Lyrics bumping into each other

[kcarpent]

My lyrics are bumping into each other in different parts of my score and I have tried to resize a number of times.
Thank you.

[zuill]

Apply Note Spacing and see if that helps. One way to do that is to, with the Selection Tool, highlight the score (Ctrl-A) and press 4.

Zuill

[jvdbeemt]

You can try less bars in a staff or use a smaller size for the lyrics.

[miker]

Zuill's answer seems to be the best way. Here is a before and after:

[zuill]

That works. I'm wondering why hyphens aren't being used. It would make it a lot easier to read the text.

Zuill

[miker]

Probably because the poster doesn’t know how.

If they ask, we can tell them. There is other punctuation missing, as well. Let’s be generous, and assume they haven’t finished, yet.

Is the chord EbmM7 correct? Is there a better way to write it?

[Peter Thomsen]

… Is the chord EbmM7 correct? …

I do not think so.

The ‘m’ in EbmM7 means minor third = G flat

But the notes display G natural.

My guess is that the ‘m’ should be removed.

[zuill]

At that moment, it is Eb. There were other Major chords in the piece that were mismarked as minor. I'm guessing these will be fixed in the editing stage.

Zuill

[kcarpent]

Thank you. Zuill's suggestion was the best but I thank everyone who responded. Also, yes, I would like to know how to use hyphens to make the lyrics easier to read. (I am also fixing any minor chords that should be major and all grammer). Thank you again.
Kimball Carpentier

[kcarpent]

Is there a way to have my lyrics "snap to" (automatically align beautifully in correct spacing between syllables in each line as well as between verses). I have been having to "eyeball" some of my lyric lines to get them to be properly written and spaced and it is not easy to do.
Thank You,
Kimball Carpentier

[Peter Thomsen]

Is there a way to have my lyrics "snap to" (automatically align beautifully in correct spacing between syllables in each line as well as between verses). I have been having to "eyeball" some of my lyric lines to get them to be properly written and spaced and it is not easy to do.
Thank You,
Kimball Carpentier

Finale can do a lot of the work for you.

Go to
Document Options - Lyrics
and make sure the settings are as you need them.

Also, go to
Document Options - Music Spacing
and make sure that there is a check mark next to Lyrics.

From now on, when you apply Music Spacing, and Update Layout, Finale should make spacing between the syllables.

You may still have to, manually adjust a few syllables, but ir should only be a few.
If you still experience that you must adjust a lot of syllables, then consider
- using another Lyric font (perhaps a smaller/narrower font)
- locking the systems with fewer measures in each system
- lowering the over-all {scaling percentage} of the entire layout (try the Resize Tool, and context-click on the page)

[motet]

For hyphens, where you're typing the lyrics in, when moving between syllables (as opposed to between words), type a hyphen instead of a space.

[Peter Thomsen]

Also, in
Document Options - Lyrics
you can set a Maximum Space Between Hyphens.