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Exporting your screenplay#

The Export page turns your project into a standard file — a PDF to read or print, a Final Draft or Fountain file for other screenwriting tools, a full backup, or a production report as a spreadsheet.

Getting to the Export page#

  1. From inside a project, click Export (the download icon) in the left sidebar.
  2. From your dashboard, open the … menu on a project card and choose Export….

The export formats#

Each card describes the file. Pick the one that matches what you need.

PDF — to read or print#

Click Export PDF and Nabu lays your script out in proper screenplay form: Courier 12-point type and page numbers. Two switches on the card choose Scene numbers and a Title page. The file downloads ready to open or print.

Note: When many people are exporting at once, Nabu may say it's busy and ask you to try again shortly. Occasionally Nabu will hand you a simpler web-page version instead; it reads correctly, but the page margins won't be as exact.

Final Draft (FDX) — for other screenwriting tools#

Click Export Final Draft to download an .fdx you can open in Final Draft and similar apps. Nabu includes your title page, script notes, characters, locations, and (when available) a cover image. Each script note opens on its own line and keeps its kind, such as Continuity or Tone, as the note's type in Final Draft. A note on side-by-side dialogue sits on the pair. Notes on omitted scenes stay with the omitted marker. Autocomplete lists include only the characters and places in the exported script. Revision sets created in Nabu include their text colours; imported sets keep their original styles. Your story beats go on Final Draft's Outline 1 row and your sequences on Outline 2, each placed over its pages, and your target length goes with them. The outline's beat names and scene assignments come from the same story record as the map and editor; original Final Draft outline rows are kept as saved.

Note: If a few script notes can't be matched to a spot in the exported file, Nabu tells you how many were skipped. The same goes for revision marks Nabu kept but couldn't place. The export still completes.

Fountain — plain-text screenplay#

Fountain (.fountain) is a plain-text screenplay format that opens in almost anything. Click Export Fountain to download the file. After export, Nabu shows a preview of the Fountain text; click Dismiss when done.

Nabu Bundle (.nabu) — a full backup#

The Nabu Bundle (.nabu) is your complete safety copy. Click Export Nabu Bundle to download a single .nabu file holding your project's content — script, characters, locations, structure, treatment, and more.

To restore one, drop it into Import — see Restoring a Nabu Bundle. It comes back as a new project. Restoring a bundle brings back your scenes — including ones you unplaced or deleted, which stay that way — along with your acts and sequences, and lists anything it couldn't restore. Your backup includes your version history. If a backup is too large to restore, Nabu tells you when you export it. If Nabu says Export is busy, try again in a moment.

Each character comes back with everything on its sheet, including wants, needs, flaws, role and relationships. Character statements you made in chat also keep their original words, dates and dismissals; the surrounding conversation stays out of the backup.

Keep this export somewhere safe before a big change.

The bundle also carries what Nabu understands about your story, what you decided about it, and what Nisaba was keeping track of; restoring it brings all of that back as you left it, and tells you anything it couldn't restore. Your recorded story reading and supported answers return together. If that part fails, it is reported as not restored, with a reason; Nabu does not leave only some of those answers restored.

A project you were building in the wizard comes back where you left it. If Nabu was in the middle of a step, the wizard waits for you: press Continue to pick it back up. Your backup includes your decisions, not your conversations.

Tip: The History page has its own Export Backup button that downloads this same bundle. See History & versions.

Production reports (CSV)#

Below the format cards, Nabu offers three production reports as CSV files for planning a shoot. Click CSV on any report card to download.

  • Cast Report — every character, with their role, scene count, and dialogue-line count.
  • Scene Report — every scene, with its heading, location, characters, and page estimate.
  • Location Report — every location, with scene count, interior/exterior breakdown, and times of day.

The title page in your exports#

Final Draft exports include your title page — your title, author, and other details from your project's title page. PDF exports include it when the card's Title page switch is on.

How your files are named#

PDF and Final Draft files download as:

YYYYMMDD_TITLE_vN

For example, 20260625_NIGHTFALL_v3.pdf. Because the date comes first, downloads sort into order on your computer.

The Nabu Bundle is named after your project, like nightfall-backup.nabu.

Good to know#

  • A progress bar shows while an export runs and the other cards are paused.
  • Exporting changes nothing. Every export is a fresh copy. Your project, scenes, and history are untouched.
  • Reports reflect your current script. Re-download after big changes.