Finale Forum

Thanks for everyone's input. In the end, I created a custom arrowhead for the end point style, as suggested by N Grossingink. Then I used the multiline tool (I'm not sure that's its name), as suggested by Shinohara. I didn't create a proper hook but a straight vertical line with a little horizontal ...

N Grossingink: Have you tried a vertical line in shape designer for the custom arrowhead? I always get a blank space between the vertical line and the horizontal line of the custom line. The only way I can get rid of the space is to choose the hook option for the vertical line, not the custom arrowh...

The hook is proving to be more troublesome to recreate. 1- If I have a dashed line and make a hook, the overlap between the hook's horizontal section and the horizontal line varies, resulting in the last dash (connected to the hook) to be of variable length, possibly longer than the dash length set ...

Hello Shinohara, You're right, I was using the single line. That being said, it's not clear to me where the connection with the horizontal line in the custom shape takes place. As I said in the last post, if I only create a vertical line for the hook (not a hook as you show), I notice a gap between ...

N Grossingink: The problem has rubbed off your end barline! :wink: I have played with a custom hook a little and it seems that it must have the shape of a hook, not a straight line. If I simply create a vertical straight line in Shape Designer, starting at the origin, there is a gap in the resulting...

Actually, I said that Finale's own bracket hook doesn't have this problem. That's true but Finale's own 8va bracket hook has the problem. Isn't there any setting somewhere I could tweak to fix this? N Grossingink: I will have to try this but I am not too keen on the shape designer because I can't al...

This has been driving me crazy for a long time. The hook on a custom smart shape is positioned with respect to the middle of the horizontal line. Since it has a butt cap (not projecting), this leaves a gap of half the stroke size at the junction of the horizontal line and the hook. Is it possible to...

N Grossingink: In Expression Tool, the resolution for horizontal position appears to be 1 evpu. In Document Options for Flags, the resolution is finer. As a result, in Expressions Tool, I am unable to align the flag flush with the stem. Peter Thomsen: Your #1 appears as the better solution for me, u...

Hi N Grossingink, Yes, I had thought of that. I find that there are some limitations in positioning the flag in the Expression Tool compared to what Finale does by itself with the settings in Document Options. Also, it is not clear what reference point Finale uses, it must be different from the refe...

Hi,
Is it possible to change the flag of a single note, without changing its value (rhythm)? So, I could have a quarter note with a double flag, if I wanted to. This is for F27.1. Thanks.

That's exactly what I ended up doing. I understand that changing the shape is local to the file and won't affect other files, correct?
What is the minimum step size (in evpu) in shape designer for H and V?

Hi N Grossingink, Thanks. I have seen this workaround being suggested before. I'm not too keen on it. I simply have a tablature staff and I would have liked to nudge the TAB clef horizontally so it aligns better with the treble clef. Also (unrelated), in the manual, for the clef designer, it says: "...

Hello,
Is there a way to shift the position of a single clef (locally or globally) horizontally? The Spacing Before Clef entry in Document Options - Clef applies to all clefs. Also, I don't want to make any changes to the clef in the Clef Designer to this effect.
This is for f27.1.
Thanks.

Motet, if I remember correctly, File>Export>PDF and Graphics>Export Pages were behaving in a similar fashion in F27.1 and both relied on Microsoft Print to PDF. I am printing to PDF in Acrobat, which happens to behave better. I wonder if Makemusic solved any of the PDF issues in F27.3. Peter, again,...

Hi Peter, We had established that exporting to PDF in F27.1 was working better on Mac than on Windows. This is why I resorted to printing to PDF. So if you have Acrobat, perhaps you can try that on Mac and report back. My guess is that you might not have the issue. It's worse (left bar) in Export to...

Motet, I'm pretty sure it's not a rendering issue. But it may be a problem with Acrobat making the PDF as I see the problem but differently in the PDF produced by Microsoft's PDF producer. Going back to the initial questions: -Is there a way to shift the first and last barlines on the staff horizont...

Hi N Grossingink, No, I doubt it will be visible in print. So from a practical perspective, you're right, it's not going to be an issue. I just don't like to leave these dents in the work if I can help it. Plus, trying to work around them sometimes leads to uncovering something else or learning some...

Hi, We discussed at length the issues with export to PDF and F27.1 (Windows) here before. For example: I am seeing an issue where left and right barlines (at beginning and end of staff) are very slightly offset horizontally. The left barline is shifted to the left and the right barline is shifted to...

Hi motet, Thanks for the explanation. I did end up realising the alignment point (dot) was attached to the beat, not to where I defined in the expression. I found out the issue was that I had beats close to the notes, before and after, and I had mistakenly attached some of the expressions to the wro...

Hi, For an expression, Finale shows what it calls an "alignment point". In the attached image, it is the blue dot for each expression. The measure has four beats yet when I look at the last expression under Edit Expression Assignment, I see that its alignment point is beat 5. How exactly does this w...

I have to think about it a little more. I just don't like it when I can't set the numbers in numbers (so to speak). At least in Expression Assignment, I can set the values as numbers.

It's hard to set a value that way. I moved a triangle and it skips some values. Perhaps moving it very slowly is better but that's too finicky. I prefer to be able to set values as a number. I have been using these Above and Below Staff Baseline in the Expression Tool but I am starting to believe th...

Hi Peter, Reporting back! Yes, the Expression Tool, or anywhere else that the staff baseline may be used. Yes, Windows. I don't see the Message Bar in the two places you mention. However, the manual talks about the Status Bar for Windows. It's a thin strip at the bottom of the screen where Finale pr...

Hi, -Where in Finale can I find what the default baseline position(s) is? I mean as a numeric value. -Is there a way to change that position for each staff, also using a numeric value (not by dragging triangles)? -Where are above and below quantified for "above staff baseline" and "below staff basel...

In the ShapeDesigner pop-up, there is Insert Symbol under Select Font. While I could not copy/paste the character from another application into Finale, Insert Symbol allowed me to do that.