I’ve been sat like a lemon waiting for Scrivener to come out with an iPad app. This was going to change the world, so I waited. However, it turns out that I was waiting in vain because I can already add/edit my document on the iPad and then just sync it across. Ooh… fancy.
It’s dead easy and if you don’t believe me then just take a look at this from the nice people at Scrivener. (There’s a video at the bottom called Folder Sync) I’m going to run through a very quick step-by-step guide but watch the video if you run in to trouble.
- Get Plain Text App on iPad
- Get Dropbox linked between your computer and iPad
- Sync Plain Text to Dropbox
- Create a folder in Dropbox/Plain Text. Dropbox is free for 2gb and unless you’ve got War and Peace you’ll be fine for storage space. I created a folder especially for my novel.
- Click in File/Sync/With External Folder in Scrivener. Link your newly created Dropbox folder in the Shared Folder choice.
- Click ‘Sync all other text documents in the project’.
- Change the format to Plain Text. Just easier.
- Sync.
- Open up Plain Text on the iPad and voila there’s your book.
- Make a change to it, go back into Scrivener and File/Sync/with External Folder now. Job Done.
It’s that easy that it’s a bit annoying that I’ve waited so long to be able to do it.
I hope this helps you if, like me, you want to edit on the move. What’s the point in being a writer if you can’t sit in coffee shops?
What are you going to do when your daughter wants her iPad back or even wants it used for HER needs? Only joking….I’m sure she gets a look in once in a while!!
Lets have an update on how the book(s) is coming along….oh, and when it finally does hit publication can it be available on Amazon.com as well please? I notice that there are a LOT of books only available on co.UK and that’s no good to me!!! (or any other ex-pat sitting on a distant shore).
The next post will be a post on progress, I promise.
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(sigh).. I got excited when I started reading your post, and thought there was something new, but alas.. this method has been around, but it works for Mac users only. For Windows users, we still have to export to Dropbox as a .txt file, and then open it up using Textilus or something similar, and throwing it back into Dropbox, and then importing back into Scrivener. Not as clean, easy or idiot-proof… but it is a workaround, although it’s not synced, and you’ve got some odd duplication things going on you have to clean up.. but it is do-able. Fortunately, Scrivener is so awesome, it’s worth the effort.
I’m sorry. Should have said I have an iMac. The option you describe sounds a nightmare.
it is a nightmare… and the marvelous folks at Literature & Latte (the Scrivener people) know about it.. and it wouldn’t be worth it EXCEPT that Scrivener is so awesome, it’s worth the effort. In the meantime, there’s no question that I use my iPad much less than I would, otherwise… as I (im)patiently wait for L&L to come up with an iPad version.
I agree. The iPad version will be great.
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Ah, another wonderful feature not yet available in the Windows version. Can’t wait to see the iPad version. In the meantime I’ve abandoned Scrivener for much of my writing (so much is done on iPad an Android) and use just plain text files DropBoxed together. By the way, WriteRoom (the big brother of PlainText) is well worth the modest cost for its enhanced keyboard alone.
I’ll have a look, thanks for the tip.
Thanks a lot for this. Very helpful! One little note however… if your Scrivener files are filled with images (as some of mine are, depending on the topic of the project), then this will be void. But for text-alone projects this is GOLD. As well… I know for myself that the sub-folders are a major way in which I use Scrivener — for organizing a hierarchy, etc. — and that, as well, will become flattened with this option. But still… it’s a way to be able to carry Scrivener projects on an ipad, which is swell.
I have also heard tell that the Index Card app will work… but it also takes some hacking around. Might be an option for image-heavy projects, which yours is better for text.
Thanks for this. I’ve never put images in the book so thanks for giving us this side of the story.
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Reblogged this on Publicly Available Angst and commented:
You’re welcome.
Have you checked out the SimpleNote syncing they reference on the Literature and latte site? I watched the YouTube option and it seems to work well.
Sorry, found it on YouTube. Search for Scrivenerr 2 Basics – SimpleNote Sync *Mac Only*.
No I haven’t Sue. Thanks very much for the tip, I’ll take a look.
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