Scanning

Finale offers a variety of ways for you to scan sheet music and bring the results into Finale. If you own Musitek’s MIDIScan or SmartScore software, you can import files scanned with these programs into Finale.  See File/Import/MIDIScan. However, all you need is a scanner properly set up with your computer to take advantage of Finale’s scanning capabilities. Scan, import, and translate a piece of sheet music directly from Finale (see To scan and import sheet music), or import an existing TIFF graphic you have already scanned and translate the file to a Standard Finale File using the SmartScore Lite dialog box. See To Import Scanned TIFF Files.

 

Note that the SmartScore Lite feature in Finale, like most music scanning products, doesn’t recognize articulation marks, hairpins, double or repeat barlines, or text. It will do 3 accidental types, 3 clefs, 16 staves per page, smallest note value is a 32nd note, and a maximum of 1 augmentation dot. With SmartScore Lite, you can open several scanned files at once.

 

Because scanning is not a perfect science, you will need to clean up any file after conversion. For complicated music, you will usually find it easier to simply re-enter the music via one of Finale's traditional note entry methods: Simple Entry, Speedy Entry, or HyperScribe.

Remember that to take advantage of any of Finale's scanning capabilities, you will need to have a properly installed scanner (contact the manufacturer of your scanner if you have questions).

Choosing the best scanner for SmartScore

Musitek, the makers of SmartScore, offer the following advice for choosing the best scanner for SmartScore Lite:

Musitek recommends avoiding the following scanners:

 

Most modern scanners will work fine with SmartScore. "All-in-one" printer/copier/scanner models are becoming popular. Sadly, many have less-than-perfect software and optics. We recommend dedicated flatbed scanners as a rule.

Issues with All-In-One scanners and some workarounds
Most all-in-one printer/scanners will work in SmartScore provided you choose the right settings.

Note: Even if you choose "Black & White", most all-in-one scanners will actually scan in color and then "dither" the image, making the image unusable. Remember to scan in "Greyscale" (not Color or Black & White).

It is always recommended to scan using SmartScore's scanning interface with the benefits of auto-resolution, deskew and multiple-page TIFF functions. Also, newer Epson and Cannon scanners work well with SmartScore's scanning interface under Windows XP and MacOS X platforms.

To scan and import sheet music

The following steps describe how to use Finale to scan and open a single or multiple page document. To acquire sheet music from your scanner:

  1. Place a page of sheet music on your scanner. To get the best results, start with a clean, high-quality original (not a photocopy) that does not have frayed edges or crooked staves. Lay the music squarely on the bed of your scanner. Do not use scores with more than 16 staves.
  2. In Finale, select the File Menu, go to SmartScore Scanning Lite, and choose Scan and Import. (Or, in the Launch Window, click Scanning). Finale opens the SmartScore Lite 5.5 dialog box and automatically displays a preview of the sheet music in your scanner. If you do not see a preview, click the Preview button.
  3. Adjust settings as desired and click Scan. For more information regarding the settings in the SmartScore Lite dialog box, see SmartScore Lite 5.5 dialog box.
  4. Scan one page. Finale asks you if you have more pages to scan. If you do, click Yes and repeat the last two steps. When you have scanned all pages, click No. A message appears noting that your files have been saved to a temporary folder.
  5. Click OK. The SmartScore Lite dialog box appears.
  6. Click Add Files to List. The Open dialog appears where you can choose the files you have just scanned. If you scanned multiple pages, click the first file in the list, and then hold down Shift and click the last file to select all pages.
  7. Click Open. Your files appear in the file list. Click a filename to display a preview of that page in the preview window on the right.
  8. Click Begin Recognition. Finale transcribes the scanned file(s) and displays the music in a single Finale file. (If you encounter problems, such as a "Recognition Failed" error, see below).
  9. Save the file with a new name.  
  10. Make any desired edits. Because scanning is not a perfect science, you will need to proofread the music and correct for missing notes, ties or dots.
  11. Convert slurs to ties, where needed. SmartScore will attempt to convert ties based on context (Are the two slurred notes the same pitch?) but may occasionally guess incorrectly and insert a slur. Although slurs and ties are graphically the same; slurs and ties are different musically. Remove the incorrect slurs with the Smart Shape Tools. See To move, reshape, or delete Smart Shape slurs. Add the ties with the Simple or Speedy Entry Tools. See Simple Entry or Speedy Entry.
  12. In files with more than one staff, fix the key signatures, if needed. All staves will be set to Independent Key Signatures, which causes the Key Signature Tool to change the key individually for each staff. You can remove the Independent Key Signatures in the Staff Attributes dialog box. Make sure you set the proper transposition for any transposing staves if you decide to use this fix.

Using your scanner's software to scan sheet music for Finale import

It is preferrable to scan from SmartScore's own scanning interface for several reasons: Auto-resolution, auto-deskew, multi-page/single image file creation, greyscale thresholding, etc.
If you are using SmartScore's scanning interface and your scanner does not operate or you get a "Recognition Failed" message, you can bypass SmartScore's scanning interface:

  1. In SmartScore Lite, choose Select Scanner and choose your scanner.
  2. Scan in GRAYSCALE White) at a resolution of 300 to 400 dpi.&(NOT Black  
  3. Save each page as separate uncompressed TIFF files.  

Now, follow the steps under To Import Scanned TIFF Files below to import and translate the scanned documents.

Failing that, open the scanning module associated with your scanner. Scan and save each page as individual TIFF file according to points 2. and 3. above. Or consider the following:

 

Third-party scanning software (ScanVue)
If it not possible to scan from inside SmartScore, a reasonable alternative is to use 3rd-party scanning software such as ScanVue which supports more than 500 scanners and enables scanning in SmartScore's scanning interface.

To import scanned TIFF files

If you would like to Import Files you have already scanned and saved as uncompressed TIFF files:

  1. From the File Menu, choose SmartScore Scanning Lite, and then Import Existing TIFF File.  
  2. In the SmartScore Lite dialog box, click Add Files to List to add files, and then Begin Recognition to translate and open the files in Finale. See SmartScore Lite dialog box for details.

(To scan, import, and translate using Finale's included scanning utility, see To scan and import sheet music.)

Because scanners and scanning software varies widely, we cannot provide specific instructions for how to configure the above settings for every scanner. When in doubt, see your scanner documentation for details or contact the scanner manufacturer on how to prepare a file with the requirements stated above. (Note that some scanning software can be stubborn in its attempts to make decisions for you and result in a scanned file that does not meet the above requirements).

After you have scanned the file do not open the image file in PhotoShop or PhotoDeluxe, as this will introduce lightening and other negative factors. Some versions of PhotoDeluxe will also save the file as a uniquely PhotoDeluxe TIFF that SmartScore Lite (and MIDIScan Import) cannot recognize.

To import MIDIScan or SmartScore files

See File/Import/MIDIScan.

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