Superscript is the first writing software designed exclusively for writers of comic books, graphic novels and manga. Superscript includes all the usual features found in other text editors, plus it automatically handles the tedious and distracting tasks you would normally be doing manually when writing a comic book script.
Incremental Stretch Goal: 1 Month per $500
For each additional $500 we raise above our $5000 goal, everyone who claims a license reward will have their license extended by 1 month. For lifetime license backers, the 1-year of updates will be upgraded accordingly.
Top Tier Freebie
We don't want the top-tier backers to feel left out, but since we can't extend anybody's lifetime ... the $100 "Lifetime license + featured credit" reward will now include the pre-release version of Superscript. That means that soon after the Kickstarter ends, we will send you a link to download the pre-release version of Superscript, which will last until the official full release of the app.
What People Are Saying
"Intuitive, powerful and versatile" — M. R. Carey (Lucifer, Hellblazer, X-Men)
"A fascinating development in software for script writers. Artists have been well served for comic art specific software for years with both and this could well turn into the writers best tool for writing comics. It outputs scripts in a format that's perfect for an artist to work from too, and that's a big plus in my eyes (panel counts at the top of the page? YES PLEASE)" — P. J. Holden (Judge Dredd, Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human)
"I've been using a Microsoft Word template for quite some time, but this has me intrigued..." — Jim Zub, (The Avengers, Wayward)
"Undoubtedly the most important software to be created for Comic book creators since ClipPaint studio streamlined digital illustration. This is a game changer for all the Comic writers out there trying to make film scripting software fit their work instead of the other way around!" — ComixCentral
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Automatic Numbering
Automatic numbering is possibly the most important feature of Superscript. What sets this apart from other editors like Scrivener is the way it works. You don't need to remember mysterious code like "<$n>" and enter them into a special dialog box. All you do is type "page", hit return, and "PAGE 1" is inserted for you.
The best part is that whenever you add or remove a page, every page after it will be renumbered immediately as well. So there's no need to worry about updating page and panel numbers every time you need to change something. Automatic numbering even allows you to create headers for spans of pages and panels, which is perfect for writing multi-page splashes, panel sequences and for outlining early drafts of your script.
Automatic Formatting
The next biggest feature is contextualized formatting. Just write your script and let Superscript deal with the styling. Your title, metadata, page, panel and character headings, dialog and action text are all styled automatically based on simple clues to the editor. E.g., character headings end in colons and dialog begins with a tab.
Spoken Word Count
Another feature that only makes sense for comic script writers is word count. This will tally up the words in every dialog section and show you the word count on the corresponding page, panel and character headings. Professional writers often count up the words per page by hand to make sure they're not overwhelming their readers with their loquaciousness. There's a reason they're calling graphic novels, after all.
Even set your own page and bubble limits to see when you're going over:
Autocomplete
Superscript includes spellchecking and autocompleting custom defined characters and made-up words (great for sci-fi and fantasy).
Add Comments and Images
Adding comments in the margin of the script is a great way to keep notes when sharing a document via Dropbox or Google Drive. Images are useful for when you need to give your artist a bit of reference.
Export to...
PDF, Word, rich text, plain text and markdown. It's your script. You should be able to share it in whatever format is best for you. Multiple formatting options are available, including page number written out longhand and bubble numbering. The multiple layout options include character and dialog side-by-side (the Fred Van Lente style) and centered character and dialog (screenplay style).
Letterer Mode
Switch to Letterer Mode to have character headings numbered in the app and quickly copy dialog with 1 click. Activate the "I/i" mode to convert non-lone I's to lowercase to make use of skinny I's in widely used comic book fonts.
View Your Changes
Compare drafts of your script to quickly see the differences between them.
Cross Platform
Superscript will be Available for MacOS 10.9+ and Windows 7+. If there's enough interest, we can make Superscript available for Linux as well.
Superscript is built on top of cross-platform technologies, most notably Electron.js, Vue.js and Quill.js. These well-tested libraries allow us to build for multiple platforms, develop new features quickly and ensure a stable product.
Roger Beckett Rewards
We are working with the artist Roger Beckett, former Assistant Editor of Living Dead Magazine, to help tailor Superscript for writing manga in addition to Western style comic books. To celebrate this collaboration, we are offering a limited top-tier reward for a backers who would like a custom portrait from Roger. Check out his other work at www.rogerlbeckett.com/work
Charon Comics Rewards
We're partnering with Frederick Packard and Joshua Valliere of Charon Comics, winners of ComixCentral's 2017 "Best Fantasy" comic for Skylin, to help us test and improve Superscript for professional use. We are offering the first issues of their flagship series, Sol Survivor and Skylin as rewards.
Rapid City Below Zero Rewards
Josh Dahl has been involved with making and teaching comic books for most of his life. He's the author of Rapid City, Rapid City Below Zero and The Barks. Josh is combining his comic writing experience with his knack for breaking things to help make Superscript bug-free and useable by all.
Josh currently offers consultations at makebettercomics.com
Risks and challenges
This is a text editor, so the biggest risk (however unlikely it may be) is that the document you've been working on for months somehow gets corrupted and you lose your work. That's why we need to test, test, test, which your support will help fund.
Also, since this is a desktop application, you are in complete control of your files and we encourage you to back up your files regularly.
I've spent over a decade building web applications for various businesses including medical and immigration services, where the risks are far higher and people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. So the risks and challenges I face with this app are minimal.
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Funding period
- (30 days)