Page layout
Many instructions for setting the page
layout for your documents appear under their own entries. See, for example,
Distances; Margins;
Page
size; and Measure
layout. For instructions on arranging measures within the score (setting
the number of measures per line, for example, or moving a measure to another
system), see Measure
layout.
A common use of PrintMusic’s page layout
tools is to specify how much music should fit on a page—how many measures
per line, for example, or how many systems on a page. It’s important to
realize that there are three elements affecting the amount of music on
a page. First, look at the distance between staves in each system; if
you decrease the total height of the system (by clicking the Staff tool
and dragging the staves closer to each other), more systems fit on the
page.
Second, you can adjust the distance between
systems. If you’re trying to fit another system onto a page, the simplest
solution is to slightly decrease the space between all systems, so that
the cumulative effect is to create just enough room for another system
on each page (see the two subentries called To
change the distance between systems, below). The third factor affecting
the amount of music that fits on the page is the amount of reduction you’ve
applied to the music on a page—you may find that a reduction of even a
percentage point or two is just enough to fit another measure per line,
or another system per page (see Reducing/Enlarging).
To change the distance between systems
- Click
the Page Layout tool
. Dotted-line margins appear around each system.
- From the
Page Layout menu, choose Edit System Margins. The Edit System Margins
dialog box appears.
- In
the Change section, click Select All. In other words, you want
the change you’re about to make to affect every system in the piece.
- Make sure
Distance Between Systems is checked and uncheck all other boxes. We don’t
want to make all of the margins the same, just the distance between systems.
- In
the Distance Between Systems text box, enter a new value. This
value is measured in whatever your Measurement Units are set to. See the
Document
menu for details.
- Click
Apply. If you like what you see, click Close. You’ve just changed
the amount of space between every system in the piece. In so doing, you
may also have changed the number of systems able to fit on a page. (The
bottom text box governs the amount of extra space below each system.)
To change the page margins
See To
change the page layout, below, or see Margins for a more detailed discussion.
Note: If you’re printing
on a PostScript printer and you find that brackets and staff names are
being “chopped off” in your printouts, you may not need to change the
page margins at all. Instead, choose Page Setup from the File menu, click
Printer, then Properties, and then select the Paper tab and click Unprintable
Area. If you make this setting, most laser printers can print 1/8 inch closer to every page edge.
To set the page size
See To
change the page layout, below, or see Margins for a more detailed discussion.
To
change the page layout
- Click
the Page Layout tool .
- Move
to the page you want to change. If you want to change the page
layout of all pages at once, it doesn’t matter which page you click. If
you’re unsure about your changes, make sure to first select Adjust Current
Page Only. Remember, you can always choose Undo from the Edit menu to
restore your piece to its previous state.
- If
you want to change the Page Size, choose Page Size from the Page Layout
menu.
- In
the Page Size dialog box, choose the page size from the popup menu
or enter values using the currently selected measurement units.
- Choose
Landscape or Portrait. Hint. This setting affects how PrintMusic
lays out the page. Printing settings are set in the Page Setup dialog
box under the File menu.
- Select
the pages you want to affect. Choose all pages or type in the individual
page number.
- Click
OK.
- If
you want to change the page margins for just this page, first make sure
Adjust Current Page Only is checked in the Page Layout menu.
- Drag
the handles at the edge of the page margins. You can also enter
values directly into the number boxes of the Edit Page Margins dialog
box. See Edit
Page Margins dialog box for more information.
- If
you want to reposition a staff system on the page, drag from the middle
of the system. Note that PrintMusic won’t let you drag one system
on top of another one.
- If
you want to indent, resize, or respace a system, drag a handle.
Each system appears bounded by a dotted line. To indent a system, drag
its upper-left handle. Instead of dragging, you can enter values directly
into the number boxes. See Edit
System Margins dialog box for more information.
When you’re viewing Staff Systems, you’ll notice
a boldface number to the left of each system. The numbers on the systems
(the first system is number 1) help you identify each system, so you’ll
be aware if the system layout has shifted.
- To
edit another page use the arrows at the bottom of the document window
to move the next or previous page.
- Choose
Update Layout from the Edit menu.
