Tip. Before you begin, remember to set the global settings for common and cut time in the Time Signatures portion of the Document Options dialog box (under the Document menu).

To mix abbreviated and non-abbreviated cut and common time signatures

1. Click the Time Signature tool  .
2. Double-click on the first measure in which you want to change the appearance of the time signature. The Time Signature dialog box appears.
3. Choose the measures you want affected. By default, Finale selects the measure you clicked, or the area you drag-enclosed, so if that’s the range you want, you don’t need to enter anything. To specify a different range of measures, enter the numbers of the first and last measures making up the region. To change the measure you selected through the end of the piece, click Measure ___ Through End of Piece.
4. Click Options. The Time Signature dialog box expands to show the display options.
5. Click Use a Different Time Signature for Display. (If it’s already selected, don’t click it again). Set the time signature if necessary.
6. Use the Abbreviate checkbox to specify whether to abbreviate the cut or common time signature for this time change. If you want to use the abbreviated symbol , simply click Abbreviate. On the other hand, if you want the time signature to appear as numbers , just deselect Abbreviate by unchecking the checkbox.
7. Click OK (or press ENTER). You return to the document, where the measure region you specified now shows the time signature in the format you chose.

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