John August

Apps

Less IMDb gets unbroken

Apps, Less IMDb

We love IMDb, but man, there’s a lot of clutter on those pages. That’s why one of our very first coding projects was [Less IMDb](http://johnaugust.com/2010/less-imd), a browser extension that rearranges IMDb pages to emphasize credits and minimize everything else.

screen shot

For the past four years, Less IMDb sat in the righthand margin, quietly doing its job. Occasionally it would encounter an odd IMDb page that didn’t play nicely — often a themed page with oversized ads — but for the most part it worked as intended.

Then last month Less IMDb broke altogether. So Ryan Nelson dusted off the code and got it working again.

The Safari version of Less IMDb has been updated to 1.3.1 and is available [here](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb). He’s working on the Chrome version now.

Unfortunately the auto-updaters for both Safari and Chrome won’t work properly, so you have to download and install it yourself.

For best results, uninstall your existing version of Less IMDb first. (After all, you don’t want More Less IMDb.)
You can find it in Preferences > Extensions.

Then [download the new one](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb) and follow the instructions. (There is also a (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv0A5XUOpBg).)

What’s New:

– The sidebar is back when Less IMDb is turned on.
– Fixed formatting of release date, genre, and runtime information.
– Added retina display support to Less IMDb controller icon.
– Fixed bug that hid ratings even when Less IMDb was set to off.
– Changed extension permissions to allow Less IMDb to run on any subdomain for better international support.
– Fixed bug that prevented video from playing.
– Fixed bug that prevented ratings from working.
– Future versions will automatically update once 1.3.1 is installed.

Known issues and notes:

– Older versions of the extension will not automatically update to the latest version, and should be deleted before using the updated extension.
– Pages with heavily-branded content may look funky, particularly those using dark backgrounds.
– Photos and video thumbnails don’t always load when Less IMDb is turned on.
– Apple’s Safari Extension gallery doesn’t yet link properly.
– The Less IMDb page is old and FAQ is out of date (update coming).

Once Ryan get the Chrome version finished, we’ll be open-sourcing the whole project. We’d love for coders to springboard off what we’ve done to build a Firefox version, for example, or incorporate it into some of new WebKit goodness announced for Yosemite.

Less IMDb continues to be a useful little utility, something you don’t notice until it’s gone. If you haven’t tried it, [give it a shot](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb).

Secrets of Highland’s Dark Mode

Highland

When you’re writing a script in [Highland](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/highland), you can turn on Dark Mode (⌘D) to flip the colors in the edit view. So instead of this:

screenshot

In Dark Mode, you get this:

screenshot

Dark Mode is useful for writing at nighttime or in darker locations, when you don’t want to be staring at a bright screen. It can also be easier on your eyes.

But you’re not limited to white text on a black background. You can customize the colors to your heart’s content in Preferences.

screenshot

color picker
Under Colors, click on any of the color swatches to bring up the color picker. Here you can set your choices for text, background, scene headings and notes, for both Normal and Dark Mode.

In the color picker, I often click the magnifying glass, which sets the color to anything I can click on screen. It’s a handy way to get exactly the color I want. (In the first version of this post, I called this an eyedropper instead of a magnifying glass, because in most image editing apps, the equivalent tool is an eyedropper. As a UI metaphor, which tool makes more sense? Discuss.)

Most days, this is the color scheme I use in Highland:

screenshot

It’s pretty close to Ethan Schoonover’s [Solarized Dark](http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized) theme, and works particularly well with Highland’s default typeface (Highland Sans).

If you feel like going down the color theme rabbit hole, there are [myriad options](http://eclipsecolorthemes.org) out there, most of which were originally designed for coders. ((In many ways, screenwriting resembles coding; you’re writing the plan for creating something else, using specific and esoteric terminology.)) The magnifying glass is usually the easiest way to try these different configurations. Just click on a theme’s color swatches in the website. ((We’re discussing whether to build editor themes into a future edition of Highland. If you have an opinion, let us know.))

Because Highland will let you pick any colors you want, we have to be smart about what color we use for selecting text. We’re generating the highlight color programmatically, using the following code:

CGFloat selectionAlpha = 0.2;

NSColor *invertedBackgroundColor = [NSColor colorByInvertingColor:backgroundColor];

[self.textView setSelectedTextAttributes:@{NSBackgroundColorAttributeName: [invertedBackgroundColor colorWithAlphaComponent:selectionAlpha], NSForegroundColorAttributeName: invertedBackgroundColor}];

In English, this means we’re setting the background color of the selection to the inverse of the normal background color, with the opacity knocked down to 20%. Meanwhile, the text color is set to the inverted normal background color. As a result, you’ll always be able to read highlighted text, no matter what colors you choose.

If you haven’t tried Dark Mode or customizing colors, give them a shot. They’re both small things, but they make working in Highland just a little more delightful.

As always, you can find Highland in the [Mac App Store](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12).

Getting 2-Up preview in Highland

Apps, Highland

Over the weekend, we sold the most-ever copies of Highland, thanks largely to the Mac App Store’s “Explore Your Creativity” promotion.

With new users come new questions to the support desk, including this one I’m surprised never came up before:

> Is there any way to see two pages side-by-side in the preview?

There is!

In the preview, right-click (or control-click) and you’ll get a menu letting you choose the layout. Highland defaults to “One Page Continuous,” but you can choose “Two Pages Continuous” to get a 2-up view.

screenshot

You can find more answers and tips in [Highland’s FAQ](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/highland/faq).

During the Mac App Store promotion, Highland is half-off, [just $14.99](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12).

Highland and other screenwriting apps on sale

Apps, Fountain, Highland, Screenwriting Software

![Highland on MacBook Air](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/highland-macbook-air@2x.jpg)

Apple asked Highland and several other screenwriting apps to be part of their Explore Your Creativity promotion on the Mac App Store. It’s a great time to check out these apps at discounted prices, and perhaps pick a new favorite.

[Highland][highland] is the app we make. It’s half off during the promotion, $14.99 rather than $29.99.

Over the past year, Highland has become the second-bestselling screenwriting app in the Mac App Store, after [Final Draft][finaldraft] (which is also on sale for $124.99). Users choose Highland for its speed and minimalism. You just type; Highland figures out which elements are which.

For the past year, I’ve done all my screenwriting in Highland and love it. You can see more about it, including a video, at our [website][highlandweb].

[Slugline][slugline] is Highland’s longtime pal, also on sale for 50% off ($19.99 versus $39.99).

Slugline’s editor does more on-the-fly formatting, with text moving while you type. If you’re used to traditional screenwriting apps, you may find it comfortingly familiar. If you’re used to plain text editors, you may find it distracting.

The great news is that Slugline and Highland share the same format (Fountain), so you can freely move back and forth between them. In fact, at these prices you can get both Highland and Slugline for the cost of one, so if you’re curious about working in a plain text app, get both.

While it’s not strictly a screenwriting app, [Scrivener][scrivener] has many fans for its extensive feature set, including corkboards, outlines, tables and images. In many ways, it’s the opposite of Highland’s minimalism, but if you need an app that can handle a thousand-page research report, Scrivener may be a good choice. It’s half-off at $29.99.

[Fade In](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fade-in/id488557039?mt=12) isn’t part of the Mac App Store promotion, but if you’re looking for an app that does many of Final Draft’s production features, Craig swears by it. (It’s $49.99.)

I’m excited that there are more choices than ever for screenwriters. I hope this promotion gets more users trying out alternatives, and picking the apps that suit them best.

[slugline]: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slugline/id553754186?mt=12 “slugline”
[highland]: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12 “highland”
[finaldraft]: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/final-draft-9/id454277974?mt=12 “fd9”
[highlandweb]: http://quoteunquoteapps.com/highland “highland web”

[scrivener]: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scrivener/id418889511?mt=12 “scrivener”