PDF Export

The ShowPrinter plugin exports scripts with cue annotations as PDF files. Cues appear as colour-coded badges in the margin beside their associated script lines.

Exporting via the API

The plugin registers a single endpoint:

GET /export/script/{script_id}/pdf

The response is a PDF file download. The filename includes the script title and a timestamp, for example Hamlet 2026-04-16_1430.pdf.

Example with curl

# Export script 1 with its default cue list
curl -O http://localhost:8000/export/script/1/pdf

# Export script 1 with a specific cue list
curl -O "http://localhost:8000/export/script/1/pdf?cue_list_id=3"

# Export with a custom layout
curl -O "http://localhost:8000/export/script/1/pdf?layout_path=./my_layout.toml"

Example with Python

import httpx

resp = httpx.get("http://localhost:8000/export/script/1/pdf")
with open("script.pdf", "wb") as f:
    f.write(resp.content)

Layout configuration

The PDF layout is controlled by a TOML file. The built-in default ships at src/showrunner/pdf_layout.toml. You can override it per-request with the layout_path query parameter, or copy it and customize it for your production.

Distances are in millimeters. Fonts must be built-in PDF fonts: Courier, Helvetica, or Times (with -Bold, -Oblique, or -BoldOblique suffixes).

Page settings

[page]
width = 215.9          # US Letter
height = 279.4
margin-top = 25.4
margin-bottom = 25.4
margin-left = 25.4
margin-right = 25.4

Header and footer

Both support placeholder variables:

[page.header]
enabled = true
font = "Helvetica"
size = 8
text = "{title} - {date} {time}"

[page.footer]
enabled = true
font = "Helvetica"
size = 8
text = "Page {page}"

Element styles

Each Fountain element type has its own section under [elements.*]. Available types: heading, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, lyric, transition, section, synopsis.

[elements.heading]
font = "Courier-Bold"
size = 12
uppercase = true
align = "left"          # left, center, right, justify
space-before = 18       # vertical space before element (pt)
space-after = 12        # vertical space after element (pt)
margin-left = 0         # additional left indent (mm)
margin-right = 0        # additional right indent (mm)

Cue annotation styles

Controls how cue markers appear in the right margin.

[cues]
font = "Helvetica-Bold"        # badge label font
size = 8                        # badge label size (pt)
name-font = "Helvetica"        # cue name font
name-size = 10                  # cue name size (pt)
max-width = 80                  # max width for cue name before wrapping (mm)
margin-right = 2                # distance from right page edge (mm)
space-between = 2               # vertical gap between stacked badges (mm)
border-width = 0.4              # border thickness (mm); 0 to disable
padding = 1.5                   # inner padding between border and content (mm)
background = [255, 255, 255]    # background fill (R, G, B)
background-opacity = 0.5        # 0.0 = transparent, 1.0 = opaque

Layer colours

Per-layer RGB colours for cue badges and borders:

[cues.colors]
Lights = [255, 165, 0]     # orange
Sound  = [50, 100, 255]    # blue
Video  = [160, 32, 240]    # purple
Audio  = [0, 200, 200]     # cyan
Stage  = [0, 180, 0]       # green

How it works

1. The script's Fountain content is parsed using the screenplay-tools library.
2. Each parsed element (scene headings, character names, dialogue, etc.) is rendered with the typography defined in the layout.
3. Cues from the selected cue list are indexed by their script_line and drawn as colour-coded badges in the right margin beside the element that covers that line.
4. Each badge shows the layer initial and cue number (e.g. L42 for Lights cue 42), with the cue name displayed alongside and wrapped if it exceeds max-width.

Limitations

• Built-in PDF fonts (Courier, Helvetica, Times) only support Latin-1 characters. Avoid Unicode characters like em dashes in the layout template text fields.
• The line-to-element mapping is heuristic. Non-standard Fountain constructs (multi-line boneyards, nested notes) may not map perfectly.

Reference

See the ShowPrinter plugin reference for a full list of configuration options and API details.