A new(?) method to create boxes of any size and thickness

Dorico
1

Hi,
I don’t know if a similar solution has been posted, but I have found a way to create boxes with pedal lines. I enclose a video showing the method. It is very important to copy and paste the pedal line in INSERT mode. It took me a while to discover that pedal lines can be copied at the same place if you have the insert mode on, otherwise you can’t!
captura.gif

  1. Create a pedal line
  2. Hide the word and select the hook as line beginning.
  3. Choose the thikness of the line that you want.
  4. Position the extremes of the line as desired.
  5. Copy and paste the line in INSERT mode.
  6. Position the copied line over the staff and lengthen the hooks downwards.
  7. Select both pedal lines and choose “suppress playback”.
    I hope this is helpful to somebody!
1 Like
2

No video is attached or linked. Have another go!

3

Sorry, now it’s OK!

4

Cool ! But it takes some time to get this.
I hope in the near future there will be a standard option to choose/make a paragraphe style for “text in a border”, for staff text and system text.
(just like S**** has for boxed text). Also until now it’s also not possible to create a key command for it; I have to go to the properties panel every time.

5

This solution is more about boxing music than text. It scales with music inside it, also in parts!

6

Dorico already has a border option for SHIFT+X text via the Properties panel.

boxedText.png

7

Carlo was asking for a key command, not properties panel. Tedious when there’s a lot of them to box in.

8

I like this kind of clever hacking very much

1 Like
9

If you know how to do it, you can edit the keycommands_en.json file with the following orders:

  1. to show the box:
    UI.InvokePropertyChangeValue?Type=kTextBorder&Value=null
  2. to change to thickness to 1/8:
    UI.InvokePropertyChangeValue?Type=kTextBorderThickness&Value=1/8
    It’s a little bit tricky, but it is explained in other posts in the forum.
10

Thank you, but luckily these solutions are not useful for a long time, as Dorico’s team is very fast in improving the program! I am so slow composing that usually one or two updates appear in the middle of a composition, and I have to replace all my “found solutions” with the new “native solutions” of the updates… :laughing:

11

I am using version 3.5. But I could not find INSERT mode. I ended up doing something like this. I actually kind of like the look of it.

Screen Shot 2021-01-09 at 6.44.11 PM
Screen Shot 2021-01-09 at 6.44.11 PM1222×682 20.2 KB

12

Insert mode is enabled and disabled pressing i (yes, the i letter on your keyboard)

1 Like
13

Extremely cool!!

1 Like
14

There’s a break in the corner that doesn’t look right

image

Interesting hack but not sure the point, but then that is what a hack is all about :grin:

15

Yeah, it has not been refined but I do kind of like the general look of it.