Scrivener (software)

Scrivener
Original author(s)Keith Blount
Developer(s)Literature & Latte
Initial releaseJanuary 20, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-01-20)
Stable release
macOS 3.3.6 / 16 October 2023; 12 months ago (2023-10-16)[1]

iOS 1.2.4 / 20 September 2023; 12 months ago (2023-09-20)[2]

Windows 3.1.5.1 / 5 July 2023; 15 months ago (2023-07-05)[3]

Preview release
Linux 1.9.0.1 (abandoned)[4]
Operating system
Type
LicenseProprietary (shareware)
Websitewww.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener Edit this at Wikidata

Scrivener (/ˈskrɪvənər/) is a word-processing program and outliner designed for writers.[5] Scrivener provides a management system for documents, notes and metadata. This allows the user to organize notes, concepts, research, and whole documents for easy access and reference (documents including rich text, images, PDF, audio, video, and web pages). Scrivener offers templates for screenplays, fiction, and non-fiction manuscripts. After writing a text, the user may export it for final formatting to a standard word processor, screenwriting software, desktop publishing software, or TeX.

Features

Features include a corkboard, the ability to rearrange files by dragging-and-dropping virtual index cards on the corkboard, an outliner, 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 formats like EPUB and Mobipocket for Kindle, and markup languages such as Fountain, HTML, 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.), hyperlinks 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, Apple's integrated development environment (IDE). One computer programmer has called Scrivener "an IDE for writing".[6]

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.[7][8] It is built mostly on libraries and features of Mac OS X from version 10.4 onward. In 2011, a Windows version of the software was released, written and maintained by Lee Powell.[9]

iOS

Scrivener for iOS was launched July 20, 2016. Current version is 1.2.4 and requires iOS 12+.[10]

Linux

There is no official release for Linux; there is a public beta version[4] which has been abandoned,[11] but still is available to use.[12][13]

Macintosh

The latest version of Scrivener for Mac is version 3.3.4, and requires macOS High Sierra or newer.[1] Scrivener can be obtained from the Mac App Store, 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.[14]

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 and Intel 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".[14]

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.[14]

Windows

The latest stable version of Scrivener for Windows is 3.1.5.1.[3] This upgrade "[r]equires Windows 8+ with .NET Framework 4.6.2+, and a minimum display resolution of 1024x768px"[15] 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.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Scrivener Release Notes". Literature & Latte. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Scrivener Release Notes". Literature & Latte. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Scrivener Release Notes". literatureandlatte.com. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Scrivener 1.9.0.1 Linux beta released 21 October 2015". literatureandlatte.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  5. ^ Heffernan, Virginia (6 January 2008). "An interface of one's own". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  6. ^ Bailey, Dan (24 January 2013). "Writing as programming". danbailey.net. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  7. ^ Watt, Justin (2012). "Keith Blount, founder and lead developer at Literature & Latte". objectivesee.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  8. ^ Cordella, Francesco (May 2013). "Scrivener and me: an interview with Keith Blount". avventuretestuali.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  9. ^ "About - Clever Dictionary". cleverdictionary.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Scrivener Release Notes". Literature and Latte (official Scrivener site). Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. ^ Laden, Greg (29 August 2014). "Scrivener on Linux: Try it, you'll like it". scienceblogs.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2017. Updated as: Laden, Greg (2 January 2016). "Scrivener on Linux: Oh Well..." scienceblogs.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  12. ^ Orosz, Attila (18 March 2018). "The Return of Scrivener". The Way of Linux. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020.
  13. ^ LAP (21 October 2015). "Linux 1.9.01 Beta Released". Literature and Latte Community Forum.
  14. ^ a b c "Scrivener for Mac OS X Download". Literature & Latte. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Scrivener | Literature & Latte". Literature & Latte.
  16. ^ "Upgrade to Scrivener 3 for Windows". Literature & Latte.

Further reading