I have come up against an issue which has come up for me many times before. In the past I have settled for lower quality but I would like to aim for higher this time. I could not find the information online or another post which answered my question.
In regards to graphic frames, I would like to insert higher quality png (or jpg), yet there seems to be a limit as to how high I am able to do that. I am guessing this is due to the size of the file, as it seems to not be able to upload anything above 2.1 MB. Anything above simply does not appear for me (neither on an exported pdf of the project, it rather shows as blank). The problem is that the highest quality images I have been able to insert which do appear are looking too pixelated, which is rather frustrating. Any ideas to improve the situation are welcome, as the highest quality for me which do appear are only around 600 dpi.
Yes, in a quick test here, Dorico correctly loads a JPG up to about 15 Mb, but won’t load anything much larger than that. I don’t know whether the criterion is file size, or pixel size.
What sort of images are these, and how are you using them? (E.g. in an image frame, or as playing techniques, etc.) If the latter, have you tried using SVG vector graphics, which won’t show any pixelation?
The largest file I seem to be able to upload is 2.1 MB (so quite a bit lower that what you are able to do). I am wondering why I am unable to upload a larger size than that? This must be the source of my problem, no?
A couple of the images I am utilizing are actually taken directly from other Dorico project exports, from exported Dorico project pdf files being selected/exported into png.
However, other images are from scans etc.
All of these files look fine on their own, but when entered into Dorico via the graphic frame they either look terrible or simply do not appear (because of their size or quality).
In that case, I would definitely use SVG graphics, which are vector and thus will show no pixelation, just like “normal” Dorico output. You’ll need to convert the PDF to SVG using something like Affinity, Inkscape, Adobe Illustrator, or other vector drawing app.
(It’s a shame that Dorico can’t import PDF, but there we go.)
Can you upload here one of the files that won’t import?
here is one of the middle quality images I was playing with which will not import into the graphic frame (the ideal quality is too large to upload right here)
not all of the images which are failing to import involve color
I suspect it’s a pixel dimension limitation, rather than a filesize.
As said, SVG would be much better.
However, I’m intrigued. Why are you importing this whole page of notation (presumably with some other bits that you’ve added in a drawing package) – BACK into Dorico?
It might be better to export the pages as PDF from Dorico, then edit in a drawing package, saving the whole PDF from there.
Or just collate the PDF pages from different apps.
thanks for the suggestions! I am currently downloading Affinity at the moment and will try SVG…
I understand that I could collate at the end and add pages later on a pdf document itself (which I’ve done before), I am just trying to adjust everything visually within the Dorico project itself, all in one place…and also to save hassle later when I need to update new versions of a score…to save steps which I might not remember months from now…
(*note…the image I shared was only made within Dorico itself…)
With scordaturas and tonal palettes and other things for note pages which I need to create in Dorico, I have not found a simple way to work on those directly in the same project (due to the clash with the set up of the project itself being for a set amount of instruments etc…) and tips on how to eventually work directly in the same project for these things is also worth learning about and could potentially save time!
*UPDATE the SVG conversion is definitely looking better…I still need to play with it as there are things in the image which look a bit different but the quality is much improved
I have done a number of projects where I have exported PDFs from Dorico, and made my “final” document in Affinity. If I re-export Dorico’s PDF, Affinity updates its pages. I would suggest it’s much better doing it that way round.
Dorico is many things, but it isn’t a fully-fledged DTP app … yet!
If you tell us more about these things, we may be able to offer some help.
how would I create that harp scordatura layout I shared (which I did all in Dorico) in the same project which is a piece for chamber orchestra with a completely different layout/set up?
is there a straight forward way to do this, without doing a bunch of gymnastics?
I had thought that I could organize this as its own “flow”, for instance, but I am not advanced enough yet to figure this out without it being too much of a hassle to simply open up a new Dorico project and work on it there…
If you mean the little coloured boxes with numbers, You would have to create SVGs of each rectangle with the number, and then import them as graphics into new playing techniques. Then you could just add each playing Technique whenever you needed it.
You could save them as defaults, for new documents, too.
Actually I’m referring to the actual music notation layout itself—simply the staves I’m utilizing for that harp scordatura vs the piece itself which has 20 different instruments…
perhaps this is too basic of a question?
(the colored boxes are simply text boxes with colored backgrounds)
I simply haven’t figured out an elegant combined approach (within one Dorico project) for what I need to create for the notes of the score vs the score itself, even when it involves simple music notation.
How can there be set up notation pages for different layouts (like overall pitch set, information for winds, scordaturas…etc. etc…anything needing notes on staves) THEN the score itself follows
I think that’s the way I would have approached it – but maybe adding a paragraph style so that all I needed to add was the text (and BG color). If you need it frequently, maybe add it to some kind of key command or macro. (I have an ipad connected to my network as a stream deck mobile device – a phone with stream deck mobile could work too.)
thanks but for clarity I’m not having an issue at all with using the fonts and texts so far…those colored boxes are fine…I am finding font/text object layouts much much better and straight forward than Sibelius!!! they look better and there are way more options!
My issue is ONLY the instrumental/stave/layout set up for instruction pages in this particular case being a current hurdle…is it clear what I mean?
I would go for a separate flow for the instruction pages. Then you can import that flow into new pieces and make adjustments. You might need extra page templates.
Jesper
There are some dangers, though. See this or search the forum for reorder flows or similar.
