Another Finale refugee here. These are a few things I have learned and discovered that might make your Finale to Dorico transition easier.
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There are at least 2 ways to import .mxl files into Dorico. There is the setup wizard when you first open Dorico. The possibly better way is to create an ensemble first in a Dorico project, merge in the .mxl. It will make a second flow, then delete the empty first flow.
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Watch the intro and how to videos! Dorico does things differently than Finale and other notation software, but once you understand its reasoning and philosophy, it makes quite a bit of sense.
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Look for things at all the edges of the screen, not just menus and the left side. Once you find it, pay attention to the popup that shows the keyboard shortcut.
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Use the jump menu! It’s like MacOS Spotlight that searches just within Dorico.
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Learn the difference between the modes - Setup, Write, Engrave, Play, Print. Write changes musical things that change the way you play, Engrave only changes the way the page looks.
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You gotta figure out this project and flow thing. Flows are sections or movements in a project. You can have a project with only 1 flow. Watch the quick video on how to delete the project heading if you have only one flow. (or delete the flow heading)
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You gotta figure out the players thing. There are two types of players, solo players and section players (which use section patches for playback). You can’t directly change a solo player to a section, you have to create an empty-handed section player and then drag the instrument from a solo player to a section. Dorico creates solo players from .mxl staves, so if you want section playback you need to do this janky workaround, or create the section player first, then import the .mxl.
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Input is different then Finale and I like it. There is a rhythmic grid and when you click, the note goes at that spot, not the beginning of the measure. Rests are auto-generated by Dorico.
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Ties work differently. Dorico considers a tie chain as one note.
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If the music you input does not look how you want it, try to change it via settings, then it will be changed throughout your current flow, or you can make it a default.
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Scroll view is called galley view.
some more from user Janus
Can I offer a few more? (not an exhaustive list by any means)
Dorico Voices = Finale Layers
There are a gazillion options to tweak in Dorico. Don’t be in a hurry to change any of them until you are comfortable with how they all interact. Dorico defaults do a pretty good job in most cases.
The (lower) properties panel is very context sensitive. It will only show properties relevant to the current selection… You may need to use the right-click>Filter to home in on items of interest.
Hope these tips I have discovered so far help you, and would love to see your suggestions and corrections.
