I haven’t been able to find a setting which allows the bottom staff to be closer to the top staff. For some reason, Dorico leaves too much space between the lyrics and the stems of the bottom staff. None of the vertical spacing settings changes this. This is going to be a very large project and I sincerely hope that I won’t have to do this manually each time!
Try the “Minimum Gaps” setting for between staves with content.
You could also check in Engraving Options > Lyrics what the minimum gap is between lyrics and other items.
There are explanations of how the different vertical spacing settings work on the page below. Crucially, “Ideal Gaps” are really “Minimum Gaps” too, as Dorico will always add extra space on top of them if necessary to accommodate high/low notes, stems, dynamics etc; those settings are the closest those staves will ever get, especially on non-vertically justified pages. (Vertical justification takes any “extra space” left over after all these minimum gaps, staves, extra content has been added up, and distributes it between staves and/or systems on the page.)
Thanks, Lillie. I ended having to set the minimum gap between staves with content to -¼. I’d already set the vertical justification not to justify between staves.
Did you also adjust the minimum gaps between lyrics and other items? It’s worth reviewing, as with the change in lyrics being paragraph styles now, rather than font styles, means their bounding is a fraction roomier than before.
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