Free Fountain Screenplay Previewer
Write or paste a screenplay in Fountain to see it in script format, outline its scenes and cast, or export the HTML.
What is a Fountain Screenplay Previewer?
Fountain is a plain-text markup language for screenplays, created in 2012 by screenwriter John August and filmmaker Stu Maschwitz. A script written in any text editor becomes a properly formatted screenplay. This previewer formats Fountain as you type and outlines the script.
It parses scripts with fountain-js, an open-source parser that follows the fountain.io syntax, including title pages, dual dialogue, sections, synopses, notes and boneyard. The outline lists scenes, acts and every speaking character with their speeches, and a check finds unclosed notes, duplicate scene numbers and headings with no time of day.
Key Features
Script Format
Scene headings, action, cues, dialogue, parentheticals and transitions laid out like a screenplay.
Dual Dialogue
Two characters speaking at once, side by side, marked with a ^ after the second cue.
Scene and Cast Outline
Every scene with its number, every act and synopsis, and each character’s speeches and words.
Script Check
Unclosed notes and boneyard, repeated scene numbers and headings with no time of day.
HTML Export
The formatted script as HTML, with HTML in the script itself escaped.
Perfect for everyone
- Screenwriters
- Students
- Script readers and developers building writing apps
How to Use the Fountain Screenplay Previewer
Write a scene, paste a whole script, or open a .fountain file exported from Highland, Beat, Slugline or another Fountain app. Every view is built from the same parse, so the outline always matches the formatted script.
Write or Open
Type Fountain or open a .fountain or .txt file.
Read the Script
See it formatted with headings, cues and dialogue in their columns.
Outline It
List scenes, acts and characters to check structure and balance.
Check and Export
Fix any problems found, then copy or download the HTML.
Fountain, Formatted and Outlined
Each row is Fountain as screenwriters write it, from a finished opening to an act outline with notes. Each answer is this tool’s output in the mode on the chip: the outline, the check, or the HTML that the script view draws.
“Title: The Last Train Credit: Written by Author: Mira Okafor Draft date: 12 October 2026 INT. STATION PLATFORM - NIGHT #1# Rain hammers the canopy. The departures board flickers: 23:58, LAST SERVICE. NOOR, 30s, soaked, drags a suitcase with one broken wheel. NOOR (into phone) I'm here. Where are you? LEO (V.O.) Look up. She does. LEO, 30s, waves from the footbridge. LEO Don't move. NOOR ^ Don't you dare be late. CUT TO: EXT. FOOTBRIDGE - CONTINUOUS #2# Leo runs. The train doors begin to close. >THE END< ”
“# Act One = Noor misses the last train and meets Leo. INT. STATION PLATFORM - NIGHT Noor waits. [[Is the clock too on the nose?]] # Act Two = They walk to the city instead. EXT. RIVER PATH - LATER NOOR How far is it? LEO Far enough to talk. ”
“INT. KITCHEN #4# Ada opens the fridge. /* cut this? EXT. GARDEN - DAY #4# ADA ^ Nothing in here. ”
“Title: The Last Train Credit: Written by Author: Mira Okafor Draft date: 12 October 2026 INT. STATION PLATFORM - NIGHT #1# Rain hammers the canopy. The departures board flickers: 23:58, LAST SERVICE. NOOR, 30s, soaked, drags a suitcase with one broken wheel. NOOR (into phone) I'm here. Where are you? LEO (V.O.) Look up. She does. LEO, 30s, waves from the footbridge. LEO Don't move. NOOR ^ Don't you dare be late. CUT TO: EXT. FOOTBRIDGE - CONTINUOUS #2# Leo runs. The train doors begin to close. >THE END< ”
“INT. DINER - DAY BRICK Screw retirement. STEEL ^ Screw retirement. ”
“.FLASHBACK - 1998 !THE ALARM SOUNDS. @McCLANE Come out to the coast. >THE END< ”
“INT. OFFICE - DAY The note says *don’t* open the **red** door, _ever_. ”
“Title: Night Shift Credit: Written by Author: Sam Rivera Contact: sam@example.com +1 555 0100 INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NIGHT Empty. A vending machine hums. ”
“A heist on a ferry. The twist: the captain is in on it. ”
“INT. LAB - NIGHT The beaker glows. [[Make it blue? DR. ADA It works. ”
Fountain Syntax at a Glance
Most of Fountain is just writing a screenplay the way it looks on the page: headings in capitals, cues above dialogue. These ten rules cover nearly every script, including how to force an element when the automatic rules guess wrong.
Scene Headings
A line starting with INT., EXT., EST. or INT./EXT., with a blank line before it.
“How do you force an unusual heading?”
Action
Any paragraph that isn’t another element. Line breaks are kept.
“How do you force action in capitals?”
Character Cues
A line in capitals with dialogue straight below it.
“How do you force a mixed-case name?”
Dialogue
The lines under a cue, until the next blank line.
“What ends a speech?”
Parentheticals
Wrylies in brackets on their own line under the cue or within dialogue.
“Where does (beat) go?”
Dual Dialogue
A ^ after the second cue sets two speeches side by side.
“Which cue gets the ^?”
Transitions
A capitalised line ending in TO:, such as CUT TO:, with blank lines around it.
“How do you force FADE OUT.?”
Centred Text
Text between > and <, as in >THE END<.
“How do you centre a line?”
Notes and Boneyard
[[double brackets]] for notes and /* */ to hide text from the script.
“What hides a scene?”
Sections and Synopses
# for acts and sequences, = for a one-line synopsis. Neither prints.
“What marks an act?”
Screenplay Format, Briefly
Fountain exists so writers don’t have to fight their software for these conventions. The page layout grew out of typewriter scripts and is still how readers, agents and productions expect a screenplay to look, so it pays to know what each element is for.
One Page, One Minute
Scripts are set in 12-point Courier, which makes a page roughly a minute of screen time.
Scene Headings
Each says where and when: interior or exterior, the location, and the time of day.
Action
Present tense, only what can be seen or heard, in short paragraphs.
Dialogue Column
Speeches sit in a narrower column, with the cue in capitals above and wrylies between.
Transitions
CUT TO: and similar sit at the right margin and are used sparingly in spec scripts.
Title Page
Title, writer credit and contact details, with nothing else on the page.
Where Fountain Works
Because a Fountain script is plain text, it survives any editor, version control system or sync service, and many screenwriting apps read and write it directly. Moving a draft between them is usually a matter of opening the file somewhere else.
Highland
John August’s screenwriting app for Mac, built around Fountain from the start.
Beat
A free, open-source Fountain editor for macOS with outlining and an index card view.
Slugline
A Fountain editor for Mac and iOS focused on distraction-free writing.
Any Text Editor
VS Code, Sublime Text and Vim all have Fountain syntax highlighting.
Version Control
Plain text means Git can show exactly which lines changed between drafts.
Title Page Fields
A Fountain script can open with a title page written as Key: value lines, before the first blank line. Apps print these on a separate first page. These are the keys the Fountain syntax names, and indented lines continue a value onto the next line.
Title
The script’s title, printed in capitals and centred on the page.
Credit and Author
Credit is the line above the name, such as Written by; Author or Authors is the name itself.
Source
What the script is based on, such as a novel or an earlier film.
Draft Date
The date of this draft, so readers know which version they hold.
Contact
Name, agent, email or phone, usually printed in the lower corner.
When to Use a Fountain Previewer
Whenever you have Fountain text and no screenwriting app to hand, or you want a quick structural read of a draft without opening a full editor.
Writing Anywhere
Draft in a notes app and check the formatting here before moving on.
Reading Drafts
Format a script a collaborator sent as plain text.
Structure Passes
Outline scenes and acts to check pacing and act breaks.
Cast Balance
See who speaks most, and who barely speaks at all.
Building Tools
Get reference HTML for a site or app that displays scripts.
Fountain Pitfalls
Most Fountain surprises come from blank lines and capital letters, because those are how the format tells a heading, a cue and action apart without any visible markup.
Missing Blank Lines
A heading or cue needs a blank line before it, or it’s read as action.
Shouted Action
An all-capitals line followed by text becomes a cue. Force action with !.
Unusual Headings
FLASHBACK or ON THE BUS won’t be recognised. Force them with a full stop.
Open Notes
A [[ with no ]] swallows the rest of the script in many apps.
Character Name Drift
LEO and LEO. or LEON become different characters in the outline.
Transitions Mid-Scene
TO: lines need blank lines on both sides to count as transitions.