Subsetting

Post your wishes for future features in Finale here.

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TWW
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:56 pm
Finale Version: 26.1 PC
Operating System: Windows

Post by TWW » Tue Jun 06, 2023 5:42 am

I have full Finale v26. I love it!

But this week I found myself missing, of all things, PrintMusic.

The reason is that I sometimes go a year without doing any scoring, and when I return to Finale, it has so darned many options that I can't seem to do anything without a dozen visits to the excellent online manual. Sometimes not even then.

For example, today I wanted to change the chord name font, i.e., change Em7 and its buddies from 12pt Times New Roman to 14pt Arial Bold. Found online directions for font changes. Followed the directions. First attempt did nothing. Went back, reread -- oh, we're only changing future chords, not existing ones. Found another check box. This time it changed, in this example, the letter "E" (and all chord names) to Arial bold -- and kept the "m" and the superscript "7" in a smaller Times font. Oh, so there's another route -- through "chords" instead of through "fonts" -- to do the other parts. Aauugh! (Insert exploded head emoji here)

So, here's my wish list item: one or more simplified menu systems of lower complexity, such that cavemen like myself can choose to see the 40 things we're likely to use, without having to wade through the 4000 things that are actually available.

As I recall, the old PrintMusic (and another level up, I forget what that 'un was called) could actually execute full Finale files; it was the editing options that were "crippled." Perhaps a switchable scheme like that.
-Tom Williams
Finale 26.1, Finale 2012


BuonTempi
Posts: 1297
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:59 am
Finale Version: Finale 27
Operating System: Mac

Post by BuonTempi » Sat Jun 17, 2023 11:01 am

The trouble is, that if it shows you a simplified list of commonly used commands, you'll then be tearing your hair out, trying to find the rarely used command that you need once in a while. Ask Sibelius users about the Ribbon scheme that did similar.

Could Finale use a better, streamlined interface? Absolutely. Is hiding stuff the way to achieve it? No.

I once conducted a straw poll here about whether users would be happy with any radical alteration of the UI, if it improved productivity, and made things easier/simpler. The answer was a resounding 'no', with many saying that if they had to re-learn things, they might as well learn a different program, like Dorico.

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