Finale Forum

I hope this is appropriate for this board, but thought I'd ask.

I convert all my finale files to pdf, then print. I have been using 67 lb. paper, and people seem to like that. However, I just finished an almost 200 page project, and the resulting bound book would be pretty thick that way. I did some experiments with 20 lb paper, but you can see the music on the back side. I'm thinking of using either 28 or 32 lb paper. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Keith Z

Windows 10
Finale 2014.5

For thick scores and parts I use 24# (60#).

I use 24, as well.

miker wrote:I use 24, as well.

What's that in grammes per square metre? (if you know).

David,
That's 90 gsm.

The U.S. paper weight system is arcane, since the weights are for different-sizes paper, depending on type (book, cover, index, etc.), so 65# cover weighs more than 67# bristol, for example, and 24# ledger is the same as 60# text. One can find helpful information online to sort this all out, for example this:

http://www.paper-papers.com/paper-weights.html

I use #20 for proofs only.

#24 for one-time use or combo charts that I store in non-glare sheet protectors for use with ring binders.
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/4 ... ing-Sheet/
Normally, these are the only ones that I print myself.

#32 for scores/parts that I sell such as my Christmas book. For those, I save as .pdf and assemble using Acrobat Pro. These are emailed to a local print shop that prints and does spiral binding. I use #60 for the covers.

At my last church job, I had a ready supply of pre-printed, #32 bulletin covers. Once the Sunday had passed, they were out of date. I would print my praise band and combo charts on the blank side. If they were to be kept, I would place them back to back in the sleeves for the binder. That gave me a lot of flexibility and cut down on waste.

miker wrote:David,
That's 90 gsm.

Thanks.

FWIW most of my full scores are printed on 100 gsm in A4, B4 or A3 according to the number of staves in the score. Parts are also on 100 gsm usually to A4 (although there is something to be said for using B4 for certain types of part). Vocal scores are best A4, still 100 gsm.

For a final version I prefer 24# as well.

Thanks all!

I have been using 67 lb cover stock for all, but it does get thick. Guess I'll try 24 and 32 to see what I prefer.

And thanks for the link!

There is also 26 and 28. 24's going to be the easiest to find and cheaper, since it's used in offices as a heavier copier paper.

For a readily available white paper, I use Hammermill Color Copy Digital, either 28# or 32#. For anything other than one-time use I would use at least 28#. Anything lighter is flimsy and easily blows off the music stand. I doubt if you will find these weights in the local office supply store, but they are easy to find online.

I also use Cougar Digital Natural Smooth Text product 7704 (letter size) and 7702 (ledger size). This is "80 weight text" which is the same as 32#. It makes a nice professional look with the natural color (off-white) but is still easy to read. It folds cleanly. They also make "70 weight" which is the same as 28# and has product numbers 7701 and 7707 respectively. I would not use anything heavier for ledger size because it will not fold cleanly. and extra weight really isn't needed for 2-page pieces. I might use a 90 weight text or even 100 weight (which is about the same as 65# cover) for a single page if you are concerned about music staying in place on the stand, but a full library at this weight will be heavy. Cougar also makes a 12x18 format if your printer can handle that.

CraigP wrote:Anything lighter is flimsy and easily blows off the music stand.

You must be playing outdoors.

I think it depends on what kind of music it is, and how many pages. A single sheet indeed needs to be heavy, but a score does not, nor does a folded and stapled part, especially when provided with a cover. A 60-page opera part might be too thick on 28# paper, as I think you later say.

The Cougar paper sounds good. Is it short-grain?

Alas, it appears to be long grain. I have yet to find ready-cut 17 x 11 or 18 x 12 short-grain.

I asked a paper merchant why this is, since such sizes are almost always folded, and he didn't have a good answer.

motet wrote:Alas, it appears to be long grain. I have yet to find ready-cut 17 x 11 or 18 x 12 short-grain.

And you never will. Short grain is supposed to be marked 11 x 17 or 12 x 18.

https://www.xerox.com/printer-supplies/ ... /enlu.html

You're wrong. 11 x 17 is long grain, 17 x 11 is short grain. You're probably confused by

Xerox wrote:The dimension parallel to the grain may be underscored. For example, 8.5x11 indicates long grain, while 11x17 indicates short grain.

where somehow they neglected to underscore the dimensions in their examples.

International Paper catalog:

motet wrote:Alas, it appears to be long grain. I have yet to find ready-cut 17 x 11 or 18 x 12 short-grain.

I asked a paper merchant why this is, since such sizes are almost always folded, and he didn't have a good answer.

At first I didn't understand this. Staples.com has many choices, both sizes, quite easy to find. Nearly all are available online only.

Then I tried the same search at OfficeMax.com. Nothing comes up—not in their search parameters.