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Copying music

This section describes methods for copying music in SongWriter, and the choices you have when doing so.

For the remainder of this section, “source” refers to the original selected music, and “target” refers to the destination for the copied material. Also, unless specified otherwise, "selection" refers to a region including full or partial measures less than a stack. Any tool that allows regional selection can be used to copy music, including the Selection tool, Staff tool, Measure tool, and others. For more details, see Selecting Music.

Whenever you copy music, you will need to choose whether you want to copy and paste or copy and insert.

Copying and pasting allows you to replace the music in the target region with the music from the source region. Pasting does not wipe out any measure settings, such as measure-width information unless a stack is pasted. When pasting any region other than a stack, all note attached items and many measure attached items are replaced.
Copying and inserting allows you to introduce new beats or measures into the piece, pushing all existing music to the right. Inserting a selection nudges all subsequent music the number of beats of the inserted material on the target staves only. When inserting any region less than a stack, the inserted beats can overflow into the next measure requiring the music to be redistributed in all remaining measures of the piece. This is called rebarring music, and SongWriter applies it automatically when inserting regions less than a stack. Since stacks are always full measures, all staves, inserting a stack does not rebar music, but pushes all measures to the right intact (increasing the length of the score the number of inserted measures).

After selecting a region of music, use one of the following methods to copy and paste or copy and insert.

Copying and pasting using the clipboard. This method allows you to easily copy/cut and paste to target regions outside of the visible area, or paste the same material multiple times. See To copy and paste using the clipboard.
Copying and pasting by dragging. This method allows you to quickly copy and paste to target regions within the visible area, and also allows you to copy and paste to target regions outside of the visible area. See To copy and paste by dragging.
Copying and pasting stacks. This method allows you to copy and paste everything including measure items like key signatures, barline styles, and measure widths. A stack selection must include full measures and all staves. See To copy and paste stacks.
Copying and inserting using the clipboard. This method allows you to easily copy/cut and insert to target regions outside of the visible area, or insert the same material multiple times. See To copy and insert using the clipboard.
Copying and inserting by dragging. This method allows you to quickly copy and insert to target regions within the visible area. See To copy and insert by dragging.
Copying and inserting stacks. This method allows you to insert full measures, all staves.

To copy and paste using the clipboard

Using the clipboard is one way to copy (or cut) and paste music. When you paste, existing music is overwritten. This is the method commonly used when copying to a target region outside of the visible area or across documents (see Copying across documents).

To copy using the clipboard:

With the Selection tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Press CTRL+C to copy or CTRL+X to Cut. The music is loaded to the clipboard. If you chose to Cut the selection disappears. At this point, you can paste the copied material anywhere—either elsewhere in the same document, or into another document. If you want to paste to another document, open the document now, using the Open command in the File Menu. You can’t, however, directly paste music into other programs such as word processing or graphics programs.
Select a measure (or partial measure) that begins at the desired destination and press CTRL+V to paste. SongWriter replaces whatever was in the target measures, starting at the left-most edge of the selected region, with a copy of the music you originally selected (as shown here). Pasting does not introduce any new measures into the “target” document, but replaces whatever was there with the contents of the Clipboard. (However, measures will be added on paste as needed if there are fewer measures in the destination than in the source.

Note: When clipboard-copying, SongWriter pastes the entire source content starting with the upper left destination selection.

To copy and paste by dragging

With the Selection tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Click and drag the source music so that it’s superimposed on the target measure(s).
When the black border surrounds the desired target region, release the mouse button to paste as shown below. SongWriter replaces whatever was in the target measures, starting at the position of the cursor, with a copy of the music you originally selected. In other words, if you drag to beat three of a certain measure, the selected music will begin at beat three. If the measure is empty, the music will appear at the nearest beat following the cursor.

If the first target measure is not on-screen, instead of dragging, do the following:

With the source region selected, scroll until you see the desired target region.
While pressing CTRL click the first target measure. The music appears in the target measure(s) with the same beat placement as the original (as shown below).

To copy and paste stacks

Full measure stacks can be copied using the clipboard or by dragging, replacing existing music.

Copying and pasting stacks requires the following: The source region must consist of a stack, and the target must be valid for stack-pasting.

The source region selection must:

Include all staves.
Begin and end at a barline.

The destination region selection must:

Begin at a barline.
Include the top staff of the system.
Consist of the same amount or fewer staves. (Fewer is possible when copying across documents).

When drag-copying, SongWriter displays a green border around the destination stack region if the region is eligible for stack-pasting (left). When dragging over a region that does not start on a barline and/or include the top staff, SongWriter displays a black border around the destination region indicating it is not eligable for a stack paste (right). If you release the mouse button in a region not eligible for stack pasting (black border), the music pastes normally and does not include measure-specific data.

To copy and paste stacks, use the above definitions for "source" and "target" regions while following the directions under either To copy and paste using the clipboard or To copy and paste by dragging. While drag-copying, use the green border to confirm the target is a valid for stack-pasting.

To copy and insert using the clipboard

With the Selection tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
Press CTRL+C. The music is loaded to the clipboard.
Select a measure (or partial measure) that begins at the desired destination and press CTRL+I to insert. You indicate where you want the copied material to appear by selecting the notes or measures just after it. So, if you want the copied music to appear between measures 3 and 4, click measure 4. SongWriter inserts a copy of the selected music, nudging all subsequent notes in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material.

Note: SongWriter adds new measures to accommodate notes nudged beyond the final barline.

To copy and insert by dragging

With the Selection tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ selected, highlight a region of measures. Or, highlight a region with any tool that allows regional selection. For details, see Selecting music.
While holding down the ALT key, click and drag the source music to position the vertical red line where you would like to insert.
Release the mouse button. SongWriter inserts a copy of the selected music starting at the position of the red insertion cursor, nudging subsequent notes in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material. SongWriter inserts a copy of the selected music just before the target region, nudging all subsequent notes in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material.

To copy and insert stacks

Full measure stacks can also be inserted using the clipboard or by dragging, shifting all subsequent measures to the right in all staves. Rebar music does not apply when inserting stacks because the subsequent music is nudged in full measure increments (so notes cannot be nudged across barlines).

In order to copy and insert a measure stack, the source region must include a stack selection.

To copy a measure stack using the clipboard:

Select a measure stack. A measure stack must include all staves and begin and end at a barline. See Selecting music.
Press CTRL+C.The stack is loaded to the clipboard.
Select a region beginning on a barline on the top staff and press CTRL+I to insert.

To copy a measure stack by dragging:

Select a measure stack. A measure stack must include all staves and begin and end at a barline. See Selecting music.
While holding down the ALT key, click and drag the source music to position the vertical insertion cursor at a barline on the top staff of the target region. The insertion cursor changes color to green indicating an eligible location to insert as shown in the figure below.
Release the mouse button. SongWriter inserts a copy of the selected music starting at the position of the green line, nudging subsequent measures in the staff (or staves) to the right the duration of the inserted material.

To copy time signatures

In order to copy time signature changes along with the music you must select the full stack of measures. Time signatures always copy with Stack copying. See To copy and paste stacks and To copy and insert stacks.

To copy across documents

All entry and measure items can be copied and pasted or inserted across documents using the clipboard or by dragging.

To make a copy of a document

These instructions assume that you’re running SongWriter. To duplicate a SongWriter document when you’re not in SongWriter, select the desired file using Explorer and choose Copy from the File menu.

Open the document. Choose File > Save As. A dialog box appears, allowing you to name the copy. No two documents in the same folder may have exactly the same name.
Click Save. The copy of the document is left on the screen, and the original is automatically closed without saving any changes.

To combine two files

Because copying between files requires using the clipboard, you should be aware of some unique aspects of clipboard copying in SongWriter.

Open the file to which you want to add music. This is now your TARGET document. You may wish to save a backup version of the file.
Click the Measure tool $image\Measure_Tool.gif$ . Choose Edit > Add Measures. Type 1 and click OK to add a single blank measure to the end of this score.
Open the file from which you want to copy music. This is now your SOURCE document. You may wish to save a backup version of the file.
Click the Selection tool $image\Selection_Tool.gif$ .
Choose Edit > Select All.
Choose Edit > Copy.
From the Window Menu, choose your target document. Your target document moves to the front as the active window.
Click on the last empty measure to select it.
Choose Edit > Insert. Your source document has now been added to the end of your target document.
Click on the last empty measure to select it and press DELETE.

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