Background Fountain files are markdown files for screenplays. Many websites have
ID: 656881 • Letter: B
Question
Background
Fountain files are markdown files for screenplays. Many websites have appeared, and many GUI applications exist, that convert .fountain files to various other formats (e.g., .fdx, .html, .pdf).
Problem
Launching a GUI to generate a PDF from .fountain files is a manual process that should be possible to side-step from the command-line. A command-line tool opens up a plethora of possibilities that graphical interfaces lack (such as automated generation of PDF files).
Question
How would you convert .fountain files to .pdf files on Unix systems (such as Linux) from the command-line using free, open-source software?
Going through an intermediary format (such as .fdx or .html) is acceptable, provided:
no GUI is required;
page numbers are properly formatted; and
character speech continuations across page breaks are properly marked.
Additional Details
Trelby's author noted that a command-line interface was not in the works. Textplay has a dependency on non-free software (PrinceXML)--not to mention other issues. AfterWriting's JavaScript code does not work using nodejs or PhantomJS; however, it produces ideal output.
WeasyPrint could be a viable alternative to PrinceXML.
Explanation / Answer
The author of AfterWriting has published a command-line interface based on node.js. After downloading, it can be used as follows:
cd afterwriting-labs
npm install
node awc.js --help
For example:
node awc.js --source my_draft.fountain --pdf screenplay.pdf
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