Finale Forum

I have a string quartet with 35 pages and 2 systems per page. I formatted the 2nd page exactly as I would like the rest to look(pages 3 to35). Is there a way to copy the exact layout(staff spacing, all margins and system spacing) of page 2 and apply it to the the rest of the pages in as few steps as possible.

The full version of TG Tools might help you with this. The only problem is that the staff spacing and system margins must be the same for both systems on your page 2. If so, then use the following TG commands:

Staff spacing - "Layout - Copy System Optimization"
System Margins - "Transfer - Layout, Staff System Margins and Attributes"

N.

I was afraid of that. I don't have there full version of TG.
Thanks

You can download the full TGTools, it has a demo period where you can try it out.

http://www.tgtools.de/

In Edit System Margins can't you specify the system on page 2 to 35? Unless I missed something this should make all those page alike.

ebiggs1 wrote:In Edit System Margins can't you specify the system on page 2 to 35? Unless I missed something this should make all those page alike.

Yes, but that messes everything up. I would need to specify the even and odd systems independently. Not sure how to do that.

NickG wrote:I have a string quartet with 35 pages and 2 systems per page. I formatted the 2nd page exactly as I would like the rest to look(pages 3 to35). Is there a way to copy the exact layout(staff spacing, all margins and system spacing) of page 2 and apply it to the the rest of the pages in as few steps as possible.

Staff spacing: select the first measure of the second staff in the 2nd page using the Staff Tool. Hit alt-sh-end (alt-sh-fn-right arrow on my mac laptop) to select that staff to the end of the document. Nudge it up with the arrow key, then down. This will make all systems the same as this first one. Repeat for the other staves.

Margins: Page Layout Tool, Page Layout Menu>Systems>Edit Margins. The window will open. Click the first system whose margins you want to duplicate. This system's attributes will now appear in the dialogue box. Change the "Change System [ ] through [ ] so that the SECOND box is blank. This will change all systems from your selected one to the end. You can unclick certain boxes if there are some items you don't want duplicated. System spacing is one of these items. This will probably not do what you want it to, so move on to my next paragraph. But understanding this is essential to making this work.

Now, I imagine your first system on your second page is dragged down a bit from the top page margin? You can do this a different way. Drag the SYSTEM margin on the left UP so that it touches the page margin. Use my Margins method to apply this to all systems. At this point, I usually apply "Space Systems Evenly" on pages 2 to the end. If I don't like the bottom margin, I adjust one, apply it to all systems from the third one to the end, and apply Space Systems Evenly again, until I like it.

Christopher Smith wrote:

NickG wrote:I have a string quartet with 35 pages and 2 systems per page. I formatted the 2nd page exactly as I would like the rest to look(pages 3 to35). Is there a way to copy the exact layout(staff spacing, all margins and system spacing) of page 2 and apply it to the the rest of the pages in as few steps as possible.

Staff spacing: select the first measure of the second staff in the 2nd page using the Staff Tool. Hit alt-sh-end (alt-sh-fn-right arrow on my mac laptop) to select that staff to the end of the document. Nudge it up with the arrow key, then down. This will make all systems the same as this first one. Repeat for the other staves.

Margins: Page Layout Tool, Page Layout Menu>Systems>Edit Margins. The window will open. Click the first system whose margins you want to duplicate. This system's attributes will now appear in the dialogue box. Change the "Change System [ ] through [ ] so that the SECOND box is blank. This will change all systems from your selected one to the end. You can unclick certain boxes if there are some items you don't want duplicated. System spacing is one of these items. This will probably not do what you want it to, so move on to my next paragraph. But understanding this is essential to making this work.

Now, I imagine your first system on your second page is dragged down a bit from the top page margin? You can do this a different way. Drag the SYSTEM margin on the left UP so that it touches the page margin. Use my Margins method to apply this to all systems. At this point, I usually apply "Space Systems Evenly" on pages 2 to the end. If I don't like the bottom margin, I adjust one, apply it to all systems from the third one to the end, and apply Space Systems Evenly again, until I like it.

Thanks very much for your thorough explanation.