Editing screenplays in pdf - formatting, licenses, price

[robertc99064645]

I contacted customer support to arrange a consultation but so far have not heard back, so I thought I would pose my questions in the forum.

We are a small film school and this year are starting up a Writing Program. I myself am the lead instructor.

Part of our initiative is to cut down on paper; therefore we will be restricting ourselves to pdfs. I would like the instructors to be able to edit the students' screenplays as part of the class instruction. The screenplay will be projected on a screen for all the students to view. However, what I need to know is if the formatting will be retained during the editing. For example, dialogue in a screenplay is indented on the left and right. If the instructor edits the dialogue, will the indentation remain the same on both sides, or will the text spill over onto the right side of the page, making the formally-uniform formatting uneven?

We have three computers per classroom and four instructors. This means we would likely need three or seven licenses (TBD). What is the cost in Canadian dollars?

Is there a one-time fee or are we restricted to a monthly/yearly subscription?

Thank you,

Robert

[try67]

First of all, I moved your post from the Reader forum to the Acrobat General Troubleshooting forum.

To answer some of your questions:

First and foremost, PDF files are not suitable for editing. They are suitable for commenting, though. If you want the teachers to actually edit what the students send in then you need to use a different format. The PDF version should be the last stop in your workflow.

You can have the instructors make comments on the file, though, and then send it back to the students (and display it on the screen, of course), who would then go back to the original file format, edit it accordingly, and generate a new PDF version from it.

Make sure to inform them to ALWAYS keep a copy of the original file, in case it needs to be edited later on.

Regarding the license: You can get a monthly/yearly subscription or a perpetual license. The former is advised as it gets you constant updates, while the latter only gets quarterly updates, and will sooner or later become obsolete and not compatible with the current operating systems. It's up to you which license to get, of course.

The perpetual license version is currently called Acrobat 2017. The subscription version is called Acrobat DC.

Notice there's also a Standard and a Pro version of either one. The Standard version is only available for Windows machines, though.

You can all of them, including prices, here: Adobe products: desktop, web, and mobile applications | Adobe

[robertc99064645]

Thank you for answering, but this does not exactly address the issue.

The situation is that the students are composing their scripts with different software--Final Draft, Movie Magic, Fade In, etc.--and for ease of use we will get them to make a PDF of their script. As part of the lesson, we will project their scripts up on a screen for discussion.

I am fully aware of the functionality of Comments. However, what we would like to do during the class is to make changes to the script for all the students to see.

The paid version offers the option to "Edit PDF" with the ability to "easily make text changes," "insert new text" and "add new lines to bulleted lists." So I'm confused as to why I'm being advised that PDFs are not suitable for editing. I thought the incentive for the paid version is the ability to edit.

I just wanted to know if the formatting (indentation) would be retained while editing.

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

Try before you buy to ensure it does what you're hoping for.

PDF editor, edit text in PDF files | Adobe Acrobat DC

For minor changes, this will probably work just fine.  But for major re-writes, it's best to go back to the source file and app.

[robertc99064645]

Thank you Nancy. I've tested the trial version. The editing isn't perfect, but I think it's good enough for our needs. I'll be talking to the head of the school about purchasing the product, so thank you for the link.

I just need to know cost for four or seven licences in Canadian dollars. Can anybody answer this question or direct me to someone from customer service.

[Nancy OShea]

Acrobat DC Pro plan for Teams is USD $15/mo per seat.

Business plans and pricing | Adobe Acrobat DC

[robertc99064645]

Thanks. Is "seat" just another term for "license"?

[Nancy OShea]

robertc99064645  wrote

Thanks. Is "seat" just another term for "license"?

No.  A Team License is granted to the Team Administrator (probably you).

Seat = number of people or work stations that use the product.

[robertc99064645]

Also, the window "Please wait while the document is being prepared for reading" keeps popping up every time I work with a new file. This wasn't an issue with the free version of the app.

[try67]

Sorry to say it, but that's just marketing-speak. You should not be editing PDF files if it can be avoided.

Maybe it will work great for you (it often does), but when it doesn't it can go very wrong, very fast.

You'll see for yourself once you've done it a couple of times...

[Test Screen Name]

As has been said, PDF is not what you edit. PDF is what you deliver. For students, teach them how to save Word documents to PDF Or how to use Google Docs. Or leave it to them But insist they submit only PDFs. Really, that’s the beauty of PDF, you use whatever app you already know, then convert. Teach them About management of their originals, not to try to convert back. Teach them good backup and archive practice. Teach them good script layout for usability of review, technical and rehearsal. Of course there also specialist screenwriting apps but that seems an unnecessary limiter at this stage of their study.