File
menu
How to get there
The File menu is the first of PrintMusic’s
unchanging menus.
What it does
As in many computer programs, PrintMusic’s
File menu contains various commands for opening, closing, saving, and
printing documents. The File menu also contains the Quit command used
to exit the program.
- Launch Window. Choose this command to
open the Launch Window where you can choose from a number of options related
to starting new files and opening existing ones. See Launch Window for more information.
- New: Document With Setup Wizard. Document
With Setup Wizard will take you through some dialog boxes that ask you
about the Title of your piece and what instruments you would like to include.
See Setup Wizard for more information.
- New: Default Document. Default Document
lets you start with a new document with one staff called a Default File.
In PrintMusic, however, “new” doesn’t necessarily mean “blank.” As a means
of saving you formatting and customizing time, PrintMusic lets you specify
dozens of variables into a special document called “Maestro Font Default.FTM.”
As long as you keep this document in the PrintMusic 2011/Music Files/Default Files folder
(or in the Music folder you specify in the Program Options dialog box),
every possible PrintMusic parameter will always be set just the way you
like it when you choose New, Default Document from the File menu.
A standard Maestro Font Default file
is provided with the program. However, you can customize this document
to suit your own tastes. Do you usually begin your work with a piano-vocal
staff? Do you prefer a different font for your lyrics?
In any of these cases, the process
for customizing this document is simple. Choose Open from the File menu;
in the Open dialog box that appears navigate to the PrintMusic
2011/Music Files/Templates folder and choose Finale Template File from the File
Type drop-down list and double-click Maestro Font Default.FTM to open
it. You’re now looking at a document with a single staff. Now, you can
edit this document as you want it to appear every time you choose to open
a new default document. When you’re finished, choose Save from the File
menu, choose Finale Template File from the File Type drop-down list, name
the file Maestro Font Default.FTM and then save it. and save the document
as “Maestro Font Default” (replacing the old default file). From now
on, every time you choose New, Default Document from the File menu, a
fresh, untitled copy of this Maestro Font Default file appears on the
screen, formatted according to your preferences.
- New: Document From Template. PrintMusic
comes with several dozen template files—blank scores configured for jazz band, full orchestra, and so on—to save you the trouble
of constructing such “score paper” setups yourself. To use one of these,
from the New submenu choose Document From Template. PrintMusic will display
an Open dialog box where you can select the template you want to use.
When you double-click the template file you want to use, PrintMusic will
automatically peel off an untitled copy of that template, which you can
save with any name you wish. Whenever you open a template, PrintMusic prompts you with the last two pages of the Setup Wizard where you can customize the score information, key signature, time signature, and other score settings. Document From Template preserves the original,
unmodified template, so that you can use it again the next time you need
a similar configuration.
- Open. When you choose the Open command,
the Open dialog box appears, in which there are three kinds of files PrintMusic
is capable of opening: Finale Notation File (*.MUS) and MIDI Files (*.MID). Choose All Files (*.*) if you want PrintMusic
to display all files in the current folder, regardless of file type. is
a popup menu identifying two kinds of files PrintMusic is capable of opening:
Finale Notation File and Standard MIDI File (you can also choose to view
all readable files or all files). You can also use the Main tool Bar to
open a file.
A Finale Notation File is the usual
notation file you’ve been working with all along. A Standard MIDI File
is a standard music file format that most sequencer programs can read
and create.
As you select each of the file types
from the File Type drop down list, the names in the File Name list box
change to the files with the corresponding extension. The Folder list
box works like any Windows Folder list box; double-click a folder to see
its contents and use the scroll bars if necessary to view more folders.
Select a different drive from the “Look in” drop-down list to view the
contents of another drive.
This Open dialog box works the way
any Macintosh Open dialog box does: double-click a folder to see its contents.
- Open Recent. If the file you want to open is one that you have opened recently, then selecting it from this submenu saves you the trouble
of selecting open and navigating through folders in the open dialog box
to find your file.
- Close. Choose Close to close the document
that appears the active (frontmost) window. If you’re closing a document
to which you’ve made changes not yet saved, PrintMusic will ask you if
you want to save your changes; click Yes or Save (or press enterreturn)
to save your changes, or click No or Don’t Save if you don’t want your
changes preserved. Click Cancel to return to that document without closing
it. (You can also close a document by double-clicking the Control menuclose
box in the upper-left corner of the window.)
- Save. Choose Save to store on disk any
changes you’ve made to the active document. You can also use the Main
tool Bar to Save a file.
When you’re working on a PrintMusic
document (or any computer file), you’re actually making changes to an
electronic copy of the original file that you have on your disk. As long
as you’re in PrintMusic and the computer is on, the computer’s memory
retains your editing. (See Save As dialog box.)
If the power fails or a system error
occurs, however, all your editing is lost forever, unless you have remembered
to save the changes onto a disk by choosing this command. It’s a good
idea to save your work fairly often—every ten minutes, perhaps; if you’re
the kind of person who forgets, consider using PrintMusic’s automatic
backup feature (see Program
Options dialog box).
Note: The Save command saves only the
active document (the one in the frontmost window).
- Backup files. PrintMusic
will automatically save a backup copy of your file in the same folder
as the original file.
Although the concept of a backup seems
simple enough, it does warrant a little explanation. The first time you
save a file, you have to give the file a name. All subsequent times you
save this file, you are automatically replacing an earlier version of
the file with the same name. This earlier version of the file is preserved
as a backup. The backup file is saved with the word “copy”, to help you identify it. Therefore the backup is always one version
behind your current file (in case you just saved something you shouldn't
have). Keep in mind that the first time you save a file, no backup is
made, since there isn't a previous version to preserve. Similarly, no
backup is made when you perform a Save As function.
- Save As. This command has two purposes.
First, as in many computer programs, the Save As command offers you a
chance to create a duplicate of the document you’re working on, with a
different name, and—if you wish—in a different folder or on a different
disk. (When you choose the command, PrintMusic displays a dialog box and
asks you to give the document a new name, which can’t be exactly the same
as the current document’s in the same folder.)
This command’s second purpose is to
let you save the current document as another kind of document—namely,
a standard MIDI File. After choosing Save As, select the file format you
want to create, give the new file a name, and click Save.
- Export to Audio File. Choose this command
to create an AIFF file based on the document’s MIDI performance.
When you choose this option, the Save As Audio File dialog
box appears. To record these audio files, PrintMusic uses an included
General MIDI sound font. See Audio Files.
- Extract Parts. This command is PrintMusic’s
powerful part-extraction feature. Open the full-score document, so that
it appears on the screen. Choose Extract Parts. The Extract Parts dialog
box appears, letting you specify which staves you want extracted. PrintMusic
saves each extracted part as a separate document. See Extract
Parts dialog box for a more complete discussion of its options. You
can format, inspect, and adjust the resultant documents, fixing any awkward
page turns, for example, before you print them out.
- Post at Finale Showcase. This command
will save your file, then open your browser to place your file on MakeMusic’s
website at www.finaleshowcase.com.
The file will be freely shared with other users. Please follow the directions
on the website.
- MusicXML:
Import · Export. Choose Import to open a MusicXML file. See Import MusicXML dialog box.
Choose Export to save a PrintMusic document in MusicXML format. MusicXML files
can be opened in other music programs as well as earlier versions of PrintMusic.
See Export Music XML dialog box.
- Scanning SmartScore Lite. This command
opens the SmartScore Lite dialog box where you can import and transcribe
a scanned file using PrintMusic’s built-in SmartScore technology. See
To Open scanned files
with SmartScore Lite and SmartScore Lite dialog box.
- Page Setup. This command displays the
standard Windows Macintosh Page Setup dialog box, which differs depending
on the kind of printer you’re using. For example, you can specify the
size of paper you want to print on, but note that the page size of your
score itself (that is, the size of the printed image) is completely independent
of the paper size you specify here. (Use the Page Layout tool to set the
actual page size; see Page size.) To make
sure that no music will be chopped off when you print, the size of the
page as set by the Page Layout tool should be equal to or smaller than
that specified in the Page Setup dialog box. For a more complete discussion,
see Page
Setup dialog box.
- Print. This command prints the score
as it appears in Page View. You can also use the Main tool Bar to print
a file. When you choose this command, a dialog box appears listing additional
printing options, which vary depending on your printer. You’ll be able
to specify, for example, which pages of the score you want to print, and
how many copies.
- File Info. Choose this command to open the File Info dialog box where you can define the Title, Composer, and other score elements. See File Info dialog box.