Feature request: manual layering/z-index of objects

I have a dynamic symbol attached to a staff and an ending bracket on the next system, and the space is so tight that they both overlap. Now, there is the option to knock out the background for the dynamic symbol but this doesn’t work because the ending bracket’s z-index is higher than the dynamic’s. I’d like a way to influence this.

And on a related note, the same applies to frames that overlap. Currently it’s hard to select a frame that sits behind another one; I have to resize the frame in the front or move it out of the way to select the one in the back. In graphic programs like Affinity Designer I can do an Option-click (Alt for the Windows folks) on an item to cycle through and select items in the background. And there is no way to change the layering/z-index of these. Would be nice if that could somehow be implemented.
overlap.png

Regarding the mf I think you’re out of luck. I’d rather move the mf up and to the left. In classical scores you often see dynamics placed well into the staff, when things get tight :slight_smile:

I would agree with Frank’s assessment of how to solve this particular situation. More generally, providing greater control over the Z-order of items is something we would like to add, but is complicated somewhat by the optimised way in which the score is redrawn so as to be as efficient as possible (and is one of the reasons why you can pan and scroll through complex scores in Dorico very smoothly).

Thanks. I just found a workaround for the particular situation: add a (silent) dynamic in a bar after the ending and then move it in engrave mode where the other one would go (i. e. layer them on top of each other).

And that brought me to another idea then and I found even more workarounds: you can do the same with a plain system text item or you could add a (text) frame and add some random text with white color and white background color and position it arbitrarily over whatever you need knocked out; and even though I haven’t tried this, possibly a graphic frame with a plain white PNG attached would also work (and even be most flexible in terms of sizing).