Individual notehead colors

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Ozfrog
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Post by Ozfrog » Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:35 am

Hello,I've seen a few posts on this subject, but none that covers my query.
I do know you can assign different colors to layers and can assign colors to individual notes such as each "C" will be blue, each "D" will be red etc.
What I'm after - to help a student, is to color each note that must be held in a Bach Prélude (Book 2 N° XVI)
This can (sort of) be done using 4 layers, but it generates a mess of rests that need to be hidden afterwards.
I saw somewhere that I can generate a .pdf from a one-layer score, then use Adobe Illustrator to re-color my note heads, but that looks like a long haul, and an investment I'd rather avoid $$.
Note - this is a one-off job, so I'm looking for a quick and easy solution - (a miracle?)

OK thanks to those who can help.

Ozfrog

LATER.
Saw from another post -InkScape - FREE and does a great job - intuitive.
I was able to pick out the desired notes and paint them red.
Done in dusted in half an hour including download + installation time.
Save your Finale file as a .pdf by Print / as .pdf
Open that in Inkscape.
Do your stuff.
Save in InkScape format.
Print.
Last edited by Ozfrog on Thu Jun 23, 2022 3:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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N Grossingink
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Post by N Grossingink » Tue Jul 04, 2017 1:02 pm

There is a free open source program called "Inkscape" which does pretty much what Illustrator does. Some Finale users report success using it.

N.
N. Grossingink
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
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BuonTempi
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Post by BuonTempi » Tue Jul 04, 2017 1:09 pm

Finale's abilities for colouring are limited to specific uses. For anything else, you will have to go to another app.

There are plenty of other vector artwork drawing packages, ranging from free to inexpensive. If you think you might ever use one again, then I would recommend Affinity Designer, which is a professional alternative to Illustrator at a fraction of the price. It's on the Mac App Store for under $40.
Graphic by Autodesk (formerly iDraw) is cheaper still and very capable at under $30.
There is also Inkscape, an open source, free vector artwork editor. All of these should be able to open pages from a PDF file and manipulate individual elements of the notation - change colour, adjust slur and tie contours, move individual notes and other items, possibly even make minor alterations to text.

Note that this is very different from using a photo editor like Photoshop, which will turn the vector "instructions" into a pixelated image, which you can then paint over. :cry:

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Tue Jul 04, 2017 2:39 pm

There is also the vector drawing application EazyDraw which has a quite user friendly interface (§ 95, Mac OS X only).
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

lewakins
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Post by lewakins » Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:45 pm

I have my own notehead color system. Very complicated, like g is green B is blue A is aqua, etc.
Is there any way to store these like in a library file or something, where I don't have to go thru the color changes on every song?

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N Grossingink
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Post by N Grossingink » Sun Feb 18, 2018 12:44 am

lewakins wrote:I have my own notehead color system. Very complicated, like g is green B is blue A is aqua, etc.
Is there any way to store these like in a library file or something, where I don't have to go thru the color changes on every song?
Change the note colors on a blank, unused Finale file and save it as a template. Start all new files using this template.

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


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lewakins
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Post by lewakins » Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:42 pm

thanks, I'll do that.

jfranyo
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Post by jfranyo » Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:59 am

Hello,
You write that you can make different notehead-colors in different LAYERS (or do you mean STAFFS?). How do you do that?
Thanks
jfranyo

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:52 pm

Not note-head colors, but rather note colors (= also stems, flags and beams):

Preferences-DisplayColors.jpg

Print.jpg
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

jfranyo
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Post by jfranyo » Thu Mar 26, 2020 10:05 pm

Print, display colors was the answer. Thanks Peter!

Lisa Hirschmugl
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Post by Lisa Hirschmugl » Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:21 pm

Are useful technique is to add flats or sharps or double Saturday double sharps to the D in a different octave to assign a different color to it and then under documents options accidentals just erase all accidentals and just see the note heads different colors - it looks good but doesn’t sound good if you play it back

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motet
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Post by motet » Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:39 pm

Someone on Facebook recently asked how to print everything the same color other than black, but I didn't see a way to do it.

Ozfrog
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Post by Ozfrog » Thu Jun 23, 2022 3:57 pm

N Grossingink wrote:
Tue Jul 04, 2017 1:02 pm
There is a free open source program called "Inkscape" which does pretty much what Illustrator does. Some Finale users report success using it.

N.
Great - just tried it - perfect results from a FreeWare - Thanks for the tip.
L.D.

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wessmusic
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Post by wessmusic » Fri Jun 24, 2022 6:56 pm

Ozfrog wrote:
Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:35 am
What I'm after - to help a student, is to color each note that must be held in a Bach Prélude (Book 2 N° XVI)
Hi there,

as far as I understand, you wonder if something like this would be feasible with Finale?

Image

Image

Of course, completely, without resorting to an external graphics editor. You just need to instal a font in which note heads are colored. (Please find the link attached below.)

Image

Image


Needless to say, the noteheads should be assigned from here:
Image

Here is the result;
(This is not done in PhotoShopt as it is not a trick to attract attention, although I'm a big fan of the Penn & Teller show "Fool Us")
At the bottom is the PDF file.

The first two screenshots are from Finale 26.3 (in the first I stopped the colors of the individual layers of the program preferences). All you have to do is use the Note shape tool to replace the default noteheads with some of the colored ones no matter which layer they are on.

Image

(BTW, the colored note heads I used in this DEMO were designed to be part of a large SMuFL font I've been working on for about a year and a half that is based on Henle scores.)
____

The lower grand staff is only demonstrative, in which it is clear that the colors are not bound by the pitches of the notes.
Ozfrog wrote:
Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:35 am
Note - this is a one-off job, so I'm looking for a quick and easy solution - (a miracle?)
If Keyboar Maestro is used, the replacement procedure takes only 3 seconds within one bar and 5-6 seconds if the notes are across the bar line. But I admit, this is far from a "miracle" if your expectations are much higher!
motet wrote:
Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:39 pm
Someone on Facebook recently asked how to print everything the same color other than black, but I didn't see a way to do it.
Applying "Action" in Illustrator takes ca. 8-12 sec. per page.


Cheers,
Wess

PS
If it would be useful for someone, here is a universal font that can be downloaded within the next few hours
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code ... 5p08q4mEk0
and used with Mac-versions up to 26 incl.
(Sorry, I haven't tested Finale 27, nor the Windows versions, although I guess it may work flawlessly.)
However, the font must be installed as a music font — i.e. its name should be added to the configuration file MacSymbolFonts.txt as
Wess-ColorNoteHeads
CUSTOM FONTS for FINALE and SIBELIUS
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f0udkrvb8xvh2zj/AAD_8mVlRzzr5mjZKI7BR7Kza?dl=0
________
Finale user since 1994

Traveler
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Post by Traveler » Sat Dec 16, 2023 12:35 am

Hello Wess,

Thank you for this and so many other helpful posts! I, too, am looking for an efficient way of working with colored noteheads, and found your solution very nice. However, I am facing one issue: after replacing the noteheads in my document with your "Wess-ColorNoteHeads" font, the spacing of all ties and articulations is messed up: (see attachment below)
Screen Shot 2023-12-15 at 7.07.55 PM.jpeg
I have tinkered with changing the default vertical placement values for both the ties and the articulations, but haven't found a consistent solution. Do you have any advice you can share on how to solve this?

Cheers,
Traveler
macOS Monterey 12.3.1

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sat Dec 16, 2023 10:17 am

Traveler,

I am not Wess, but this problem looks like a FAN file problem.

Does your Finale have a FAN file for the font "Wess-ColorNoteHeads" ?
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Traveler
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Post by Traveler » Sat Dec 16, 2023 4:49 pm

Peter Thomsen wrote:
Sat Dec 16, 2023 10:17 am
Traveler,

I am not Wess, but this problem looks like a FAN file problem.

Does your Finale have a FAN file for the font "Wess-ColorNoteHeads" ?
Hi Peter,

Thanks so much for your prompt reply. I don't think it does, but I'm not sure. How can I verify? And, if my Finale indeed doesn't have a FAN file for this font, how can I solve it?

In case it's relevant, the font was downloaded from a link Wess provided above, which is this: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code ... 5p08q4mEk0

Thanks!
Traveler
macOS Monterey 12.3.1

Traveler
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Post by Traveler » Sat Dec 16, 2023 4:59 pm

Update: to confirm, I navigated through the Font Annotation folder in my system's library, and I don't see a .fan file for this font. Any ideas on how to solve this?
Last edited by Traveler on Sat Dec 16, 2023 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
macOS Monterey 12.3.1

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sat Dec 16, 2023 8:12 pm

Finale can create the missing FAN file for you.

- Open the Finale document with the font problem.

- Go to Preferences - Edit.

Since the Finale document is open, the button {Font Annotation…} is active (if no document is open, the button will be in-active).
- Click the active button.

You get to the dialog box Font Annotation.
- Click the button {Set Font…}, and select the font "Wess-ColorNoteHeads".

When the font is selected, the button {Auto Annotate All} is active.
- Click the button, to let Finale Auto Annotate all the font’s characters - and thus create a complete FAN file for the font.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Traveler
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Post by Traveler » Sat Dec 16, 2023 9:14 pm

Amazing—this worked flawlessly. Thanks so much, Peter!
macOS Monterey 12.3.1

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wessmusic
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Post by wessmusic » Sun Dec 17, 2023 1:24 am

Hi Traveler,

I'm glad you were able to keep up with the FAN, and thanks to Peter Thomsen for helping out (on my behalf) because I haven't logged into the forum for a few days.

I realize that it was an oversight on my part to leave the font without its "description". That's why I'm currently uploading a link for the FAN.

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code ... NL6yaQN2fX
_______
I think it would be appropriate to clarify that SVG fonts like this, at least for now, can only be used in Mac versions of Finale (from 2012 onwards and from OS 10.14 to the present). Unfortunately, under Windows 11, Finale 27.3 renders all the colored note characters of the above font in black only. If anyone can help with using SVG OTF for Win 11, please share. Thanks in advance.
CUSTOM FONTS for FINALE and SIBELIUS
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f0udkrvb8xvh2zj/AAD_8mVlRzzr5mjZKI7BR7Kza?dl=0
________
Finale user since 1994

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