how to make it your own

One of the standard tasks I get asked to do as a music engraver/copyist is to take someone’s finished score and format the parts either for a recording session or live performances.  Simple enough, right?  Well… sometimes yes and sometimes no.  Often, I have found that while the composer or orchestrator has spent a great deal of time thinking about and formatting how their scores will look, they have not really considered the needs of the parts and the formatting thereof. 

So, this brings up an interesting dilemma for those of us in the music engraving world: Should I, no matter what condition the file is in, good or bad, perfect, or lacking, automatically copy everything into one of my own templates and then proceed OR should I make it work with the file I’ve been given?  This is a rather complex question and can have many potential answers depending on the situation.  I’ll do a deeper dive on this question in another blog post.

For this exercise, I’ll say our client used Finale version 26.  Let’s also assume the file you have is in good shape, i.e., all elements of the music seem to be input correctly and all things are in the right categories and places, etc.  The next step is to assess the end goal of the parts.  Do you know the page size that is required for the given scenario and other considerations?  Once all this information is gathered and established, you can now proceed on to formatting parts, right?  Oh, not so fast.

In Finale or Sibelius, the standard look and feel of the parts is already in the document menu and if it doesn’t match what you need, you’ll have to change it.  In Sibelius, just go to Parts/Part Appearance/Configure All Parts.  From here you can set page size, staff size and a host of other features that all affect all the parts in one go.  Super helpful.  For Finale, go to Document/Page Format/Parts.  This window gives you the ability to preset all the default options you’ll need for all the parts.

Now, let’s assume the default page format in the file you are using is letter size and you want to use either A4 or 9x12.  Do you have to go through every linked part and change the page size? No!  If you have changed the default page size, then just go to Page Layout tool/Redefine Pages/Selected Pages of Selected Parts/Score. Then select all your parts and click ok.  Bam!  Everything is now in the correct page size.   

There are lots of other features in the Parts Format menu in Finale for you to establish the default page margins and staff size as well.  Again, depending on your situation, your page margins and staff sizes need to be set to very specific values.  Knowing what all those are for any given music project is one of the jobs of a good music copyist. 

If you are only doing this on one chart, it’s easy to just type in all the values, click ok and move on with life.  However, what if this is a major project, with multiple files to adjust.  Do you want to be typing all that information in every time?  That would be annoying and time consuming. Instead, use a script that will do it all for you.  And before you get freaked out that you don’t know how to use FinaleScript or another macro program, never fear!  I have provided a zip folder that contains FinaleScripts that will do it all for you.  The macros will set up default part format to either A4 or 9x12, a staff size to 7.8mm and page margins at around ½ inch.  In the folder you’ll find versions for both Windows and Mac. 

To copy the scripts into your FinaleScript folder, please reference this webpage for Mac and this webpage for Windows.  Click on the
“To Share a Script with other Finale users” and this will show you the steps to find the folder on your computer (also go to your preferences window, then folders) where the FinaleScripts are stored.  Open that, and then copy appropriate script there.  Restart Finale and all should be set to go.

* A note on the number values used in these scripts.  I typically use EVPUs as my measurement unit of choice.  Yes, I know it’s a strange numerical value and can be slightly subjective depending on you monitor set up, however, its’ easier for me to remember whole numbers than a lot of decimal points.  Typically, if I am setting up a template to have very specific measures, whether in inches or millimeters, etc., I will change my measurement unit to that, set all my defaults I want in the correct values, and then switch back to EVPUs.  The measurements will still be the same, but the numerical value will look different and be a bit easier for me to remember. 

If you are using another measurement unit, that’s totally fine, however, you’ll need to go into the scripts and adjust the numerical values accordingly.  Or, switch your measurement unit to EVPUs before running these scripts and then switch them back to your preferred one after.

Contact me for help on this. I offer Finale instruction for $60 per hour if you want to dive deeper on this kind of feature. 

I have tested these scripts on all my systems and other members of my team have used them as well.  They were written in Finale v26, but can be used in other versions, like Finale v25, though you may have to adjust the script.  As with anything freeware, use at your own discretion and I cannot guarantee results.  *

(for more information on this, check out this blog post from Scoring Notes and this post here at Engraver’s Mark Music)

Now you have an easy, repeatable way to adjust default part page parameters in any Finale document!
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As always, if you need advice or assistance with any music engraving, copying or printing project, contact me and let’s start a conversation!

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emm_page_size_finalescripts.zip
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