Turn on Revision Mode before you start a pass, and every word you add gets colored automatically, so when you're done, you can see exactly what you touched without remembering it yourself.
What You'll Need
- A document open and ready for a revision pass: a line edit, a continuity fix, or any pass where you want to see what actually changed.
Step-by-Step
- Decide on a color for this pass before you start, something that reads clearly against your normal text and (if you're doing more than one pass) is easy to tell apart from a previous pass's color.
- Open the text color picker from the toolbar and click "Keep this color as I keep typing" at the bottom.
- Make your edits normally. Every new sentence, phrase, or pasted-in rewrite picks up the armed color automatically. You don't need to select text and apply color separately.
- Switch colors mid-pass if it helps, for example, one color for additions and a different one for anything you're not fully sure about yet. Picking a new color re-arms immediately, without turning the mode off first.
- Turn it off when you're done by clicking the same toggle again, and read back through the pass to see everything you added at a glance.
- Use a different color for your next pass, so a later line edit is visually distinguishable from an earlier structural one if you ever need to tell them apart.
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting to turn it on before you start typing. Revision Mode only colors text added after it's armed. Anything you already wrote before turning it on stays your normal color.
- Expecting it to survive closing the project. It's a session setting, not saved with your project. If you're doing a multi-day revision pass, you'll need to turn it back on each time you reopen the document.
- Trying to use it in Scrivenings/Continuous view. It's available in the main editor and popout windows. Switch to a single-document pane for a pass where you want this.
- Mistaking it for a review/approval tool. It's a visual marker for your own reference, not a structured change log. There's no accept/reject step, and it never appears in your exported book either way.
FAQ
Can I tell my additions apart from a previous revision pass's colored text?
Yes, as long as you used a different color for each pass. Deckle doesn't label passes automatically, so the distinction is whatever colors you chose.
Does this work the same way if I paste in a rewritten paragraph instead of typing it?
Yes. Revision Mode colors whatever was actually added to the document, whether it arrived by typing or by paste.
Will this affect my word count or writing stats?
No. Revision Mode only affects the visual color of text; it has no effect on word counts, goals, or any other tracked stat.