A big structural rewrite (cutting a subplot, changing POV, merging two chapters) is exactly the moment you want an easy way back to where you started, without treating your whole project like it's at risk.
What You'll Need
- The document you're about to revise, open in the editor.
Step-by-Step
- Before you touch anything, open the Inspector panel and go to the Versions tab.
- Click "+" and give the snapshot a name that tells you what it is: something like "Before POV change" is far more useful later than the default "Manual Snapshot" label, especially if you end up with several snapshots on the same document over time.
- Make your revision. There's no need to work carefully around the snapshot: it's a separate saved copy, not a lock on the current content.
- If the rewrite doesn't work out, go back to the Versions tab and click Restore on the snapshot you saved. Confirm when prompted.
- If you change your mind immediately after restoring, press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) right away; the restore itself is undoable like any other edit, as long as you catch it before doing something else.
- Clean up snapshots you no longer need with the trash icon, once you're confident in the direction you went; there's no cap enforced, but a long list of old snapshots on one document gets harder to navigate.
Common Mistakes
- Expecting a snapshot to be created automatically before a big edit. It won't be. Snapshotting is always a deliberate, manual step, so get in the habit of creating one right before you start a revision you might want to undo.
- Leaving every snapshot named "Manual Snapshot." With more than one or two snapshots on a document, an unnamed list becomes hard to tell apart; a short, specific name saves real time later.
- Assuming a snapshot protects your whole project. It only covers the one document it was created from. If you're about to make a sweeping change across many chapters at once, an automatic backup or a manual "Back Up Now" is the better safety net.
- Waiting too long after a restore to undo it. The confirmation dialog's note about Ctrl+Z applies "immediately after": once you've made further edits on top of a restore, undo may no longer take you cleanly back.
FAQ
Should I snapshot before every editing session, or just major rewrites?
Just major, hard-to-reverse changes: a POV shift, cutting or merging scenes, a structural rewrite. For everyday editing, Deckle's normal undo history and automatic backups already provide a safety net.
If I have several snapshots on one document, can I compare them side by side?
No. Deckle restores a snapshot's content into the document; it doesn't show a side-by-side diff view between versions.
Do snapshots count against my project's backup limit?
No. Snapshots and automatic backups are entirely separate systems. Snapshots don't get rotated out or counted toward the "Backups to keep" setting.