Noteheads

[sPretzel]

Hi,

I have several questions related to noteheads. This is for Finale 2007.

1- Is it possible to have coloured noteheads that print to .eps (via Graphics Tool)?
Based on other threads I read, I understood that this is only possible to do change colours for an entire layer and that "Display Colors" must then be selected in Print. However, this would not print to .eps but to .pdf at best.

2- Is it possible to hide all noteheads but preserve everyhing else (such as ledger lines)? A plug-in allows to hide noteheads (and rests) but it also hides ledger lines.

3- Is it possible to move several noteheads vertically at once? This can be done for each notehead via the "Notehead Position Tool" but it must be done for one notehead at a time.

Thanks.

[miker]

I can only comment on #3: Yes. You can select a note or group of notes and move them up or down with numpad keys 6-9.

[sPretzel]

Hi Mike. #3. Is it also possible to set them to a given position (it is possible via the notehead position tool but for only one note)?

[Peter Thomsen]

… 1- Is it possible to have coloured noteheads that print to .eps (via Graphics Tool)?
Based on other threads I read, I understood that this is only possible to do change colours for an entire layer and that "Display Colors" must then be selected in Print. However, this would not print to .eps but to .pdf at best …

If the PDF file has the Display Colors, then use that PDF file.

When you create a PDF file from a Finale document, you get a vector graphic.
EPS is vector graphic, too.

In most cases it does not matter whether you use PDF or EPS.

But if you must have EPS, try converting the PDF to EPS.

[Peter Thomsen]

… 2- Is it possible to hide all noteheads but preserve everyhing else (such as ledger lines)? A plug-in allows to hide noteheads (and rests) but it also hides ledger lines …

One way to hide a notehead:
Replace the notehead character with a blank character, e. g. the {no-break space} in character slot #202.

Another way:
Change the Notehead Font to the font style Hidden.

[motet]

You should have a "Change Noteheads" plug-in in your version. Change them all to character 202 (a blank).

[N Grossingink]

#3 - If you're talking about moving a notehead less than 1 space, you can use the JW Change plugin. Unfortunately, the JW plugins are not supported in Finale 2007.

#2 - JW Change will do this. Actually, it does not hide the notehead. What you do is move the noteheads vertically by an amount that places them above or below the page boundary. But not in Finale 2007.

Make Music usually has an "April Fools" sale on April 1st where the latest Finale version upgrade sells for about $100. You might want to consider upgrading.

[sPretzel]

Hi Peter,
I have had trouble printing to PDF directly from Finale in the past, this is why I prefer exporting to EPS directly from Graphic Tools. Some fonts get garbled up and if I remember correctly, I had some issues with staff lines becoming multiple lines in PDF. EPS has its problems too.
If I print to PDF, I have to set the page size which can also lead to some inaccuracies but I don't have to set page size in EPS.
A lot of those we discussed in the past in the old Finale forum but I don't recall the details at this time.

If I place the eps file in Adobe Illustrator and embed the image, the noteheads are all messed up, even though I have supposedly embedded the fonts in the eps file.

[sPretzel]

Hi Motet.
I was pretty sure I had done this before. Before writing my post, I had done what you said but used the wrong character. I used character 32 instead of 202 and this changed the width of the ledger lines. Character 202 works like a charm. So #2 is done. Thanks.