Switching from Final Draft, honestly.

Slate opens .fdx directly, and since 3.0 it saves .fdx too. This is the no-spin version of what that means: the three-step move, exactly what carries over, exactly what doesn't, and how to keep trading pages with people still on Final Draft.

The move (about two minutes per script)

1. Have your .fdx files handy. They're wherever Final Draft saves — no export step needed, Slate reads Final Draft's native format.
2. In Slate: Library → Import. Pick one .fdx or several — each becomes its own script with a cover, ready to file into folders or projects.
3. Skim the result. Scene count and page flow should match what you remember — Slate 3 breaks pages by Final Draft's rules. The status bar shows live words and pages; the Overview shows scenes and beats at a glance.

What carries over — and what doesn't

The honest read: specs and drafts-in-progress move cleanly. Slate 3 adds the basics of production — locked scene numbers with A/B scenes and OMITTED, locked pages with A-pages, and Characters, Locations and Scenes reports — but not colored revision sets or revision marks. A script mid-production with colored pages should stay in Final Draft until it wraps.

Working with people still on Final Draft

You don't have to convert anyone. Two ways to keep collaborating:

• Send pages: export a .fdx they can open straight in Final Draft, a PDF (Slate's PDF is the exact pages you see), or a .fountain file — the plain-text screenplay format many apps read.
• Get changes back: when you publish a .fountain from Slate, it carries a hidden return marker — if your collaborator edits it in another app and sends it back, it re-enters Slate as a proposed revision you can review line-by-line and merge, not a mystery duplicate to reconcile by hand.

What you'll want to know on day one

• Enter and Tab do the work. After a scene heading comes action; after a cue comes dialogue. Tab cycles the next element; ⌘1–⌘8 set any of the eight types directly. Press ⌘/ for the full shortcut sheet.
• Your files are plain text. Every script also lives in your save folder as .fountain — openable in any editor on earth, with or without Slate. There's no lock-in to regret later.
• Rewrites get drafts, not copies. Instead of Save As, start a draft: the original stays untouched, you write the brave version, then compare word-by-word and merge what works. This is the reason Slate exists.
• No account, no AI. The trial starts when you open the app. Nothing you write is sent anywhere, and there's no AI reading or training on your pages — by design.