Line Notes for Stage Managers for iPad now in use by over 400+ Theaters worldwide!
Line Notes for Stage Managers for iPad now in use by over 400+ Theaters worldwide!
Setup Your Info: Tap ACCOUNT at the top left of the Script Selection screen and enter your email* and name.
*This should match the default email address you use on your iPad and should be the same as the email address you use to communicate with your show's director, cast and crew.
It's super easy and can be done in two different ways:
Method #1: If you have the PDF file on iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, or any other Cloud storage that you can access on your iPad then simply click the + sign for the New Script location or the + sign at the top right of the Script Selection Screen, then Click on Import from Cloud and navigate to your PDF file.
Click on "Import from Cloud" and add any pdf from iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.
Method #2: Email the PDF to an email address that you can check on your iPad. Tap and Hold(briefly) the email attachment and a pop-up window similar to the image to the right/above will appear. Click on the Copy To Line Notes icon, you'll be presented with a dialog box to give the script a name, and then the pdf will be added.
HINT:
Be sure the script is a PDF file and not any other file type. The file name should end in .pdf. The pages should be in single-page scrolling format and not two pages side-by-side. If you need to scan a script, we recommend cleanly cutting the binding and using a tray-fed scanner.
Need a quick way to scan a script using just an iPhone or iPad?
Need to Delete A Script? Tap Edit at the top right of the Script Selection Screen then tap on the red minus sign icon next to the script you wish to delete.
Tap and Hold the email attachment.
Tap on the script you wish to work and you'll be presented with an opportunity to Start a New Session, Resume Last Session or List all Sessions.
1. If you want to start capturing Notes for a particular rehearsal with a clean script then always choose START NEW SESSION. This is the recommended method to most effectively use the Line Notes App, in most instances.
2. If you want to pick up where you left off after a break or if you accidentally close the app, or for any other reason, then select RESUME LAST SESSION.
3. If you want to work, append, edit, review, or re-destribute any previous session then select LIST ALL SESSIONS and tap the past session desired.
HINT: Even if a past Session has been distributed to cast and crew, you can always access, review, edit, append, or continue Note Capture and distribute again.
Tap on the Setup Icon circled in RED above to add or edit your People and Note Types.
Click on "Add People" circled in GREEN above to setup your Director, Stage Management team, Actors, Crew and Others.
HINT: To allow for greater speed when Capturing Notes later, Enter your People in this order: Director, Lead-role Actors(largest line-loads) first with the remainder of all actors in their approximate and descending line-load order(it doesn't have to be exact),
Stage Management team, AD's, etc,
All Tech personnel, Sound, Lights, Backstage, Costumers, Stage Design, etc.
Designating the Role Type as Director, Stage Management, Cast or Crew affects what the person receives when Notes are distributed, as follows:
Director=Sees ALL notes
Stage Management=Sees ALL Notes
Cast= Sees their own notes and any Note selected as ALL CAST
Crew=Sees their own notes and any Note selected as ALL CREW
HINT: Except for the iPad or iPads that are used for Capturing a show's Line & Tech Notes, all other users should download and use the Free Version of
There are numerous preloaded Note Types that are common to most shows plus you can add as many additional Note Types as you like.
Special Note Types for Sound, Lights, Backstage, Costume issues that are unique to your show can be added at anytime.
You can also EDIT the Sort Order the Notes appear in for when you're in Capture Mode based on those more prevalent for a particular show or specific rehearsal. The Sort Order be changed at any time.
Every Show has something weird or unique, right? You can add any Note Type and give it a custom color, too. Any added Note Type appears at the bottom of the list. You can easily edit its location and move it anywhere you please.
Click EDIT and then Drag any Note Type up or down by the handle(hamburger) icon on the right to the desired location in the Sort Order.
You can also Delete any Note Type by clicking on the red minus sign. We recommend simply dragging unneeded Note Types to the bottom of the list rather than deleting.
HINT: Here's an example of why Sort Order changes are helpful. You might consider moving Called for Line up to the very top for the rehearsals early in the off-book process when line call is still allowed and the selection of that Note Type is most prevalent. Move it to the bottom and out of your way once you are in No Line Call mode.
Scroll to the desired location in your script that you'd like to jump to quickly. Click on the Create Bookmark icon located at the bottom of the screen and circled in Red above.
Name the Bookmark.
HINT: The Page #'s indicated in your bookmarks are those of the pdf and not necessarily the page #'s printed on the script. When you scan the script you may wish to omit the pages preceding the first page of actual lines typically numbered as Page #1 in most play scripts.
Click on the Bookmark Menu icon circled in Red above to quickly jump to any of your bookmarked scenes or key pages. You can access your Bookmarks Menu at any time.
Enter Capture Mode by Clicking the Capture Icon at the top right of the screen and circled in Red above.
HINT: You'll know you're in Capture Mode whenever this Icon is highlighted. You can toggle back and forth between Capture Mode and Review Mode at any time. You'll still be in the same Capture Session until you end a Rehearsal/Capture Session and distribute the Notes.
This is the what the screen will look like when you first enter Capture mode. You can either SWIPE a word, line or any section of text to Highlight it, or TAP the Note Type.
HINT: These first two steps can be performed in either order. SWIPE-TAP, or TAP-SWIPE, and if you make a mistake, Swipe the wrong line or tap the wrong person, just click the UNDO button at the top left of the screen.
Tap on the Character's name or Crew person associated with the Note.
HINT: You can choose one specific person, multiple people, All Cast, All Crew, All Directors, All Stage Management or just the Director with just a TAP.
Click on Add Comment if you want to provide a little more direction for any issue, botched blocking, ginormous gaffe or that memorable and totally wonky disaster.
HINT: If you want to distribute a one-off comment that none of the other Note Types quite describe then choose the Note Type of OTHER and then click on Add Comment.
If it's something that's going to happen frequently then now would be a good time to add a custom Note Type to save you time.
Click on Next Note and you're ready to Capture another.
Toggle back to Review Mode by Clicking the Capture Icon at the top right of your iPad screen.
HINT: You'll know you're in Review Mode whenever this Icon is NOT highlighted. You can toggle back and forth between Review Mode and Capture Mode at any time. You'll still be in the same Capture Session until you end a Rehearsal/Capture Session and distribute the Notes.
You can review your Captured Notes, at any time, in the Notes Navigator Menu to quickly jump to a Captured Note.
Click on the Notes Navigator, circled in Red above, at the bottom right of your iPad screen.
HINT: You can also Delete a Captured Note by Left Swiping to reveal a Delete button.
Deleting might be useful if you captured a note but it was re-worked at rehearsal to you or the Director's satisfaction, and might be confusing or wouldn't be useful to send to the actor or crew member.
To View the small Navigator Popup Window right next to the highlighted note you can either tap on the Note Description in the bottom left corner of the screen(Red rectangle above), or tap on the actual highlighted text(Red Circle above).
Quickly Forward or Back Arrow to cycle through all the Captured Notes with the small Navigator Popup Window info displayed right next to the highlighted note.
HINT: This is the fastest way to quickly review Notes and see all the pertinent info.
When a specific rehearsal session ends, simply Click the Distribute(Airplane) icon at the top right of your screen and circled in Red above.
HINT: Distribute after each significant rehearsal session so that Actors and Crew are only getting one email distribution per rehearsal. Unless you have two separate and very different rehearsals on a given date, we recommend you only distribute once per date. Otherwise, actors and crew will have to cycle through and review multiple sessions for the same day's work.
Here's What Happens after you
Click the Distribute(Airplane) Icon:
(Preferred)
The first attachment in the email is the .linenotes file with the Green Line Notes logo. This is the actual file that anyone with an iPhone or iPad can import using their FREE version of Line Notes for Actors & Crew.
Using this file with the Line Notes for Actors & Crew is a very robust and personalized experience for the recipient with lots of cool features and more details regarding the Notes and comments you captured and sent to them.
All they have to do is tap and hold on the attachment in the body of the email and they can import it into their version of the Line Notes app with just a click.
This is simply a pdf document of the entire script with ALL of the highlighted text and a brief Note description for the same rehearsal session listed at the top of each page. Its purpose is to provide basic info for cast and crew that do not have an Apple iPhone or Apple iPad. They can review their Line or Tech Notes but it lacks the personalization, features and interactivity of viewing the information the comes with using the FREE version of Line Notes for Actors & Crew.
HINT: If for some reason you ever needed to print out the script with all the Notes from a particular session, using this pdf might come in handy.
Instruct your Actors and Crew to visit the App Store and Download the Line Notes for Actors & Crew version.
It's the Green One and totally FREE.
Here's the link:
As an added bonus, The Line Notes for Actors & Crew app provides a very helpful Learn Mode feature that will allow your actors to highlight and 'BLACKOUT' their lines and play Peek-A-Boo to aide in getting off-book quicker and more easily.
The Line Notes for Actors & Crew version also has its own separate
Quick-Start User Guide & FAQ's.
This Short Video with NO SOUND shows the screen of an actual iPad launching the Line Notes for Stage Managers App, opening a script, setting up user info, adding cast and crew, adding and editing Note Types, creating Bookmarks, Capturing a variety of Note Types in Capture Mode, reviewing Notes with the Notes Navigator and the Note Detail Popup window, and then Distributing the Captured Notes via Email.
Be sure to read the written instructions above prior to watching the video to have a basic understanding.
Yes. Just on the iPad device, as of now. The iPhone is just too small to adeptly work with the scrolling script for a large-cast show with the desired efficiency, at this time. We are currently testing other operating systems and devices, but for now, all of our efforts are to make it a lights-out fantastic product on the iPad.
Yes, the FREE version of Line Notes for Actors & Crew version can be used for iPhone and iPad. It works great on both. There are a few features that are enabled for the larger screen of the iPad that makes the user experience even better.
The probable reason is that the email address you used when you set up their character name, real name and email address doesn't match the email address that they entered and confirmed upon import of the file on their device. If that is the case, have them reimport the .linenotes file and enter the correct email address identical to the one you used. You're an SM or an AD, probably, so we know you got it right.
Typically, Act One Scene 1 of a Script is also numbered as Page #1 by the publisher. If you want the scan to correlate then you have to scan beginning with the numbered Page #1 and not include the title, unnumbered or other pages prior to Page #1 in your scan.
However, that's not always the case, and Act One Scene 1 will begin on Page #7, for example. In that example, you will want to have exactly six(6) scanned pages prior to the desired Page #7. They can be anything, blank pages for that matter, as long as there are exactly six(6), in this example. Clear as mud?
The easier solution is to simply name your Bookmarks with the Page # that appears on that particular Script page. Something like, "Act One Scene 1-Page 7", will solve this particular challenge.
The File type MUST BE a PDF. It must end in .pdf
Here's what WILL work: .PDF or .pdf
Here's what WON'T work: Anything other file type such as .doc .docx, .odt, .rtf, .tex, .txt, .wks, .wps, .wpd.
When you're in Note Capture Mode, each person is represent by a Circle Icon(see right) with the first three letters of their Character's name or their Crew Position's title. Try to find a unique variation for names whose first three letters are identical. Especially for the Actor names which appear first and that will appear in the order you entered them when you set up your script. For instance, if you enter an Assistant Director, Assistant Stage Manager and an Assistant Props, then you will have three Circles that say ASS and it might be difficult to recognize one ASS from another. (shhhh, quiet on the headset chatter.)
Yes. The Line Notes for Actors & Crew version will allow you to receive the distribution email and interact with the script with additional features. It also has the cool LEARN mode that allows you to highlight lines and use the Peek-A-Boo feature in case you are also an actor or want to help an actor get off book quicker.
This is a quick way to scan a script using just an iPhone or iPad. Here's a link to a free and clever app. More Info
This free Adobe Scan app does a great job of creating PDFs using just your iPhone or iPad's camera. You simply snap a photo of each script page and the app creates a pdf that you can share to Line Notes instantly. It's very quick and does a surprisingly excellent job. It took us less than 10 minutes to scan and import a 60-page script.
Keep scrolling and Drop us a Line....Note.
BEFORE CLICKING SEND
Be sure to check the User Guides above for most answers to all tech questions. If you ask a question that's not covered in the User Guides info then you'll get a gold star, a free puppy and be pre-cast in the Broadway production of your choice.*
*Not really, but we will add that topic to the User Guide right away so that the next person will benefit from your question. Sorry, we like free puppies and would keep them and not share anyway.
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