FinaleScript Question

[ThomaStudios]

I have 1000s of old teaching files that have one font that Finale just doesn't like. So I had been going thru them on an as-needed-basis, changing out a few font settings to bring the files up to date. After doing several the hard way, I turned to FinaleScript to automate things; which is working much better now.

But there on aspect with FS that I cannot get to work and I have found no relevant info online per this situation:

How does one get FS to simply change a font size from, say 12 pt to 14 pt. I have tried every possible syntax I can think of in FS and no go.

Any suggestions??

MacPro tower; macOS 10.12.x; Finale 25 latest version

J D Thomas
ThomaStudios

[motet]

Once in the font dialog, Alt-I will select the size. Perhaps something like

Code: Select all

type Alt "i"
wait 1
type 14

[ThomaStudios]

The alt "i" syntax does nothing. Looks like a Windows command and I'm on a Mac. This didn't work and I tried a couple of variations that were also no go.

But thanks for the directive. Might be getting a tad closer.

[motet]

Sorry--too bad the Mac lacks that feature. Very useful in a lot of contexts. On Windows, two tabs also gets you to the font size. Perhaps that has more of a chance at working on a Mac.

[miker]

If it’s any help at all, on a Mac, CMD+SHIFT+. (period) will increase the size of selected text.

I don’t know how that would fit into FS.

[ThomaStudios]

Thanks miker. I am aware of that method.

Let me clarify more as to what I am trying to do:

When I open an old file in Finale 25, the default font for text expressions is Time New Roman. Long ago I started using Adobe Garamond instead and one of the typesfaces in that font tends to 'disagree' with Finale; or the other way around. It really doesn't matter. Additionally, the font checks out fine and prints perfectly in other applications; just not Finale (no real surprise there since Finale has always been finicky in the font department). When I print the old file as is with no changes, I get garbage characters wherever that typeface appears.

So I have been going thru the files on an as-needed basis and changing out all instances of that font with Garamond Premier Pro via FS, which works fine and is very close to the original AG font. But many of the old files still have TNR as the default text font, so I created another script to swap that font out. Both of these scripts work perfectly. The problem is the default size for most text expressions is 12pt and I want 14 pt. This necessitates me going into the Category Designer dialog and changing out the size in each individual category. A bit of a PITA if you know what I mean. And I have not been able to get a script to address this single issue. That's what my original query was about.

Any suggestions?

[Skjalg]

Maybe a hint or two here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/finales ... 998428167/

[ThomaStudios]

I am one of the very few people who doesn't do Facebook.

Alas… no help

[BuonTempi]

Firstly, I've had no problems with Adobe Garamond. Though I'm using the Open Type version, not the Type 1 PostScript, which may (but shouldn't) cause problems. I'd be interested to see a sample file showing the problem.

As pointed out recently, there are many ways to change fonts in Finale -- The Change Fonts plug-in; the Text Search and Replace, and the Font Utilities. In different ways, all of these let you change the fonts for specific notational items, or change one particular size font for another (or even the same font at a different size).

You might also want to see if saving a Library of Default Fonts affects the Category Designer's settings.

[ThomaStudios]

So you haven't had any issues with Adobe Garamond Semibold? That's the font in question. And it is a Type 1 font on my system.

I know of all of the ways to change fonts and font sizes. My original query was how to change font size via FinaleScript. That's the rub. I am looking to automate as much of this as possible with having to navigate myriad dialogs for 1000s of Finale files.

Your point on default fonts in a library is interesting. I'll give it a shot.

Attached are 3 files. One is a scan of a printed page with the title and tempo marking issue.
The 2nd and 3rd is the same file printed as a PDF and opened it Acrobat. The title and tempo have been summarily replaced by Helvetica and the warning dialog Acrobat spits out regarding the offending file.

Well I tried adding the files but the forum is not taking them. Sigh.

[ThomaStudios]

Actually, now that I think about it, I fail to see how creating a library of default fonts would help with existing Finale files in any way. It won't address the issue at hand.

[Harpsi]

You could have a look here

http://www.rpmseattle.com/of_note/final ... ial-parts/

and see if you get some ideas.