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Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:34 pm
by wonder
I've got a client who wants the lyrics to look more "justified" ... meaning all the lines start at the same place on the left margin and end on the same place on the right margin.
Is there a way to evenly space out the hidden eighth notes that my lyrics are attached to across the measure so that the lyrics will evenly space out across the entire measure?
There's 1 measure per system in my layout.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:43 pm
by miker
Can you post a sample for us to play with?
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:18 pm
by wonder
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:23 pm
by zuill
You've got 2 elements (lyrics and chords/fretboards). Which should be aligned (justified)?
Zuill
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:29 pm
by wonder
The lyrics.
The chords I can move manually.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:16 pm
by miker
Use the Lyrics and Chords template and Staff Style.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:18 pm
by wonder
Thank you.
I am using the template and the Staff Style "Lyrics and Chords only"
I'm having to use the NOTE POSITION TOOL to manually drag each eighth note to space evenly. I've got 8 songs to do!
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:50 pm
by miker
I typed the lyrics under the eighth notes, not skipping any of them like you did, and reset the time signature to however many eighths I needed. (In this case, both lines (measures) were 6/8.) That should justify the first and last lyrics on each line, and I only had to drag the chords.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:57 pm
by zuill
The problem with this file is that there are different numbers of 8th rests in each measure. The first 2 were the same, but from there on, it varies. There are different ways to work this. One thing is regarding what's chosen in Documents/Music Spacing. Unchecking Lyrics and Chords, as well as hidden items, seems to help. If the last lyric needs to align, then I might suggest having the same number of rests in each measure, and be certain that the last syllable on the line be the last 8th rest, even if it means skipping an 8th within the line. There are several levels of experimentation that would need to be tried to get the best result with the least amount of editing.
Zuill
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:58 pm
by miker
Zuill, if there is only one measure per system, the number of eighth rests will still closely justify at each end. There may be a minor difference in the end of the lyric, if one ends in a 3-letter word and the other in 7 letters, but that’s easy enough to shift.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:02 pm
by zuill
Not really. If there are 7, or 8, those will be evenly spaced, if not letting the lyrics affect spacing, Even spacing of the hidden rests gives the justified look. When 8 rests are evenly spread across the measure, the last one is further to the right than the last rest in a measure with only 6 rests. Another concern is whether you want the center of the last syllables align, or the left edge, or the right edge.
Lots of factors involved.
Zuill
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:09 pm
by miker
zuill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:02 pm
Lots of factors involved.
True. And one questions the thought behind it, anyway. A quick Google for images of songs with lyrics and chords show none with justified lyrics.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:13 am
by wonder
miker wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:09 pm
zuill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:02 pm
Lots of factors involved.
True. And one questions the thought behind it, anyway. A quick Google for images of songs with lyrics and chords show none with justified lyrics.
In order to get paid, I do what I'm asked to do. The client wants it, so I do it.
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:43 am
by zuill
If you experiment with changing some of the settings as I have suggested, I think your manual edits will be greatly reduced. Keeping the customer happy is important. The less time you have to spend on the project, the happier you will be. So, when 2 people are happy, that is good.
If you are not sure about some of the things i was suggesting, please let me know and I'll try to be more clear. The JW Change plugin I used to remove a lot of your manual positioning so as to get Finale to do the work. I also used the JW Meter and Rhythm plugin to even things out. There are powerful tools available. The template is a starting point, but you still need to make it work for you. One thing I didn't realize right away was that the rests, being hidden, are a separate item in the Spacing options in Document Options. Experiment with that item to see what works best for you. Unchecking Lyrics and Chords for spacing helped to even things out.
Zuill
Re: Justified Lyric Spacing on Lyric Sheet?
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 1:26 pm
by miker
wonder wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:13 am
miker wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:09 pm
zuill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:02 pm
Lots of factors involved.
True. And one questions the thought behind it, anyway. A quick Google for images of songs with lyrics and chords show none with justified lyrics.
In order to get paid, I do what I'm asked to do. The client wants it, so I do it.
I was not implying that you shouldn’t do it, and I’m sorry if I gave that impression. I was just questioning the reason.