Can't create proper instrumental part layout - please help!

For whatever reason, I am unable to create an instrumental part layout that behaves properly. Attempting to do so creates a full score instead, with ALL of the players present, no easy way to edit them, no multimeasure rests, etc.

I am including a video demonstration so that you can see for yourself: - YouTube

I have no idea how this happened, but I need the ability to create parts… please help!!

It occurs to me that I may have accidentally saved a full score layout as my parts default by accident.

I don’t see a way of working around this within the program itself. However, I’m guessing that if someone here was willing to email me, say, a properly setup string quartet template, I could probably replace the Parts Layout default with a correctly working one.

Is anyone willing to email me an empty multiplayer score to try this out?

Maybe … but I can’t think how you might have done that!

Maybe re-installing Dorico will sort things out if you have overwritten some of the “default files” somehow - but that’s just a guess.

Did you install Dorico in a different directory from the default one, and it’s doing something crazy like storing your projects in the directory where the default files should be? - just another guess.

Anyway, here’s an empty score created from the standard string quartet template, if it helps.
Quartet template.zip (1.7 MB)

Another guess: In Setup mode, go into the Setup menu, Layout options.

On the Page Setup tab, there are buttons at the bottom for “Save defaults as…”

Did you look at the Full Score layout, and then accidentally click “Save defaults for Parts”?

If so, you might be able to repair that by using the Quartet template, opening a part, and saving the default again.

That won’t fix your existing project, but it might create new projects correctly.

This same problem has just been described by Mats Halling in this thread.

I bet what’s happened here is that you were looking at the full score in the Layout Options dialog and clicked the ‘Save as Defaults for Parts’ button, which is a totally reasonable thing to do, but I suspect there’s a bug that is causing a score-specific option to be saved into the part, which we will look into as a matter of urgency.

In the meantime, delete the file layoutOptions_parts.xml from ~/Library/Application Support/Steinberg/Dorico, and you should be OK for new projects.

Yes, this is EXACTLY what I thought had happened, and, thankfully, saving the default with the parts from your string quartet saved the day!!

Thank you sir, much appreciated!

Note to Dorico devs: it is possible to save over the Parts defaults in such a way that you will lose the ability to create parts. Perhaps this should be addressed!!!

Just saw your response, Daniel. Thank you sir! I already fixed this by using the template Rob Tuley attached, but it is nice to know that there is another way that doesn’t involve begging for help on the forums. Much appreciated!

I’ve got this problem as well. Does it mean the score is a write-off?

If you export it as MusicXML and import it as a new score, that should salvage most of your work.