Adding Cues

To add a cue to your script, you must first select the Cue Tool from the toolbar. You can click on the icon or use the keyboard shortcut “q” to activate the tool.

You must also have an active cue layer selected in order to add cues. See the previous guide for more information on that.

You have two options for placing the cue.

The first is to double-click on the PDF. This will drop a line in the location where you clicked on the PDF.

The second is to click and drag. This will form a box corresponding to the size of the area you Indicated.

In both cases, you will be focused into the cue number or label (depending on what you have chosen to make visible). If both the cue number and label are visible, then you can tab between the two to input information. Hitting return or clicking back into the script will defocus the cue.

Once you have placed the cue marker, the cue itself will initially appear on either the right or left-hand side of the page, depending on the cue placement preference you have selected in the Layer Menu.

You can then click on the colored box on the left-hand side of the cue to add associated attribute information.

Modifying Cues

You can also modify a cue in several ways once it has been created.

You can move the cue marker anywhere on your page by clicking and dragging it to its new position. If your marker is a resizable box, you can change the size by clicking inside the marker and using the handles to resize.

As discussed in the Editing Cue Properties tutorial, you can set your cues’ default position to be the page’s left or right side. But you can also move an individual cue by clicking on the upper right-hand corner of the cue to untether it and dragging it to a new position. Once a cue is untethered, it will not be affected by any default cue position changes. You can re-tether the cue by right-clicking in the same place.

You can also view your cues off the PDF page in the right or left margin. To view cues this way, you must be in the single-page layout view and toggle the Margin View switch (found on the right side of the navigation bar) to the ON setting. Toggling this switch will move cues on the right side of the page to the right margin and cues on the left side to the left margin. This layout is only possible in the single-page view. Your cues will revert to the PDF if you change your view to a two-page view or export the cues to PDF. Only tethered cues will be visible in the margins. Untethered cues will remain where you previously placed them.

It is important to remember that all cue box placements are unique to your script and will not affect other users.

Many editing options are available in a menu that is accessible by clicking anywhere on the layer name inside the cue box. You can change the cue layer, size, and line opacity from this menu. You can also switch the cue marker between a line and a resizable box. In addition, you can make the cue number and/or label visible, move the cue to another page,  or permanently delete the cue.

If you click on the colored box on the left side of every cue, you will see a place to enter any additional details about the cue. Depending on what attributes you have chosen from the cue menu, this could include labels, descriptions, notes, times, or other information specific to your lighting and sound consoles. You can also right-click that box to add a work note to any cue quickly. You can remove a cue by clicking on the colored box or the layer name and choosing the trash icon. This will delete the cue and all associated information.