Hello, shiny happy people! It’s almost [fill in your winter holiday] time, and it is customary at that time of year to receive gifts. I’ve decided to make all of my readers who write very happy by giving you a gift that might be of actual use other than entertainment or knowledge — free software.
About the Program
You may well have heard of Final Draft, the #1-selling screenwriting software in the world. It combines powerful word processing with professional script formatting in one self-contained, easy-to-use package specifically designed for writing and formatting a screenplay to meet the screenplay submission standards set by the theater, television, and film industries. It can also be used to write other documents such as stage plays, outlines, treatments, query letters, novels, graphic novels, manuscripts, and basic text documents.
Do you know what other feature Final Draft has? A ridiculous price tag. The newest version, Final Draft 11, is at least 250 bucks, and that’s just on the website! An upgrade from an earlier version is similarly unaffordable for most starving authors who don’t have $100 American burning a hole in their back pocket.
So, being a generous man and it being the holidays, I have for you a proposition: I can instruct you how to get a free copy of Final Draft 8, an older version. As Final Draft has stopped offering support for any version that isn’t 10 or above, I reckon that a few copies of Final Draft 8 going out won’t hurt anyone’s bottom line. So let’s hook you up with your free abandonware!
Disclaimer(s)
Now, before I begin, a disclaimer is necessary. This blog does not encourage piracy. No files are hosted on our server; this blog post merely indexes the contents of other pages, much like any search engine. The hosting server and the administrator are not responsible for the content of any linked sites or changes/updates thereto. All linked content — and instructions for its use — is intended for backup and/or educational purposes, and private use, only.
With the legalese out of the way, a more informal disclaimer is also (in my opinion) necessary. If you can afford Final Draft 11, get Final Draft 11. It’s trusted by 95% of film, television, and multimedia professionals for a reason. More than that, it has lots of brilliant features which are simply not present in Final Draft 8 that make it well worth the purchase price. If you’re a professional or student with money in your account, don’t be a leech. But if you’re just a beginner, or this is purely for a hobby or fan effort, then stick around. It shouldn’t cost money to have fun. Besides, Final Draft 8 only dates back a few years and still has much of the functionality of its later descendants, and the main differences are little more than modifications, additions of features (albeit brilliant, useful ones), or UI changes. (The most important difference is that, unlike newer versions of the software which are activated similarly, Final Draft won’t be able to lock you out because it’s a… freely obtained… copy.)
So, let’s go for it!
Presets You’ll Need
To install Final Draft 8 (and make it work), you will need:
- Some means of extracting from zipped files. It’s a painless process so long as you have this. For Windows users, I recommend WinRAR. For Mac users, WinRAR is available to you, but only in command line style, so if you’re not a programmer and that’s not something you’re ready for (i.e., more used to a GUI), I recommend UnRarX.
- OS X 10.6.6 or later (for Mac users only). If you don’t have that, you’re kinda screwed. Sorry.
- Some means of opening executable (.exe) files (for Mac users only; Windows users are all set). This handy dandy WikiHow link should help you open a .exe file that’s a key component of this operation.
Instructions
- Download the trial version of Final Draft 8 to install it on your machine. In my infinite wisdom, I’ve made this easy for you. Final Draft 8 for Windows can be found here, and Final Draft 8 for Mac comes in three parts (click each word).
- Download the .exe file necessary to help activate the program. It can be found here.
- All parts being assembled, install the trial version of Final Draft 8. There should be a box checked off to automatically launch it at the end of the installation. Unless you’re just getting started and have other stuff to do, leave it that way; you need to launch it automatically for the next step. At the same time, open the .exe file from step 2. You’re about to need it. Don’t close it at any point during this process until I tell you you’re done. (If your virus protection throws up a warning that can be dismissed, do so. The file itself, at least in my experience, is harmless.)
- When Final Draft 8 opens for the first time, a little window should pop up asking for your 8FD Customer Number. In the program that the .exe file has opened, press “Generate” next to the empty Customer Number field. It will spit out a Customer Number for you. Enter that into the relevant field in the Final Draft 8 window, and click “Activate,” which will open a window for the activation process.
- At that point, rather than choosing “Online Activation” (it won’t work), choose “Manual Activation.” A new window will load listing the Customer Number you used, a Challenge Code, and a blank field for a Response Code which you would normally obtain by calling the listed phone number. I cannot stress this enough: Do not call the listed phone number.
- Enter your Challenge Code in the empty field for it in the program that the .exe file has opened, and click “Calculate.” It will spit out a Response Code for you. Enter that into the relevant field in the Final Draft 8 window, and click “Activate.”
- You’re done. Congratulations! You’ve activated your copy of Final Draft 8, and a blank page will open, ready for writing. Be sure to read the tutorial so that you master the keyboard shortcuts and all the extra steps for writing whatever it is you intend to write. There’s no need to register (it may not work anymore anyway thanks to the existence of subsequent versions) – the product will work just fine.
Happy writing, and Happy Holidays!