How do you find your place after switching between Write and Engrave Mode?

Dorico
1

How do you deal with the score jumping around when switching between Write and Engrave modes? I keep losing my place…

3 Likes
2
  1. Select something in the score before you change modes
  2. Change modes using Ctrl-2 and Ctrl-3 (that doesn’t have anything to do with your question, just a suggestion).
  3. Use X and Z to zoom. In Write mode always, and in Engrave mode usually, Dorico will zoom to the selection.
3

Thanks Dan! Your suggestion gives me super inconsistent results. It doesn’t zoom to the right spot every time, and the jitter from the jump between modes is very erratic. I guess there’s no “real” solution for now?

4

One more I forgot to mention: in Write mode, switch to page view first.

5

Thanks Dan. This will have to do.

On Write Mode I ALWAYS have Galley View turned on, because this is the only way to see all of the music and all of the instruments. That is, I use Dorico as intended: Write Mode to write, and Engrave Mode to engrave.

As such, I flip between the two up a lot! For instance:
I Insert note, switch modes, hide leger lines, switch to write, insert a slur, switch to engrave, adjust its look, etc.

This means that switching to “Page View” is 1) a disruptive part of this work flow. 2) Causing a jitter in itself(!) 3) requires me to switch to back to Galley View every time.

I was hoping for a better prognosis, however, I appreciate your suggestions!

4 Likes
6

Sorry I don’t have a better answer. Part of it is the type of music you’re working with, which seems to require more mode-switching. The “normal” workflow is to stay in Write mode for the writing portion and not switch as much as your formatting seems to require.

1 Like
7

What about automating the switching steps using Metagrid oder Streamdeck “macros” to make it less interruptive?

8

This jumping around when switching between modes has bothered me as well, but I believe it was Daniel who suggested that you don’t use an exact zoom ratio for viewing your score. I prefer ‘fit to page height’ but then switching between modes will usually cause one of these unexpected jumps, perhaps due to the changing panel configurations. If I change the zoom ratio just slightly, I find that the score no longer jumps when switching modes.

9

How do you mean?

10

I just realized that if I switch back and forth between write and engrave modes without changing anything or dragging anything (just switching between the modes), every time I switch, I will end up on a different spot in the score. It’s so unpredictable. It jumps from the bottom to the top, to the beginning, to the end, every time landing on a completely different screen.

2 Likes
11

In your key commands window, search for Page Height and set it to Alt-X. I use this function all the time. It does reduce jumping.

12

I just tried it and I must be missing something. While it is resizing Engrave Mode, it seems to have no effect on Write Mode Galley View. In which case, how is this suppose to reduce the jumping?

13

Sorry, I forgot that galley view is particular to your use case. It’s true that it’s not affected by that key command, and that won’t help you there.

1 Like
14

Would having both a Write window and an Engrave window work?

**Leigh

15

This probably is the way to go!

17

What I meant was that if I use an exact ratio, like fit height to window, I often get a display jump when switching modes. However, if I change the zoom ratio just slightly, this no longer happens.

18

I see. Well, I seem to get the jump either way

19

I agree @Michael_Seltenreich , this seems like an important issue for anyone who desires to format their music as they write and I don’t understand why the Dorico people don’t fix it. Dorico should just set the left corner of the Zoom window to the same place in Write as in Engrave and match the zoom levels. I don’t see why that’s such a complicated issue and it’s really messing up my flow with Dorico.

5 Likes
20

Well put, that is still a worrysome feature that keeps bothering me as well. Other notation programs don#t show this kind of behaviour, at least not when switching between windows in similar fashion, e.g. between score and parts. But my guess is that the Dorico team will address this at some not too distant point in the future as well…

1 Like
21

I agree with that comment. However, have you tried the suggestion from Leigh above?

This really is a very elegant solution that we tend to forget because no other program has the flexibility to have the same material open in multiple windows representing different modes or even different layouts.