Asked this on one of the Facebook groups and have not received an exact answer to the most pressing question. So, Thought I would try here… I have a score with five flows. The first three flows are set with SATB in treble and bass staves. The last two flows are set for unison voices all on a single treble staff. In my final engraved version, I would like to have a specific number of SATB staves in the first flows, and then more (approximately twice as many) staves in the unison flows. I can only seem to dictate the number of staves per frame in the casting off section which I think is global.
I think seeing the document would help, or at least a screenshot – ideally with the Engrave mode spacings.
It should be possible to set an “Ideal Gap” between the systems in LAyout Options that will work well for both scenarios. (Bear in mind that Vertical Justification will always stretch things to make those values larger on the page.)
Once you’ve got as close as you can for your different requirements, then you can make manual adjustments by using Frame Breaks to force the number of systems on a page.
Yes, first step is to try to finesse the vertical spacing parameters.
There’s always the option of using two layouts. You could adjust the page numbers on the second one so the numbers are continuous.
You can add just the flows you need to each layout.
Here is a link:
OUTPUT ATTEMPT UNEDITED.dorico (814.6 KB)
. I have actually fiddled with some of the pages with the brute force click and drag method. The layout is exactly what I need - and I did create a workaround – two files one with the first three flows, the second with the last two. But I am sure Dorico should be able to make this work automatically. BTW, this is EXACTLY the page format I need – it is for slides to be shown on a screen and actually outputs really well as a png.
Thanks for sharing the project, and well done for getting the result you wanted.
The “right” way to control spacing, once you understand the controls, is faster, more convenient and more powerful. Pushing staves around by hand this way, you are working against Dorico’s automatic collision avoidance, for one thing.
@dan_kreider was posting about a hymn slides project just last week. From that, he has more experience producing slides from Dorico than I.
Here’s an edited version of your file.
The things I’ve done are
- Remove all the “brute force” overrides (staff spacing, lyric spacing etc.)
- Turned off the forced two systems per frame casting off (which is too rigid for your purposes)
- Changed the page margins and music frame margins.
- Turned off Flow Headings and use of the “First” page template entirely, as you don’t want a title
- Altered the Vertical Spacing Minimum Gaps, Ideal Gaps and Vertical Justifcation.
By doing these things, I’ve given Dorico more usable room on each “page”, and the freedom to fill each page appropriately. There are no Frame Breaks or (individual “brute”) manual adjustments at all in the file below.
OUTPUT ATTEMPT UNEDITED pianoleo.dorico (813.2 KB)
If you go to Library > Library Manager and drag and drop your original file into the top right corner, then click the “Differences” button near the top (it’s blue in this screenshot), then go to Layout Options in the top left corner of the dialog, you’ll get a nice list of precisely what I’ve changed. Hopefully it provides pointers for what to change if it’s not quite there.
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THIS IS BRILLIANT. I knew there was a way, I just could not figure it out. The brute force way worked (and basically was the old way in the old software) but I was hoping (and now have been shown that) Dorico could do better. Just got home from a late rehearsal, so this poking around will have to wait until morning. But can’t wait to try to understand the set up!
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Thank you very much for this.
One background question… Are the casting off settings a way to “override” Dorico’s best-case settings? (The "just let Dorico do it’s thing thing)
Now to the specific case - it is nearly exactly what I want. One more layout related question: Is it possible to have the second page of the unison flows be spaced differently – I would prefer the three staves to be close together (with the same spacing as page 1) either in the middle or toward the top rather than spaced evenly throughout the frame.
Then a Dorico newbie question: once I have the settings figured out and decided, how do I save it to use it again in future projects. (I can probably figure this out with the online helps, but since you were kind enough to send me the settings…) Seriously, this is a huge help and had me scratching my head. I do not think I would have realized that, basically, doing nothing was the thing to do. Even thought people say in these forums “just let Dorico do its thing.” Not intuitive for a recovering Finale-ite.
- (The easy way). Just copy your project and change the music.
- File> Save as Project Template (the proper way)
- Use the Library>Library Manager to import various settings from one project to another.