1. Welcome to Narratus

Narratus helps you turn a screen-recorded workflow video into a professional standard operating procedure (SOP). Record yourself performing a process, explain what you are doing, and Narratus uses AI to create a written SOP complete with screenshots.

2. What Narratus Does

• Extracts audio from your video.
• Transcribes your narration using AI.
• Detects important action keywords and builds a filmstrip of frames around each one.
• Lets you browse the filmstrip, hover-preview frames, select the best one, and crop it.
• Generates a professional SOP from the transcript and selected screenshots.
• Lets you review and edit the SOP with auto-save protection.
• Lets you proof the SOP by ear using the Read Aloud feature.
• Lets you insert, remove, preview, and jump to screenshot references in the SOP editor.
• Creates final DOCX output and, where supported, PDF output.
• Lets you reload and re-edit any previous project at any time.

3. Recommended Workflow

4. Menu Bar Overview

Narratus uses a standard menu bar at the top of the window.

File Menu

• Load Project — Browse to a previous Narratus output folder and reopen it for editing without re-running the pipeline.
• Recent Projects — Quick access to your five most recently opened projects. Missing folders appear disabled.
• Settings — Opens the Settings window to manage your profile, workspace, activation key, branding, and theme.
• Exit — Closes Narratus.

Help Menu

• Help — Opens this help guide in your default browser.
• Contact Support — Opens a pre-filled support request form in your browser so you can reach the Narratus team in a couple of clicks. See Section 29.
• About Narratus — Shows the version number, description, copyright, and a link to open the README.

5. Best Practices for Recording Your Video

The quality of your video directly affects the quality of the SOP. Better narration and cleaner screen activity produce better steps, better screenshots, and less editing.

Record one process at a time

Keep each video focused on one workflow.

Good: "How to enter a new customer."

Less ideal: "How to enter a customer, update invoices, review reports, and change settings."

Talk through your actions

Narrate what you are doing while you do it. Use clear action words that match your screenshot keywords.

• "Click the Settings button."
• "Open the customer screen."
• "Select Save."
• "Review the confirmation message."

Keep the screen clean

• Close unrelated windows and turn off notifications.
• Hide private or sensitive information before recording.
• Use full screen where possible and zoom in if text is small.

Use clear audio

Use a headset or external microphone if possible, record in a quiet room, and speak clearly at a natural pace. Audio quality matters more than video quality.

Keep videos reasonably short

• Ideal: 2 to 10 minutes.
• Still workable: 10 to 30 minutes.
• Long videos: Consider splitting long procedures into several shorter videos.

Use common video formats

Recommended: MP4 and MOV. Narratus also accepts MKV, AVI, and WebM.

6. Subscription Plans

Narratus uses a subscription model with fully managed AI — no API key setup is required. Purchase a plan at getnarratus.com and receive an activation key by email.

Available plans

What is a run?

One complete video-to-SOP pipeline execution — from video file to final DOCX/PDF export. Re-editing or re-exporting an existing project does not count as a run.

Seats and run sharing

Each seat corresponds to one activated device. All seats on an account share the same monthly run pool.

Monthly reset

Your run quota resets automatically on the 1st of each calendar month. The reset date is always shown in Settings and in the status strip at the bottom of the main window.

7. Using the Settings Window

Open Settings via File → Settings.

User Profile

Enter your name, title, department, and organization. This information appears in the title block of generated SOP documents.

Project Workspace

Set a workspace folder once and Narratus handles the rest. Every new SOP is automatically saved as a subfolder named after the SOP title. See Section 8 for details.

Read Aloud

Choose a voice and reading speed for the Read Aloud feature. Speed ranges from 0.5× (slower) to 1.5× (faster). Changes take effect the next time you click a Read Aloud button. See Section 18 for details.

Activation Key & Subscription Status

Enter your Narratus activation key (format: NRTS-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) and click Verify. The panel then shows your plan, seats used, runs used, runs remaining, and quota reset date.

Appearance

Choose Light, Dark, or System theme. See Section 9 for details.

Document Branding

Upload a company logo for use in DOCX and PDF output. See Section 10 for details.

8. Project Workspace NEW

The workspace is a single parent folder where all your Narratus projects are stored. You set it once in Settings and never think about output folders again.

How it works

1. Open File → Settings and click Browse next to the Projects field.
2. Choose or create a folder — for example C:\Users\You\SOP Projects.
3. Click Save. The workspace is now set.

When you run a new pipeline, Narratus creates a subfolder automatically:

C:\Users\You\SOP Projects\
  Monthly Budget Reconciliation\
    sop.md
    sop.docx
    work\
  Onboarding New Employees\
    sop.md
    sop.docx
    work\

SOP Title is required

The SOP Title field on the main screen must be filled in before running. The title becomes the subfolder name. Narratus strips any characters that are not allowed in folder names automatically.

Live path preview

As you type the SOP title, a preview below the field shows the exact path where the project will be saved — for example Saves to: C:\Users\You\SOP Projects\Monthly Budget Reconciliation.

No workspace set

If no workspace is set, the main screen shows an amber warning: ⚠ No Project Workspace set — click here to open Settings. Click the warning to open Settings and set the workspace before running.

Existing project collision

If a project with the same title already exists in the workspace, Narratus asks whether you want to overwrite it or choose a different title. This check only applies to new runs, not to re-editing existing projects.

9. Appearance and Themes

Windows

System mode reads the Windows app theme setting. If Windows is set to dark, Narratus uses dark mode.

10. Logos and Document Branding

Upload a company logo in File → Settings under Document Branding. The logo appears at the top of generated DOCX and PDF documents.

Recommended logo

• Clean horizontal banner logo for document headers.
• PNG format when possible.
• Looks good on a white document background.
• Avoid very tall or oversized logos — they push the title block down.

11. Activating Your License

Narratus requires an activation key to use the AI pipeline. All AI is managed through your subscription — no external API key is needed.

Getting an activation key

Purchase a subscription at getnarratus.com. After purchase, your activation key is sent by email. The format is: NRTS-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.

Entering your key

1. Open File → Settings.
2. Find the Activation Key field.
3. Paste your key and click Verify.

After verification, the panel shows your plan, seats used, runs remaining, and reset date.

Moving to a new computer

Open File → Settings on your old computer and click Deregister This Device. Then open Settings on the new computer, enter the same key, and click Verify. If you no longer have access to the old computer, contact Narratus support.

12. Processing a Video

1. Open Narratus. If no workspace is set, click the amber warning to set one in Settings first.
2. Enter an SOP Title — this is required. The title becomes the project subfolder name. The Saves to: preview below the field shows the exact output path.
3. Click Browse and choose your video file.
4. Confirm or adjust the screenshot keywords.
5. Click Run Pipeline.

Narratus extracts audio, transcribes narration, detects keyword moments, then opens the Illustrator window for screenshot selection.

13. Progress Bar and Cancel

When the pipeline is running, a progress bar appears below the log area and a Cancel button appears in the bottom bar.

Progress bar

The animated bar shows that Narratus is actively working. The log area shows step-by-step status messages.

Cancel button

Click Cancel at any time to stop the pipeline. The button changes to Cancelling… while Narratus finishes the current step cleanly, then stops.

14. The Illustrator — Selecting Screenshots NEW

After the pipeline completes, the Illustrator window opens. This is where you choose the best screenshot for each step of the SOP.

Layout

• Top half: The SOP text editor, where you can review and edit the generated SOP alongside the screenshot selection process.
• Bottom half: A scrollable filmstrip showing frames extracted from the video around each keyword timestamp.

Navigating steps

Use the ◀ Previous Step and Next Step ▶ buttons to move between screenshot slots. The progress strip at the top shows a coloured square for each step — green for assigned, grey for unresolved, and blue for skipped.

Selecting a frame

1. Scroll the filmstrip left or right to find the best frame for the current step.
2. Hover over any frame for a larger preview (see Section 15).
3. Click a frame to highlight it.
4. Click Select This Frame or double-click the frame to confirm and open the crop editor.

Skip a step

If no good frame exists for a step, click Skip Step. That step will export as text only with no screenshot.

Add a screenshot

Click + Add Screenshot to add an extra image to a step beyond the primary one.

When all steps are resolved

Once every step is assigned or skipped, the status bar shows All steps resolved — ready to export. Click Save & Export or continue editing the SOP text before exporting.

15. Filmstrip Hover Preview NEW

Finding the right frame in the filmstrip is much faster with hover preview. Instead of clicking every frame to see it larger, simply rest the mouse over a thumbnail for a moment.

How it works

• Hover the mouse over any thumbnail in the filmstrip for about 150 milliseconds.
• A 2× enlarged preview of that frame pops up directly above the filmstrip.
• Move the mouse to another thumbnail — the preview updates to that frame.
• Move the mouse away from the filmstrip entirely — the preview closes.

Selecting after previewing

Hover preview is a read-only visual aid. To select a frame after previewing it, click it once to highlight it, then click Select This Frame. To open the crop editor immediately, double-click the thumbnail.

16. Cropping Screenshots

1. Select a frame in the filmstrip (single click to highlight, then Select This Frame) or double-click a thumbnail.
2. The crop editor opens showing the full frame.
3. Drag a box over the area you want to keep.
4. Click Save Crop — Narratus saves the cropped version and assigns it to the step.

Cropping is useful when the important content is only in part of the screen, the screenshot includes clutter, or private information needs to be removed from view.

17. Reviewing and Editing the SOP

The SOP text editor is available directly in the Illustrator window (top half) and also in the standalone SOP Editor when loading a project that has no video.

• Read the generated SOP carefully.
• Edit wording, add missing details, and remove unnecessary content.
• Use screenshot thumbnails to control screenshot placement.
• Use Read Aloud to proof the SOP by ear (see Section 18).
• Click Save regularly to preserve your edits.
• Click Save & Export when ready to create the final document.

18. Read Aloud NEW

Read Aloud lets you proof the SOP by listening to it rather than reading it. Hearing the text spoken aloud reveals awkward phrasing, missing words, and unclear steps that the eye tends to skip over.

How to use it

• Click Read Selection / Step to read the selected text, or the paragraph the cursor is in if nothing is selected.
• Click Read Entire SOP to read the complete document from beginning to end.
• Click Stop to stop playback at any time.

The audio indicator

When you click a Read button, five animated bars appear next to the buttons immediately. These bars animate continuously while the voice is preparing and playing, so you always know something is happening. The bars go flat the moment playback stops or you click Stop.

Changing voice and speed

Open File → Settings to choose a different voice or adjust the reading speed (0.5× to 1.5×). Changes take effect the next time you click a Read button.

Read Aloud is available in both windows

The Read Aloud buttons appear in the header bar of the SOP text area inside the Illustrator, and in the bottom button bar of the standalone SOP Editor.

19. Auto-Save

The SOP editor automatically saves a draft copy of your work to protect against accidental data loss.

How it works

• Auto-save triggers 60 seconds after your last edit.
• It saves a separate file called sop_autosave.md in your project folder — it never overwrites your real sop.md.
• When auto-save completes, the status bar briefly shows "Auto-saved draft · Use Save & Export when ready to finalise."

Restoring a draft

If Narratus closes unexpectedly while you are editing, the autosave file is kept on disk. The next time you open the same project, Narratus asks whether you want to restore it.

• Choose Yes to restore your unsaved work.
• Choose No to discard the draft and open the last manually saved version.

When auto-save is cleared

The autosave draft is deleted automatically when you click Save, Save & Export, or close the editor normally.

20. Managing Screenshots in the SOP Editor

The SOP editor includes a screenshot thumbnail panel so you can control exactly where screenshots appear in the final document.

Insert

Place the cursor in the SOP text where you want a screenshot, then click Insert on that thumbnail. This adds a placeholder like [Screenshot 3] at the cursor position.

Jump

Click Jump to scroll the SOP text to where that screenshot is currently referenced.

Remove

Click Remove to delete the screenshot reference from the text. This does not delete the image file.

Preview

Click Preview to open a larger view of the screenshot.

Used / Unused indicators

Each thumbnail shows whether the screenshot is referenced in the SOP text. Click Refresh Used/Unused after manually editing screenshot references to update these indicators.

21. Creating DOCX and PDF Output

After reviewing and editing the SOP, click Save & Export to create your final document.

Output choices

• DOCX — Microsoft Word document. The master editable format.
• PDF — PDF document when supported on your system.
• Both — Creates DOCX and PDF together.

Screenshot formatting in the document

• Screenshots are embedded at 75% of the page width, leaving comfortable margins on either side.
• Each screenshot caption and its image are kept on the same page — a caption will never appear at the bottom of one page with its image at the top of the next.
• Unreferenced kept screenshots are added to a Screenshot Appendix at the end of the document.

SOP section formatting

• The Terms & Definitions and Troubleshooting sections use a ▸ bullet style for clean, easy-to-scan lists.
• Warning and tip callouts use visual markers (⚠️ and 💡) for immediate recognition.

Table of Contents

The DOCX file includes a dynamic Table of Contents. In Microsoft Word, right-click it and choose Update Field to refresh it after any edits.

PDF on Windows

Uses Microsoft Word automation. Word must be installed and activated.

PDF on Linux

Uses LibreOffice when installed.

22. Loading a Previous Project

You can reopen any previous Narratus project folder to continue editing without re-running the pipeline.

How to load a project

1. Go to File → Load Project.
2. Browse to the project subfolder inside your workspace.
3. Click OK.

What opens

• If the original video is in the project folder — the full Illustrator opens. You can re-browse the filmstrip, re-select frames, re-crop screenshots, and edit the SOP text, exactly as during the original run.
• If the video is not present — the SOP text editor opens directly with the saved screenshots and text.

Run quota

Re-editing an existing project never decrements your monthly run quota. Only a fresh pipeline run counts as a run.

23. Recent Projects

Narratus remembers the five most recently opened or completed projects for quick access.

Go to File → Recent Projects and click any entry to open that project directly.

• Projects are listed by folder name.
• If a folder has been moved or deleted, it appears greyed out and cannot be opened.
• The list updates automatically whenever you complete a pipeline run or use Load Project.

24. Where Files Are Saved

All output for a project is saved in its subfolder inside your workspace — for example C:\SOP Projects\Monthly Budget Reconciliation\.

• sop.md — Editable Markdown draft used by Narratus.
• sop_autosave.md — Temporary auto-save draft (deleted on clean close).
• sop.docx — Microsoft Word output.
• sop.pdf — PDF output when created.
• transcript.txt — Plain text transcript.
• transcript_verbose.json — Detailed transcript with timestamps.
• keyword_hits.json — Screenshot metadata used by Load Project.
• <video filename> — A copy of your original video, stored here so the project is self-contained and Load Project can re-open the Illustrator.
• work/ — Working files: extracted audio, filmstrip frames, and intermediate data.

25. About Narratus

Open Help → About Narratus to see the current version number, a brief description, and copyright information.

The About dialog includes an Open README button which opens the full README documentation in your default browser. The README covers installation, running from source, and building with PyInstaller.

26. Troubleshooting

27. Frequently Asked Questions

28. Privacy and Data Notes

Narratus may send audio and transcript text to the Narratus managed AI service for transcription and SOP generation. Narratus also communicates with the Narratus license server (getnarratus.com) to validate your subscription.

Before recording, avoid showing:

• Passwords or login credentials.
• Customer or employee private information.
• Bank account numbers or financial data.
• Confidential company information.
• Anything you would not want included in a shared SOP document.

Your original video remains on your computer at all times. Narratus does not upload or transmit the video file itself — only the extracted audio and generated text are sent to the AI service.

29. Getting Help and Contact Support NEW

If you ever get stuck, Narratus can connect you to our support team in just a couple of clicks — and it fills in your account details for you, so there is nothing to look up.

Opening a support request

1. Go to Help → Contact Support.
2. Your web browser opens the Narratus support page with a new ticket form.
3. Your name, email, activation key, app version, and operating system are filled in automatically. Just describe your question or problem, choose a category, and submit.

What happens next

• You receive an email confirming your request was received.
• Shortly after, you get an automatic reply with the most common fixes for the type of issue you chose — often enough to get you going right away.
• A member of the team follows up personally. If a person replies before the automatic message would send, you simply hear from a real human instead.

Choosing a category

Pick the category that best matches your question — for example Activation & Licensing, Export, Word & PDF, or Video & Recording. The category helps us route your ticket and tailor that first automatic reply to your situation.

Not a subscriber yet?

You do not need an active subscription to reach out. If you are trying Narratus or just have questions before purchasing, Contact Support still works — we are glad to help you get started.