Script template in Google Docs: margins, indents and limits

To format a screenplay in Google Docs, set the page to US Letter with a 1.5-inch left margin and 1-inch margins elsewhere, use a Courier font at 12 points with single line spacing, and give each element its own left and right indents — character cues about 2.2 inches in from the left margin, dialogue about 1 inch in. Save that document as a copy-ready template.

Google Docs can produce a page that looks right. What it cannot do is keep the page right as you write: there is no automatic (MORE) or (CONT'D), no Tab-and-Enter element switching, and page count drifts. This guide covers both — exact settings first, then the limits and when they matter. The underlying rules are in the screenplay format guide.

Step 1: page size and margins

1. Open a blank document and choose File, then Page setup.
2. Set paper size to Letter (8.5 × 11 in) and orientation to Portrait. Outside North America, Letter is still the norm for scripts read in the US industry.
3. Set margins: top 1, bottom 1, left 1.5, right 1 (inches). The wider left margin leaves room for binding brads.
4. Turn on Insert, then Page numbers, top right. Scripts conventionally show no number on page one and a number followed by a period from page two, so tick the option to skip the first page; Docs does not add the period.

Step 2: font and spacing

Select all text and set the font to Courier Prime or Courier New at 12 points. Courier Prime is available in the Docs font menu under More fonts. Set line spacing to Single and, under Format, Line and paragraph spacing, remove any space before and after paragraphs. You will add one empty line between elements by pressing Enter, as on a typewriter. Our screenplay font guide explains why the font is fixed-width.

Step 3: indents for each element

In Google Docs, indents are measured from the margin, not the page edge. Open Format, then Align and indent, then Indentation options, and use these values. The page-edge position is given in brackets so you can compare with other references.

• Scene heading — left 0, right 0 [1.5 in from the edge]. Capitals.
• Action — left 0, right 0 [1.5 in].
• Character cue — left 2.2 in, right 0 [3.7 in]. Capitals.
• Parenthetical — left 1.6 in, right 2.0 in [3.1 in].
• Dialogue — left 1.0 in, right 1.5 in [2.5 in]. The right indent keeps lines to about 35 characters.
• Transition — right-aligned (Ctrl+Shift+R, or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac), no indent. Capitals, ending in a colon.

A sample page with those settings applied reads like this:

FADE IN:

INT. NIGHT FERRY - LOUNGE - NIGHT

Empty plastic seats. A vending machine hums. IVY (17) sleeps across three chairs, a backpack for a pillow.

A DECKHAND (60s) nudges her boot.

DECKHAND
(not unkind)
Last stop was an hour ago.

IVY
Then where are we going?

Step 4: save it as a script template in Google Docs

Retyping indents for every line is what makes Docs scripts slow. Two shortcuts help.

• Paint format: put the cursor in a correctly formatted dialogue line, click the paint roller in the toolbar, then click the new line. Double-click the roller to apply it to several lines in a row.
• Named styles: format one line as a character cue, then open the style menu (Normal text) and choose Heading 2, then Update Heading 2 to match. Do the same with Heading 1 for scene headings and Heading 3 for dialogue. Ctrl+Alt+1, 2 or 3 (Cmd+Option on a Mac) then applies them, and scene headings appear in the document outline down the left side. Check that indents carried over into each style before relying on it.

When the template is set, rename it "Screenplay template" and use File, then Make a copy, for each new script so the original stays clean.

What Google Docs can't do for a screenplay

Google Docs is a general word processor, so screenplay rules that depend on page breaks or element types have to be done by hand:

• No (MORE) and (CONT'D). When a speech breaks across pages, a script adds (MORE) at the bottom and repeats the cue with (CONT'D) at the top of the next page. In Docs you add these yourself — and redo them whenever an edit moves the break.
• No element switching. A script editor moves from character cue to dialogue on Enter and cycles elements with Tab. In Docs every line needs its style applied.
• Page drift. Line height depends on the font and the app, so a Docs page rarely holds exactly the 55 or so lines a script page does. Page count, the rough guide to screen time, can be off by several pages over a feature.
• No keep-together rules. A scene heading can end up alone at the foot of a page, or a cue can be separated from its dialogue.
• No script-aware lists. Docs knows nothing about scenes or characters, so there is no scene list, character list or scene numbering.

For a short film, a class exercise or a first draft shared with a co-writer, these limits are manageable. For a feature you will send out, the hand fixes add up, and page count matters because readers use it to judge length.

A title page in Google Docs

Put the title page in the same document, before the first page of script. Center the title in capitals about a third of the way down, with "Written by" and the author's name a few lines below it. Put contact details at the bottom left. Then choose Insert, Break, Page break, so the script starts on a fresh page — and remember the title page should not count as page one of the script. The title page guide has the full layout.

Can you share a Google Docs script with a co-writer?

Yes — sharing and comments are where Google Docs is strongest. Use Suggesting mode for line edits so your co-writer can accept or reject them, and comments for questions. Agree on one template copy before you start, so both writers apply the same styles and indents.

Moving a Google Docs script into a script editor

When the draft outgrows Docs, export it with File, then Download, then PDF document. A PDF keeps the layout you built and can be imported into dedicated screenwriting software. Check scene headings, cues and dialogue after any import, because a hand-formatted document may not mark every element the way an editor expects.

Write it in Scenaloom

Scenaloom is a screenplay editor in the browser that applies the margins, indents, (MORE) and (CONT'D) for you, with Enter and Tab moving between elements, and it shares by link and email with comments much as Docs does. It imports PDF, Final Draft (.fdx) and Fountain files — download your Doc as a PDF to bring it in — and exports to Word (.docx) as well as PDF. See import and export or start a script.

Or skip the workarounds: paste your Google Docs text into the free screenplay formatter and save a properly formatted PDF.