy it now, I'll have to pay the additional price for the upgrade. BTW with Celtx you can pay as you go, monthly or whatever, if you don't want to commit to it from the start.

PS Check out the price for FD/8 on Stage32, tab "$Market" tab "software" you can get it with a discount, only $71.10, it's on offer until 30 Sep '13. Cheers

its more than worth it, its my life saver. The only thing you need to convert it to PDF when your done with the file because the .celtx no one but someone who has the same program can open. I hope this helps :)

Thanks for all the advice guys, I would love to get FD but alas the pennies are not there yet. Will have to get these awesome scripts written and then upgrade. Thanks again.

Everything I've written has been on Celt-X and I love it - it's easy to use and has a lot of options - it's pretty basic but that's what I love about it and you can convert things to PDF easily and print them out and they look great - legit formatting I see no downside to working with Celt-x.

I found it to be pretty good... I just stick to the free copy...

Definitely worth it. You don't have to download anymore, it's on the cloud.

If you want to take your screenwriting serious, buy Final Draft. It is pretty much an industry standard and the iPad version is affordable.

Would love to but don't have the money right now

Hi Ellexia. I've used both Celtx and Movie Magic Screenwriter. Each has pluses and minuses, but I feel the bottom line - though some might dismiss it - is that anything is merely a formatting program designed to help you and production. If you have a GOOD IDEA that's the key. * Soapbox Moment for the Day *

@peter yep that is true you can make a bad movie out of a good script but you can't make a good movie out of a bad script. The story is the key.

I used Celtx. For a novice like me, it was perfect.

Yes. It is definitely worth downloading.

It's amazing!

You may want to try www.scripped.com, it's free as well, and saves files online so you don't have to worry about losing them, though maybe inferior to celtx in ways I'm not aware of.

Yes I use it and its good. I found out about celtx from my screenwriting class

Celtx also can be saved in the clouds to be accessed on any computer. The most amazing tool that I found are the notes. You can share your file with a friend and he can review your script and add notes anywhere on the script!! Wether it be a typo or an idea on a line or anything, these little buttons pop up all over and you fix everything until you're done! Another great tool are the sluglines, they are grayed out during the editing to easily locate scenes and remain white when exporting as PDF. They have an Android App that SHOULD NOT BE USED. I downloaded it and after opening my file, it screwed up the entire formatting of my script. I had to spend 2 hours fixing it.

Celtx is great, until you start rewriting your script. It offers me no usable tools for that (like simply bookmarking lines in the script, the only thing I really need).

I've used it and it does fine, but Final draft is better. Celtx doesn't automatically advance dialogue and scenes to the next page when you run out of room at the bottom. The writer has to do that. If you find that other screenwriting software is too pricey, Celtx is a good substitute.

I tried using it briefly, but it was no where as good as movie magic. But as Douglas said, if you can't afford more expensive software, Celtx is a good substitute.

Celtx is great. The best for me is the mobile apps as well, write on your ipad, then it's synched to all devices, everything's saved in the cloud so you can access your celtx scripts from any computer. It doesn't let you customise anything -- but maybe this saves me procrastinating too much! Why pay more? LOL Celtx should pay me something I reckon!

Celtx is great, especially for the price. And it is easy to use. The only problem I've had with it was that the font spacing or kerning seemed to be different from other writing software. A couple of years ago, I wrote a script intending to keep the number of pages below 120 pages. In Final Draft and Movie Magic, the script was around 115 to 118 pages. In Celtx, I could not get the pages below 124. At the time (a couple of years ago) there were some comments about this on their support page. Maybe that issue has been resolved now.

Got it when I was doing Nanowrimo's script-frenzy. I bought Movie Magic several years ago, but it's on another computer and I havent' figured out how to transfer it. Thought Celtx is easier to use. Only thing I've completed a script in.

I use Celtic for shorts and feature films and it is a great software. I love it. You can always switch to final draft later if you feel like you need more features...

It's free so it's def worth downloading!Its a great program starting out. when you feel comfortable with script/screenwriting structure I say then upgrade to Final Draft.

I've used it before and found it easy to use.

Its free and more then enough for any screenwriter to write a screen play.

It's very good and if you decide to use it, it's worth paying for the upgrade as well.

It is a very good program. It is in ways better than Final Draft.

It's great! Plus it's free so there no real risk involved.

I've used celtx for years. I've placed in contest and about to option and you can't tell the difference between it being celtx or final draft or whatever lol

You will love it!

its worth it. its like a free version of final draft just without some of the unnecessary perks

Its brilliant just like Final Draft, well almost, definately worth downloading,

Definitely worth downloading. Seems glitchy to me though. I downloaded it, used it to write one script and then reverted to my template in Libre Office Writer. What I didn't like about it was all the distractions and the lack of a function to save more than one copy of a script. In writer I simply click 'save as'. I could not find that feature in Celtx. So it lacked in something important and gave me a load of faff I don't need. If you really want to be filling in character information rather than writing, then Celtx may come in handy. Otherwise I don't see the point in it. A simple template in your office word program will suffice.

Thanks Jacqueline, I just checked again and there it is. I may give Celtx another go, what i did like about it was the predictive scene headings and character names. It saves a little time when you get used to it.

Celtx isn't bad. Personally, I see it as great for a writer whose budget won't allow them to purchase the more expensive software. It gets the job done. However, there are issues in screenplay structure that are automatically fixed with Final Draft that one doesn't find with Celtx.

I've just remembered something else I don't like about Celtx, there isn't an English version. Unless I downloaded the wrong one. I have the American-English version. I hate ugly red lines under my work. Sometimes it actually catches me out and I need to double check, only to discover that I am right after all. Hopefully, it's just something I'm missing again.

Celtx is great if you don't got $100 to spend.

Andrew - go to a college near you where they sell it. See how much it is and ask a student to buy. Know several people who did this to buy AVID dirt cheap.

Thanks but that doesn't work for me, I have US only. Maybe it needs an update or maybe it's a compatibility issue with Ubuntu.

Dustin email celtx. By far some of the most resourceful tech support I've had the pleasure working with.

Log onto celtx.com, go to the Desktop bit, scroll to bottom, Free Dictionaries- download "British English" , et voila, pas de probleme ;)

I rewrote a short using it yesterday (after deleting the old editable file by mistake), and it went well. I suppose I could be tempted to move away from the Office program I've grown to love. Clicking on the pdf tab now and again gives me a good idea of how many pages I've done. But in a way, I like not knowing what page I'm on. Is it possible to import .odt files into celtx? I'll find out myself in a while.

That PDF section screws with you. What I often do is: Click print under celtx tab In print window. Click on preview. Then in preview I review how pages I have. Tends to be 1 to 2 pages more than celtx. I often tell them about this and they say keep doing what I'm doing. Final draft has the feature of telling you how pages you have and by 1/8s. Celtx need that.

Maybe the .pdf is messing up because you have different sizes for printing than you do viewing the .pdf? There is US letter size and A4.

I use celtx and know others who do and everyone loves it, especially for a free product.

Celtx is great for screenplays, not as good for stageplays. There's a free download version with less functionality than the paid version, but for me it gives you all you need.

celtx is great. its how i write my scripts.

I use Celtx and love it, for me the fact that it's on PC, iPad etc (and all free) is great... icing is saving to Cloud so I'm always working on most recent version of a script no matter what device!

Sure! Download it! It's great and it's free! I use Celtic and love it.

Celtx is grea for me, there are others with high credentials but on a former thread I kept seeing comms about their flaws, Celtx i nice and simple, also makes you red your typing more due to it's simplicity, hat's where I findmy mistas and can improve the story and flow.

Celtx is great. It is a simple interface and it is free in its basic form. Use it free until your big movie comes in and then pay them the premium membership so they can keep supporting the community of film makers .

It also outputs in .PDF or in rtf so if others demand it in another software, it can be transferred. The online collaboration is very useful since I like to have some trusted readers tear apart my writing as I do it...

I loved it when it was free. Not sure what to do with the four scripts and one short I wrote in it.

Janet Biery , it is still free

I used Celtx before I could afford Final draft

I switched to celtx after having paid for final draft... celtx had less crashing and better accepted alternate characters , useful if you type in other than English...

I found with Final draft that after every sentence I typed,I had to hit CRTL S ....

Celtx is very easy to use and a very effected software.

Yes, very useful.

It's usueful, and I HAVE written on/with it -- but I still like going back to my screenwriting roots: Movie Magic. (bottom line though, if you have a good story to tell , Movie Magic - Celtx - Final Draft...they're all formatting tools. The best resouce is You.)

I like Fade In and they also have a mobile app. I use Celtx for comic scripts and others, but I'm moving more toward using Fade In more often.

I do. I have written many scripts with it and like it better than final draft.

I have used it. I am accustomed to Final Draft and it is the industry standard so if you are writing to sell you should stick with the industry standard. That said; Celtx is easy and serviceable, I have used when collaborating long distance,

Celtx is a nice free way to get started, and worth the download. Final Draft is the industry standard though.

They both are industry standard, one's just free. They have their own interface you have to work with. I use Celtx when I'm collaborating with classmates because it's free and our teachers recommended it. I personally like FInal Draft. It's a lot smoother to work with and I don't get frustrated with is as much as I do with Celtx. :)

Scrivener is a pretty powerful program for the price of $40 - and has templates for screenwriting, novels, comic books, plays

Scrivener is AWESOME!

Scrivener is good, but it doesn't put continues on pages, so...however, I love it for drafting. I really like that binder and wish there was a focused screenplay writer that had the same. Celtx does to a degree, but not nearly as powerful as Scrivener's. But, as a screenplay writer, it's lacking. It lacks reporting, it lacks a vertical ruler or at the very least, pagination, it's reporting on length is limited to reporting whole pages, so five lines on a page reports as a whole page taken up.

sure, it's got its flaws but if you're looking for something while saving up for FD, it's awesome :D

It is becoming more and more powerful all the time and I would say absolutely it is worth downloading.

Eoin, what platform do you use Trelby on? I've used it on Windows and I find it sometimes loses the keyboard. I type and nothing happens. If they could fix that problem, I think Trelby would beat out Celtx as a standalone. I would like to see the FadeIn developers work on a collaboration system like FD's and a binder and index card system similar to Scrivener.

Yes, I have used Celtx before and I use it quite regularly. I really like the program and it has gotten better and better with its further developments. I would say, yes it is worth downloading.

I think Trelby is a better choice than Celtx. Trelby can export/import FDX and export PDF. I couldn't find where Celtx exports PDF. Perhaps the one for which you pay a monthly fee provides PDF export, but I couldn't find it in the free one. But at $9.99/mo or $69.99/yr for a celtx subscription, I'd recommend FadeIn before paid Celtx. So, Trelby for free, if you're going to pay something, but can't afford a lot, FadeIn.

Not used Trelby so can't comment but Celtx does export to PDF very easily and Celtx is also free - the paid version has some features, primarily collaboration that you are paying for. My feeling is that Celtx, Trelby and Writers Duet are all free - so try them all and work out which works best for you.

Anthony, you're right. I apologize to Celtx users. I didn't expect a PDF process like that. Different than simple PDF exporting.

No probs Robert - it isn't the most obvious process but you quickly get used to it! On another note I'm sure I read something the other day saying that Writers Duet now paginated as accurately as Final Draft (one of their boasts)... so it may be worth a look.

Mike is right. Celtx is absolutely worth it. I have Final Draft 7 and 8 but I tend to use Celtx, unless I have t use Final Draft. If you are a beginner, it will save you money to download Celtx for free. I wish you all the best.

Celtx is MUCH more user-friendly especially if you're just starting out.

I like it!

Yes. I highly recommend it.

have been using it for years. Its a great program

The free version of Adobe story has all if not more features then Celtx and is free. I would recommend that one first

I use the program for screenwriting mainly because I use the app on my iPad a lot. Then use the cloud to upload any changes to the laptop or computer when I'm ready.

Great program, go for it. Wrote my first feature in college using it and am writing my second one using it.

I use it, but industry standard is final draft, and they are not compatible.

Agreed, I use Celtx now, but it's a pain in the ass sometimes. I do like the cloud feature though so I can jump from my Mac, IPhone and iPad.

James, you could get that from a cloud drive, such as dropbox or amazon's cloud drive. Admittedly, the space is more limited, up to 5Gig, but it's free.

Celtx is good but Adobe Story is Better

I use Final Draft 9. Its the industry standard for screenwriting. Look into Final draft.

Yes I use Final Draft, is the best but pricey.