Best piano score format settings
Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker
Hello,
I'm trying to correctly engrave a piano solo music composition. I would like to find the best formatting options in order to get nice results for this piano score in terms of readability and beauty, but I find that finale margins and staff size for default piano template doesn't look good enough.
I'd really appreciate your advices on this. Paper size will be A4.
I'm trying to correctly engrave a piano solo music composition. I would like to find the best formatting options in order to get nice results for this piano score in terms of readability and beauty, but I find that finale margins and staff size for default piano template doesn't look good enough.
I'd really appreciate your advices on this. Paper size will be A4.
- Peter Thomsen
- Posts: 6621
- Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
- Finale Version: Finale v27.4
- Operating System: Mac
Another idea:
If you have a piano score with the layout you prefer, then try to recreate that layout with Finale.
You will learn a lot about engraving during the process.
Just one hint:
There are 3 different scalings in Finale:
- Page Scaling
- System Scaling
- Staff Scaling
The layout work might be easier if you Keep It Simple, and use only Page Scaling, i. e. setting both System Scaling and Staff Scaling to 100 % (= Staff Height 24pt).
Then experiment with different Page Scaling percentages.
If you have a piano score with the layout you prefer, then try to recreate that layout with Finale.
You will learn a lot about engraving during the process.
Just one hint:
There are 3 different scalings in Finale:
- Page Scaling
- System Scaling
- Staff Scaling
The layout work might be easier if you Keep It Simple, and use only Page Scaling, i. e. setting both System Scaling and Staff Scaling to 100 % (= Staff Height 24pt).
Then experiment with different Page Scaling percentages.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996
- N Grossingink
- Posts: 1788
- Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:50 pm
- Finale Version: 27.3
- Operating System: Mac
Peter gave some good advice.
In my opinion, the "beauty" of a music engraving is determined by a lot of factors. High on the list are line thicknesses. Finale's lines are a bit too fine for my taste. You could experiment with thickening them up a very small amount at a time. Each different kind of line should have a different thickness. My own order, from thinnest to thickest is: staff lines - stems - ledger lines - barlines. Make your changes and print out a copy for a critical evaluation. Repeat as necessary till you have the look you want.
I'm attaching a copy of a piano template containing my own personal line settings. I'm not trying to give the impression that these are correct - far from it. However, I've given a fair amount of thought to these settings. Copy in some piano notation and see what you think. Tweak the settings as you like.
N.
In my opinion, the "beauty" of a music engraving is determined by a lot of factors. High on the list are line thicknesses. Finale's lines are a bit too fine for my taste. You could experiment with thickening them up a very small amount at a time. Each different kind of line should have a different thickness. My own order, from thinnest to thickest is: staff lines - stems - ledger lines - barlines. Make your changes and print out a copy for a critical evaluation. Repeat as necessary till you have the look you want.
I'm attaching a copy of a piano template containing my own personal line settings. I'm not trying to give the impression that these are correct - far from it. However, I've given a fair amount of thought to these settings. Copy in some piano notation and see what you think. Tweak the settings as you like.
N.
- Attachments
-
- LineSettings.mus
- (40.83 KiB) Downloaded 293 times
N. Grossingink
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link
Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link
Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3
-
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 6:00 am
- Operating System: Windows
Where are the options to tweak the individual parameter's thickness?
Windows 10
Finale: 2012, 25
Finale: 2012, 25
- Peter Thomsen
- Posts: 6621
- Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
- Finale Version: Finale v27.4
- Operating System: Mac
Document Options - Barlines.
Document Options - Stems.
Also, consider the thickness of Crescendo / Decrescendo wedges (hairpins):
Smart Shape Tool.
Smart Shape menu > Smart Shape Options…
Document Options - Stems.
Also, consider the thickness of Crescendo / Decrescendo wedges (hairpins):
Smart Shape Tool.
Smart Shape menu > Smart Shape Options…
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996
- N Grossingink
- Posts: 1788
- Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:50 pm
- Finale Version: 27.3
- Operating System: Mac
Also, Document Options > Lines and Curves (for ledger lines and staff lines).Peter Thomsen wrote:Document Options - Barlines.
Document Options - Stems.
Also, consider the thickness of Crescendo / Decrescendo wedges (hairpins):
Smart Shape Tool.
Smart Shape menu > Smart Shape Options…
Also, consider the thickness of ties (Document Options > Ties > Tie Contour) and slurs (Smart Shape Menu > Smart Slur options). Ties and slurs should be the same thickness (?).
N.
N. Grossingink
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link
Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link
Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3
-
- Posts: 432
- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:43 pm
- Finale Version: Finale 26
- Operating System: Mac
Hi all,
Just revisiting this older post and appreciating the wisdom contained therein...
Question: Document Settings> Beams > Maximum Slope, should I choose 0.5 or 1?
Gould shows an example of 0.5 and 1 on p.19, so I am thinking I will set the maximum as 1.
What do you think?
Cheers,
HP.
Just revisiting this older post and appreciating the wisdom contained therein...
Question: Document Settings> Beams > Maximum Slope, should I choose 0.5 or 1?
Gould shows an example of 0.5 and 1 on p.19, so I am thinking I will set the maximum as 1.
What do you think?
Cheers,
HP.