Text files
The everyday writing file. Formatting, typing shortcuts, links to files, wiki entries and the web, find and replace, word counts, and your writing font, spacing and margins.
A text file is where most writing happens: chapters, scenes, notes, research, letters. It's also the only kind of file that syncs to your BYOK, and the building block of a manuscript.
Writing and saving
Click anywhere in the page and type. Studio saves as you go; there's no save button. When you come back to a file, it opens where you left off, with the cursor where it was.
- The word count sits at the bottom right. Select some text to count just that.
- The colored dots after the file's name are its tags, one dot per tag. Hover them to see the names.
- Each file remembers its own zoom: change it in the file options, or with the palette.
The formatting toolbar
Click the A button at the top right of the file to show or hide that file's formatting toolbar.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| B, I, U, S | Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough. (Cmd+B, Cmd+I, Cmd+U) |
| Text color and highlight | Color the letters or the background. Colors follow your theme. |
| Paragraph | Paragraph, Heading 1 to 6, Bulleted List, Numbered List or Quote. |
| Alignment | Left, center, right or justified. |
| T (typography) | Your writing font, line spacing and margins. See below. |
| Magnifying glass | Find and replace. |
Typing shortcuts
You can format without the toolbar, in any text file:
| Type | You get |
|---|---|
# and a space at the start of a line | Heading 1. ## for Heading 2, and so on to ######. |
**words** | Bold |
*words* | Italic |
- and a space | A bulleted list |
1. and a space | A numbered list |
> and a space | A quote |
The symbols disappear as you type and the formatting stays. A hash with no space after it (#1, a hashtag) stays as it is.
Pasting
Text pasted from other apps takes on Studio's look, so nothing arrives in invisible white from a dark-mode app. Bold, italics, lists and links come with it. Paste something that looks like Markdown and Studio offers to format it; see Markdown.
Font, spacing and margins
Click T in the toolbar (in a manuscript, the T in the header) for the typography panel:
- Writing font: eight faces chosen for long sessions. See Appearance for what each is like.
- Line spacing: Default (1.5), Single or Double.
- Margins: Narrow, Default or Wide.
These change how your words look on this computer or browser. They don't change the file, and your BYOK isn't affected.
Links
Any text can link to another file in the project, a heading inside a file, a wiki entry, or a web address.
- Select the words you want to link. A small bar appears with Link, + Scratch Pad and Comment.
- Click Link.
- Search for a file and pick it, switch to Wiki Entry to pick an entry or to Header to pick a heading in this file, or paste a web address and click Apply.
Click a link to follow it: links to files open the file, and links to wiki entries open the wiki at that entry.
Drag a file in: on a computer, drag a file from the file drawer into your text. A faint preview shows where it will go; let go and a link to the file appears there, named after it. Drag several files and you get several links, separated by commas. Folders can't be linked (drag the files inside instead), and a file can't link to itself.
Link to a wiki entry as you type: type [[ and start typing a name. Pick the entry from the list with ↑/↓ and Enter, or choose Create to make a new entry with that name. See Wikis.
Add to the Scratch Pad
Select some text and click + (the Scratch Pad icon) in the bar over it. The words are copied to the project's Scratch Pad as a note, ready for later. You can also drag notes from the Scratch Pad into a file.
Find and replace
Press Cmd+F to find. For find and replace, press Cmd+Option+F on a Mac or Ctrl+H on Windows, or click the magnifying glass in the toolbar.
- Type what to find. Studio highlights every match and shows 1 of 9. Step with Previous and Next (or Enter).
- Type a replacement and click Replace for one, or Replace all.
- Match case and Whole word narrow the search.
Replace all asks first when there are 20 or more matches. In a manuscript, find covers every chapter. On mobile, find and replace is in the file menu (the sliders icon).
Undo
Cmd+Z undoes your typing and Cmd+Shift+Z redoes it. For anything older, every file has version history.
Text from your BYOK
Files that come from your BYOK show each line from the device as a paragraph, with space between them, or keep lines together; that's the Line breaks setting on the Devices page. If you write Markdown on the device, turn on Markdown on your BYOK there and headings and bold arrive formatted.
More you can do with a text file
- Comments in the margin, from Studio or from your BYOK.
- Markdown, with a source view.
- The typewriter: write the file on a simulated manual typewriter.
- Export as Word, PDF, Markdown or plain text.
- Sync it to your BYOK or back it up to Google Drive.
Still stuck?
Send us a note from Contact Support, or choose Report Bug in Studio’s account menu so your app version comes along with it. For the device itself, see the BYOK device manual.