Hello. One of the hardest aspect of Dorico is moving around the System, which I find very difficult. For instance, as soon as I move bar 117 to the previous system, this comes to effect in my project. Can someone explain how to avoid this. I find the System and layout framing the most painful of this software.
Can you turn on display of signposts and post another screenshot? Or maybe post a cut-down version of your project? This probably has to do with system breaks that have “Wait for next system break” enabled.
Hi Aaron, my apologies I am not sure what you are asking. The first image is of bar 117 that I would like to bring to the previous system. The second image happens when I do this.
First, turn on Signposts.
You will see a bunch of pink signposts that will say System or Frame Break.
These have a particular property that is affecting you: Wait for next system or Wait for next frame. This forces all the music after them to be included in the system or frame up until the next break. These are usually created when you “make something into a system or frame”, or if you “move bars to previous or next system”.
You have this property activated.
What you need to do is click on the signpost above bar 98 and open the Properties panel. There will be a little switch that is activated.
Actually, I would just delete that signpost and see what happens.
Deactivate it.
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Thank you Daniel. It seems that the “Properties Panel” is the hidden gem to Dorico with some of this technical stuff. Going forward, should I always uncheck “Wait for Next System” and “Wait for Next Frame”? I don’t like to compose in Gallery view, only page view, as I prefer to map out my systems/bars as I go along…
Seriously that is going to make your Dorico journey both uncomfortable and inefficient. Not least because of the way Dorico treats rests.
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No, not necessarily.
In Dorico, it’s generally recommended not to worry about layout until after all of your music has been entered.
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Janus, I would safely assume that implementing music in gallery view is not possible for certain types of composers/compositions, such as myself. One needs to see everything in page view to get a sense of the layout and progress of the work.
This is a common desire but it can make things a little tricky with the way this software works. As @asherber mentioned: in Dorico, it’s always best to forget about the layout until after your work is complete if you can.
I think you’ll be surprised at how well Dorico will lay things out for you once it has all the information to consider (there will always be some settings that you need to adjust according to personal taste).
If you must work in Page View then it might be a good idea to just put some regular system/frame breaks to keep it “tidy”. You can remove them easily enough when you’re done.
Let us know if you need some more guidance!
In which case, Dorico might not yet be suitable for your workflow.
The more you lock down the layout, the harder it becomes to adjust things later.
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I’m aware that each program has its own characteristics, limitations, advantages, disadvantages, but for long works, implementing in gallery view is simply not possible, and would throw me off/slow me down entirely…
I’m not saying you have to use galley view. That would be absurd. I’m just counselling against using lots of page view constraints (system breaks, frame locks etc.) if you expect to move material around later (which your title to this thread suggests you want).
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Dorico has a mode called Galley View.
If you come from a software, where it is required that you constantly have to have an eye on the layout whilst typesetting or even whilst composing your music, this will become second nature.
Give yourself a chance and try Dorico’s concept of separating content (your actual music) from its display (the layout). This might be a new and unusual experience, but you might find that a different approach will even help your creativity.
Galley View is the key for it.
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I seldom use galley view, but that doesn’t mean I do not take advantage of Dorico’s strengths. I like to compose in page view because when instrumental forces are small and I can have multiple systems on one page, I can see more of the music at a glance than I could in galley view.
So it is not a given that those who enter music in page view are necessarily missing out on something.
As a Finale refugee I am learning to let Dorico do its thing as I enter all notations, and then look at the result before I make any adjustments. Saves so much time compared to Finale.
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