Decreasing space between top of staff and chord symbols

[kevintangney79]

I’d like to decrease the space between the top of a staff and a chord symbol in my big band score because chord symbols and things like dynamics in the part above are colliding.

When I
Engraving options > chord symbols > vertical position
and decrease the size between ideal distance above or below staff and hit Apply, nothing changes.

What am I doing wrong?

[Christian_R]

Can you post an example? For fast support a cut-down version of the Dorico file (attached here) would be great.

[kevintangney79]

I’m sorry, new to this and I vaguely remember a tutorial teaching me how to attach that kind of file, but I can’t find those instructions now.

[Christian_R]

You can find in the Guidelines how to make a cut-down version (point 4.):

Four simple guidelines to help us help you

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To upload you can just drag the file in the edit window (the one in witch
you write a post) or use the Upload button in the same window.

[kevintangney79]

I Put A Spell On You CUTDOWN.dorico (3.7 MB)

[Richard_Lanyon]

If you’re talking about the piano staff, the main problem here is that the stem from the chord in b.1 pokes up very near the chord symbol. This is forcing the whole row of chord symbols away from the staff. You could reduce the value of “Distance above items protruding from staff”, or you could turn off “Align chord symbols across width of system” if you wanted to change this.

[StevenJones01]

@kevintangney79

ideal distance above or below staff

Try this:

In Engraving Options > Chord Symbols > Position, uncheck Align chord symbols across width of system and click Apply. Then adjust the value for Ideal distance above or below staff (and click Apply). You will notice that the F#m chord symbol above the arpeggiated chord in the Piano’s first bar is still quite high. To lower this and other similar occurrences, adjust the value in Distance above items protruding from staff (and Apply). You will need to adjust both values until you are happy with the appearance - don’t forget to check right through the score to find any which are colliding with notes, etc. or otherwise not where you want them. You can always drag them in Engrave mode if necessary, but I normally leave that sort of adjustment until after I have got most of the relevant objects in a suitable position.