In relation to flat beaming, is there a way in engrave mode to have the beam snap to an exact horizontal angle when moving one of the ends with the handle? Similar to how holding down a shift key modifier etc in programs like Illustrator can do?
If not, this type of constraint would be quite handy.
I suppose not, as this flat beaming that I use is not widespread or popular, and certainly breaks all the rules in Gould.
I remember flat beaming being popular (and available) back when printers had a resolution of 180 DPI and slanted beams looked incredibly ugly. You can create flat beams in Dorico but the necessary settings will, of course, affect all beams. Just wondering: is there a good reason for wanting flat beams as opposed to the slanted ones we all know and love? 
If you select the whole beam in Engrave mode, Alt+up/down arrow will move the beam in increments of 1/4 space, and adding Ctrl/Command will move in increments of 1 space.
Thanks Daniel, that’s fantastic.
But as usual my question my have been poorly phrased. if I pick up one end of the beam and move it, to make it precisely horizontal, is there any key combination that can constrain it to being at zero degrees to horizontal? Think Photoshop type operations. It seems to be hard to get it precise. ‘Snap to angle’ is I suppose what I am circling around, that sort of idea.
You can select the notehead the beam belongs to, and in the “Beaming” section, activate the “Beam direction”, which will default to “flat”. The result will be the same.
Great! Except, if I choose one note in the beam or all of them. changing the beam direction either in write mode or engrave mode does precisely nothing.
I do have all the slants set to 0. is this obstructing things?
No, the default slants defined in Engraving Options shouldn’t have any effect on the Beam direction property. You should be able to select any note in the beamed group and activate the property.