"play x number of bars" text instead of bars

Is this possible in Dorico? It’s a drum part made in Sibelius.

Yes, though it involves some trickery that’s neither big nor clever.

Start with this:

Add Shift-X text at B. With the Set local properties switch set to Locally, in the score layout, Hide the text.

Back in the part layout, Cmd/Ctrl-click the multi-bar rests and set their H-Bar X offset to an improbably high number (I’ve gone with 12000 spaces, which I figure is about 100 pages to the right of where they’re supposed to be).

Still in the part layout, locally, set the Play 8 Bars text to not Avoid Collisions, then drag into place.

Copy and paste - carefully - to the downbeats of C, D, E, F and G. It may be easier to do this in the score layout, copying and pasting the signpost, or from the caret in either layout.

Position, edit and scale by hand.

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Wow you absolutely nailed it, wasn’t expecting such a detailed answer. Thank you!