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 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 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. The Instrument Name Assignments dialog box appears, which allows you to configure instrument transpositions, staff names, and the MIDI instruments. It is important to apply this information to ensure your staves are transposed properly. See Instrument Name Assignments dialog box.
9. Click OK. 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 Using you scanner's software to scan sheet music for Finale import below).
10. Save the file with a new name.  
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.

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