Hi all,
I want to export my score and all my parts as one single pdf file. How do I do that within Dorico 3?
You can’t. Export them as separate files (which you can do by Shift-selecting all the layouts and then hitting export), then combine them in any one of the many third-party PDF apps available.
Thank you. That sucks, it adds a lot of steps for when I’m trying to email a completed score and parts in a single file. Lesson learned.
Not necessarily. I used Adobe Acrobat, and it’s simple. Select all the PDFs in Explorer, right-click, combine.
User benwiggy has put this together for Mac people: GitHub - benwiggy/PDFsuite: Python scripts, Automator Services and Quartz Filters for MacOS (OS X) that create, manipulate, and query PDF files
It is an option we’re planning to add, for what it’s worth, but it’s not yet possible to do directly. Fortunately it really shouldn’t take a long time to do after the fact.
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There are so many methods to combine PDFs that it should add exactly one step. However, you don’t save much filespace just by combining vector PDF pages.
You could always zip them into one archive: this would also make it easier for the recipient to separate the parts and score at the other end (which they presumably would have to do to use them for anything?)
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Ben, I assume clients are idiots… One file, click print.
In which case you’d need to add blank pages at the end of each part to avoid printing a new part on the same page/sheet as the last one. 
So either Dorico would need to do this when it creates the jumbo PDF, or you’d have to start with separate files anyway to add the blanks. (To say nothing of different paper sizes for score and parts.)
And no one needs to print off more than one copy of a particular part?
Do most idiot clients print large-format booklets themselves?
Just trying to understand the workflow! 
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A single PDF can contain pages with different sizes. Whether a printer is smart enough to print them on different sized paper automatically is a different question, of course.
On MacOS, at least, one print job has one set paper size, and will either scale or crop as necessary.
I have sent pdfs with duplicate parts, so that it is a straight print. I find parts tend to be printed single sided so they can be shuffled on the stand. Scores usually A4 to print on A3 as a booklet. Sometimes I send score separately to parts.
Here are my workflow requirements so people understand where I am coming from:
I am a high school music teacher.
When I move files, I use thumb drives because the internet can drop out at my building at random times. So thumb drives are my best option. When I write arrangements, I like to travel with the least amount of files possible. I don’t worry about double sided printing because I can change that option at the printer dialog. I don’t worry about different page sizes because everything is going to be a uniform 8.5 inches by 11 inches - standard print and copy size for the paper I have.
Having a single pdf of the score and parts is key to keeping an organized file structure for my work. One file, everything I need for my students. I don’t have to wrangle with making sure I export every single part to file if I am in a rush. I make part copies or print them off of the one single file.
And for me adding extra steps on the front end of getting the file is an expense of time I don’t have, so having to combine and wait for a file to get created is taking my time from other things.
That is a short version of my workflow. I am guessing most of you commenting are professional engravers. That is not me, I am a teacher who needs a smooth flowing workflow to make sure I have time to focus on more important aspects of my work.
We are literally discussing 5 seconds of time here. I have a “PDF Output” folder specified as my default destination in Dorico. I select all the parts, hit Export, navigate to that folder in Windows Explorer, select all, right click, choose “Combine files in Acrobat,” hit Enter, done. I usually have separate “Complete Parts” and “Score” PDFs as they are almost always different output sizes, but you can combine everything into one file with Select All if you’ve exported the score too. You can have Dorico add a “Layout number” to the beginning of the file name so the parts export in order, but if not, you can move them around in Acrobat before hitting Enter to get your desired order.
If you (or your school) don’t have Acrobat or a Creative Cloud account, there are lots of free PDF editors/converters available too which I’m sure can combine files in much the same way. You probably will spend more time copying the file to the flash drive and ejecting the drive than you will creating the PDF.
For what it’s worth, I think it’s a totally legitimate request to export a single PDF containing all layouts, and it’s something we plan to add, as I’ve already said. I understand OldManCam’s desire to have just one file to print and we’ll do our best to accommodate this soon.
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FredGunn,
I don’t own Acrobat. I use Sumatra, which doesn’t combine pdfs. Acrobat on older computers, which I have a school are slow as hell at times with lags and hangs. This is just a difference in workflow between us. I will try out your suggestions and see if they work for me. Thanks for the suggestion.
Just adding to the pile here. I understand this is asking a notation software team to take on a project focused on PDF manipulation (which since moving from a Mac to a PC I realize is a HUGE pain in the @$$) as well as basically rip off the great programs at NYC Music Services but:
I would love to be able to click boxes and export in a single click -
- Separate part files as is in Dorico today
- All in one PDF (as you might use in Sibelius)
- Combination of 2up and 1up for those of us who are fortunate enough to have access to huge commercial printers that can handle mixed paper sizes (I love the PDF Music Binder program, but in an effort to streamline the file storage folder I have to then stitch the 2up and 1up files separately)
All pipe dreams, especially considering the tools to do this outside of Dorico already exist and are for the price of whatever-you-want, but maybe the Dorico team can reach out to the guys who developed PDF Music Binder and combine forces?
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I realize this thread is 2 years old now, but I’d like to add another perspective. I’d really love for Dorico to add the ability to export all the parts as one PDF file because as a bandleader who is printing out parts for their whole band, it gets very tedious opening each PDF part, opening the printer dialogue, and printing. When all the parts are in one PDF, I can open it and click “print”, and everything prints in one go.
Yes, there are websites and software out there that you can use to combine multiple PDFs into one, but that also gets tedious if you have a lot of charts you need to print; you have to select all the parts, export them, go to the website, upload the files, convert them, download it back onto your computer, and then delete all the individual parts you originally exported.
Exporting as a single PDF is a pretty simple feature, and other major notation software such as Sibelius have it, so I don’t think it’s an unreasonable ask.
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Why don’t you print directly from Dorico? In that way you can print all in one go.
At least on Mac you can select “System Dialogs/Print…” (left side bottom) and then choose “PDF”.
Doing that generally gives inferior results to using Dorico’s own Graphics Export functionality and requires a separate Print action for each layout, so it’s slower too.