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Selection tool

The Selection tool is PrintMusic's universal editing tool. It can be used to select, move, delete, copy, paste, or otherwise edit any region of measures and virtually any individual item in the score.

Click on a marking to select it, such as a lyric, slur or articulation. Once selected, you can move, nudge, edit or delete it. For more advanced editing, double-click to switch to the appropriate tool. The Selection tool works on measures (Measure tool/Edit menu/Utilities menu), notes and rests (Simple Entry), Smart Shapes, expressions, articulations, repeats, lyrics, chords & fretboards, text blocks, graphics, tuplets, key and time signatures, and clefs.

This tool is also used to select regions of your score (from a single note to the entire score) in order to edit all the selected music at once. For example, you can change any selected measures’ spacing, layer assignments, stem directions, and so on. You can also transpose or apply articulations to every note in any selected region.

You can use this tool to copy music from one place to another—even from one PrintMusic document to another. You can also use this tool for erasing selected musical elements from a region—such as articulations, chord symbols, lyrics, expressions, and so on—without disturbing the other existing elements of the music in that region. See Erasing and Copying music.

Keyboard shortcuts

To use a Selection tool keyboard shortcut, select a region of measures and use the appropriate keystroke on your computer keyboard.

Shortcut	Predefined effects
4 (or COMMAND+4 with any tool that allows measure selection.)	Apply Music Spacing command which respaces notes, lyrics, and accidentals
6-9 (or COMMAND+6-9 with any tool other than the Selection tool that supports measure selection)	(COMMAND-)6 for Down a Second (COMMAND-)7 for Up a Second (COMMAND-)8 for Down an Octave (COMMAND-)9 for Up an Octave

Shortcut

Predefined effects

4 (or COMMAND+4 with any tool that allows measure selection.)

Apply Music Spacing command which respaces notes, lyrics, and accidentals

6-9 (or COMMAND+6-9 with any tool other than the Selection tool that supports measure selection)

(COMMAND-)6 for Down a Second

(COMMAND-)7 for Up a Second

(COMMAND-)8 for Down an Octave

(COMMAND-)9 for Up an Octave

Contextual menus

Contextual menus are reached by right/CONTROL-clicking on an object. A contextual menu will be displayed where you can select various items.

Measures
Menu item	What it does
Edit Measure Attributes	Opens the Measure Attributes dialog box where you can edit measures.
Barline submenu	Opens the barline submenu where you can select a new barline style.
Multimeasure Rest submenu	Opens the Multimeasure rest submenu where you can create, remove, or edit multimeasure rests.
Cut	Places the selected music on the Clipboard and simultaneously removes it from the document. See Edit menu.
Copy	Places a duplicate of the selected music on the Clipboard. See Edit menu.
Insert	Inserts whatever music you've cut or copied to the Clipboard between two existing beats or measures. See Edit menu.
Paste	Pastes whatever music you've cut or copied to the Clipboard to paste over (replace) the selected music in the target file. See Edit menu.
Move/Copy Layers	Opens the Move/Copy Layers dialog box where you can move and/or copy layers.
Clear All Items	Clears all items in the selected region.
Transpose	Opens the Transpose dialog box where you can choose an interval to transpose the selected region.
Add Measures	Opens the Add Measures dialog box where you can choose the number of measures to add.
Insert Measure Stack	Opens the Insert Measures dialog box where you can choose the number of measures to insert.
Delete Measure Stack	Deletes the measure stack.
Key Signature	From this submenu, choose a key signature for the selected measure(s).
Time Signature	From this submenu, choose a time signature for the selected measure(s).
Clef	Opens the Change Clef dialog box where you can select a clef
Alternate Notation	Displays the Alternate Notation submenu where you can apply or clear alternate notation
Repeats	Displays the Repeat submenu where you can define or remove repeats.

Articulations
Menu item	What it does
Delete	Removes selected articulations

Brackets
Menu item	What it does
Edit Bracket	Display Group Attributes dialog box
Delete Bracket	Deletes selected bracket

Chord Symbols
Menu item	What it does
Delete	Removes selected chord symbols

Clefs
Menu item	What it does
Edit Clef Definition	Display the Change Clef dialog box

Text Expressions
Menu item	What it does
Edit Text Expression Definition	Display the Text Expression Designer dialog box
Delete	Removes selected expressions

Key Signatures
Menu item	What it does
C Major	Sets the key signature to C Major
G Major	Sets the key signature to G Major
D Major	Sets the key signature to D Major
A Major	Sets the key signature to A Major
E Major	Sets the key signature to E Major
F Major	Sets the key signature to F Major
Bb Major	Sets the key signature to Bb Major
Eb Major	Sets the key signature to Eb Major
Ab Major	Sets the key signature to Ab Major
A minor	Sets the key signature to A minor
E minor	Sets the key signature to E minor
B minor	Sets the key signature to B minor
F# minor	Sets the key signature to F# minor
C# minor	Sets the key signature to C# minor
D minor	Sets the key signature to D minor
G minor	Sets the key signature to G minor
C minor	Sets the key signature to C minor
F minor	Sets the key signature to F minor
Other	Opens the Key Signature dialog box where you can define a key signature

Repeats
Menu item	What it does
Create Simple Repeat	Encloses selected measures with repeat barlines
Create First and Second Ending	Adds a first ending on selected measure(s) and a second ending on the measure following the selection
Create Ending	Opens the Create Ending dialog box where you can define a repeat ending on the highlighted measures
Create Forward Repeat Bar	Creates a forward repeat bar
Create Backward Repeat Bar	Creates a backward repeat bar
Delete	Deletes all repeat barlines, endings, and text repeats in selected region

Smart Shapes
Menu item	What it does
Edit	Displays editing handles on selected smart shape
Delete	Removes selected smart shape
Make Horizontal	(Hairpins, Dashed, Solid, & Custom Lines, and Brackets) Snaps shape into straight horizontal placement This menu item mirrors by default the Horizontal setting in the Smart Line Designer dialog box.
Remove Manual Slur Adjustments	(Slurs only) Slur will return to default values for placement and shape. Frozen engraver slurs will revert to engraver slur behavior.
Shape Direction	(Slurs and Bends) Choose from Flip, Automatic, Over and Under. Determines the direction of the slur. See SmartShape menu.