Center Systems Vertically on Page

General notation questions, including advanced notation, formatting, etc., go here.

Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker

Post Reply
Sortakindamezzoish
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2014.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by Sortakindamezzoish » Thu Dec 29, 2016 5:52 pm

I am attempting to edit the appearance of my score. I want to reduce the space between two systems but keep the systems centered vertically on the page. Is there a way to do this? I have played around with margins, but that ends up changing the first page where the title and other text is.

I am running Finale 2014.5 on Windows.

Attached is what my pages look like currently. Apologies for the low quality, had to reduce to get the forum to allow it.

Thanks so much!
Attachments
finale quartet sample1.jpg
finale quartet sample1.jpg (76.2 KiB) Viewed 8534 times


User avatar
motet
Posts: 8231
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm
Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
Operating System: Windows

Post by motet » Thu Dec 29, 2016 5:56 pm

I'm not sure what you're asking. What do you mean by "centered vertically"? You want equal space above and below the two?

Sortakindamezzoish
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2014.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by Sortakindamezzoish » Thu Dec 29, 2016 5:58 pm

I'd like to reduce the space between the two systems and then have equal spacing above the first system and below the second system. That seems like a margins change, but I haven't figured out how to reduce the space between the systems.

Here you can find an example of what I mean: https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Jbjt.png

User avatar
motet
Posts: 8231
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm
Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
Operating System: Windows

Post by motet » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:09 pm

That's rather an unusual request. If each page is different, I don't see a way of doing that other than manually, but maybe someone will have some ideas.

User avatar
zuill
Posts: 4418
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:35 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by zuill » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:10 pm

If you can post a Finale file that we can play with, I'm sure we can suggest more specifically to address what you want.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

Sortakindamezzoish
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2014.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by Sortakindamezzoish » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:15 pm

Each page is the same, I just don't want the title to move from the top of the page.

I'll see if I can replicate a blank Finale file that looks like this and post it here.

Thanks guys.

User avatar
motet
Posts: 8231
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm
Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
Operating System: Windows

Post by motet » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:17 pm

I would move the margins, then, and change the title to be located above the margin, which is possible.

Sortakindamezzoish
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2014.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by Sortakindamezzoish » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:27 pm

Try playing around with this, if you'd be so kind.
Attachments
quartet test document.zip
(85.87 KiB) Downloaded 131 times

User avatar
zuill
Posts: 4418
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:35 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by zuill » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:46 pm

So, you want the spacing on page 2 for pages 2-end of score, but you want page 1 to be different? Finale can do that.

Zuill
Last edited by zuill on Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

Sortakindamezzoish
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2014.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by Sortakindamezzoish » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:49 pm

No, this is currently what my score looks like. I want to reduce the space between the systems so they are closer together. That would be the first step. Does that make sense?

Then I'd like to keep the systems centered on the page vertically, but leave titles and things where they are.

User avatar
zuill
Posts: 4418
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:35 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by zuill » Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:00 pm

I am not sure if this is any closer. Maybe we need specific measurements that you want.

Zuill
Attachments
quartet test document revised 2.zip
(85.89 KiB) Downloaded 144 times
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

User avatar
N Grossingink
Posts: 1786
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:50 pm
Finale Version: 27.3
Operating System: Mac

Post by N Grossingink » Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:08 pm

The attached file is not what you asked for, but seeing your original concept got me to thinking. I do a lot of small ensembles - string quartet, brass quintet, etc. My client likes 3 systems on a page usually. I redid your sample with 3 systems and it makes use of the space a little more efficiently. I had to reduce the page size from 100% to 90%, which is not unreasonable. The staves are spaced the same as your original and there seems to be enough room for normally dense notation.

N
Attachments
quartet test document 3systems.zip
(86.43 KiB) Downloaded 148 times
N. Grossingink
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link


Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3

User avatar
motet
Posts: 8231
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm
Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
Operating System: Windows

Post by motet » Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:22 pm

Personally, I don't think a lot of white space above the first system on a page is attractive. I would rather it were all at the bottom, or else squeeze three systems in as N. says.

Sortakindamezzoish
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2014.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by Sortakindamezzoish » Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:28 pm

What were your steps to do this?

I might tweak the first page but I like the others. This might be the direction I go, I appreciate your work immensely.

User avatar
N Grossingink
Posts: 1786
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:50 pm
Finale Version: 27.3
Operating System: Mac

Post by N Grossingink » Fri Dec 30, 2016 12:35 am

Sortakindamezzoish wrote:What were your steps to do this?
As I mentioned, I reduced the page percentage from 100% to 90%. That made room for a 3rd system. I then adjusted the system margins so that the 3 systems were spaced out in a pleasing way. I do this pretty much "by eye" - set the view percentage to 90 or 100% so you can see the entire page on the screen.

N
N. Grossingink
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link


Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3

BuonTempi
Posts: 1297
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:59 am
Finale Version: Finale 27
Operating System: Mac

Post by BuonTempi » Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:00 pm

The Space Systems plug-in is very useful for this kind of thing. You can specify extra margins to the top and bottom, and it will then space the systems within those bounds.

Post Reply