Newbie to Finale 2014 with multiple questions..

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Logandrum
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:19 pm
Finale Version: 2014
Operating System: Windows

Post by Logandrum » Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:13 pm

Good day! I just started on the road with Finale 2014 and I just finished my first chart.. (Piano Score/Grand Staff/Jazz Arrangement)

I do have a few questions that I still am stumped on and I hope I can find the answer here..

To start out I have like 4-5 initial questions.. I assume posting all in one post is not cool.. Can I make a new topic for each one?

My first question is with regards to spacing of grace notes and in this case a natural sign..

Both markings are too far to the left from the note they should be next to..

The natural sign is literally butting up against the previous chord to it's left..

Any ideas on how to being these closer to the right?


Finale 2014, Mac
Attachments
natural sign spacing.png
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Logandrum
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:19 pm
Finale Version: 2014
Operating System: Windows

Post by Logandrum » Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:14 pm

Here is screenshot of grace note issue

Thank you!












Finale 2014, Mac
Attachments
grace note spacing.png
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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6601
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Thu Oct 02, 2014 6:52 pm

Welcome to the forum!

Without seeing an actual Finale document *) we can only guess, and ask you questions.

Open the document, and go to
Document menu > Document Options > Music Spacing

What are your settings in the pane Grace Note Spacing?


*) You can attach documents to your posts.
This forum does not accept attachments with the file name extension .musx.
But it does accept file name extensions for compressed formats, e. g. .zip.
The file size must not be more than 100 KB.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Logandrum
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:19 pm
Finale Version: 2014
Operating System: Windows

Post by Logandrum » Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:49 pm

Peter, thank you for the reply..

Grace note setting is:

0.08333


Accidental to note spacing is:

0.02778



What values would bring both of those closer to the right to their respective notes?

Thanks again!

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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6601
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:56 pm

Go back to
Document Options - Music Spacing

1) I suppose that the radio button “Automatic” is selected?
Logandrum wrote:…Grace note setting is:

0.08333…
The numbers do not tell anything without the Measurement Units.

1) Take a look at the bottom, in the pop-up menu Units.
What does it say? - Spaces? - Centimeters? - or?
Logandrum wrote:…Accidental to note spacing is:

0.02778…
I suppose that this setting is taken from
Document Options - Accidentals
- right?
Logandrum wrote:…What values would bring both of those closer to the right to their respective notes?…
Decreasing the values will reduce the distance.
For the Automatic spacing of grace notes, set the Minimum Distance Between to e. g. “2pt”.
For the Space Between Accidental and Note, try e. g. “1.5pt”.
The abbreviation “pt” means Points in “Finalespeak”.

Have you been adjusting the spacing manually?
You can tell Finale, what to do in music spacing where there are manual adjustments:
- Clear
- Ignore
- Incorporate

If you want to reset the spacing, and start over again, choose “Clear”.
Then apply music spacing.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Logandrum
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:19 pm
Finale Version: 2014
Operating System: Windows

Post by Logandrum » Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:55 pm

Peter, thank you so much for the reply..I am just able to respond to this issue now...

I did attach a new picture isolating the issue I am still having, most notably with the natural sign...

How can I bring the natural sign closer to the note head, to the right like the way the accidentals look..

I go to document settings, under accidentals and I am messing with the numbers in the "space between the accidental and note box"

If I enter "1.5 pt", all the accidentals love way far to the left...

What number will isolate the natural sign only, and bring it closer to the note head?


Thanks again!
Attachments
Screen Shot 2014-10-17 at 12.54.58 PM.png
Screen Shot 2014-10-17 at 12.54.58 PM.png (19.51 KiB) Viewed 4518 times

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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6601
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:40 pm

Logandrum wrote:…What number will isolate the natural sign only, and bring it closer to the note head?…
If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the flat is at the desired Horizontal distance from the chord, right?
And you would like to have the natural at the same Horizontal distance from the chord, right?

In this particular case it is the Vertical (= notational, musical) interval between the accidentals that pushes the natural to the left.
The two accidentals are Vertically seen only 3 scale steps (= a fourth) apart.
Positioning the natural at the same Horizontal distance before the noteheads as the flat will cause a collision between the two accidentals.
Finale is only doing what it is supposed to do.
It would not change the natural’s positioning.


However, it can be done:


1) Document menu > Document Options > Accidentals > Minimum Vertical Spacing Between Accidentals
The default minimum value is 6 steps.
If you change the minimum value to 3 steps, the natural will move to the same Horizontal position as the flat (and you will get the collision).
Since this setting is a document setting, it will affect the document “globally” (= everywhere in the document).


2) To move a single accidental “locally”, use
Special Tools Tool > Accidental Mover Tool
Click inside the measure/staff to make handles appear on all accidentals in that measure/staff.
NB: You must be in the correct layer.
You can move an accidental by selecting its handle, and nudging it Horizontally with the arrow keys.

If you have told Finale to display the Message Bar (or Status Bar, whatever it is called), you can see the accidental’s Horizontal position displayed in the Message Bar (or Status bar).
To move the accidental back to its default positioning (= to clear the manual nudging), hit the Backspace key (Windows) or the Clear key on the NumPad (Mac OS X).
By The Way: You are using Mac OS X, right?

Tip:
For layout fine tunings like this one it is practical to let Finale display distances in small Measurement Units, rather than in the default units (= Inches).
I would choose something small, like Points or EVPUs.

To change Measurement Units:
Finale 2014 menu > Measurement Units > …
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Logandrum
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:19 pm
Finale Version: 2014
Operating System: Windows

Post by Logandrum » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:33 pm

Awesome Peter.. these both work!

Yes I am on Mac....

Thanks again!

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