System Wide Horizontal Lines

Dorico
1

Hi everyone.

I’m trying to create a horizontal line with no start cap and an inward-pointing axis aligned hook at the end that will be visible in all parts. The line is being used to outline a 16 bar section of the music. I was hoping that I could do this in a similar way to creating system wide text, but I don’t see a way to do this without creating a new line for each part in the score. Am I missing something (be nice :wink: ) or is this not possible?

Thanks.

2

Yes you can, but you need to Alt-click the line in the panel, rather than just click it. This inputs a system-attached line that follows your per-layout settings for where system objects appear.

2 Likes
3

Wonderful! Thanks Lillie. What other objects does this entry method apply to? Also, as result of seeing this work, the line I have created ends in the middle of a multibar rest. How do I force the multibar rest to stop at a specific bar? (See attached picture)
Multibar Rest Division.png

4

From any layout that doesn’t consolidate multi bar rests (such as the score layout), switch to Engrave mode, select the relevant barline and go Engrave > Split Multi-bar Rest. This will apply in all layouts.

5

Alt-clicking for most other notation items means inputting that item for just a single staff or voice (e.g. when inputting dynamics when the caret is active, Alt inputs them just for the voice indicated by the caret, or pressing Alt-Return when inputting a time signature with the popover inputs a time signature only for the selected staff, not all staves). If you have a particular notation in mind, check the manual for “inputting X” - if there are alternatives when inputting, they should be described.

6

Thanks for the help Leo and Lillie. Much appreciated.

7

Isn’t it also true that by clicking “attach to barline” for (one or both?) ends of the line (buttons at the top of the lines panel) you also get a system line rather than a staff line? The operation manual “inputting horizontal lines” does mention lines as system objects but I don’t think it mentioned clearly how you input them: “Alt-click the line you want” or click “attach to barline” button(s)

8

No, I’m wrong about the function of the “attachment buttons” in the lines panel. Still a bit confused, sorry! :stuck_out_tongue:

9

The buttons in the panel will only affect lines that you create from the panel, not existing lines in the score that you copy and paste. Perhaps the use of Alt-click is confusing in this instance. What we mean by that is that you need to hold Alt when you click the line in the panel to create it, as that will cause it to be system-attached.

So the process might be something like this:

  1. Select an item in the score where you want the line to begin.
  2. Set whatever attachment settings you want for the line you’re about to create, e.g. if you want it to be attached to the barline, specify that now.
  3. Hold down the Alt key.
  4. Click the line type that you want to add to the score.

Now your line will be created at the position of the start of the selection, and it will be system-attached.

1 Like
10

Thanks Daniel. That’s really clear. Could you add something like that to the “Inputting horizontal lines” section? That’s where I was looking for it. As I say, it mentions system objects in the RESULTS subsection but I didn’t see exactly how to input them.

11

Pressing Alt/Opt (although currently it just shows Alt - I’ve made a note to update that) is specified as an option in the final step. This is consistent with how we present alternative options for inputting items at this stage - for things like time signatures, Alt/Opt does the opposite (applies the notation only to the selected staff).

12

Oops! I’m feeling very stupid as I can see that it is written clearly in the final step.
Please accept my apologies.

13

No worries at all, we’ve all done it at some point, and it’s useful to know if some bits of information aren’t quite jumping out as one might expect or hope.