Finale Forum

Is there a setting to avoid hand re-spacing of multi-measure and other empty measures in crowded conditions such as the following example. I would like all the playing measures to have more room at the expense of the empty measures.
I do have Minimum Measure Width set to 0 under Document Options>Music Spacing

Not sure, but Jari's Spacing plugin has an option to leave barlines alone, once they're set the way you want them. Not sure if that will help for what you are trying to do.

Zuill

Thanks, Zuill. Is that the JW Note Spacing plugin? If so, I tried using "loose allotment" with the Fixed Barlines unchecked and the result was much better. But the multi-measure rest measures are still too wide.

However, there is a plug in called Space Empty Rests that does exactly what I want. Thanks for sending me in the right direction.

Unfortunately spacing adjustment won't do much for mulitmeasure rests, as they have a constant width according to settings in document options (minimum measure width has nothing to do with it).

However, Jari has a plug-in, Space Empty Measures I think it's called, which will re-adjust the width according to the number of measures rest.

Changing your spacing algorithm might help with decreasing the width of the empty measures in your example, though. If you're using the default scaling factor, your whole note rests is given an excessive amount of space.

JW Space Empty Rests has an option to redistribute (respace) non-rest measures, so barring a better solution, you could perhaps narrow the rest measures any old way and then run that plug-in.

Thanks, Knut. I had found the plugin you mentioned already, which works like a champ, but will investigate scaling factors, something that I have been putting off for quite a while now.

Motet, the plugin works great without any hand work at all. Fantastic plugin.

John Ruggero wrote:Thanks, Knut. I had found the plugin you mentioned already, which works like a champ, but will investigate scaling factors, something that I have been putting off for quite a while now.

Motet, the plugin works great without any hand work at all. Fantastic plugin.

Just remembered that if those measures are truly empty their width is governed by the minimum measure width rather than spacing settings. That said, any change in scaling factor will off course affect the full measures, which again will affect the width of the empty ones.

I use a scaling factor of 1.414 and find it much, much better than the default Fibonacci setting.

I'll try that setting, Knut. Thank you.