Deckle First Look (Update #2)

If you’ve been having trouble finding Deckle’s website because you listed to the audio-only podcast first, or because your search engine thinks you’re asking about making paper, you want https://deckle.studio

I haven’t purchased Deckle yet, but my wife and I are cautiously optimistic about it. We’ve been using Libre/Open Office (she likes Libre, I like Open) for a while, with our Word use limited only to me editing manuscripts until they changed too much.

I do use Open Office for some things that Deckle won’t do. Those are entirely limited to making clean tables, though, at least those that I don’t use Excel for. (The only product Microsoft makes that hasn’t been screwed with beyond functionality, probably because it’s not used by middle managers.) So I like the idea of something I can use for just writing and editing.

I did send in a few questions regarding things specific to workflow or quality-of-life features. I’ll post about them if and when I get a response. One in particular is whether I can edit and comment .docx files without messing up how they look in Word for a client.

I should have added a comment about search engine optimization since I couldn’t come up with any keywords to use with “Deckle” to find the word processor site rather than articles about papermaking. I’ll try to remember to include that in a follow-up response.

One thing I would utterly love is if there were an Android app version, but I know Google is about to make that very, very difficult for small developers so I doubt it. But I try to do a lot of work on my phone, because with the addition of a full-sized folding keyboard my phone is better for portable work than a laptop. The problem is that there aren’t good options for non-cloud writing out there. I can use Dropsync to update files between my phone and Dropbox; I just need an editor that isn’t Microsoft, Google, or the joke of an app provided for the LibreOffice side of things. I tried vibe-coding one and had some progress, but I hit a wall called “I don’t actually know how to code and therefore can’t describe what needs fixing anymore.”

Still, if there were an Android version I would buy it in a heartbeat. A half-functioning app would still be better than what I currently have.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the program just from what they show, and if it works as advertised I think it’s well worth the price.

UPDATE #1:

I received an email back from the developer (very fast, too; he apologized for a “delayed” response of less than four hours). I’m sharing the answers to some of my questions that might be of interest to others.

Licensing: Each license is intended for two devices, so for a normal user this will cover a laptop and a desktop. (I asked because between my wife and I, we’d need three devices.) If you obtain a new device, you can transfer the license by downloading Deckle on the new device and entering the same license key.

Comments: As of next week, Deckle will be able to handle exporting comments as native Word comments when exporting to .docx. (Necessary for me to be able to use Deckle when editing a client’s manuscript, but also useful for authors getting feedback from beta readers.)

The update will also include an “All Comments” view that shows every comment across the entire project, including a keyword search; clicking on one comment takes you straight to its position in the document. (I asked specifically because that would be a massive benefit to my workflow, but also especially for my wife when she’s viewing my edits of her document. She wouldn’t have to keep scrolling to find where “that one comment” is. Less useful for clients not using Deckle.)

Auto-Detect Chapters: On import, Deckle will automatically separate out chapters if, and only if, they are marked with H1/H2 headings. (This makes the chapterized features less useful for me as an editor, because if I’m using Deckle for editing a client’s manuscript I’d have to manually chapterize it, then de-chapterize it when sending it back, then re-chapterize on a second round, and . . . well, that’s exhausting just typing it out. But hey, maybe Deckle will catch on.)

Word Count: Each chapter will have its own word and character counts, in addition to a project-wide count. When looking at “continuous view” (scrolling directly from one chapter to the next), you can select which documents (including chapters) to include. This will allow you to avoid having half-finished chapters, future scenes, notes, and that old draft you’re keeping around because you liked something in it from clogging up your word count.

Android App: He’s planning on an Android app, though not before September. I asked about September because, as I mentioned above, I do a lot on my phone with an external keyboard. Way better than a laptop for taking the kids to the park (sorry, Thomas, but it’s true). I asked about September because Google is about to make it very annoying for small developers, but he said he’s planning for that particular complication.

UPDATE #2

I have a copy now and my wife and I are experimenting with various tasks. There aren’t any “real” bugs yet, except maybe a glitch with importing a manuscript. There are a lot of improvements that need to be made, though, and we’re compiling a long list for the dev when he gets back in the office in a couple of weeks.

After that, I’ll make a more in-depth review sometime next month as a new post. So this is the last update I intend to make on this post; but if you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to drop them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.