Nathan,
I am not sure whether you are using a special (small) paper format or you just don't want the music to fill the full width of the paper. These tips are for Finale 2001d (I haven't yet got Finale 2002):
You can change the PAGE FORMAT by going to
Options menu > Document Settings > Page Format for Score...
Also check
File menu > Page Setup...
in order to tell the printer about the page format.
To shorten the LENGTH OF THE SYSTEMS without changing the page format, you can change the page margins:
Page Layout Tool:
Page Layout menu > Page Margins > Edit Page Margins...
...or you can shorten individual systems by using the Page Layout Tool:
1. Select the system by dragging across its handle.
2. Page Layout menu > Systems > Edit Margins...
(Or use the contextual menu in the systems's handle).
To change the NUMBER OF MEASURES IN THE STAVES, use the Mass Mover Tool:
To set a fixed number of measures per staff, select the measures, and go to
Mass Mover menu > Fit Music...
To move a single measure to the previous or next system, select the measure, and hit UpArrow resp. DownArrow. To understand how this trick works, try selecting a measure in the middle of a system, and hit UpArrow or DownArrow.
Peter
