Selective Staff Width

[xxrich]

Greetings!
I don't think this is easily possible but to selectively change the staff line thickness? Say a standard 5 lines staff merrily going along but then I change it to a single staff using a staff style. What I'd really like is for then that single staff line to be much thicker. Don't think it's possible other than laying another thicker line over top? Even that is a bit tricky. Well, thought I'd ask
-rich

[miker]

I can't find a way. Maybe somebody smarter than me will have one!

[xxrich]

That was my logic as well

[motet]

Try using two lines with the spacing set very narrow:

[miker]

That’s a good idea!

[zuill]

I tried that, but in the document, the line is not centered.

Zuill

[motet]

It seems to screw up the time signature as well. There are many (more than five) staff line positions to choose from, though, so perhaps they're hope in experimenting with that).

[xxrich]

Right, great idea but not centered. Tried just moving the two lines down but it didn't change the centering.

[zuill]

Just use 0 barline and add a Smart Shape line.

Zuill

[xxrich]

Just use 0 barline and add a Smart Shape line.

Zuill

Yeah, I have a mess of staves spanning multiple pages... It would get harry quickly me thinks.

[zuill]

I maintained the 1 line staff to make it easier, so the 0 line staff idea was bad. It's not that hard if you set up the line properties correctly.

Zuill

[xxrich]

I maintained the 1 line staff to make it easier, so the 0 line staff idea was bad. It's not that hard if you set up the line properties correctly.

Zuill

Not sure I'm following. Back to two lines to make one thicker? If so what settings to make it centered?

[zuill]

The one line is the regular staff line. The extra line is the thicker Smart Shape line. I adjusted the settings of the Smart Shape line to get the beginning of the System Continuation to match the regular staff line. I need to manually nudge the line up with the arrows, as centering is not automatic. each system needs to be centered Manually, but the left and right are fixed. If you start in the middle of a system then the starting point needs to be adjusted. Same for the end. I would lock systems to save work. That means the part s will need a bit of adjustment at those points.

It still requires some work, but with the right settings, the work will be limited. However, I don't know your exact requirements, so I can't predict whether this workaround will be usable for you. I can't think of another method that would be less work.

Zuill

[motet]

Can a smart line span system and page breaks?

[David Ward]

Can a smart line span system and page breaks?

Yes.

I regularly use a zero thickness smart line with a text beginning such as SD or BD etc to show what percussion instrument is in use. I drag it in scroll view for as far as necessary and then the text shows at the beginning of the stave for each system. One can then adjust its position slightly on a system by system basis. The same should work with a line of more than zero thickness

[xxrich]

It still requires some work, but with the right settings, the work will be limited. However, I don't know your exact requirements, so I can't predict whether this workaround will be usable for you. I can't think of another method that would be less work.

Zuill

Thanks Zuill!
Yeah, I considered this route early on but honestly spanning smart shapes, while better than they used to be, can still be a pain to line up and keep in place IMHO.

I posted because I couldn't find a killer solution. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and ideas - it's so nice to have a "whiteboard" to write on with others.
-rich