Hiding staves

If you’re interested in hiding staves to print a full score (so that empty staves are omitted from each system), see Optimizing systems.

If you’re interested in hiding staves temporarily, use the Hide Staves checkbox in the Staff Attributes dialog box. Do not delete the staves—a method of hiding staves that was used in versions earlier than 3.7. Delete staves only if you want to permanently remove them from the score.

To hide staves for editing (Scroll View)

By hiding staves you’re not immediately editing, but you can greatly reduce the time it takes for your computer to redraw the screen as you move around the score. When you change the position of a staff in a staff set, it changes positions for all staff sets.

1. Click the Staff Tool  . Shift-click the staves you don’t want to hide. You can also select staves by drag-enclosing their handles or by choosing Select All from the Edit Menu. In any case, the selected staves’ handles become highlighted.
2. While pressing ctrl, choose Program Staff Set from the View Menu; from the submenu, choose one of the Staff Sets (1 through 8). You’re programming a Staff Set that, when selected, will hide the non-selected staves.
3. To view the new configuration of staves, choose the Staff Set you programmed from the submenu of the Select Staff Set command (in the View Menu). A quicker way is to note the keyboard equivalent for the desired Staff Template (control-1 through control-8). By pressing control-0 (zero), you restore all staves to the display; by pressing the command for your Staff Set, you “rehide” the desired staves. You can repeat this process with other configurations of staves (the other seven Staff Sets), which allows you a total of nine instantly available staff configurations. Finale prints all staves, however, no matter which ones are visible in Scroll View; to omit staves in printing, see “To hide staves for printing” below.

To hide staves for ossia measures or special playback

Use this method to hide staves that contain source music for ossia measures. Or, hide other staves that you don’t want printed; for example, staves containing notes for playback only, such as written-out trills, turns, or doubled parts.

1. Click the Staff Tool  . The Staff Menu appears.
2. Select a staff, then choose Edit Staff Attributes from the Staff Menu. (Or, double-click a staff, a staff handle, or a staff name.) Or, choose Edit Staff Attributes from the Staff Menu without selecting a staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears. To display the attributes of another staff, choose a staff from the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu. (Or, use the arrow controls to select a staff from the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu.)
3. Select Hide Staff in the Options section in the Staff Attributes dialog box, then click OK. Any staff that you hide using this method will still appear in any Staff Lists but “(hidden)” will appear after the staff’s name in the list.

To hide staves for printing

If your purpose is to hide empty staves when printing a full score, see Optimizing systems.

To hide staves containing music, which you may want to do if a staff contains alternate versions of music, or music only used for playback:

1. Click the Staff Tool  . The Staff Menu appears.
2. Select a staff handle, then choose Edit Staff Attributes from the Staff Menu. (Or, double-click a staff handle, or a staff name. Or, choose Edit Staff Attributes from the Staff Menu without selecting a staff.) The Staff Attributes dialog box appears. To display the attributes of another staff, choose a staff from the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu. (Or, use the arrow controls to select a staff from the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu.)
3. Select Hide Staff in the Options section in the Staff Attributes dialog box, then click OK. When this option is selected, Finale displays “hidden” after the name of the staff in the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu in the Staff Attributes dialog box.
4. Format and print your piece as usual.

To play back only selected staves

See To play back selected staves.

To show hidden staves

If you’ve hidden a staff using the Hide Staves option in the Staff Attributes dialog box, Finale displays “(hidden)” after the name of the staff in the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu in the Staff Attributes dialog box.

1. Click the Staff Tool  . The Staff Menu appears.
2. Click the handle on a hidden staff, then choose Edit Staff Attributes from the Staff Menu. If you can’t find staff handles in your score, or if you’re not sure which staves are hidden, choose Edit Staff Attributes from the Staff Menu without selecting a staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears. Choose the hidden staff from the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu, which provides a complete list of all staves in the score. (Or, use the arrow controls to select the hidden staff from the Staff Attributes for drop-down list menu.)
3. Click to deselect Hide Staff in the Staff Attributes dialog box. The staff will reappear when you return to the document.
4. Use the arrow controls to choose another hidden staff and deselect Hide Staff to display the staff in the score.
5. Repeat the process for every hidden staff you want displayed again, then click OK when you’re done.