Characters and the Cast List

The right-side Inspector has four tabs — Info, Outline, Cast, Notes. The Cast tab manages the characters who appear in an Issue or Graphic Novel.

Per-issue cast

Add characters to an issue by clicking + Add Character at the bottom of the Cast tab. Names you type into the script are also added automatically — when ComicDraft sees a new character heading like JOKER:, it adds JOKER to the issue’s cast on save.

Series-level cast (cascading)

Select a Series in the sidebar. The right pane shows a Series Characters section. Add a character there — say, BATMAN or ALFRED — and it cascades to every issue in that series.

When you then open an issue under that series, the Cast tab shows two groups:

1. Series characters at the top — muted, no remove button. To remove them, go to the Series.
2. A divider line.
3. Issue-specific characters — full color, with an × to remove just from this issue.

This keeps the recurring cast in one place and lets each issue add guest stars without duplicating the regulars.

Autocomplete while writing

Type the first letter of a known character on a fresh line, and a small popover appears with matching names. Press ↓/↑ to move through the list, Return or Tab to accept. ComicDraft inserts NAME: and drops you into the dialog block.

Caption with a character

Press ⌘6 (or type CAPTION ( yourself) and the character autocomplete offers your cast for the name inside the parens. Pick one, press Return, and ComicDraft finishes it as CAPTION (NAME): with a dialog line below.

Autocomplete works in documents you’ve opened from outside the Library too — the cast travels inside the .comicdraft file, so a collaborator’s characters are already there.

How character names are stored

All character lines in a script are auto-uppercased by the engine (you can type batman: or Batman: — both become BATMAN:). Annotations like (V.O.), [off], (CONT) are recognized but not added as separate characters in the cast.

CAPTION and SFX are formatting, not cast. They behave like character headings while you’re typing — Return drops you onto a dialog line the same way — but they never enter the cast list or the autocomplete dropdown. Neither does a name written inside an off-page section: BATMAN: in a # note is a note, not a cast member.

ComicDraft also teaches your system spell-checker the character names you add, so they stop getting red-underlined as misspellings.

macOS spell-check scope

On macOS, learned character names are added to your user-wide spelling dictionary (visible to every Mac app). Fictional comic names are fine; don’t put real-world PII or secrets through the cast field if you share your Mac. On iPad/iOS the learned list is per-app and sandboxed.