While the video is in production, here is a quick-start summary:

1. Open flub. You will see your Production Library, which starts empty.
2. Click New Production in the top right.
3. The Setup Wizard opens. Enter your production name, theatre or company, director, and your name as SM.
4. Everything in the wizard can be edited later in Production Settings, so do not worry about getting it perfect now.
5. Click Create Production. Your show appears in the library.
6. Tap or click Open Production to enter the workspace.

While the video is in production, see the written article Importing a script below for full instructions.

While the video is in production, see the written articles for each panel below.

New to flub? This is the map. Every named part of the workspace is labeled below, so when the rest of the Knowledge Base says “open the notation panel” or “tap the page selector,” you know exactly where to look. Keep this handy for your first week.

Your cast list lives in the sidebar on the left side of the workspace. It is built automatically when you import a script, based on every character name flub detects. You can also add and edit actors manually at any time.

Adding a character or actor

Open the Cast Manager from the ellipsis menu at the top right of the workspace. Tap Add character / actor at the bottom of the list. This adds both characters and actors through the same flow.

Characters from import

Characters are added to your cast list automatically when flub detects them during script import. If you need to add a character manually after the fact, use Add character / actor in the Cast Manager.

Color coding

Each character in your cast list gets a color. This color appears on character names in the script view and on notation dots in the right margin. flub assigns colors automatically, but you can change them in the Cast Manager by tapping the color circle next to any character.

Editing and deleting

Tap the pencil icon next to any character to edit their name, color, or actor assignment. To delete a character, swipe left on iPad, or right-click on Mac. Note that deleting a character removes all notations associated with them, so use this carefully.

Initials

The two-letter initials shown in the cast avatars are generated from the first two letters of the character name. They update automatically if you rename the character.

flub has two levels of display settings: global defaults that apply to all productions, and per-production overrides for individual shows.

Global settings

Go to Flub menu (macOS) or Settings to access global display defaults. You can set:

• Script layout: Scroll (continuous) or Page Turn (one page at a time)
• Script font: Choose from available monospace fonts
• Color character names: Toggle colored character names on or off

Per-production overrides

To override global settings for a specific production, open that production and look for the (…) (three-dot) menu at the top right of the workspace, sometimes called the ellipsis menu. Tap it and choose Production Settings, then go to the Display section. Any setting here overrides the global default for that production only. Set a field back to "Use global setting" to remove the override.

Global settings control how flub looks and behaves across every production. They are the defaults that apply unless you override them on a specific production.

How to open global settings

On Mac, click the Flub menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen, then choose Settings. On iPad, tap the gear icon in the top right of the production library, or open Settings from inside any production via the ellipsis menu.

Script layout

Choose between two reading modes:

• Scroll: All pages flow continuously. Best for browsing, search, and most rehearsal work.
• Page Turn: One page visible at a time, with swipe or arrow navigation. Best for running shows, calling cues, and anything where the page break matters.

Script font

flub ships with several monospace fonts optimized for scripts, including Courier Prime and OpenDyslexic. Pick the one that is easiest for you to read during long sessions. The font applies to dialogue, character names, and stage directions inside the script view.

Color character names

When this is on, character names in the script are tinted with the color assigned to that character in your cast list. When off, all character names appear in the same neutral color. Color coding makes it faster to scan for a specific character but can feel busy on dense pages.

Color names

flub gives each character a color from the cast manager. This setting lets you change the visible name of each color so it matches how your team refers to it. Useful if your team uses production-specific shorthand for colors.

Saving changes

Changes to global settings save automatically. Open productions update immediately. You do not need to restart flub.

Every production can override the global defaults. This is useful when one show needs a different layout, font, or color treatment than another. Overrides only apply to that production.

How to open production settings

Open the production. Tap the ellipsis menu (…) at the top right of the workspace. Choose Production Settings. Go to the Display section.

What you can override

• Script layout: Set this production to Scroll or Page Turn regardless of the global default.
• Script font: Pick a font for this production only.
• Color character names: Turn colored names on or off for this production only.

Removing an override

Each setting has a "Use global setting" option. Choose it to remove the override and fall back to whatever the global default is. Removing the override does not change the global setting itself.

When overrides are useful

• You prefer Page Turn for Shakespeare but Scroll for contemporary plays.
• One production has a designer who wants OpenDyslexic font for accessibility but your default is Courier Prime.
• You turn off color character names for a one-character monologue but keep them on for ensemble shows.

flub can import scripts from digital PDFs, Word documents (.docx), scanned PDFs, and plain text. Digital PDFs and Word files give the cleanest results. Scanned PDFs use OCR and may require some cleanup after import.

What works best

• Digital PDF on a Mac is the number one method. It gives the highest accuracy and the most reliable page numbers.
• Digital PDFs exported from Word, Final Draft, or a PDF editor import well on both Mac and iPad.
• Word documents (.docx) import cleanly on both Mac and iPad. Because Word reflows pages, flub paginates evenly by content rather than using fixed page numbers.
• Plain text pasted directly into the import field works well if each character name is on its own line in caps, followed by their dialogue.
• Scanned PDFs work but may have OCR errors, especially with dense serif fonts or photocopied books.

How to import

1. In the Setup Wizard when creating a new production, scroll to the script section and tap Import .pdf, .docx, or .txt file.
2. To import into an existing production, tap the ellipsis menu and choose Replace Script.
3. Select your file or paste your plain text.
4. flub parses the script automatically, detecting character names, dialogue, and stage directions.

What flub looks for

flub identifies character names as lines in all-caps that appear before dialogue. Stage directions are recognized when enclosed in parentheses or brackets. If your script has a different format, the import may need manual cleanup using Edit Line.

Verse plays are formatted differently from prose plays. In prose, a line break is usually just word wrap. In verse, every line break is intentional. It marks the metre. When flub knows your script is in verse, it switches to Verse Mode during import: each line of verse is kept as its own line exactly as written, and flub recognizes the classic verse layout where a character's name sits on its own line directly above their speech, with no blank line between them.

How to turn it on

Verse Mode is triggered by the Playwright field when you set up your production. For Shakespeare, enter William Shakespeare or simply Shakespeare. Capitalization doesn't matter, but spelling does. "Shakespear" or "Shakspere" will not turn Verse Mode on, and your script will import as prose with the line breaks merged.

Other verse playwrights flub recognizes

Shakespeare isn't the only one. flub also switches to Verse Mode for these dramatists. The last name is enough, spelled correctly (accents are optional, so Moliere works for Molière):

• Elizabethan and Jacobean: Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Webster, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Kyd, Thomas Dekker, Cyril Tourneur, John Fletcher
• French verse drama: Molière, Jean Racine, Pierre Corneille, Edmond Rostand
• Greek and Roman: Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Seneca
• Modern verse: T.S. Eliot, Christopher Fry, Maxwell Anderson (full name required for Anderson)

If you imported with the wrong name

1. Open Production Settings and correct the Playwright field.
2. Tap the ellipsis menu and choose Replace Script to re-import. The script will parse again, this time in Verse Mode.

When a playwright sends revised pages during rehearsal, you can swap the new content into a single page without disturbing the rest of your script or its page numbers. The page keeps its number; only the content on it changes.

How to replace a page

1. Find the page divider in the script that reads Page N (shown between two short rules).
2. Click the options menu (the three-dot button) next to that page divider.
3. Choose Replace this page.
4. Paste or type the revised text for that page, then confirm.

flub reparses the new text, attributes it to the same page number, and replaces the old lines on that page in place. Everything before and after the page is untouched.

Sometimes a single page needs a different number. For example, an inserted page, or a page that imported with the wrong label. You can relabel one page, and flub will shift the pages after it to keep the sequence in order.

How to relabel a page

1. Find the Page N divider for the page you want to change.
2. Click the options menu (the three-dot button) next to the divider.
3. Choose Relabel page number.
4. Enter the new page number and confirm.

This page and every page after it shift by the same amount, so the numbering stays sequential. If you need to renumber the whole script at once instead, see Renumbering the whole script below.

If your whole script starts on the wrong page number, you can renumber every page at once with the Renumber pages tool. This is a common situation after importing a file whose first page is really page 7, or page 100.

Opening the tool

• On Mac: turn on Edit in the script toolbar, then click Renumber pages (or use the Edit menu › Renumber Pages, Shift+Cmd+R).
• On iPad: open the options menu (the three-dot button) and choose Renumber pages.

Two ways to renumber

• Set the first page to a number (the default). Tell flub what the first page should be, say 7, and it renumbers the rest in sequence from there (7, 8, 9…). This is the easiest fix for an import that started on the wrong number.
• Shift every page by an offset. Add or subtract a fixed amount from every page number (for example, +6 or −2). Useful when you know the exact gap to correct.

A live preview shows the before and after for the first, middle, and last pages so you can confirm before applying. The spacing between page numbers is always preserved, and the whole change is a single undoable action.

Once in a while a PDF imports on iPad as random symbols, accented gibberish, or what looks like a different alphabet, even though the script is in plain English. The good news is your script is fine and there is a simple fix.

Why this happens

A small number of PDFs are built with an embedded font that iPad cannot read correctly. When that happens, the iPad substitutes the wrong characters. This is a limitation in how Apple software on iPad reads certain fonts, not a problem with flub or with your file. The same PDF often imports perfectly on a Mac, because a Mac reads that font correctly.

You can tell this is the issue if the imported text looks like symbols or a non-English alphabet even though the original script is in English.

The fix on iPad: convert through Google Docs

This works entirely on an iPad with no other device needed. It works because Google rebuilds the document text on its own servers, replacing the unreadable font with clean text.

1. Upload the PDF to Google Drive on your iPad.
2. Tap the file, then choose Open with Google Docs. Give it a moment to convert.
3. In the Google Doc, tap the three-dot menu, choose Share and export, then Send a copy, and pick Word (.docx).
4. Import that Word file into flub.

One thing to expect: a Word file has no fixed page numbers, because Word reflows pages as text changes. flub will paginate the script evenly by content instead. The script will be complete and correct, the page breaks just will not match the original PDF exactly.

Other quick options

• Paste the text. Open the script in any app that shows it correctly, select the text, copy it, and paste it into the import box in flub. The paste box is right below the file import button.
• Use a Mac if you have one. A Mac can usually read the original PDF correctly, so importing there, or re-saving the PDF in Preview and importing the new copy, often resolves it.

Dialogue notes track script issues: lines that were paraphrased, skipped, transposed, or otherwise altered during rehearsal. Each note attaches to a specific script line so you always know exactly where in the show it occurred.

Adding a dialogue note

1. Tap a line in the script view to select it.
2. The right panel switches to show the notation options for that line.
3. Tap the Dialogue tab.
4. The character is pre-selected based on the line you tapped. Confirm or change it if needed.
5. Choose the issue type.
6. Add any additional notes in the text field.
7. Tap Save Notation.

Issue types

• Called: The actor called for a line during rehearsal.
• Flubbed: The actor stumbled on or garbled the line.
• Skipped: The line was missed entirely.
• Volume: The line was delivered too quietly or loudly.
• Paraphrased: The actor said the line but changed the wording.
• Overlap: The actor spoke over another actor's line.
• Long Pause: There was an unintended pause before or during the line.
• Wrong Cue: The actor picked up the wrong cue line.
• Transposed: Lines were said in the wrong order.
• Added: The actor added words not in the script.

Lines with dialogue notes show a colored dot in the right margin. The color matches the character's assigned cast color.

Staging notes track blocking issues during rehearsal. Wrong crosses, missed entrances, late exits, and any deviation from established blocking are all recorded here, attached to the script line where they occurred.

Adding a staging note

1. Tap a script line to select it.
2. In the right panel, tap the Staging tab.
3. The character is pre-selected based on the line you tapped. Confirm or change it if needed.
4. Choose the issue type.
5. Add a reference or description if needed.
6. Tap Add Staging Note.

Issue types

• Incorrect blocking: Actor moved differently from established blocking.
• Crossed early: Actor crossed before the designated moment.
• Crossed late: Actor crossed after the designated moment.
• Late entrance: Actor entered later than called.
• Missed entrance: Actor did not enter at all.
• Early entrance: Actor entered before the designated moment.
• Wrong entrance: Actor entered from the wrong position or direction.
• Late exit: Actor exited later than called.
• Missed exit: Actor did not exit at all.
• Early exit: Actor exited before the designated moment.
• Wrong exit: Actor exited from the wrong position or direction.

The Cues panel tracks all technical cues: lighting, sound, projection, fly, and any other type. Cues are attached to specific script lines so your cue sheet always maps back to the text.

Adding a cue

1. Tap the script line where the cue fires.
2. In the right panel, tap the Cues tab.
3. Choose the cue type (LX, Sound, Projection, Fly, or Other).
4. Enter the cue number.
5. Add any notes (for example: "slow fade", "loud", "hold until line ends").
6. Tap Save Notation.

Exporting a cue sheet

Tap the ellipsis menu at the top right of the workspace, choose Department Reports, then select the relevant team report (for example, Tech). This generates a PDF of cues organized by page and scene, ready to share with your lighting and sound designers.

The Props panel tracks prop issues by scene and actor. Missing props, wrong props, preset issues, and anything that went wrong with a prop during rehearsal are recorded here.

Adding a props note

1. Tap the script line where the prop issue occurred.
2. In the right panel, tap the Props tab.
3. The character is pre-selected. Confirm or change it if needed.
4. Enter the prop name.
5. Select the issue type: Missing, Wrong prop, Preset issue, Wrong position, and more.
6. Add any additional description.
7. Tap Save Notation.

Props notes are organized by scene in the panel view, making it easy to generate a props note list at the end of rehearsal to share with your props master.

The Designer Notes panel is a general-purpose panel for notes directed at the design team: costume notes, scenic notes, hair and makeup, anything that does not fit Cues or Props. These are the notes you would typically compile into a rehearsal report for the production team.

Adding a designer note

1. Tap the relevant script line.
2. In the right panel, tap the Designer tab.
3. Choose the department: Costumes, Scenic, Lighting, Sound, Hair and Makeup, and more.
4. Write your note.
5. Tap Save Notation.

All designer notes feed into your rehearsal report export, organized by department. This makes it easy to copy notes directly into your report at the end of a rehearsal session.

A walkthrough of every report type in flub: rehearsal reports, department reports, actor line notes, and metrics PDFs.

flub can generate a variety of formatted PDF reports from your notation data. Reports are designed to be shared however your production communicates: AirDrop, Slack, text, Files, or any other method. No email account is required.

Types of reports

• Rehearsal Report: a full summary of all notations from a session, organized by type. Shared with the whole team.
• Department Reports: targeted PDFs for a single department (Sound, Lighting, Set, Costumes, etc.), containing only the notes relevant to that team.
• Actor Reports: a private report for a single actor showing only their own line notes for the current session.

How to access reports

All reports are available from the ellipsis menu (…) at the top right of the production workspace. Tap it and choose the report type you want to generate. You can also access Department and Actor Reports through the Metrics tab.

After generating

Every report opens in a preview window. From there, use the Share button to send it wherever you need: AirDrop to a colleague's device, save to Files for later, or open directly in another app.

The Rehearsal Report collects every notation from your production into a single PDF. This is the fastest way to share everything with the full production team at the end of a session.

How to generate

1. From the workspace, tap the ellipsis menu (…) at the top right.
2. Choose Export Rehearsal Report.
3. flub generates the PDF. This takes only a second.
4. The report opens in a preview window. Tap Share to send it wherever you need.

What is included

• Production name, date, director, and SM
• Dialogue notes (flubs, paraphrases, skips, added lines, and more) organized by scene and page
• Staging and blocking notes by scene
• Props notes by scene
• Designer notes organized by department
• Run time for the session if the stopwatch was used

Department Reports let you send targeted PDFs to individual departments, sharing only the notes relevant to that team. No other production data is included. This is ideal for sharing cue notes with your LD or sound designer, or prop tracking with props.

How to generate

1. From the workspace, tap the ellipsis menu (…) at the top right.
2. Choose Department Reports.
3. A list of departments appears: Actors, Lighting, Sound, Set, Costumes, Props, and others depending on what you have noted.
4. Tap the department you want.
5. A preview appears showing the contents: the department name, number of notes, and a summary. Tap Generate & Preview.
6. The PDF opens. Tap Share to send it.

What each department report contains

• Actors: all dialogue notes for all characters, organized by character, scene, and page. See also: Actor Reports for sending notes to a single actor privately.
• Lighting: all LX cue notations with cue numbers, notes, and page references.
• Sound: all sound cue notations.
• Set / Costumes / Props / Other: designer notes for each department.

Actor Reports let you export a private PDF of one actor's line notes from the current rehearsal session, without including any other actor's data. This way, actors only see their own notes, not how many notes anyone else received.

How to generate an Actor Report

1. From the workspace, tap the Metrics tab in the top toolbar.
2. Scroll down to the Notes by character chart. Characters are listed from most notes to fewest.
3. Tap any character's bar. Their individual report opens as a panel showing all of their notes for the current session: error type, the line itself, page number, and any director's note you wrote.
4. Tap Export PDF in the top right of the panel.
5. The PDF generates and opens in a preview. Tap Share to send it via AirDrop, Slack, Files, or however your production communicates.

What is in the Actor Report PDF

• Actor's character name and the production name
• The rehearsal date
• Line accuracy score (percentage of lines with no notation)
• Each notation: error type, the line of dialogue, page number, and director's note if one was written
• Notes are sorted by page so the actor can follow along in their script
• A confidentiality footer: Confidential: prepared by stage management

Things to know

• Actor Reports reflect the current session's notations based on the time filter active in your Metrics tab.
• If you have not changed the filter, it shows all notations for the production. Set the Metrics filter to Today to export only the current rehearsal's notes.
• Each actor's report is a separate PDF. You generate and share them one at a time.
• No email account is needed. You choose how to deliver the PDF.

flub uses Apple's iCloud to keep your productions in sync across all your devices. Your data is stored in your personal iCloud account. Flub Studios does not have access to it.

What syncs

• All productions and their scripts
• All notations (dialogue, staging, cues, props, designer notes)
• Cast lists and actor assignments
• Run time records
• Per-production display settings

What does not sync

• Global settings (script font, layout preference) are stored locally on each device and must be set separately
• The last page you were viewing is saved per device

How long sync takes

On a good Wi-Fi connection, changes appear on other devices within a few seconds. On a slow or cellular connection it may take 15 to 30 seconds. Give iCloud a moment to catch up before assuming something is missing.

A common workflow is to set up productions and do detailed work on your Mac in the production office, then carry your iPad into the rehearsal room for note-taking during rehearsal.

Recommended workflow

1. On your Mac: create the production, import the script, set up your cast list, and adjust display settings.
2. Let iCloud sync before you leave for rehearsal. Give it at least 30 seconds on Wi-Fi.
3. In the rehearsal room: open flub on your iPad. Your production appears in the library.
4. Take notes on the iPad during rehearsal. Notes sync back to your Mac in the background.
5. After rehearsal: export your rehearsal report from either device.

Offline use

flub works without an internet connection. Any changes you make offline are stored locally and sync to iCloud the next time you have a connection. You will not lose notes taken without Wi-Fi.

flub can generate a formatted rehearsal report PDF from all the notes in your current session. The report is organized by notation type and scene, ready to email to your production team.

How to export

1. Tap the ellipsis menu at the top right of the workspace.
2. Choose Export Rehearsal Report.
3. flub generates the PDF with all notations from the current production.
4. Use the Share sheet to email, save to Files, or AirDrop to your computer.

What is included

• Production name, date, and SM name
• Dialogue notes organized by scene and page
• Staging notes organized by scene
• Designer notes organized by department
• Props notes organized by scene
• Run time for the session if the stopwatch was used

flub has a built-in stopwatch for tracking rehearsal run times. Times are saved per session and visible in the Metrics tab, so you can see how run time changes over the course of the rehearsal process.

Using the stopwatch

1. In the workspace toolbar, tap Run Time.
2. The stopwatch panel opens. Tap Start when the scene or act begins.
3. Tap Stop when it ends.
4. The time is saved automatically.

Viewing metrics

Tap the Metrics tab in the toolbar to see run time history across rehearsals. Each session's times are listed by date, with act and scene breakdowns where you have used the stopwatch at that level.

Things to know

• The stopwatch does not auto-detect scene starts or stops. You must start and stop it manually.
• If you run multiple timed segments on the same day (for example, Act 1 in the morning and Act 2 in the afternoon), you can combine them into a single run time record while preserving each act's individual time.
• Times are associated with the production, not a specific build of flub, so they are preserved when you update the app.

Your flub data belongs to you. It lives in your iCloud account on your own devices. Flub Studios does not store, host, or have access to any of your production data. This means we cannot recover it for you if something goes wrong.

What flub stores and where

All productions, scripts, notations, cast lists, and settings are stored in two places: locally on your device and in your personal iCloud account. No data ever passes through Flub Studios servers. Because flub uses iCloud Drive, your data exists independently of the app itself.

How to make sure your data is backed up

You do not need to do anything special inside flub. As long as iCloud Drive is enabled on your Mac or iPad, flub data syncs automatically to iCloud. To verify iCloud Drive is on:

• On Mac: open System Settings, click your name, click iCloud, and make sure iCloud Drive is turned on.
• On iPad: open Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, and confirm iCloud Drive is enabled.

We also strongly recommend running Time Machine backups on your Mac. Time Machine creates a full local backup of your device, including all iCloud Drive content, and lets you restore individual files from any point in time. Plug in an external drive and set it up in System Settings under General, then Time Machine.

What happens if you delete flub

Because flub uses iCloud Drive, deleting the app does not delete your data. Your productions remain in iCloud. Reinstalling flub and signing in with the same Apple ID will restore access to everything. The exception is if you manually delete flub's data from iCloud Settings or iCloud.com, in which case the data is gone and cannot be recovered.

What happens if you lose or replace a device

If you sign into a new Mac or iPad with the same Apple ID and enable iCloud Drive, flub will sync your productions automatically once it is installed. Restoring from a Time Machine or iCloud backup before setting up flub will also bring everything back exactly as it was.

flub is built around US theatre vocabulary. If you trained in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or anywhere else, some of the language inside the app may not match what you call things in your own theatre. Here is what the terms mean and the equivalents you may already use.

Promptbook

The master copy of the script, marked up with every cue, blocking note, technical note, and reminder needed to run a production. In some UK and European traditions this is called the prompt copy, the book, or simply the script. flub is a digital promptbook: it holds the same information that traditionally lives in a marked-up paper binder.

Stage manager (SM)

The person who runs rehearsals, calls the show, communicates with all departments, and is responsible for the production from rehearsal through closing night. In French theatre this role overlaps with the régisseur, though the exact responsibilities differ. German theatre divides these duties differently across multiple roles.

Calling cues

The act of giving go commands to the technical departments during a performance. The stage manager calls each cue at the precise moment it should fire: lights, sound, video, deck cues, automation. In flub, "Called" is the notation type used when tracking missed or late cues during rehearsal. Some traditions use cueing the show or running the show from the book.

Standby and Go

The two-part call sequence used to fire technical cues during a performance. "Standby LX 47" warns the lighting operator that a cue is coming. "LX 47, go" is the trigger. UK practice sometimes uses "warning" instead of "standby". flub does not call cues for you, but the cue list lets you track and prepare for what is coming.

Blocking

The choreography of where actors move on stage during a scene. Recording blocking is one of the stage manager's core jobs during rehearsal so that the production can be reconstructed if an actor or director is unavailable. flub's Staging notation panel is where blocking notes live.

Line notes

Notes recording when an actor missed, paraphrased, transposed, or otherwise altered a written line. Delivered to actors after rehearsal so they can correct the script for the next session. In some UK traditions these are called word notes or line corrections. flub generates a private Actor Report PDF that contains only one performer's line notes.

Rehearsal report

The end-of-session document distributed to the production team summarizing what was run, who was present, what notes came up for each department, and any logistical concerns. Universal across English-speaking theatre traditions, though the exact format varies by company. flub generates a formatted Rehearsal Report PDF that pulls notations from every panel.

Tech, dry tech, paper tech, Q2Q

Stages of technical rehearsal. Paper tech is a sit-down meeting where cues are talked through without anyone on stage. Dry tech runs the technical elements without actors. Q2Q (cue to cue) runs only the moments around each cue, skipping the dialogue in between. Tech or tech rehearsal covers the full integration with cast. flub is used throughout all of these.

Deck

US shorthand for the stage floor and the crew who work on it, especially during scene changes. Deck cues are scene change cues. UK practice often uses scene change or refers to the stage crew.

Stage left, stage right

Direction is always from the performer's perspective looking out at the audience. Stage right is the performer's right. Universal across English-speaking theatre.

House

The seating area where the audience sits, and by extension everything in front of the proscenium. Front of house (FOH) covers the lobby, box office, ushers, and audience-facing operations. House lights are the audience lighting. Used in both US and UK practice.

If a flub term is unclear

Reach out at hello@flubapp.com and tell us what you call it in your tradition. We are working toward localized terminology in future versions of flub.

Import issues are most common with scanned PDFs, but can also happen with digital PDFs that have unusual formatting. Here are the most common problems and how to fix them.

Em dashes showing as question marks

This happens with some OCR engines on scanned scripts. Go to the ellipsis menu, choose Search and Replace, search for ? (space then question mark) and replace with -- or the correct character. Undo is available if you make a mistake.

Character names not recognized

flub looks for all-caps lines before dialogue. If your script uses title case for character names, they may not be detected correctly. Use Edit Line to correct individual lines, or use Search and Replace to fix a pattern across the whole script.

Lines merged together

This can happen when a scanned PDF has poor OCR or when text was copied from a source that did not preserve line breaks. The cleanest fix is to export a plain text version of the script from your original source and re-import.

Two-column layout problems

Scripts formatted with dialogue in two columns (sometimes seen in older published editions) may import with lines in the wrong order. Single-page scans and digital PDFs avoid this issue.

Using Edit Line

For individual errors, tap any line in the script and tap Edit in the toolbar. You can correct the character name, dialogue text, and stage directions for any line without affecting the rest of the import.

If changes made on one device are not appearing on another, work through these steps in order.

Step 1: Wait

iCloud sync is not instant. Give it 15 to 30 seconds on a good Wi-Fi connection. If both devices are on cellular or a slow connection, it may take longer.

Step 2: Check iCloud is enabled

On the device that is not showing the changes, go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and make sure iCloud Drive is turned on. Also check that flub is listed and enabled under iCloud apps.

Step 3: Check your internet connection

iCloud cannot sync without an internet connection. Make sure both devices are connected to Wi-Fi or have a cellular data connection.

Step 4: Force close and reopen flub

On iPhone or iPad, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and swipe flub off the screen to close it. Reopen it. On Mac, use Cmd+Q to quit flub and reopen it from the dock or Applications folder.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, contact us at hello@flubapp.com with a description of what device the change was made on and what device is not showing it.