I have a spacing problem, specifically the spacing between systems. This is the project on which I learned Dorico so quite possibly there are mixed up settings somewhere. I’m on Dorico 5. The problem page:
The project:
Shepherd.dorico (1.0 MB)
I’m sure one solution is to bump the last system onto the next page. So in addition to asking how to make it look better there is the second question of how did Dorico get into this situation.
You are using a very large space size (7.22 mm) (Layout options). If you drop it down to (say) 6.5mm the music will still be very readable and the systems will be spaced a little wider.
Where do I find “space size”?
Even with a large size why did Dorico not put the third system on the next page?
Layout Options>Page setup>Space size
This is the fundamental unit that determines the size of the staff and affects all spacing in a project.
Some of us in the handbell world prefer larger music (which is essentially larger rastral size) because the music is set at the far side of the table and many ringers are old enough to have vision issues.
So, back to my question: How did Dorico not account for the symbols below the bottom staff and above the next top staff and place the third system on the next page?
Short answer: because the page is overfull. I didn’t open your file (not at my computer) but you can see in the bottom left corner of your screenshot that your page is 112.5% full. When a page is filled above 100%, Dorico’s spacing algorithms can’t function optimally, simply because there is not enough room on the page. Among the things you can do to bring it back to around 100% is reduce rastral size. If you don’t want to do that, you’d have to look at things like page size, margins, casting off (fewer bars per system)… the space has to come from somewhere.
So why did Dorico let the page be overfull and not automatically put that third system on the next page?
The post has been quoted before, and it will be quoted again:
The way I like to explain it is that this specific case (various stuff pushing staves apart a lot further than expected) is ‘sacrificed’ by the casting-off algorithm in order to make the whole thing work with any speed at all, because the alternative involves a lot of recursion. The remedy is one manual frame break so it’s not a massive sacrifice.
Thank you.
I’m preparing a class in Dorico for fellow handbell ringers. I need to explain that a great deal of positioning is automatic and is pretty good. But there are times when it doesn’t work well and these are the things they may have to do to get out of it.
If you like the space size the way it is, another way to help Dorico out is to add a frame break at the start of the last system.
Hi @bellist, the circular problem frame fullness miscalculation issue (sorry, I found no better name for it, for the moment 
) occurs mostly when there is a particularly big amount of “extra” items in those systems, especially staff text; together with low/high notes, all sort of playing techniques, dynamics, rehearsal marks, chord symbols, pedal lines, bar numbers, etc…, so that the frame will be over 100% (for the reasons explained in the above provided link). And the solutions are fast and easy.
