Different fill % for similar pages

Dorico
1

Hi Experts,
I am struggling to understand why the automatic layout of pages with, to the best of my knowledge, similar content, is so different.

Page 3 in the example is 96.9% full, while pages 4 and 5 are only 62% full. It seems to me that Dorico should be able to accommodate the same number of staves in pages 4 and 5 as it does in page 3.
I must be missing something obvious, but just can’t figure it out.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Luis

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image1535×715 117 KB

2

Maybe there are (hidden) frame breaks forcing music to the next page? In the View Menu, under Signposts, make frame and system breaks visible. As soon as these are displayed, you can select and delete them if you want to. Then, if there is enough space, Dorico will accommodate more staves on the page on its own. Alternatively, in Engrave Mode, there is a command to tell Dorico to force selected bars onto the same page. This will insert frame breaks at the beginning and end of such a page, and give the first frame break the property ‘wait for next frame break’.

3

Hi, thanks for the reply!
The page (frame) break was also my first guess, but there are none.
I understand there are several ways to “force” the number of staves, but I am trying to figure out why Dorico is not doing it automatically :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I didn’t include it in the screenshot, but from page 8 onwards, the number of staves per page goes back to 12 as in page 3…

Luis

4

In layout options, vertical spacing->vertical justification try increasing the percentages. Start with something higher than 62%. As it is, the images look like vertical justification is being applied.

5

Hi @Veletaband, as always it would be better and faster if you could upload the Dorico project, so that someone can give precise advice, without guessing what is going on :wink:

3 Likes
6

Hi Christian, you are right.
Here it is.
Thanks

Luis

Caro, Bella piu amabile belta.dorico (1.5 MB)

7

@Veletaband,

It may be something to do with this:

1 Like
8

I have no idea why Dorico sometimes puts 2 systems on a page but to get the pages evenly spaced reduce the top and bottom page margins to 10 mm in Layout-Options > Page Setup

2 Likes
9

Reducing the gap between systems to 7.5 spaces makes everything fit as 3 systems to a page, as it is.

As Vadian says, you’ve got quite a lot of room at the top of the page that could be put to better use.

Also, page 1 is ALWAYS a right-hand page. If your music starts on a left-hand page, it’s page 2.

1 Like
10

Thanks to both. Yes those changes makes the layout more homogeneous.
I use that template also for the singers and the piano accompanist of my choir.
The pdf I provide to the singers doesn’t include the cover page, but it does the printed copy for the pianist. Starting the page numbering after the cover page, avoids confusion when referring to a given page number during the rehearsals. Maybe I didn’t explained it very well :slightly_smiling_face: and probably there are smarter ways to accomplish this, but sort of works for me.

Luis

11

Thanks! This is an interesting insight into de inner workings of Dorico’s algorithms.

In my case, the material in both pages seems so similar that, perhaps just a small difference makes the algorithm react differently.

Luis