Comparing Two Scenes Side by Side in Deckle

Checking that a detail lines up between two scenes (what a character is wearing, what time of day it is, how a conversation was phrased earlier) is much easier with both scenes actually on screen at once in Split Editor than flipping back and forth from memory.

What You'll Need

• The two documents you want to compare, both somewhere in your Binder.

Step-by-Step

1. Open the first document normally.
2. Click the Split Editor icon to add a second pane. It starts as a copy of what's already open.
3. Click into the new pane, then click the second document in the Binder. Clicking a document always loads it into whichever pane you last clicked into, so make sure the right pane is focused first.
4. Drag the divider between the panes if you want more room for one side than the other.
5. Edit either pane directly. They're fully independent editors, not a read-only comparison view, so you can fix an inconsistency the moment you spot it.
6. Close the extra pane with its × button when you're done, back down to your normal single-pane layout.

When to Use Continuous View Instead

Split Editor is for comparing two specific, possibly-unrelated documents. If what you actually want is to read or edit a whole run of consecutive scenes as one piece, checking pacing across a chapter, or smoothing a transition between scenes, switch to Continuous View instead: multi-select the scenes you want in the Binder first, then toggle it on, and they'll scroll as one continuous, still-editable document rather than sitting in separate panes.

Common Mistakes

• Clicking a Binder document before focusing the right pane. It always loads into whichever pane was clicked into most recently. If that's not the one you meant, you'll overwrite the wrong pane.
• Trying to drag a document directly onto a pane. That's not supported. Always click into the target pane first, then select the document from the Binder.
• Reaching for Split Editor when Continuous View fits better. If you're comparing two specific, non-adjacent documents, Split Editor is right. If you're really trying to read several consecutive scenes as one flow, Continuous View is the better fit.
• Expecting typewriter scrolling to keep working with a second pane open. It's single-pane only; it stops applying the moment you open a split.